Roxy, Mizz Rose

Woah. I feel sorry for Earl, but I knew things couldn't go well for him when it was Lionel and the SWAT team guy he was forced to trust. Clark getting burned by Earl's blood was a nifty touch, and one I hadn't expected. Love it when you have Lana making the most of her spotlight as Whitney's stricken girlfriend, all the while making sure his blood spills onto the floor instead of onto her. (Can't look messy when you're really the star!) But why was Lionel right there? It was surely too quick for him to have come in reaction to Earl taking hostages. Had Lionel coincidentally dragged Lex to Smallville with the intention of once again sentencing him to run the local fertilizer plant? Beautiful little moment afterwards when Lex tells Lionel to lay off, and then belatedly recognizes Clark, but I was very disappointed to realize that Lex had apparently been outside during this entire incident, and yet had done nothing to intervene. Of course, in this particular universe, Lex doesn't really know Clark or Gabe or any of the hostages, so I suppose it's not surprising he'd be less likely to risk his own life to save them, but would I be horribly unreasonable to hope that we somehow get a look at all this from Lex's point of view...?