Episode Report Card Omar G: A | 3 USERS: A+ YOU GRADE IT Heeeeeeee's Nuts
By Omar G | Season 3 | Episode 8 | Aired on 11.18.2003
Some sort of maximum-security prison-type place. A searchlight is going and there's fog. A sign says it's Belle Reve Sanitarium. And unless you're crazy, you should Keep Out. Belle Reve, incidentally, is the homestead (it means, "Beautiful Dream") that Blanche Dubois lost in A Streetcar Named Desire. Inside, Doctor Unamused, wearing a white lab coat, is walking down a hallway. She's stopped by Papa Luthor, who was hiding behind some shelves, looking all scary. He asks why these institutions always "stink of ammonia." She doesn't answer. He asks how Lex is doing. She says that, now that he's committed, she can control his meds more tightly. She says that by the time they finish treatment, he won't have any short-term memory left. Papa Luthor sighs. "Wasn't that exactly what you wanted?" she asks. He looks at her sharply: "Never believe for a second, doctor, that this is what I wanted. I love my son more than life itself. But he leaves me no choices." Papa Luthor steps forward as the familiar strains of a guitar play. It's Johnny Cash's version of "Hurt." Papa Luthor stares into a large window, where Lex is sitting in a padded room. (Padded except for the one-way mirrored wall.) "I hurt myself today," Johnny says, "to see if I still feel." Lex, in a straightjacket, gets himself up on his feet. He's got deep, purple circles under his eyes. "I focus on the pain." Lex stares at himself in the mirror. "The only thing that's real." Lex casts his eyes down. "The needle tears a hole/ The old familiar sting." Lex may be crying. It's hard to tell with the light. We cut to Papa Luthor, who does have tears in his eyes as they remain fixed on his son. "Try to kill it all away/ But I remember everything."
Cut to Lana in her hospital bed. Clark watches her from outside the room. The camera pulls back as people walk by and time slows down. The guitar jangles. "What have I become?" Johnny continues, "My sweetest friend."
Back to Lex. He stares off into space. Papa Luthor puts his hand on the glass. "Everyone I know/ Goes away in the end." The camera pulls back as Papa Luthor stands there, holding his hand near the place where Lex's insane face stares. The song skips to the end: "If I could start again/ A million miles away." Papa Luthor puts his hands in his pockets. We pull back to reveal the glass room. "I would keep myself," Johnny sings. We go to black. "I would find a way." God bless Johnny Cash. I don't even mind that The WB wants you to buy his CD. In fact, you should probably go do that.