Clark…highly unlikely.  Lana could say Yes to Lex…highly likely.  Lana could be torn, deal with her abandonment complex, and then settle down in a happy Lana-like medium…living with Lex and longing for Clark…also highly likely.

What we got: We got a taste of all three, strangely enough.  Stranger still, after Lana's emotions wandered all over the map, she concluded with a definitive Yes.  To recap…  First she revealed that she still had strong feelings for Clark (although she has hidden them well ever since "Rage").  This revelation in itself was unexpected.  Why then the catty comments, the boiling resentment, the self-righteous feeling that she should be angry with Clark even if she wasn't?  Lana just denied most of her behavior throughout the season.  Then she realized that Chloe was keeping a huge secret about Clark, and went to see Clark.  What was she trying to do?  1) She was Clark's former best friend's mistress – did she want him to bare his soul, then kiss her?  She's practically engaged.  He's too decent for that, and she knows it…she learned it when she was dating Whitney. 2) She didn't want to know his secret because she was trying to preserve a romantic relationship or even a friendship…it was just to satisfy her own need for trust.  She can't just ask everyone to confide in her because it makes her feel loved.  Clark did the right thing.  Finally, she goes to Lex and announces that she loves Clark, she doesn't want to do anything she regrets, and she loves Lex and maybe she'll always love both of them.  Lex is confused and asks what she's talking about.  She says she'll marry him…he trusts her and is vulnerable with her, and she likes that.  Despite Lex's expert grasp of psychology, he does not complain that she just wants him to empower her, but seems grateful.  Credits.  You know the dialogue needs help when Lex, king of verbal battles, gets mixed up and asks for clarification.  But the dialogue does accurately represent how mixed up Lana is.  Lana seemed at times to be open and honest, but at others she was at her most dysfunctional.

What we expected: I thought Clark would play a major part in the episode.  Why was he wearing the costume?  How does he stop Linda Lake?

What we got: Clark wore the costume as part of a farfetched plan to help Oliver.  Clark never even met Linda Lake.  Clark talked to Lana once.  Chloe told Clark some pure home truths when he got a panicky, overwhelmed expression and started to accuse her.  In short, Clark was a satellite.  If a stranger to the mythology tuned in, he might think that Clark was a beloved side character.

Yes, there were some unexpected pleasures.  Jimmy punching a thug and then flapping his hand in pain.  Chloe telling Clark in no uncertain terms what a jerk he was.  The chemistry that flickered briefly in the one scene between Clark and Lana.  But these were countered by numerous unexpected pains.  A scene in which Clark and Lex entered the same room and simultaneously became about 10 years old.  Chloe botching her closing talk with Lana (right after flying triumphantly through the exact same talk with Clark).  Linda Lake.

Verdict: After flesh-and-blood trailers, a plastic episode. 2.

Good/Bad Moments

1. The opening scene, Linda snarling at Drug Guy, Drug Guy staring balefully after her fleeing form for a long time before he started running, was a bit comical.  Usually when a villain stands still and watches someone running, it's because he's going to teleport, superspeed, or because his cohort is covering the exit.  I thought inside the building she'd run straight into him, or something similar.  Instead Drug Guy stood still, gave her a head start, then took off running after her.  This somehow made me want to laugh.
   
2. Chloe's role in this episode was an interesting study.  When she told Lana that she needed to stop reading between the lines and actually talk to Clark, I felt as if some random viewer's character had been projected onscreen to make things right.  (I know that's an odd analogy…but it was an odd sensation.)  We've been wanting to untangle the knots and kinks that the writers have tossed in Clark's relationships for some time now, and it was a relief to have Chloe calmly begin unknotting.  Nevertheless, it felt like Chloe lacked some dimension this episode.  She was good, she was worthy, she did the right thing…but she lacked motivation.  It would have made her character so much more empathetic and compelling if she were struggling with feelings for Clark while doing the right thing.  For the past two seasons, Chloe's only motivation has been "the desire to make things all right".  I love Chloe; I think she deserves to be more than the smoother-out of relational wrinkles.
3. "When I was with Clark, I would have said Yes without hesitating."  I was unclear on this.  Was Lana saying that, while dating Clark, she would have agreed to marry Lex?  At first I thought that was what she meant, and it seemed rather ludicrous.  However, I think she was supposed to be saying that she would have agreed to marry Clark any time he asked. However, we know from seeing S5 that Lana tended to make their relationship either airheadedly flirtatious, purely carnal, or funereal - nothing a marriage should be based on. We also know from "Reckoning" that Lana, even when she found out Clark's secret, had to deliberate before she said Yes. Here Lana, without even addressing Clark's secret, is romanticizing the past. A meaningful insight into her slowly shifting, very subjective perspective...or a complete lack of continuity?
4. When my brother and I first heard the concept of this episode, my brother jokingly offered a few corny suggestions: "They'll have people telling their secrets, and then a camera shot of a puddle of water…she can just jump into the water cooler!" etc.  It was unnerving to see them actually go with such predictable reveals.  I think it was unwise of the writers to choose water-transforming as the power of the week: there were too many stretches of our credulity as a result.  Case in point: When we all saw the Linda Lake water cooler, how many viewers immediately thought, "Yeah right, what if someone takes a drink?"
   
5. "I have my connections." "No, really."  That was a cute moment.  It was an interesting concept, having Lois and Jimmy working together without knowing it.
6. Lois seemed preoccupied this episode.  I appreciate it when she isn't so over-the-top; but she seemed to lose her motivation, and I couldn't really detect a lot of feeling in what she said.
   
7. "Hey, Chloe."  Clark comes in and smiles at Chloe, waiting expectantly.  This was a rather strange set-up.  It seemed like they were expecting to see each other.  Had they agreed to meet?  Why would they agree to meet at the Talon instead of at the Planet?  Chloe was just at the Planet, getting ready to have lunch with Lana; why would she drive all the way from Metropolis to Smallville to see Clark?  And Chloe, instead of wearing the very professional clothing she usually wears, was in a casual outfit, including a grey sweatshirt.  I don't think I've ever seen her dressed that way before.  I felt like I'd been dropped in the middle of the scene without any context.
   
8. "It says here it's because of me."  We caught that, Clark.  That ties with "Chloe, these attacks form a straight line!" for strangely obvious Clark lines.  Even if it weren't obvious, it wasn't realistic.  Clark wouldn't be so blasé.  He would read it – read it again – look at Chloe to see if this was some sort of joke.  It's not.  Look back at it, and slowly realize that he and Lana are closer than he thought.  Instead, he calmly examines the issue: "It says here it's because of me."  He might as well have been sitting at the kitchen table saying, "It says here that there are going to be more crops this year." 
9. "What could be more complicated than living with regrets?"  Clark looks at Chloe, excited and eager.  This was another strange reaction.  Does he expect to swoop in, steal his girlfriend back, and smirk at Lex?  He just found out that Lex proposed to Lana.  That should have been a huge blow.  Yes, the fact that Lana may still care for him throws a new dynamic in the mix…but if he's the same Clark he used to be, he cares more about what's right for Lana than what he wants.  He's been concerned for her, and he's been tender around her ("Subterranean" excepted).  Now he should be in gentle, self-sacrificial mode, knowing that Lana may choose to marry Lex, but hoping to discern what she really wants and what is truly best for her.  Instead he looks like a kid headed to a birthday party.  Everyone seemed emotionally shallow this episode.
   
10. "I don't know what to say." "Then let me.  'When I was with Clark…'"  Lex starts to dramatically read the quote.  My brother and I burst out laughing at this point.  I don't know whether it was supposed to be funny, but I still laugh thinking about it.  Lex Luthor, the serious, troubled genius, reading a girl's dialogue with such feeling…
11. "Mr. Luthor, you have a visitor."  This was an interesting moment.  It showed that Lex had been expecting Clark.  Naturally Clark would have asked for Lana; but the guard told Lex, and deliberately withheld the visitor's name.  He must have been told beforehand what to do.
12. Lana's phone rang forever.  It distracted from the moment; I found myself counting the rings.
13. Clark and Lex immediately became 10 years old.  "I'm afraid you just missed her."  Lex lies so his girl won't talk to her ex.  Is that spite or childish insecurity?  Either way, he sounds like a teenager.  "I'll come back later."  Clark says this as if he's flinging some momentous news in Lex's face.  "So you really think you can convince her?"  Lex takes the opportunity to gloat over the only close friend he ever had.  They were both so hateful.  And they had been through so much together.
14. Clark jumps on him.  "We both know you swept in after – " "After you crushed her?"  Good point, Lex.  What exactly is Clark's accusation?  He had already assured Lana that he didn't love her.  Lex waited until the coast was clear.  "You knew she was vulnerable, and you played her until she thought she was in love with you."  1) That's rather condescending.  Clark never used to speak of Lana like she was a trophy.  Lex did, but Clark didn't.  She's not an object, to use a strategy upon.  2) That's not true.  We've seen Lex's feelings for Lana slowly developing ever since Season Two.  And Lana hasn't been indifferent to Lex either.  Whatever this is, it's not just a fling.  "If you really see Lana as that naïve, you obviously don't think as much of her as I do."  Again, Lex makes a good point.
15. And then Clark gets ugly.  "It must be eating at you that she's hesitating…wondering why she hasn't given you an answer."  Taunting.  That's right, Clark Kent is taunting his old friend.  Lex is pushed to the edge.  "I guess it would, if I didn't know what the answer was going to be.  See, I highly doubt she'll say No, Clark.  Now that she's carrying my child."  That was Lex's greatest blow…and it was much more civilized than Clark's.
16. Which brings me to my real point.  When do two people reach "enemy" status?  When they're not speaking, not friends, or when they're taking every opportunity to take each other down?  Because I don't think Clark and Lex should dive into that last stage.  It's not realistic for either of them.  They should be ultra-cautious and untrusting.  But they should have a mutual private respect for each other.  They're grown men.  And they know each other too well and have loved each other too well to spite each other this way.  (Platonically speaking.)
17. "Chloe, come on.  You're going to tell me that someone on 'roid rage is going to lie down in a koi pond and call it a day?"  The best lines of the episode go to Jimmy.  This was well-phrased and convincing.
18. "Oh, please. This pulp rag lives or dies by my column!" "Ugh!  Get out!"  Chloe wasn't the only one lacking motivation: Linda Lake looked as if she had come straight from the comic books, in a two-dimensional way.  The most compelling Smallville villain that comes to mind for me is Gabriel – tormented and human.  Linda Lake was tormenting and metallic.  Perhaps if her character had been played differently, we could have read some subtext and found her more compelling.
    
19. "Just get me anything you can on Clark Kent and Lana Lang."  This was an interesting moment, making Question #1 in my book: Will they follow up on this?  Here's the issue: Lex had some motivation for this extravagant offer.  Did he a) not trust Lana to stay away from Clark – making him just as untrusting as Clark, b) want to see if Linda Lake had any special powers, or c) want to use the information he gathered as leverage against someone?  The last is improbable, since there's nobody to use the leverage against; the second is unlikely, since there were much easier ways of finding out; which leaves the first.  Lex didn't trust Lana.  The question is whether Lana will find out that Lex didn't trust her.  She may find out that he made out some billion-dollar check to Linda Lake, and start asking questions.  This moment definitely needs follow-up.
20. The scene between Clark and Lois was dialoguishly weird.  (That's a word of my own coining.)  I seemed to be missing the point of half of Clark's comments.  "I guess that's what reporters do, don't they?"  Clark seems to be venting some hostility here.  But toward whom?  Lois is sympathizing with him.  "Okay, I think that little zinger just ricocheted off Linda Lake and hit me." "Look, I'm sorry.  It's just – people keep secrets for a reason."  What?  First Clark tosses an angry comment at Lois, then excuses it by saying that people keep secrets for a reason.  In other words, secrets should be kept secret.  But who is he reproaching?  Lois didn't spill a secret…Chloe didn't spill a secret…the only reporter who spilled a secret was Linda Lake, and he reacted to her column with excitement.  At first I thought he might be angry at Chloe (hence his reporter comment) and that the "secret" was Lana's pregnancy…but Chloe kept the secret.  So why is he saying that people keep secrets for a reason? 
21. "I think a secret is just a big loophole in the whole 'Thou shalt not lie' clause."  That was excellently phrased.  Jimmy and Lois have far better lines than Chloe this week.  I could see Chloe using that line in S3.
22. "The Green Arrow – a.k.a. Oliver Queen."  Clark comprehends.  "Oliver."  He had the perfect delivery here – you could see his understanding and relief.
23. "I need proof first – definitive proof.  That's where I thought you might come in handy."  What did that mean?  Obviously she didn't have any ideas on how he might come in handy, since in their next scene, Clark tells her that he's decided she's right and suggests a plan.
24. The scene ended with incongruous music, sounding like a cross between horns and a hole-punch.
25. "I swear, I'm losing my scare reflex because of you."  That was a nice touch.  Their encounter needed to be unexpected so Clark could explain himself, but too many unexpected encounters between the same two people become repetitive.  This was a nice twist…and it's always good to see their level of comfort around each other, the instinctive knowledge of each other.
26. "Lois asked me to – " "Oh, please, Clark.  Are you going to tell me why you're digging in Lois's purse, Snoop Dogg?"  Chloe doesn't buy it for a minute – she knows when he's lying.  That was a nice touch.
27. "Jimmy?  He's moonlighting for Lois?" "I guess we all have secrets to keep."  Clark suddenly remembers that he's supposed to be mad at her.  He gets a self-pitying look on his face.  "You should know that better than anyone right now."  He walks slowly past her, confronts her with his back to her.  Nice.  "You knew that Lana was pregnant, didn't you?"  It's a wonder Clark has any friends left.  He should appreciate Chloe so much more than he does.  When it comes down to it, she's always been a good friend.  Even when she impulsively made a deal with Lionel…she never considered following through on it.  She has always shielded Clark, and he's always about his dramatic confrontations.
    
28. "Clark, before you unload your anger on me, can I just say that I think it is incredibly unfair that everyone trusts me to keep their secrets; and then they turn around and throw me attitude, for keeping someone else's secret!  Look, I'm sorry that I had to take a two-second breather, from hiding the fact that you are an alien from another planet, to protect someone else for a change!  God!"  This wasn't Chloe's most well-spoken speech, run-on and broken-up as it was…but for the hurt, indignant, broken state of mind she was in, it was perfect.
    
29. Clark's look of remorse was such a relief.  It was good to know that he did have a heart, after all.  When he moved forward and hugged her, it almost reminded me of "Truth".
    
30. During Chloe's music, the incessant shrieking violin music escalating to spooky tones was going on again.  Strange music, not fitting the moment.  And it kept on appearing throughout the episode.
31. "You had that coming, you know?"  Clark nods.  At this point, a strand of hair was swept across his forehead.  I don't know if it was intentional or not, but it made him look very Supermanly. -Ish. -Like. Whichever you prefer. The curl also appeared in an earlier scene, though it wasn't as pronounced.
    
    
32. "For the record, I prefer 'intergalactic traveler' to 'alien from another planet'."  This was sweet – not highly intellectual, but sweet.
33. "How much does Lana Lang's personal life boost newspaper sales these days?"  This was harsh, but I could see how Lana would be protective and angry.  She was feeling particularly vulnerable just then.  "Okay, I was expecting that.  But to be honest, I was kind of hoping you'd give me the benefit of the doubt. [aside] There's a shortage of that today."  Chloe again handled herself very well.  Her grace and capability here make her sudden failure at the end of the episode all the more bewildering.
34. "That article recites our conversation verbatim." "Do you honestly think I would betray you, Lana?" "What other explanation is there?" "I don't know, but the Lana Lang I know would at least give me a chance to find one."  Chloe says she doesn't know, but a minute later she reveals a promising lead.  Yet the "I don't know" works well.  I think the promising lead on Linda Lake should have come in a later scene, right before the spying-on-Linda scene – Chloe calls and asks Lana to meet her there, or something similar.
35. "After Clark I guess I'm so jaded.  I don't even know what to expect from my friends any more." It was a relief to have Lana – like Clark – be open to correction and gracious about admitting her own weakness.
36. "So I take it the conversation didn't go so well." "Conversation?" "Clark left the Talon to go talk to you." "About what?" "Well – I don't – " Chloe sighs.  "I should just put a bag over my head that says, 'If you want to keep a secret, don't tell me.'"  Again, well-handled by Chloe.
37. "Really?  Because I've been doing some thinking on my own, and maybe I don't want to know."  Lois was overlooked this episode.  They showed her telling Clark how she felt…but they never showed her feeling it.  They should have shown her pacing in the Talon…hesitating…looking at pictures of Oliver…and realizing that she's swoonily in love with him.  (That's another coined word.)  Instead she keeps talking about it.
38. "No!  I'm not okay!  I think I'm in love with Oliver!"  This was a good delivery.  It would have been stronger if she'd looked at his picture first.
39. "I swear, the guy could tell me he was from Mars right now, and I would find a way to dismiss it as an endearing quirk."  This was an excellent line because it would make perfect sense and even be witty apart from the mythology.  Miles above the "Commencement" double-meanings.  Kudos to Kelly and Brian.
40. "I hate that you know me like that."  Again, a good moment.  She and Clark have somehow jolted through their relationship and ended up like brother and sister.  I'm not sure how it happened – after "Crusade" I never really saw a believable bonding process – but somehow I was able to accept the concluding point.
41. "Oh.  Good one, Lois."  That was so unexpected.  That made me laugh.
42. At first I wasn't sure why Jimmy showed up at the scene.  Then I realized that he was just supposed to stay hidden and take pictures…it wasn't part of the plan for him to pop out and help Lois attack the thugs.  Somehow his unhesitating leap into the fray made him ten times more endearing.  Jimmy has had some bland moments, but he was lovable this episode
43. Lois kisses Clark.  Then draws back and stares at him.  "You're, uh…" "That's a h*** of a thank you."  Lois looks at Oliver…then turns around and slaps Clark.  What was that?  She was the one who grabbed him and kissed him, though he certainly kissed back.  Maybe it was guilt…guilt that she had enjoyed someone else's kiss so much.  But it was unreasonable…and it was quite a contrast to her giggly Talon scene later.
44. Interesting that Clark seemed rather exhilarated as he threw back the Green Arrow hood.
    
45. "I can't believe this is so easy."  Lana had a witchy delivery here.  I'm not sure why.
46. "Since we're eavesdropping, can you find out what else she has on Lex and me?"  Interesting…I wonder what Lana expected.  Maybe news of her pregnancy.
47. "And here I thought your hatred was just professional jealousy.  Who knew you were covering such a scandalous secret?"  Chloe looks at the microphone/camera.  We think she'll smash it.  Knock it over.  Toss it out the window.  Something.  Instead, Chloe delivers her worst line.  "You're actually going to strake your reputation on this tabloid garbage that's not fit for the Inquisitor?"  Then she delivers a potentially good line, but it sounds a bit more like a concession than a challenge.  "Nobody's going to believe you."  Now she's going to smash the microphone/camera, right?  No.
48. "Oh, of course they will.  I have a very trustworthy source…you."  This line could have been eliminated completely. They didn't need it: from the writers' perspective, Lana already knows that Chloe has been keeping a secret that Linda wants to publish. From Linda's perspective, Linda is hardly going to announce, "You have to believe me – I got it straight from the intern!"  A more likely reaction from Linda would have been, "Oh, they will.  And even if they don't, my life and his will never be the same." And from the viewer's perspective...we already knew that she got her information from Chloe.
    
49. Chloe and Linda begin to slowly circle the table.  At this point, I was certain that either Linda was going to blurt out something, or Chloe was going to smash the microphone/camera (whatever it was).  Instead, the monologuing continued.  "And no doubt if anyone goes looking for proof…well, I think they're going to find it."  Why?  She hasn't seen Clark do anything.  She and Clark haven't had any Daily Planet conversations this episode.  Then she abruptly changes the subject.  "But I must say, I am impressed.  Here you were sitting on a story that could have earned you a major headline, and you chose to protect your friend instead."  What relevance does this have?
50. "Not a hard decision to make when you actually care about someone." Chloe accepts the tangent, perhaps because she wanted the conversation to keep going in circles while Lana was watching.  "Well, it's values like that that keep your career in the basement."  Then Linda tires of this subject and goes on to another one.  "Don't you just love the Internet?" This is the neverending confrontation.
51. Chloe finally notices the hammer.  We expect her to grab it.  "Do you know, with one touch of a button, I can be on every major talk show?"  At this point, I found it difficult to accept the idea that, with Lana watching, Linda had managed to dance around the issue for so long.  She had gone off on every tangent possible, and she was still going.  "And everyone at YouTube will know that your farmboy friend is really an – "  Finally, Chloe smashes – not the microphone/camera – but the laptop itself.  Effective.  Unfortunately, by the time it actually happened, my excitement had run out of steam.  It was a bit like watching the end of "Return of the King"…I wanted to say, "Oh, come, now."
52. Even though Chloe is armed with a hammer, Linda manages to slap her face hard enough that she bleeds.  Then she sticks the last word in, in case Chloe doesn't know.  "Alien!"  I could see this working in a comic book, but not on television.
53. Chloe tears out of the building, then stops and stands in the middle of Metropolis looking around.  Ironically, this seemed almost like a replay of the opening scene, Drug Guy standing stock-still outside the building.  At first I thought she had stopped to call Clark, but she didn't…why?  She kept overlooking the obvious answers.
54. "You want to rise above sea level, you'd better sharpen your teeth!"  What does that mean?  I'm still stumped.
55. As the water zig-zagged down the hood, trickled onto the street, and splashed into the gutter, my brother and I both wondered, "So…is she really dead?"  We wondered for so long that the scene started to take on a comedic tone as they overlooked the question that everyone was asking.
56. "Oh my God.  What happened to your face? "Oh, you should see the other guy."  That was hilarious.  Everyone cracked up laughing.  Jimmy was perfect in this episode – swaggering, not too geeky, not too out there.  There's something endearing about that image of an easily intimidated guy getting a confidence boost.  He was on a roll.
    
57. "Who did that to you?" "You can put your dueling pistol away, it was just a workplace scuffle.  You were right about Lake."  Interesting moment.  It was Jimmy's theory that Linda Lake had some sort of power?  I wish they had gone a little further into this plotline.
58. "Looks like we're 2 for 2 tonight, huh!"  Another outright hilarious moment.  Characters can get away with almost anything if they have a sense of humor.  Lex's sense of humor was what made us root for him in the first seasons; Lionel's more grim sense of humor gave him piquancy; now Jimmy is apparently the one with a sense of humor.  You don't see the others taking things that way any more.  This was refreshing.
59. "Always thought he was super-cool, I didn't realize he was superhuman."  This wasn't as good a line as the Mars line, but it was still credible, and therefore enjoyable.  Jimmy is the type of guy to admire a hero.
60. "Luckily Oliver showed up while our hero was still around, but it looks like you were way off base about him!"  Chloe's giddiness was amusing as she tugged Clark into the Talon…but it began to look strange when Lois barely offered a comment.  Chloe ran the conversation.  Usually Lois would insert herself into the conversation, but this time she let Chloe run the show.
61. It was oddly disturbing that Chloe and Lois felt like they could engage in pure, unadulterated girl talk with Clark.  "And the craziest part is he chucked a guy across an alley, right?" "Oh yeah." Lois giggles. "And then supersped away.  I mean, who does that?"  Later, "Oh, she knew before he showed up." "You did?" Lois nods, smiling, really very girly.  "Ask her how." "How?" "I kissed him." "Isn't that romantic?" "Uh." "Oh, I'm sorry, Lois, finish the story." "Uh."  Chloe slaps Clark in the stomach with the back of her hand.  Let Lois tell her girl story!  "This is the best part," she offers, confidentially.  And Lois tells her story as if she were telling a fellow female.  "Well, he was holding me in his arms, and – Ollie's a good kisser, don't get me wrong – but that Green Arrow?  He could teach Oliver a thing or two."  And Chloe and Lois smile at each other.  I somehow found it offensive to Clark's manhood that they would both carry on this conversation with him.  (Clark's final comment: "Hm.")
62. I found it hard to believe that Chloe, after delivering such a well-spoken speech to Clark on why she kept other peoples' secrets, couldn't say the same thing to Lana.  Did she think she could trick Lana into thinking it had never happened?  Chloe should know better.  All she had to say was, "I didn't betray you...don't ask me to betray Clark."  Instead, she somehow managed to say exactly the wrong things with exactly the worst kind of hesitation.  This felt staged.
63. Here's a replay: Chloe comes to her desk.  "Hey.  You took off early last night.  You okay?" "I just keep running what happened through my head." We all know what she means.  Chloe deliberately takes it the wrong way.  "Lana, you can't blame yourself.  It wasn't your fault." We admire her ingenuity.  Nice one.  But Lana isn't going with it.  "That part I'm pretty clear on," she says.  We admire her guts.  She isn't letting go.  And here Chloe starts going wrong.  She refuses to accept what Lana is saying.  "Look, nobody wanted to see her die.  But if you hadn't come when you did, it would have been my obit on the front page.  Maybe.  Of section D.  Anyway, um, thank you again."  Lana is looking at her steadily.  We wonder if she's going to walk out.  But again, she confronts it.  "How do you do that?  Just brush it under the rug as if nothing happened?"  And Chloe makes things worse.  "Lana, Linda wasn't the first freak of nature who went psycho."  Lana knows she's not an idiot – she's not talking about Linda.  This is bordering on the absurd.  But Lana keeps on going.  "No.  I mean whatever it is you're protecting about Clark."  She has neatly cornered Chloe.  And Chloe should know that she's cornered.  Now's the time to say what she just said to Clark: "Clark trusts me to keep his secrets.  You can't ask me to betray that."  Instead Chloe pretends.  "I don't know what you're talking about."  This is her first flat-out lie, and Lana recognizes it.  "Yes, you do.  Some secret about a farmboy made you take a hammer to her computer before I could hear the rest.  Come on, Chloe, I'm not that naïve.  Whatever it is you two have been hiding, do you really expect me to keep looking the other way?"  Lana has placed the issue straight in front of us.  She knows that Chloe knows Clark's secret.  She's being perfectly up front with it.  And still, Chloe the Direct somehow can't handle that level of honesty.  "Linda was grasping at straws.  She's always looking for her next story – you know that better than anyone."  Lana is about to give up.  She turns around to leave, and Chloe finally realizes the lies aren't working.  "Lana – I would never do anything to hurt you."  This is essentially a concession that she's keeping Clark's secret for a reason.  So…why doesn't she just say, "I'm keeping Clark's secret for a reason"?  She knows Lana well enough that saying that would end the conversation.  Instead Lana pauses, then says, "That's what Clark always says."  (For some reason, the background music is spooky music with chimes.)  We're left wondering whether that's a good thing or a bad thing…and trying to figure out how Chloe the former master of wordplay can be reduced to such transparent deception and lack of intuition.
64. Lana shows up in the loft, looking beautiful.  She looks so much older and more elegant this season.  "Sorry that you had to find out like this."  At this point, I was still trying to figure out if saying what Clark says is good or bad, since her attraction for Clark is obviously alive and well.
65. "It's okay.  You don't have to tell me every little detail of your life any more."  Does that imply that when they were dating, she had to tell him every little detail of her life?  It would have been better if he'd said, "You're not obligated to tell me these things."  Less condescending, more honest.
66. "…as messed up as it is, you were the first person I wanted to tell."  I found it difficult to accept this statement.  Lana has been so resentful of Clark, complaining about him to Jason, to Lex, convincing herself that he has hurt her…we haven't seen any traces of the gratitude, the trust, the fascination that marked their initial relationship.  Why did she want to tell him?
67. Lana tells Clark that, even when they aren't talking, he is a part of her life and always will be.  She's trying to put that into perspective.  This implies that she's drawing boundaries that she won't cross with him.  She then proceeds to beg him to cross the boundaries.  "Whatever secret Chloe is helping you to protect, Clark, please, just once, just trust me."  She's almost crying.  What is she thinking?
    
                   Lana, from this...                                  ...to this.
68. Clark handled himself so well in this scene.  He wants to tell her.  But he's trained himself now.  He's more self-disciplined.  His facial muscles twitch – but his voice is steady.  "It doesn't matter now." "Clark, don't do that." "I know about the baby.  Lex told me.  Everything's changed."  His self control, his desire, all were evident.  Lana could see it as well as we could.  It's enough to make her love him even more.  This was a good scene for Clark.
    
69. Lana is so needy that she tries again.  "Even the fact that you told me that you look back at the past and regret it every day?  Has that changed too?"  She's trying to win him back, on the verge of her engagement, in the middle of her pregnancy, while she's living with his ex-friend.  Lana is dysfunctional.  She starts to leave.  Clark calls after her.  "Lana.  I hope Lex makes you very happy."  He says it kindly.  He's saying the right thing, not really meaning it, not hoping that he'll fool her, but to let her know that he wants to be friends.  This was the right thing for him to do.
70. Was Lana supposed to know her own mind?  The beginning of her speech – "You've been so patient…" – sounded like a refusal.  And it only got more negative: "I went to see Clark." "And?" "And I love him.  I love both of you.  And maybe I always will.  Lex, I couldn't say Yes to you knowing that I might look back with regrets.  You deserve better than that."  If that wasn't a refusal, it was a very cruel beginning for an acceptance speech.
    
71. "Lana, with the life I've led, I go to bed praying every night that I don't get what I deserve.  You get bitter and vengeful…and then you meet someone who's so good that she might be the one person who could learn to love you."  This was oddly put.  It wasn't until I wrote it out that I understood it.  I know the gist is that he doesn't deserve better than that, she's a gift.  But I didn't understand why her goodness and his bitterness and vengefulness made them compatible.  (In fact, I'm still not quite clear on that point.)
72. "I woud wait forever for that." "You don't have to.  I'm done looking back.  I have someone right in front of me who I know trusts me.  And who lets me see sides of him no one else does." She's sending mixed messages.  Lex looks blank.  "Just for clarification." "Yes, Lex Luthor.  I will marry you."  And this time the music is celebratory.  This was an interesting contrast to the ominous proposal ending.