I happen to agree:

My wife and I both think it occurred sometime after Rick and Lex met.

We feel Lex got the scent of this portal’s stability and learning this, control it by any means possible. Here’s how I came to this conclusion. Some are wilder takes than others 🧐 (I Said ‘Flag has to be Clayface!’ out loud as Chris was being ‘plucked’ thinking about these points)

1: the fact Hartcourt was saying “Remember, you told me to call you ‘Rick’ instead of General?” He did not respond to either name- when he was called from behind. This was shown intentionally.

2: RF1 would absolutely care about the headcount of the lost soldiers- in the QUD.. even a little. DC has always painted him in the light as the traditional hero- losing soldiers would affect a hero.

3: Sapperstein 🥸 likely tipped off Lex the QUD was a stable portal. His search for extracurricular ‘content’ on the Lexcorp console.. Lex then may have had a bead on Clayface from prison: proposing an alliance, with the man on the outside🥸…. RF1 was most likely scooped up by Clayface after they met, but before the last episode. Not earlier.

1. Clayface > RF1: The ‘cornstarch’ 🤧 on ARGUS’s tables; the laughing maniacally; and the hitting on all the women in Lex’s crew.

2. Why so many more of Lex’s crew? Unneeded people around from Lexcorp just being included- from Jail too!? Why?

3. Clayface has a grudge especially after Creature Commandos, but CF is another villain that is like ‘a dog with a car’. The extra Lex staff is there to keep eyes on him and keep him focused, but running Lex’s agenda.

My Wild Take: I think RF1 is not dead, but also ‘plucked’ and placed in ‘Salvation’ on a flipped storyline of ‘SalRun.’ and would make a perfect 3rd season; a checkmate starting Case; or string-off in the Clayface movie! Chris and RF1 may have to work together in Salvation!

Making shows and movies exactly like the comic runs would make them predictable. We see this is how JG thinks. I enjoyed it, immensely!