svreview - suspect

Hee!

musesfool wrote A Game of You, my birthdayfic! *happy dance* Pretty, pretty fic that makes me smile. And rescued from my web filters (and damn, my ISP is annoying me with this), a lovely ecard from Gothphyle. *huggles* I'll email a reply in a sec.

And thete1 sent me icons! Which I shall upload whenver the heck LJ LETS ME.

*grrs to LJ* And by teh way, LJ? Send me my comments already? You know, just for kicks.

*sighs*

Annnyway.

Suspect. Let me count the ways I enjoyed it.

And? Safe for Livia-viewing. Though it rambles. Ramble, ramble ramble. Wait for the lovely latxcvi and thamiris and rosenho for examination of all the complexities and pretty moments. I'm still high on the fact that Lex wore red again and really makes that color look GOOD.



By the end of the episode, I had a headache. A GOOD one. Me? I was thinking Henry Small--I knew it wasn't Jonathan or Lex, and Dominic has a REALLY bizarre something going on there. You know, Lex might not be the only one with Daddy issues.

And I can't help but notice how SIMILAR Lex and Dominic are in height and clothing choices. Makes me wonder....

But moving on.

Yep, I liked it. Better than Insurgence, that I loved but hurt me, Suspect just let me enjoy it.

Lana had minimal screetime. I think--THINK--that the gods of Smallville are smiling down on us. Wow. This is two episodes in a row. But I am getting to the point where I'm thinking, okay, does ANYONE in this town believe in privacy? Seriously.

The main cast was seriously on the top of their game, though. I liked that.

Now, Jonathan as a suspect was interesting, most for the fact that even Clark was taking a moment to think it through. And Jonathan's acknowledgement of the fact that yep, he's the poster child for Stupid Actions Against Luthors--well. And the fact he hid something--NO! Jonathan? Not tell the entire truth? You're kidding! Because it might LOOK BAD? You're KIDDING! Hot temper? You don't say! Yet again doing it at exactly the wrong time? REALLY?

Oh man. I don't blame him for creative omissions, but I guarantee, this is coming up later when I lose my temper with him. Just be warned. *grins*

Clark was suitably frantic, and it was kind of cute. The fact that Lex thought it might be Jonathan, too....yes. The fact that Lex walked by Clark in the hospital like he didn't exist? Yes, and also--notice the look on Clark's face? Yes, Jonathan, see, this is the kind of thing that happens when you're constantly, publicly hostile at the worst possible times.

What Clark didn't say to his dad is as true as what he did--he didn't say to Daddy, I saw you shoot someone, too, and it was me.

I feel bad for him. He was really in hell. I wonder now if at least some of his sudden kick of righteous wrath and suspicion at Lex stemmed from seriously injured feelings from the hosptial corridor. Because Lex--his friend LEX!--thought Clark's dad had done it.

This, Jonathan, is what happens when you spend too much time abusing Luthors to their faces. They don't tend to give you the benefit of the doubt.

Moving on.

Dominic has 'desperate surrogate son seeking daddy's approval' written ALL over him. I wonder if Dominic knows about the other possible heir? Frankly, it's creepy that Lionel is inspiring this kind of thing in his men. I didn't buy Dominic shooting, though I wanted to. Again, very weird vibes there. If I were one of those people who see disturbing incesty Lionel/Lex (which, guess what, I really am), I'd say Dominic is doing the substitute-for-Lex thing. In every way.

I'm not rehashing the entire plot, but i will say, it did make sense.

Ethan made the arrest himself, of course, in retrospect, to handle all parts of the evidence---after all, he had no reason to be under suspicion himself, and I wonder if Lionel's going to take this event into account when blackmailing in the future. During the Wild Coyote thing, Pete pointed out that underaged drinking was allowed, which you know, might have been a complete non-sequitir except.... You don't say? A reminder of Red, perhaps, with Clark and Jessie and Lana doing their version of the Dawon's Creek Love Triangle of Ultimate Boredom? Though granted, Clark is hotter than Dawson. He and Clark also speculate why teh place has never been shut down.

I'm not sure enough about investigative procedure to wonder if they should have found that bullet, so no comments there.

Search warrant of the house, finding the broken watch--Ethan would know about the Lionel fight and how it happened from the bartender if Jonathan talked, which I suspect he did to that old bartender buddy.

So. If my recall of events is correct, something like this. Ethan and Lionel fight. Ethan stews and panics. Has to find a way to get rid fo Lionel. Now, he could have just shot him, but he needed a fall guy. Jonathan's anti-Luthor tendencies, his wife working for Lionel, et al, make him perfect. All he needs is opportunity, since motive is Jonathan's own special billboard. I wish I had a timeline--did the blackmail and shooting happen on teh same day or within a few days of each other? From how it feels, no more than a day or so has passed, though that's stretching considering the buy-out.

Hmm. So the bartender drugs Jonathan after hearing the story and Ethan sets him up, then shoots Lionel. That works so far. What I"m not sure of is the time in between the decision to kill Lionel and how Ethan managed to work with a lot of unpredictable circumstances--such as Jonathan finding the watch, etc. Of course, that still leaves Lex for a possibility, but not ironclad, since Lex was in Metropolis with Helen. Hmm. And even if Lex was under suspicion, all those people Lionel blackmailed to sell shares, Lex would make connections eventually to how Lionel got the info, eventually leading back to Ethan. Maybe not enough to prove guilt, but enough to be very suspicious.

Someone wanna help me on this one? Thsi sounds like Ethan had some prodigious luck. Or I'm forgetting things, very likely.

This was pretty darn logical, though. It SURPRISED me, but it also brings together most threads very smoothly, except for the Henry Small/Lana thing, which was, let's all face it, grafted on just to give Lana something to do.

I can deal with it if it's in minor, easily-ignorable bits.

Anyway.

Clark didn't apologize for passive-aggressively accusing Lex of murdering his own dad. Lex didn't apologize for believing Clark's Dad did it. No one apologized for lying. Frankly, I have to agree with them all, though it pains me muchly. That's a LOT of evidence. By the end, they were okay in their very CLexy way, and if Clark looks at Lex any gayer in that ending....

Ooh yeah. See? That made it worth it.

Lionel is Satan. Okay? We all knew this. But he's hitting brand new areas of just ick. Interesting, his excuse for Lex's independence is that he was letting Lex taste it before hauling him back in. Here I thought Lex got it by beating him. Huh. Funny how Lionel can rewrite history like that. Amazing how he can blame Lex for getting him shot.

Much more interesting how Lex didn't deny it. Because Daddy can still get under Lex's skin. And so kind of Lionel to forgive him. Rivka, I swear, your stories are almost anticipating canonical Lex psychology. I'm in awe.

Hmm.

Unless I miss my guess, Ethan needed money? Huh. So agreed to do this icky thing for Lionel? Then he blames Lionel for--what exactly? Paying him to be corrupt, betray one friend, kill another, and attempt to murder Lionel. Not to mention the near-murder of Pete and Clark. Right, Lionel was all, oh, I own you now. And also, your lawyer. But huh.

While I think Lionel is evil, I'm not exactly sympathizing with poor Ethan's sad little dilemma here. Not even for shooting Lionel, because I'm amoral enough not to care that much. I'm pissed he took down Jonathan, the bartender, and tried to take down Pete and Clark and possibly Lex to save his ass that HE PUT IN THE FRYING PAN HIMSELF.

Lionel didn't corrupt him any farther than he was already pretty corrupt. Shooting someone in the heat of the moment is one thing. Framing a friend for murder, and very elaborately, too? Conspiracy as well? Then killing Ye Olde Friendly Bartender? Very different. Makes me wonder how close he and Cigaratte Smoking Man Mayor are.

So. Lex was very Lex, worried and hiding it, angry and not hiding it, Lex and Clark both getting violent in almost mirror images of each other, raising their hotness quotient and also pointing out how very, very alike they really are. And how very much they love their dads. That was some GOOD stuff there.

So I liked this. Muchly.

More later, as I chat out my non-traumatized good mood.

Comments

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Fixed! Forgot to make the link!

Thanks!