With Christmas around the corner, it can be fun to reminisce on the holiday episodes of some of our favorite shows, and there are plenty to choose from. Smallville might not be the first to come to mind when we think of the holiday season, but its Christmas-themed episode, Season 5’s “Lexmas,” is actually one of the most important turning points in the series’ narrative. While Smallville primarily follows the life of a young Clark Kent (Tom Welling) as he develops his abilities and works towards becoming Superman, the first seven seasons also focus heavily on the devolution of Lex Luthor (Michael Rosenbaum). If you love classical Christmas stories that highlight the value one might find in a simpler life, then this is certainly the holiday tale for you.
'Smallville's "Lexmas" Is the Show's Version of 'It's a Wonderful Life'
Image via the CW
It's an obvious fact that Smallville, as a whole, wouldn’t work so well without Lex. The character is easily one of the best parts of the series, and his descent into supervillainy is perhaps just as important as Clark's rise to heroism as Superman. Their tragic friendship served as the glue that held Smallville together for a long time, as fans everywhere hoped that their favorite Luthor could maybe escape his eventual fate as the “world’s greatest criminal mastermind.” But as fate would have it, Lex ultimately succumbs to his dark fate, and, although his final fall from grace wouldn’t culminate until he committed patricide in Season 7, “Lexmas” marked Lex’s first intentional turn towards evil.
“Lexmas” itself serves as a nod (with a twist) to Christmas classics such as It’s a Wonderful Life and A Christmas Carol, with a pinch of the Nicolas Cage film The Family Man in there for good measure. Here, Lex finds himself on a journey of self-discovery after being shot point-blank on Christmas Eve, and his life will never be the same. As Lex lies in the hospital, the ghost of his mother, Lillian (Alisen Down), arrives to show him what his life could be if he “makes the right choices.” In this “glimpse,” Lex and Lana (Kristin Kreuk) are married and have started a family. So far, they have one child and another on the way. Additionally, Lex and Clark are friends again, and the Kents have accepted him as if he were their own son. He’s even helped Chloe (Allison Mack) write a “tell-all” exposè about LuthorCorp. The downside: Lionel (John Glover) has completely cut him off, though, honestly, Lex doesn’t seem to mind. For the first time in a very long time, he’s truly happy, and we couldn't be happier for him.
There are some really wonderful moments in this “glimpse.” Here, we see how good a father Lex could be, one completely unlike his own. We see the Lex and Clark friendship blossom into what we always hoped it would be, and something the rest of this season made clear was an impossibility. We even see Lex in a happy marriage with Lana, a marriage that doesn’t even remotely resemble their actual union to come in the following season. What “Lexmas” does is show us all of our hopes, our dreams, and our desires for Smallville’s Lex Luthor, a man we’ve grown to deeply care about, no matter how flawed he is. A man that we hope might turn from his self-centered ways, only to cling to the love of those around him. If only it were that simple.
Lex Learns the Wrong Lesson from His Holiday Encounter
Image via the CW
Up until this point, Lex’s obsessions have consumed his life. Between trying to take over LuthorCorp from his father or working to discover “the mysteries of Clark Kent” through the Kawatche Caves, Lex always has an agenda. In Season 3, he attempts to recover some of his lost childhood memories, and the following season sees him scour the globe for the ancient Stones of Power. For the majority of Season 5, Lex has had aliens on the brain, with a mysterious Black Ship locked away in his lab. These obsessions eventually cause rifts between him and all of those closest to him, especially Clark, who was always “the only real friend” Lex ever had.
It's tragic then that Lex’s time in the “dream world” doesn’t last. As the vision turns sour, Lana dies in childbirth, and Lionel refuses to even lift a finger to save her. He attempts to appeal to their familial bond, but Lionel tells Lex that “he doesn’t even have a son.” Considering all of this occurs strictly in Lex's mind, the way he sees his father (who had been progressing through a long-term redemption arc of his own) is clear. When Lex wakes from his vision, and his life-threatening surgery (thanks, Lionel), it seems as if he’s been awakened with a new sense of purpose, a new drive for a better life. “Much like Ebenezer Scrooge,” Lex remarks, “I realized that what I want more than anything is to live happily ever after…” But it couldn’t be further from the truth.
The past few episodes before “Lexmas” detailed a state senate race run between Smallville's Jonathan Kent (John Schneider) and Lex Luthor, who sees this as a political stepping stone to that completely white suit he’ll one day wear in the White House. “Lexmas” provides Lex with a moral dilemma. He can either sabotage Jonathan’s campaign with some dirty information or he can forfeit the race entirely to his opponent. Both choices come with their fair share of consequences, to be sure, but only one of them guarantees a happier life. Only one will give him his “happily ever after.” But, out of fear of losing someone else that he loves (as he has so often before), Lex decides that “money and power” are the only two things he needs to secure his future, “and keep it that way.”
'Smallville' Later Proves That Lex Was Never Going To Change
Image via the CW
Though he cites Scrooge's change of heart as a mirror to his own, it couldn't be further from the truth. If he was well on his way to becoming Scrooge at the end of the story, then "Lexmas" serves as a strict "about-face." Much like his “glimpse,” this decision to race after both money and power quickly turns sour. Although he and Lana would get together and eventually marry, their relationship is marked by lies and deceit, including a fake pregnancy that Lex used to get her to marry him in the first place. Their union would end quickly, and in flames, with Lana faking her own death and leaving him for Clark, something that Lex would make sure didn’t stick. Clark and Lex would never be friends again. Although they would still save one another’s lives on occasion, their story eventually culminated with them on opposite sides. Ultimately, it was this Christmas Eve that Lex sealed his fate and threw away every good gift that Christmas tried to bring.
Besides all this, Lex would go on to perform more superhuman experiments through Level 33.1, attempting to splice human and alien DNA to create an army for himself. He would rip families apart, turning innocents like Wes Keenan (Tahmoh Penikett) into pre-programmed super-soldiers, and would even go so far as to try to manipulate Clark’s amnesiac cousin, Kara (Laura Vandervoort), into revealing the truth about him. The only children that Lex would inevitably sire (actually clones) would be broken and decrepit versions of himself, that would all die anyway. Though one would be saved, it was solely due to Clark’s blood and influence, rather than Lex’s own resources. As Lex decided to do what was “best” for his future, to use money and power to secure it, he didn’t learn from Ebenezer Scrooge at all, he became the worst version of him.
Related
"Lexmas" Is a Christmas Warning About the Dangers of Money and Power
Image via the CW
Yes, Lex used LuthorCorp to do some sketchy things before “Lexmas,” there’s no question. But in this pivotal Christmas episode, Lex blatantly chooses his dark destiny. Sure, there would be moments in the next few seasons where he would fight back against his dark side, but “Lexmas” marked the moment Lex decided to let it in. In choosing not to forfeit the State Senate race, Lex would only secure his own failure. He would lose, and in losing would dive deeper into his work and obsessions, including wanting everything that Clark ever had, namely Lana.
“Lexmas” is a cautionary Christmas tale that shows the dangers of thinking you can fully control your life with enough power and money. It’s this mindset that kept Ebenezer Scrooge in chains for years and even sent Jacob Marley to his grave. To bring this back to It's a Wonderfu l Life, Lex essentially decides that the best course of action is to become Mr. Potter (Lionel Barrymore), the selfish business magnate who owns half the town. This mindset ends up destroying Lex, leading eventually to his demise. In fact, Lex’s own father, Lionel, almost went down that same path. He would have too if it weren’t for his own “born again experience,” leading him to choose to sacrifice himself for the greater good. Instead of learning from his father's redemptive experience, Lex chose to pursue the very things that tore the Luthor family apart, and he chose wrong.
The Way Clark Spends His Christmas Stands in Contrast to Lex's Choice
It’s this decision that separates him from Clark, that shows the stark difference in their worldviews and value for others. While Lex is in his “fantasyland,” Clark actually gives up his first (and only) Christmas with Lana to help Chloe deliver presents to the underprivileged children of Metropolis. As Clark speeds around the city, he notices a drunk Santa (Kenneth Welsh) about to jump off a building. Instead of moving on, he takes even more time away from Lana to help him back to his senses before sending Santa on his way. Ultimately, Clark is rewarded for his good deeds and Santa finishes up his deliveries so that he can spend the evening with his friends and family. This small subplot might seem like a nice interlude from the Lex story, just something for Clark to do in the meantime, but it’s actually incredibly purposeful.
These small moments with Clark reveal who he is in contrast to Lex. In the “glimpse,” we see a Lex that is not unlike the Lex that Clark saved all those years ago, one who could still be the Kryptonian farmboy’s best friend (and deep down wants to be). Yet, whenever Lex is awake, be it at the beginning of the episode or the end, his darkness overtakes any light left in him – and the episode’s lighting clearly reflects that. This contrast between our heroes (if you could even still call Lex that) is what makes “Lexmas” work wonders while chilling us to the bone. While “Lexmas” might not be the most perfect episode of Smallville, it’s an excellent Christmas story that cleverly expands on Lex’s own moral ambiguity and serves as a series’ focal point that propels him towards his doomed fate. Although the episode’s end serves as a tragic reversal of the classic Christmas tales we’re fond of, it still manages to tell a compelling story that makes us hope beyond hope that Lex Luthor could still be saved. And isn’t that what Christmas is all about?
Smallville is available to stream on Hulu in the U.S.
A young Clark Kent struggles to find his place in the world as he learns to harness his alien powers for good and deals with the typical troubles of teenage life in Smallville, Kansas.
Custom Image by Nimesh Niyomal
Image via the CW 
Image via the CW 
Image via the CW 
Image via the CW 
English (US) ·