Supergirl (TV Series)

A Few Good Women (2021)

Jon Cryer: Lex Luthor

Quotes 

• Lillian Luthor : The case against you is ironclad. The Tessmacher girl's testimony will be damning. And every day you spend fruitlessly shaking your fist at the sky is another day the Luthor name gets dragged through the mud.

  Lex Luthor : Mother, it almost feels as if you care more about the family name than freeing your son from bondage.

  Lillian Luthor : I do. Our family has always achieved selfish aims by appearing selfless. If you take the stand and make a mockery of yourself in the face of insurmountable evidence, the world will see us for what we really are.

  Lex Luthor : [angrily]  Do you really have so little faith in me that you think I should agree to *rot* in prison? I will remind you, I have been in prison before. I have been shot and killed and risen from the dead before, and will not be subjugated again. You should know, I always have a plan.

  Otis Graves : Yeah, boss. Kablooey!

  Lex Luthor : A legal plan, you imbecile.

• Lex Luthor : Whereas I am now seeing the value of unvarnished truth.

  Lillian Luthor : Two words I thought I would never hear applied to a Luthor.

• Lex Luthor : When I returned home after saving those kidnapped VR users, who was waiting for me?

  Eve Teschmacher : I was.

  Lex Luthor : That's right. You surprised me with a lavish candlelit dinner. Do you recall the entree?

  Eve Teschmacher : It was... beef Wellington.

  Lex Luthor : Mm. The meal was delicious, I might add. Succulent, tender.

  Prosecutor : Objection. It's his opinion.

  Lex Luthor : I was just as surprised at the quality as you, Ms. District Attorney. Which is why I asked Eve - Ms. Tessmacher - "what's the occasion?" And do you remember what you said?

  Eve Teschmacher : I...

  Lex Luthor : Have you not sworn to tell the truth today, Ms. Tessmacher?

  Eve Teschmacher : I have.

  Prosecutor : Objection.

  Lex Luthor : Then why did you cook me dinner?

  Eve Teschmacher : Because I was in love with you.

  Lex Luthor : And when I did not reciprocate... ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I ask you, what is more reasonable? Lex Luthor, philanthropist, entrepreneur and hero, committing these terrible crimes... or Eve Tessmacher, jilted lover hell-bent on revenge, setting up the man who would not have her, all to avoid punishment for her own crimes. She had the means, she had the motive, and she had an image inducer.

  Eve Teschmacher : You made me hack Obsidian. You made me impersonate people. You made me kill. You made me do all of it...

  Lex Luthor : I demand Eve Tessmacher's testimony be stricken from the record and her plea deal revoked. Oh, uh, and if feel like throwing in a charge of perjury, that'd be cool, too, Your Honor.

• Lex Luthor : I thought visitors were forbidden in this wing.

  Lillian Luthor : Well, the Luthor name still commands respect... and the occasional favor.

  Lex Luthor : Ah, favors. Is that how you secured me that plea deal? Admit to conspiracy and manslaughter, and go away for...

  [waving Otis away as he moves to sit down with them] 

  Lex Luthor : Ah, ah. Go away for 25 years.

  Lillian Luthor : I'm sure your lawyer advised you to accept it.

  Lex Luthor : He did. Which is why I fired him.

• Lex Luthor : Ms. Tessmacher's testimony has been thrown out and the murder charges have been dropped, so perhaps we should be getting to closing arguments.

  Judge : If there's no objection.

  Prosecutor : Uh, actually, Your Honor, the People would like to call one more witness.

  Lex Luthor : What could one more witness possibly testify to?

  Lena Luthor : [entering]  Everything else.

• Lex Luthor : I was filing patents when you were in diapers. Why would I waste my time workshopping your faulty science fair project?

  Lena Luthor : Because your little sister had created something that you needed. Something that you could never have come up with on your own.

  Lex Luthor : You've never done anything on your own. You've always needed me.

  Prosecutor : Objection.

  Lena Luthor : You can't stand that I don't need you anymore.

  Judge : [hammering her gavel]  Sustained.

  Lex Luthor : Without me, your precious Non Nocere would have never gotten off the ground.

  Lena Luthor : And so you think you can just take credit for my work?

  Lex Luthor : You're damn right I can! I have always taken the big swings that you never would. But I supported you because you're a Luthor. I kept you by my side when you were too timid and weak to do what was necessary.

  [turning to the jury] 

  Lex Luthor : It takes guts to wield power. And I wield my power to make the world better. So did I help develop Non Nocere? Yes. And yes, Non Nocere failed. Boo-hoo, it happens. But instead of accepting that humbly, my sister blames me for it. It's no surprise that this entire case has fallen apart when every single charge hinges on the unsubstantiated hearsay of bitter women like my sister and Eve. Women who, mind you, could have committed these crimes themselves, as could any number of other suspects that the prosecutor has overlooked in her obsession with targeting me, and why? Because I am powerful! So let that be a lesson to you all. If you try to build a good life for yourself, there is always somebody waiting to tear you down and punish you for your greatness. But I accept who I am. I like power, and I have the guts to do something with it. I did not commit the crimes of which I stand accused. But if I had, who could blame me? If push came to shove, you'd have done it. The defense rests.

• Judge : Something funny, Mr. Luthor?

  Lex Luthor : Mmm. Not funny. Hilarious. My sister can couch her project in flowery language, "make the world a better place", but put plainly, she created a tool to brainwash the masses. Isn't that right, sis?

  Lena Luthor : Yes, I did. But I wasn't the one with the motive to use it that way.

  Lex Luthor : Well, it's your word against mine on that. On... well, pretty much all of it, for that matter. Now, by your own admission, you yourself would have had both the means and the opportunity to commit the brainwashing of which I stand accused, would you not?

  Lena Luthor : No. Because in the trial phase, it became clear that Non Nocere was irreparably flawed. I abandoned it.

  Lex Luthor : But then how could I have possibly used your creation to brainwash anybody if it didn't really work?

  Lena Luthor : I said it was flawed. Not that didn't work.

• Lex Luthor : I'm just glad that I can return to making a difference as a free man.

  Brainiac-5 : [watching on TV and crumpling his computer keyboard in frustration]  These 21st-century keyboards suck!

• Lex Luthor : I would like to congratulate the jury on coming to the right decision in spite of the clear prejudice in the media coverage of my trial. CatCo published a glorified hit piece painting me as guilty and then allowed the same biased journalist to single-handedly cover my trial.

• Lex Luthor : How does my narrative suit our beloved family name now?

  Lillian Luthor : Far better than your sister's.

  Lex Luthor : Hmm. From mass murderer to vindicated martyr in one fell swoop, and all I needed was me.

  [chuckling] 

  Lex Luthor : I wasted so much time trying to buy, threaten, or brainwash people into doing what I wanted. But apparently, people love a guy who tells it like it is.

  Lillian Luthor : Hmm.

  Lex Luthor : The key is, if you can get them to buy it long enough, they stop being able to discern whether you're telling it like it really is or how you want them to believe it is.

• Lillian Luthor : I admit I didn't expect your little performance to be so effective.

  Lex Luthor : You underestimated me even more than I did, Mother.

  Lillian Luthor : No one should have been able to Houdini themselves out of a situation like that.

• Lex Luthor : Clearly I underestimated the value of just being myself.

  Otis Graves : [disappointed]  No kablooey.

  Lex Luthor : Of course not, you idiot.

• Prosecutor : Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, for perhaps the first time in history, "crimes against humanity" carries literal weight. Lex Luthor stands accused of attempting to brainwash half of humanity into loving him and to murder the rest. And this, in addition to the actual murder and conspiracy charges. Any one of these should put him away for life. Through evidence provided by Eve Tessmacher, who was present for every terrible moment, we'll prove him guilty of every charge.

  Lex Luthor : [getting to his feet, simply]  No, she won't.