Season 3, Episode 19: Memoria

 

"Memoria"

Episode 19

Air Date: April 28th, 2004

I swear as much as show runners Al and Miles would go on to completely lose sight of their vision for their Superman origin story by the tail end of their tenure on the series, it's hard to believe they completely loss interest for the show and ran out of ideas when the early years produced such riveting and award worthy episodes like this.  "Memoria" is a testament to not only the best of their writing but the best that Smallville had to offer as they cement the reason why their iteration of Lex Luthor is the most compelling and complex that has ever made to the big or small screen before or since this episode.  If that wasn't profound enough, Michael Rosenbaum gives, once again, a tour de force performance of his career, continuing to show why he had such a HUGE fanbase because of this series as his portrayal of Lex just grows more insightful and psychologically mesmerizing with one of the finest episodes to center around the iconic villain. Continuing right from where "Delete" left us off, Lex has been seeing Dr. Garner at Summerholt to try to recover the 7 weeks that were ripped from his mind thanks to Lionel forcing electroshock therapy on his son for knowing the truth of his murderous past.  But instead of moving that plot point forward, Al and Miles brilliantly use Lex's search of his loss memories as a way to reveal more of his tragic past as a young boy in the Luthor family.  Miles Miller not only gets to show off his incredible writing skills but his breathtaking direction as Lex's memories flood into his waking reality so seamlessly as the scenes switch him being present in reality before abruptly going back to his heartbreaking childhood as he is forced to remember parts of his past he has long since buried in the recesses of his mind.  

I have to say Walsh Dalglish who plays young Lex really is special and so sweet in the role, playing opposite side John Glover so comfortably yet wanting him to desperately hold him because of how genuine heartbreaking his performance is.  In each scene, you truly feel bad for Lex at such a young age, watching the horrific dysfunction of his family, especially seeing how unhappy his mother was when giving birth to Julian and knowing Lionel's awful plans to parent both his children.  It's great to finally see Lex's mother onscreen and Alisen Down makes for another sensational guest star; showing Lillian's regret and pain as she fears her new born becoming tormented like Lex has been by Lionel.  Before I talk about that shocking, gut wrenching reveal flashback at the end, I really must also bring up John Glover as I can't tell you how truly masterful and gifted he is.  What a treasure of an actor! His performance in the flashbacks and especially the present are just gloriously delivered.  My god, he made me absolutely hate Lionel more than ever yet feel so completely sorry and sympathetic for him in the same episode.  Seriously, award worthy material as well as performances here for the show.  The flashback where Lex learns the truth about his young brother's death and tells Lionel is by far the most emotional overwhelming scenes of the series.  How both Michael Rosenbaum and John Glover play off each other, especially when Lionel tries to reach out to his son for not loving him for so long but Lex just pulls away.  Ehhhhhh, stop cutting onions please! :_(

But this wasn't just a major breakthrough for Lex's journey to villainy, but Clark's meddling forces him into a terrifying situation at first where he goes to Lionel so he can stop Lex from continuing to go to Garner to recover his memories.  Clearly poor Clark is in over his head as I remember what Jonathan said a couple episodes ago that despite all of Clark's powers there are simply people out there with more power and influence than him.  We see this first with that hilariously chilling moment that Lionel reveals to Clark the real reason why he's coming to him with that old video of Lex at the asylum and when Lionel double crosses him by forcing Garner to find out the truth about where he comes from. I couldn't help but really feel scared for Clark but what came after that is truly another special moment from the series. Clark is forced to remember his first memory and its of his biological mother, Lara, when his parents put him in the spaceship to send him to Earth.  It's truly a powerful scene and I absolutely adore how the writers follow it up with that remarkable ending where Clark shares his memory with Martha...for her only to reveal that his first word was his biological mother's name.  It's heartwarming, clever and so beautifully shot as well as acted by both Tom and Annette.  God, these characters are just timeless. Honestly, I haven't said nearly enough about this one. Memoria is possibly the second darkest episode for the show this season after Asylum with psychological deconstruction of Lex Luthor that is just timeless as well as horrifying moments of a dead Julian being revealed and our valiant superpowered savior being double crossed in the most sinister way.  It's easily one of the best episodes of the series and a must watch for any fan of Superman or Lex Luthor rather! :)

Final Kryptonite: A+(+++)