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).
In fact, Smallville wouldn’t work so well without Lex, and his father Lionel (John Glover), whose sketchy LuthorCorp projects inevitably intersect with Clark’s Kryptonian heritage and destiny. 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, he didn’t, and although Lex’s final descent into darkness wouldn’t culminate until he committed patricide (“Descent”), “Lexmas” marks Lex’s first intentional turn towards his dark destiny.
“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 Nicholas Cage film The Family Man in there, as Lex finds himself on a journey of self-discovery after being shot point-blank on Christmas Eve. 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 (Kristen Kreuk) are married with a child (and another on the way), he and Clark are friends again, the Kents have accepted him as if he were their own son, and he’s even helped Chloe (Allison Mack) write a “tell-all” exposè on LuthorCorp. The downside: Lionel has completely cut him off, but honestly, Lex doesn’t seem to mind. For the first time in a very long time, he’s truly happy.
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 Lex and Clark as friends again, something 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 would turn from his self-centered ways, only to cling to the love of those around him.
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 attempted to recover some of his lost childhood memories (“Memoria”), and the following season saw him scouring the globe for the ancient Stones of Power (“Crusade”). 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 would be “the only real friend” Lex ever had.
Unfortunately, Lex’s time in the “dream world” doesn’t last. As the vision turns sour, Lana dies in childbirth. After begging for his help, Lionel refuses to save her. He attempts to appeal to their familial bond, but Lionel tells Lex that “he doesn’t even have a son.” 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” saw Jonathan Kent (John Schneider) decide to run for State Senator, a position Lex also decides he wants for himself (a political stepping-stone to that completely white suit he’ll wear in the White House). “Lexmas” provides Lex with a moral dilemma. He can either sabotage Jonathan’s campaign or forfeit the race 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, Lex decides that “money and power” are the only two things he needs to secure his future, “and keep it that way.”
Much like his “glimpse,” this decision quickly turns sour. Although he and Lana would get together and eventually marry (“Promise”), their relationship would be 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 (“Phantom”) and leaving him for Clark, something that Lex would make sure didn’t stick (“Requiem”). Clark and Lex would never be friends again. Although they would still save one another’s life on occasion (“Nemesis”), their story eventually culminated with them on opposite sides (“Arctic,” “Finale”). 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 (“Justice”). He would rip families apart, turning innocents like Wes Keenan (Tahmoh Penikett) into pre-programmed super-soldiers (“Prototype”), and would even go so far as to try to manipulate Clark’s amnesiac cousin, Kara (Laura Vandervoort), into revealing the truth about him (“Fracture”). The only children that Lex would inevitably sire would be broken and decrepit versions of himself, that would all die anyway (“Lazarus”). Though one would be saved, it was solely due to Clark’s blood and influence rather than Lex’s own resources (“Scion”). 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 him.
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 coming years where he would fight back against his dark side (“Fracture” comes to mind), 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 (“Reckoning”), and in losing would dive deeper into his work and obsessions, including wanting everything that Clark ever had, namely Lana (“Vessel”).
“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. This same mindset would do the same to Lex, even if it didn’t stick. In fact, Lex’s own father, Lionel, almost went down that same path, and would have too if it weren’t for his own “born again experience” where he chose to sacrifice his life for the greater good (albeit, with mixed results). But, in possibly the only way in which he’s unlike his father, Lex made the selfish choice. He chose himself over those around him, and he chose wrong.
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 could 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 (“Pilot”), 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?