On Christmas Eve, Lex travels to a dangerous neighborhood in Granville, Kansas, dealing dirty means to cut Jonathan Kent of the race to the senate. He is shot twice in cold-blood when a couple of junkies steal his car, and Lex has a near-death vision of having a possible middle class lifestyle with a pregnant Lana as his wife and their son Alexander. In his near death experience, Lex is a simple man beloved by the people of Smallville and best friend of Jonathan and Clark. Meanwhile in the real world, he is submitted to a life-threatening surgery ordered by Lionel to avoid becoming crippled. Also, Chloe asks Clark to deliver many Christmas gifts to poor children, and Clark meets a sad and disappointed Santa Claus contemplating suicide. In the end, Lex concludes that love is cursed, based on the fate of Julian, Lillian and Lana, and power and money are the most important values in his life... which leads to him finally starting down the path of the dark side beginning when he secretly orders the execution of the junkie couple who attempted to kill him.