Lex goes to his high school reunion. But when
Oliver shows up with a couple of his old school mates it brings up a lot
of animosity between them and Lex. During their time there as children,
they were involved in an incident that resulted in the tragic death of a
young boy named Duncan. But when Oliver's friends die in bizarre freak
accidents and Lana is injured during a strange incident at the mansion,
Oliver and Lex begin to suspect each other, until they learn that Duncan
is not dead at all. In a vegetative state and undergoing an
experimental treatment derived from the meteor rocks, courtesy of Lionel
Luthor, Duncun has been using astral projection in order to seek
vengeance upon those who destroyed his life. Meanwhile, Chloe begins to
investigate sightings of strange visitors that appeared just after
Clark came out of the phantom zone.
I really love 'Reunion', but
then, that can be said of most Lex-centric episodes. This is the story
of a great tragedy caused by the actions of both Oliver and Lex. The
only difference is that Oliver has acknowledged the part he played in
that tragedy and seeks to make amends for it. Lex, on the other hand,
tries to bury it under blame but struggles to hide the sense of
self-loathing he feels for what he did. The scene where Oliver
apologizes to Lex at the end, only to have it thrown back in his face,
really says it all. It goes without saying that Rosenbaum is top notch
throughout.
Also giving a remarkably good performance is the
actor they get to play the younger Lex during the flashbacks. There are
some subtle mannerisms he has that make me believe this is indeed a
younger version of Rosenbaum's Lex. Whether that's a conscious choice by
the actor or just damn good casting is anyone's guess but, either way,
it works.
As I was watching it this time around I couldn't help
but think that I had seen the story that plays out in the flashbacks
once before. Then I realized I had. It was basically recycled in the
'best picture' Oscar winner, 'Moonlight', which pretty much steals some
major plot beats from this episode. In that film however, it makes the
issues about sexuality, where as here we are dealing with issues of
class, as Lex's friend Duncan is being bullied by Oliver for coming from
a poor home. Lex cannot stand up against such bullying due to his
longing to fit in.
I love how we see Oliver working on different
kinds of arrows. This is of course a nod to the comics. His line about
the boxing glove arrow, which was an actual thing in the pages of the
comic books, really made me chuckle. But the EMP arrow is just a really
cool idea.
Some great scenes between Lionel and Lex, as always,
which highlight both Lionel's desire to protect the future of his son as
well as protecting his own public image. The disdain that Lex has for
his father is always fun to watch. Lex will always overlook any good
that Lionel does, for the sake of calling out his more less than
altruistic reasons for doing things, reminding us each time that Lionel
simply shouldn't be trusted.
When Lana is hurt Clark rushes to
the hospital to see her. He blames Lex but Lex reminds him of how many
trips she made to the hospital when she was with Clark. I love that he
calls that out. It's good to know that someone at least noticed just how
often Lana ended up in the hospital. You'd think some law enforcement
agency would have investigated that by now.
Chloe's reaction to seeing Oliver for the first time is also quite priceless, especially when we see the response from Clark.
One of my favourite episodes of the season.
10/10
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