Serafina&#39;s Corner of the World

In Lineage, she buys the house under, "Lucas Luthor." It just seemed to me that if she wanted *her* son, it'd be Lucas Dunleavy. They never say his name in "Prodigal", but I also assumed it'd be Dunleavy. So I guess my question has less to do with the legality of the issue and more of the rational (although I do conceed that she is not exactly rational)

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sullivanlane.livejournal.com

I'm almost sure you can choose the last name of your child, whether it will be yours, the biological father's or someone else's name.

Might be different from state to state though ...

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goth-clark.livejournal.com

As far as I know all you have to do is tell them what name you want put on the birth certificate and the hospital will do it. My son has his father's last name even though I am not married to him.

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digitalwave

You can request which last name you want on the birth certificate here in Kentucky too. My niece has her father's last name and they weren't married when she was born.

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Because Season 2 never happened. 8-D

If Clark had been Lucas, his legal name would have been "Clark Kent," and not Lucas anything. (not to mention that I'd think that Lionel could have any name he wanted put on Lucas's birth certificate, and Luthor would be a name he *wouldn't* have wanted put on the birth certificate -- could you imagine the scandal if it got out that Lionel Luthor had a child in foster care???)

So if she could buy the house under a name that she believed was invalid, she could buy it under any name, I guess . . .

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That's the other thing I was wondering. A. Why would Lionel be stupid enough to let that happen, unless he *wanted* Lucas to try to find him. You know how a lot of kids without parents assume theirs are or were rich/famous people, and with a name like Luthor, the kid doesn't have to look hard.

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Somehow I never believed that Lucas' last name was either. Both Luthor and Dunleavy left it too open, too easy for someone to find out the truth and Lionel is nothing if not careful. Giving up a child for an adoption (even a fake one) I think he would've given Lucas a different last name, one that couldn't be linked to him in any way.

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I can see that too. My main question was why did she use the name Luthor to buy the house, unless she wanted to attract Lionel's attention which, in turn, seemed to be stupid in and of itself. *shrug* Something on Smallville does't make sense. Who woulda thunk? ;)

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Because she was crazy? *g* Let's face it, she wasn't the most stable person in Smallville (which is saying a lot) and she was totally obsessed with Lucas. Caution was definitely not her thing. I mean, she ambushed Clark and the Kents. She came to see and taunt Lionel after he kept her locked up for ages and knowning that he could do it again. She kidnapped Lex because... why exactly? What would she have won if Lionel even admitted that he had an affair and he has a son he gave up for adoption? She still would've either gone back to the hospital or jail for kidnapping. Buying a house in Lucas's name seemed to me as a rather subtle (for Smallville) additional point of how unstable and obsessed she was. Of course I'm easy *g*

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I don't disagree that from a plot standpoint, it was a good way to go. But the rational part of me is going, "Are you *insane*!!!" which, of course, she was. ;)

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Both Luthor and Dunleavy left it too open, too easy for someone to find out the truth and Lionel is nothing if not careful.

For that matter, I'm surprised Lionel let him keep "Lucas."

Maybe he didn't. Maybe Lex swung in and said, "Lucas, I'm your brother," to let the audience know who he is, and to let him know what his new name would be once the name change from "Perry White, Jr." to "Lucas Luthor" came through.

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It's possible. But there are hundreds of Lucases out there. First name isn't all that confirming. On the other hand, if Lionel and Lucas have kept in touch since Lucas was 12 (Is that the age Lucas mentioned when they were playing pool?) even if Lucas's name was changed in the course of the adoption papers, Lionel could've told him the truth.

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You're right, Lucas could have been told that his name was Lucas then. I still think that Lionel must have changed his name, though, simply because Lucas isn't that common. How many Lucases do you suppose were born on X date?

Although, I wonder if Lucas is actually younger than he "is." You know, like he was born in 1986 with Lana and Pete making him actually 17 or something.

That would make sense of why Rachel looked at a child supposedly born in 1986 and thought it was her own baby born 1985-ish.

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Yeah, Lucas' age is puzzling. Clark's supposed to be 17, but Lucas acted like he was 18 or over. I don't get how that was supposed to work unless Lucas really was younger than either he thought or was portrayed.

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Lionel says that Lucas has just turned 18.

And since Clark's birthday is in May (???), if he were 15 when the show started, I think he'd be 16 in Prodigal.

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I remember what my original confusion of Lucas' age was: when was Rachel Lillian's nurse? I know Lillian died when Lex was 11 (at least I think that's what he said), but I can't remember when Julian was born and died. Because I think that's when Lex said Lillian started going downhill or being sick a lot or something (I should probably rewatch the episode). But obviously Rachel woudl have had to been treating Lillian in a capacity wher she would meet Lionel years before she died, or else Lucas would be closer to Ryan's age.

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2002 was the ninth anniversary of Lillian's 1993 death. Depending on whether he'd already had his birthday, Lex would have been 12 or 13.

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Well, last night in the rerun of Prodigal, Lionel said that Lucas turned 18 (thus giving him the shares)

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Well, last night in the rerun of Prodigal, Lionel said that Lucas turned 18 (thus giving him the shares)

Yeah, we know what Lionel said. What we're wondering is since Clark was only sixteen (with, supposedly, the birth certificate and records to 'prove' it) why Rachel was so sure he was Lucas if Lucas is 18. Either Lionel is lying about Lucas' age, Rachel didn't let facts get in the way of her delusion, or there are no records of Clark's age.

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I figure Rachel didn't bother checking much. Since it was supposedly the only adoption that the agency handled, my guess is she assumed that the boy had to be hers. Even if she noticed the birthdate disperancy, she probably wrote if off as a mistake.

What I'd like to know how the entire timeline actually works. If Lucas is 18, that means he was born when Lex was 4(?). (Lionel you bastard!!!) Which means by the time of meteor shower and when the whole exchange has happened, Lucas was 5. Since the agency existed only for six months, I'm guessing the whole Lucas/Clark switch happened within six months of meteor shower. Where was he before then? With Rachel? Why would she hide the boy until he was 5 and then tell Lionel about him? If she told him right away, I doubt he'd let her keep Lucas even for a day. So, again, where was the boy? Lionel's basement?

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I'm guessing the whole Lucas/Clark switch happened within six months of meteor shower.

Here I go, trying to come up with a theory that'll explain this mess.

What if Rachel got the bright idea that Lionel would want an undamaged son to replace Lex once she heard that Lex had been injured in the shower?

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