The big one is Ben Lockwood, after having him play such a huge role in the beginning of the season, I was disappointed he was dealt with so quickly here. I kind of wish they had done an episode or two before this week that really focused on dealing with him, before moving on to Lex this week.
I think they've spent a fair amount of time over the past few weeks building his arc to a climax. Really, the fact that his story had no resolution was sort of the point. Even after losing his son, he still refused to question his cause. Even after learning that he'd been manipulated by Luthor, he didn't reconsider his hate for aliens. He was trapped in his hate, unable to change, and that lack of anything more to add to his story was essentially the point. Even in that final shot of him in prison, he didn't seem too swayed by his son's words.
I did like what they did with Lex, and having him still focused on killing Superman did feel right for the character.
Yeah, but it's a shame it had to be at such a remove, which was a bit clumsy. I hope that someday we'll get to see Cryer's Luthor and Hoechlin's Superman face off properly. Hopefully they're sorting out the contracts and schedules to make that happen in
Crisis on Infinite Earths next season.
I finally looked up Brenda Strong, the actress who play Lilian Luthor, and she is only 5 years older than John Cryer.
Her line about cancer prematurely aging Lex was an attempt to handwave why Cryer is so much older than the storyline had previously established Lex to be (since we saw him in flashback as a teenager when Lena was about 4), although it doesn't really work, because we saw him in a number of flashback scenes set before he gave himself cancer.
I definitely did not expect Lex to be the one to reveal to Lena that Kara is Supergirl.
I've been expecting it for weeks. It's kind of a guideline for writers to look for the option that will cause the most pain and troubles for the characters, and in this case, that meant Lex telling Lena and casting it as betrayal before Kara could break it to her gently. (Similarly to how
The Flash had Sherloque reveal Nora's secret to the team accusingly just before she could confess it freely and explain her side of it.)
I'm curious if she is actually going to go full on villain like they appear to be setting up here, or if they'll resolve things with her before she totally turns on everyone.
I really hope she doesn't turn villainous. People keep expecting that for some strange reason, even though Lena's role in the comics has traditionally been as the good Luthor, the pure one that Lex wanted to protect and keep innocent. And the show's Lena has proven a dozen times by now that she really wants to do good and escape her family's legacy, even if she's willing to venture into grayer areas than Supergirl would.
As for Leviathan, the only ones I found on the DC Wiki were a terrorist organization led by Talia Al'Ghul in the Batman comics, and a Legion of Superheroes villain.
I found this, which seems closer to the collective mind hinted at in the show:
https://dc.fandom.com/wiki/Leviathan_Entity_(Prime_Earth)
But it only has one listed appearance in the comics.
