Character development Lex Luthor (Smallville)

1 character development

1.1 storyline progression
1.2 characterization
1.3 relationships

character development
storyline progression

rosenbaum believed lex trying hero in season one, character showed signs of having fight ambiguity , stay on straight path. tension-filled relationship father, first established in pilot episode, comes crossing in season 1 finale, when lex left decision either father remove structural beam has fallen on him, or let him die. rosenbaum wanted audience see lex contemplating life if lionel no longer around. rosenbaum explained scene:

season 2 delved deeper lex s darker moments, time wavers save father s life, outburst @ jonathan feels unfair treatment. these moments play lex s psyche. season 3 s memoria explained mysterious circumstances surrounding death of lex s infant brother, julian. gough explains had known story of julian luthor in season one, when character first mentioned in stray , wanted find right time explain situation. creative team wanted audience think lex responsible julian s death infant, before revealing lex merely covering mother.

season 4 began expanding on series long story arc of lex s feelings lana. though seeds planted in second episode of first season, not until season 4 lex began show more of true feelings. according gough, not lex trying protect lana jason teague (jensen ackles), lana s boyfriend after stones of knowledge, trying jason out of picture have lana himself. writer darren swimmer questioned lex s motives earlier seasons: have ask yourself, in words of lex luthor himself: why billionaire want bailing out girl , buying coffee house begin with? s about? writer todd slavkin described season 5 darkening of lex luthor . time aqua came around, lex had removed gloves, there no friendship clark needed worry about, , dark side began show face. season 5 saw lex s hunger power begin develop, campaigned kansas senate seat. events of lexmas drove lex continue pursuit of ultimate power. in lexmas , lex shot , gets chance live life married lana , no longer on quest power. in alternate reality, without power , money had had, lex unable save lana, dies after giving birth second child. here lex decided go prize .

characterization

one of lex s key characteristics curiosity unexplained. lex s primary motive shady actions derives curiosity, beginning moment , clark meet after lex hits clark porsche. clark appearing when strange happens in smallville nothing fuel lex s curiosity. rosenbaum believes lex s sees 2 options: lex, s either take nice ride metropolis , work dad, or find out s going on strong, strange fellow, clark kent. characteristic of smallville s lex luthor—one being developed on course of series—is evilness. rosenbaum believes audience sees in lex s dark side in seasons merely taste of character capable of. in season 2 premiere vortex , rosenbaum requested greg beeman shoot close-up of him after shoots nixon, in effort open window lex s darker side. rosenbaum intended leave interpretation of whether lex enjoyed killing nixon open audience. beeman explains rosenbaum s thoughts, ...either lex horrified , appalled, or liked it, , felt him . according rosenbaum, when lex reaches point uses of mind, , flips out , point world needs hide . television reviewer brian byun felt struggle between , evil inside lex not made him anti-hero, also, given audience familiar lex s mythology , knowledge end being superman s greatest enemy, make smallville s lex luthor tragic figure [of] shakespearean grandeur .

taking page out of chazz palminteri s bronx tale, rosenbaum ignored script during final scene kristin kreuk season 6 finale. here, lana informing lex going leave, lex walks around , closes door exit. rosenbaum trying invoke moment of fright audience. actor, wanted audience wonder lex going lana; moment meant show how unpredictable lex can be.

— writer steven deknight describes exchange of dialogue, season 5 s lockdown , providing insight lex s feelings of inadequacy , envy of clark.

as seasons progressed, , character began grow darker , more sinister, rosenbaum sought more opportunities bring humor scene, either physical subtleties little smiles @ key moments, or self-deprecating humor . 1 such instance, became popular audiences, in season 6 episode justice , lex made joke wanting ponytail. producers concerned on piece of dialogue, rosenbaum convinced them pull off. rosenbaum, quip lex makes him more credible person, because known lex wanted hair. moment reflects earlier episode, lex reveals feelings of meagerness when comparing himself clark. in season 5 s lockdown , lex provides window thoughts place in smallville. writer steven s. deknight describes it, audience gets see moment lex shows how still feels outsider, , views clark perfect person . deknight believes that, how clark sees it, lex driven desire attain clark has, family , girlfriend.

lex develops craving power, hunger expanding in season five. al gough believes lex s political motivations based on lust power. rosenbaum echoes opinion, believing lex can never enough; lex insatiable character . rosenbaum believes nothing satisfy lex s hunger, , keep going until president of united states. then, keep trying make majority of people , believe in him.

visually, character of lex luthor has own characteristics. in smallville, lex given glass, steel [colored] background , , dressed in lot of black, grey, , cool tones purples , blues.

relationships

rosenbaum realizes friendship between lex , clark destined fail, clark s friendship important lex in series. actor believes if clark see darkness lex fighting understand more of lex s actions. reviewer brian byun expressed choice explore friendship between clark , lex, before become sworn enemies, had been used in past never depth of smallville doing, helped keep show becoming dawson s creek superpowers .

like lana, held emptiness inside after loss of parents, tried fill men in life, lex attempts fill own void, on loss of mother, women in life. according writer holly harold, lex needs , wants loved . rosenbaum agrees, , feels lex searching unconditional love . actor likens feeling 1 can relate to, lex fails achieve not women develops relationships with, own father. rosenbaum , annette o toole (martha kent) agree person give lex love mother, died when child. whenever have scenes together, o toole , rosenbaum try , hint around idea martha wants provide love lex, because recognizes needs it, , lex wants provide well.

after various failed relationships, lex believes has wants when begins romantic relationship lana lang. in hypnotic , in effort stop hurting lana emotionally, clark told no longer loved her. drives lana lex s arms. writer darren swimmer explains not happened in series, had been hinted @ many seasons. rosenbaum admits lex had crush on lana many years, contends tried clark win lana on—he succeeded. when clark , lana s relationship crumbled, because of clark s deceit, lex waiting. rosenbaum believes lana tired of boy , wanted man around . contrast, swimmer believes lana started dating lex way of making clark mad, relationship turned more . kreuk contends lana went lex because knows never love him. kreuk believes lana s relationship men in life motivated desire fill void in life left after parents killed. need fill emptiness fulfilled in void , when lana took drug induce death see parents in afterlife. upon meeting parents, kreuk believes lana realized no longer needed else fill hole in her. kreuk sees filled void reason why lana gravitate toward lex. kreuk feels if lex had chosen different path after events of lexmas , lana have been able love him.

as rosenbaum describes it, lex views lana beautiful, charming girl little naïveté. naïveté allows lex believe can trust , confide in lana, , 1 true love. lex knows lana love clark, expects love him same. rosenbaum not believe lana gives lex. writer holly harold finds parallels between lex s relationship lana, , of lionel s relationship martha. both men believe these 2 women saving grace, , pull them dark side. in lex s defense, rosenbaum contends lex not using lana in effort hurt clark, love her. actor believes lex s problem lies in fact every time has loved , opened them has been hurt, or betrayed. though lex loves lana more else before her, cannot bring himself open fear of repeating past. rosenbaum believes eventual dissolution of marriage between lex , lana tragic moment in both characters lives. moment solidifies lex s history of opening women , having them hurt him.

it not women in life lex has difficult time maintaining healthy relationship with, father well. rosenbaum characterizes relationship between lex , lionel form of tug-of-war, , disagrees john glover s assessment lionel merely testing lex life going take over. rosenbaum, lex being pushed , pushed, , lex afraid reach point knows no longer able come from. in vortex , lex realizes forgot in moment father trapped under column, , felt guilty on situation. according rosenbaum, lex realized letting father die have been traveling down dark path, , have become father was—evil. lex continues live in father s shadow, , time progresses, learns more monster lionel is. breaking point comes when lex learns father killed lex s grandparents in tenement fire. rosenbaum sees ultimate ethical dilemma—he likens parents learning child has murdered someone, , having decide if should go authorities or not—and lex, can no longer take father s abuse, decides turn lionel on fbi. according rosenbaum, decision justified lex, sees monster lionel actions—using electroshock therapy erase lex s memories, drugging lex, killing own parents, , way treated lex s mother.