Lex visits Lana at the Talon and attempts to repair the rift between them. Despite her deflections he remains insistent on pressing home that he is there if she needs him (obviously not picking up on the signals that she’s far more interested in being needed herself—by Clark).
I read this very differently. Or rather, I didn't read Lex's conduct throughout the scene as being manipulative until right at the very end when he said the line about being there when *she* needed someone to lean on.
I got the impression that the events of this episode take place very close in time to the events of Reckoning, and it was clear that this was the first time Lex and Lana had seen each other since the scene on Rt. 40. Whatever else Lex and Lana might be becoming, they did just resolve in Lockdown to repair their *friendship*. Lex wanting to apologize once he was sober struck me as the kind of thing one friend would do with another, especially since his drunken behavior *did* contribute to her almost getting into what we know would have been a very tragic and serious accident. Him enquiring after Clark initially also struck me as something a friend would reasonably do. After all, Lana *did* come over to the mansion and spend a good minute bitching about the mess that was her relationship with Clark, and she did allude to the fact that they'd broken up ("Clark and I had our last fight").
Again, if this is the first time Lex and Lana have seen each other since the last time we saw them in Reckoning, then the things he said in the first part of the scene *are* the natural and organic things I'd expect anyone in his position to bring up. I don't really think he got -- or was being -- manipulative until *after* he sensed Lana hadn't had much success in getting Clark to open up to her/let her be there for him. It was only at *that* point did he play the "I can connect with you in ways Clark can't or won't" card.
part II
I read this very differently. Or rather, I didn't read Lex's conduct throughout the scene as being manipulative until right at the very end when he said the line about being there when *she* needed someone to lean on.
I got the impression that the events of this episode take place very close in time to the events of Reckoning, and it was clear that this was the first time Lex and Lana had seen each other since the scene on Rt. 40. Whatever else Lex and Lana might be becoming, they did just resolve in Lockdown to repair their *friendship*. Lex wanting to apologize once he was sober struck me as the kind of thing one friend would do with another, especially since his drunken behavior *did* contribute to her almost getting into what we know would have been a very tragic and serious accident. Him enquiring after Clark initially also struck me as something a friend would reasonably do. After all, Lana *did* come over to the mansion and spend a good minute bitching about the mess that was her relationship with Clark, and she did allude to the fact that they'd broken up ("Clark and I had our last fight").
Again, if this is the first time Lex and Lana have seen each other since the last time we saw them in Reckoning, then the things he said in the first part of the scene *are* the natural and organic things I'd expect anyone in his position to bring up. I don't really think he got -- or was being -- manipulative until *after* he sensed Lana hadn't had much success in getting Clark to open up to her/let her be there for him. It was only at *that* point did he play the "I can connect with you in ways Clark can't or won't" card.