Lex has been fully evil since...

[xrayvision]

Originally posted by mtnmama236
Early in the series Lex's inner battles were very obvious. He admitted to having a dark side, but the light side still battled for dominance. The time came for a choice to be made and
Lex made his choice--good or evil in Lexmas. Onyx showed us both sides of Lex, and at that point neither of them really dominated. Lex's comment to Ryan about the journey/light switch was right on. Lex met a fork in the road in Lexmas and chose the road that was marked power.

I totally agree here. I think it's funny that the cave legend's representation of Sigeeth (Lex) is that 2 headed being. Lex was at the neck of the being at Lexmas where he could have chosen the normal head or the monster head. He chose the monster one of course as we all knew he would.

Originally posted by mtnmama236
Zod was another strong hint as to which road Lex was on. When Zod left he took Lex's memory of what happened with him, but I think he left behind a residual evil! Lex is getting worse and worse this season. We don't know what's up with Lana's baby, but we DO know that Lex seems to have done something! We see 33.1 and his other projects. I especially love his protestations that he is doing it to protect mankind! (lots of room for comment there, but I won't go there) I don't think Lex is capable of true love, because to him love is pain. Therefore I don't think he truly loves Lana, but he feels more intensely about her than anyone else.

I don't think Zod left a residual evil. It would be bad writing if he did. Lex turning evil should be independent of a Kryptonian warlord. I think instead of Zod having a residual effect on him by tainting his body, he instead increased Lex's hatred & fear of aliens & freaks (being with superpowers) tenfold, and Lex is now in a mission to stop freaks at any cost. There is evidence of this too. I watched Jinx again today, and Lex tells Mikail "I think you'll find your new accommodations a lot more comfortable than the county lockup". This proves that 33.1 was not originally a prison as it was shown to be in Subterranean. More proof is how in Run, he let Bart free and even almost died protecting him. Hannison (the fence) told Lex "You have no idea what that freak is capable of" and Lex knew that someone had to have powers to steal his manuscript. My theory is that 33.1 was originally a testing ground for freaks instead of a prison (shown in Mortal where Lex tested on Lee & the twins in Level 3 and sent them back to Belle Reve instead of locking them up) & all this changed after the Zod possession. After that, Lex used 33.1 & Zod's blackbox to protect Earth against aliens and to lock up freaks and use only ones he found to be trustworthy (Jed McNally). I'm guessing during season 5, 33.1 was still more about creating freaks to protect Earth against aliens since Lex knew Aethyr & Nam-Ek were aliens. Though I think in that season (offscreen), 33.1 took a back seat to the investigation on the black ship.

Originally posted by mtnmama236
I also think that Jor-el left Lionel with a slightly different viewpoint, too. He is still diaboloical & devious, but I think Jor-el and Lionels love/admiration for Martha have changed him, too.

I think Jor-El chose him as his oracle for a reason. Maybe he knows Lionel's true nature. I'm guessing that Dr. Swann also knew since he told Clark in Legacy that what he gave Lionel was in Clark's best interest. I wish we got to find out what exactly happened between those 2.

Originally posted by mtnmama236
I also think that Lex scares the cr*p out of Lionel, and that much of his 'good' comes from "what have I done?' He is desperately trying to rectify things!

I agree here. I think Lionel's participation in 33.1 is a ploy and that he will try to expose what Lex is doing to the FBI as Lex did to him in season 3, but Lex will kill him. This is my guess.

[mtnmama236]

Originally posted by xrayvision
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I don't think Zod left a residual evil. It would be bad writing if he did. Lex turning evil should be independent of a Kryptonian warlord. I think instead of Zod having a residual effect on him by tainting his body, he instead increased Lex's hatred & fear of aliens & freaks (being with superpowers) tenfold, and Lex is now in a mission to stop freaks at any cost.

I agree here. I think Lionel's participation in 33.1 is a ploy and that he will try to expose what Lex is doing to the FBI as Lex did to him in season 3, but Lex will kill him. This is my guess.

You said it so much better than I could have. I like your slant on Zod better than mine. Lex's experience with Zod also left him with a handy cloak--patriotic preservation of freedome' to cover his evil in.

Lionel's participation in 33.1 is a ploy, whether it is to turn him in or keep him away from Clark (as much as possible) I'm not sure.

Lex is a fascinating study--and I truly appreciate MR's talented portrayal of him. MR keeps him from being a one dimensional stereotype, and he keeps me guessing from week to week if Lex really is as evil as he seems!

[xrayvision]

I like MR's Lex the best. When he's evil, it sends shivers down your spine at how frighteningly bad he could be. Especially in Onyx.

I actually think that Lex does not consider himself evil, though I do think he knows that some of his actions are worthy of punishment. I think he feels that he has to sacrifice living a life free of crimes so that he could protect Earth. I think his last line in Talisman is what he will adhere to (think of himself as the hero).

It is truly amazing all the stuff that has happened to bring Lex to where he is today. I could have done without that Lexana crap, but there were several solid non-Lana related events that shaped Lex into the man he is today. I do wish season 4 could have further shown Lex & Lionel going at it with innocents getting hurt in the crossfire (as Clark pointed out to Lex in Memoria how when those 2 go at it, Lex becomes more like Lionel). I also wish they would have had more episodes with Lionel also helping Lex through Clark like in Bound where Lex told him he couldn't straddle the fence. Especially in their conversation at the end of the episode when Clark told Lex that he felt Lionel was being more honest with him than Lex was and how he hated that. I really wish they would have shown the rift between Clark & Lex progress more because of these 2 things (Lex putting others in danger while going after Lionel & Clark at time trusting Lionel more). But even though they didn't use the full potential of those 2 devices that could have increased the rift, you could understand that it was mainly based on Lex's distrust and his obsession that cost him all his relationships & friendships (mainly what happened in Mortal). I do think that before that episode, they could have decreased the trust factor & communication between the 2 instead of having Clark trust Lex in Ageless and in Blank.

[Liriel]

For me - sometime in season 3. Since "Truth" definitely - we know that by then he'd restarted experiments employees didn't like and he was willing to risk Chloe's life to get dirt on Lionel instead of telling her to go the hospital or trying to get her to the hospital or even warning her to her face that there were potential side effects.

[SheaMan]

I think that Lexmas was the turning point but the true fall into utter evil is still pending.

I personally think Smallville is more about what it took to make Lex uncompromisingly evil than it is about Clark becoming superman. I do think that its sad (but predictable) that Lex has become meteor freak racist.

In other words - In the last episode of the series we will see Lex go from "altruistic but morally questionable" to "totally unquestionably outright no holds barred EVIL" Note the capitol e, v, i, and l!