"Talisman" spoilers...
I don't like the cave-mythology, and I like it least when the actual "Kawatche" are hanging around; they're really kind of an embarrassment. Because Ken Biller has skills, they weren't anywhere near as bad as in "Skinwalker," which I think may well be the worst episode of the show ever, but I still did a lot of wincing. (Does anyone else think Professor Willowbrook had better start rethinking his parenting/mentoring techniques before he produces another killer? With Kyla and Joseph, he's two-for-two. Hell, he's a more lethal parent than Lionel at this point.)
However. I can forgive anything for the emergence of smart Lex, subversive Lex, the Lex who can turn a paradigm inside-out and outthink them all. This may be, after all, the value of his extraordinary experiences, even his plunge into madness; he knows in those kryptonite-irradiated bones that there's more in heaven and earth, and he's smart enough to discover it. Finally, Lex has come to consider the possibilities that fanfic writers and critical analysts alike have been pointing to for seasons now, about the possibly positive (or at least necessary) nature of his own role in the mythos, and it is very satisfying to see.* When his insight is matched with a spine as well--I loved the way he handled Clark at the TA's office, making it plain that he knew Clark was being a big hypocritical liar and giving nothing away himself--it's a beautiful thing. God bless you, KB.
Lana needs to be beaten to death with a shoe. This is nothing new, nor is it out-of-character. I just feel the need to say it again. No, really, sweetheart, you can't cash out of the Talon to go to Paris and at the same time continue to control what happens to it. If you want to preserve an investment, you actually have to, you know, remain invested in it. People aren't going to keep running the world just the way you want while you run off and have fun somewhere else just because you want them to. When you consider that the only reason Lana is part-owner at all is because Lex gave her a share...*shakes head* I strongly prefer to think that Lex's distressed expression at the end of their last scene was not because he can't bear to be losing his pure-hearted partner, but because he feels a little guilty about manipulating her so much.
I said it last week when we witnessed the revival of the Lionel/Martha flirtation, and I say it again: Jonathan's dying in the season finale (or over the course of the cliffhanger, if they insist on having one again), and Lionel will survive.
I'm not sure what to make of the Pete subplot. Did the writers suddenly just wake up and realize they'd forgotten to give him any meaning or relevance all season long? Still, nice to see SJIII's chest again, and Chloe getting to be more sympathetic, and willing to back off, after her not-particularly-attractive turn in "Truth."
*(Yes, it would take someone more grownup than me not to be a little gleeful about seeing the show taking the same approach as "Immanence" when it comes to Clark/Lex and the same approach as "Self-Portrait, Still Life" when it comes to Lex-Lana. There was one line of dialogue that was nearly identical between "Talisman" and "Self-Portrait," and I am eight years old enough to jump up and down and say, "I guessed right!!!")