Episode 2.07
“Lineage”
Lineage was a great episode to rinse the bad taste of Redux out of our minds. Instead with Lineage we get some great backgrounds on almost all of our main characters in one way another in a tale that is both suspenseful and thought provoking.
It all centers on Rachel Dunlevy. It seems that a long time ago Rachel worked with Lionel and became quite close. So close in fact that she bore an illegitimate child with him whom Lionel forced her to give up for adoption. After doing research, she is convinced that Clark is that boy.
She is slightly mad at this point and won’t accept any other possibility. She even forces a court order to get the DNA checked. Of course this is problematic for Clark and the Kents.
During this time we get to see the secrets behind the sham of an adoption that the Kents put together regarding Clark. We learn that Lionel Luthor was the one who got it through and we also learn how that came to be. It seems that the same day the Kents found Clark, they also helped Lionel save Lex. Lionel turned around and offered to help Jonathan with Clark, but also coerced Jonathan to help convince the Ross family to sell their corn farm to Luthorcorp. This is why Jonathan hates the Luthors so much. He feels responsible for everything bad that Luthorcorp has done to Smallville.
It’s a great sequence though and we see that Lex and Clark met far earlier than originally thought.
It’s great seeing Lex react to the possibility that Clark is actually his brother. Even though the viewers know it’s not true, it’s still good to watch. What works for the viewers is that Dunlevy’s story makes so much sense if that one critical piece of information (namely that Clark is an alien from Krypton) that it’s hard to tell what actually did happen.
When Clark gets his DNA sample taken, it’s obvious that Clark will have to switch it somehow. Clark and Pete break into the lab and switch Clark’s sample with a swab from Pete. The tests prove that “Clark” is not Rachel’s baby, but she still refuses to believe it. She confronts Lionel and accuses him of switching the tests but Lionel doesn’t even seem concerned.
Rachel kidnaps Lex, to force Lionel to confess their love affair at a press conference. Lionel refuses and Rachel goes to kill Lex, but Clark intercedes. Rachel sees Clark’s gifts and it is enough to show her that he is not her son, but her grasp on reality snaps. She is committed.
Meanwhile Lana has the courage to find Henry Small and drops the bombshell on him. He initially freaks out and tells her that he has a family and that she should stay away from him. After some downtime he changes his mind and says he’s willing to find out one way or another.
When Lex confronts Lionel about his womanizing past, Lionel tells him that the baby had died not long after birth, but as Lex leaves Lionel opens a locket with a strand of hair and a picture of a young boy and he smiling.
Overall an intriguing episode that is well crafted.
A-
References:
Patrick Cassidy who plays Henry Small has a Superman past – he played Leslie Luckabee, supposedly Lex Luthor’s son on Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman