Abbreviated reactions: Cure was great. Action was so-so. I loved the tense Clex scenes, where Lex not only helps Clark but is in control (Cure) and, since he sees himself as a hero, he sort of foreshadows his and Clark's dual solitude (Action); Dean Cain/Dr. Knox is awesome (Cure); Lois and Grant's flirting is quite entertaining (Action); I'm thrilled Chloe is still Clark's official sidekick (Action); I'm intrigued by Lex's continued attempts to expose Clark's superhuman nature, only to find himself derailed again (gives the homicidal Warrior Angel fan his collection in the hopes of getting him to confess and identify Clark as a superhero but the young man decidedly keeps quiet, Action); and Lionel is back, calling Lana on her crap (Action)!

1. Why did Lana pay someone to hack into Lex's security system? (Cure) The reason she'll confess to -- Leverage and control. She wants information on Lex's dealings to expose him. She may even say she's giving Lex a taste of his own medicine. Added to that, she gets a little control finally. From Sneeze and Wither to Promise, she implied she felt a loss of control about how she lived in the house and how she married Lex. Now, she may relish knowing she has some control within Lex's environment the way he previously had with her. If the "Wrath" description is any indication, she wants to use whatever she learns to publicly expose what he's done.

The reason she may not readily confess to -- Obsessive fascination. I agree with those who say her expression is not one of hate per se, and that is due to Kristin's interpretation of the character in that moment. Although the cameras have a timed rotation, Lana evidently manipulates the controls by using up/down buttons to zoom in/out and change frames. If she has some control over what she wants to see and she's only interested in uncovering his wicked deeds, then wouldn't the writers, director and editors want the computer screen to be the last frame? Why end on her looking at Lex's face? This may only be a means to an end, but the more she watches him, the more he remains in her life.

2. Lex's knowledge of Lana's hijinks (Cure, Action). If Lex is fully truthful in his conversation with Clark at the hospital in Cure, he may not know Lana's methods although aware of her intent. In Action, Lois tips him off about the land that someone with L.L. initials purchased near Reeves Dam. Intentional or not, it's convenient for Lana because Lex continues to get heat by default for all the crap she pulls. Yet, one would think that after realizing Lana knew current information about his dealings with Knox in Cure, he'd sic someone on her to undercover how she's acquiring information. He's been back to his brainy self since Bizarro and even if he doesn't yet know that she's having him watched, after evaluating all that she's done to him and to his father, he might already be putting all the pieces together. We'll have to wait/see. He and Lionel are gathering enough counter-leverage to consume her if they'd like, but will they use it?

My analytical fervor for Smallville has evaporated thanks to Al and Miles' handling of L/L. But so far I've watched the first three eps of the season. I'm just taking things week-by-week. At the rate things are going, I don't think I'll be missing very much if I do choose to miss an eppy.

Now, Fierce! What a bad episode. Oh so bad. Bad. I ended up flipping between channels and I still caught a good bit of it. It proved to be as textually disappointing as it sounded in spoilers and it felt choppy. All of Lex's scenes (even with Lana) were the only substantive parts. I unexpectedly missed Lionel and Lois tonight.

1. Clana. I don't think I saw all of their scenes, but Clana wasn't nauseating. They seemed kind of pointless, underwhelming, and worn-out. If I was a Clana fan, then maybe I would be thrilled, but how weird Clana are.  And boring!  Did Clark even ask any questions? He just seemed to happy she was there, any old explanation she gave was fine. However, there was foreshadowing about the breaking of their illusions, delivered by Lex and even Lana herself.  I think Labyrinth Lana is the Lana we'll be seeing with Clark for much of the season.

2. Season mood. I've said before that S7's start feels like the beginning of S5, especially from Lex's end -- he finds Lana first, he watches her cavort with Clark and blatantly treat him like dirt, he gets fixated on Kryptonians, and he becomes interested in a spaceship.  Believe me, Lex is still Lex. He's just more subtle than we hoped for S7 Lex, but the Lex in "Fierce" is smart, perceptive and intent.

3. Lex/Lana. Strangely enough, I'm growing to accept Lex and Lana's current antagonistic chemistry given the context of their recent interactions. Their antagonistic chemistry may actually meet their romantic/sexual/kissing chemistry if well-written. But given all of Al and Miles annoying interviews it doesn't appear that L/L will ever have any interaction other than antagonistic. They'll unlikely even tread a combative sexual relationship that some are hoping for after their Shanghai rendez vous. It will be interesting, but I don't see the EPs going in that direction, especially since losing Lana's love is apparently partly responsible for Lex's dark course ::head aches::

My review for "Freak" is finally up at Confessions. At the moment, I'm really busy with some other writing projects, but I really enjoyed this episode more than I anticipated. Major props to Mr. Rosenbaum for delivering his vision so precisely. As usual, the original draft of my review was rather lengthy and required shaving. Below the cut are three short paragraphs that I had to delete, but needed to save somewhere.

My review for Rage is up at Confessions. This is the unrefined, unedited version of a section discussing Lex, Oliver, and Clark's exchanges.

Now, Lex and Lana. Lex and Lana's personalities fascinate me, especially as they are both evolving into darker people. However, they bring their flaws and dysfunction into their relationships. The emotionality and desperation to hold on to each other in Vessel indicated a potential co-dependence between them. I could be wrong, but this chatty discussion was omitted from Vessel's review at Confessions for it's length and premature context.