 According to Schneider , Jonathan is " perfectly willing to go to jail , or worse , to protect his son " . The actor characterizes Jonathan as fast to lose his temper , which Schneider views as being a development of his protective nature over his family . Schneider believes that the season two episode " Suspect " — where Jonathan is arrested , but his sole concern is protecting Clark 's secret — summarizes the character well , and shows that the " least important person in Jonathan 's life is Jonathan " . Schneider admits that occasionally he and Annette O 'Toole have to " police " the creative team when it comes to the relationship between Martha , Jonathan , and Clark . According to Schneider , there are moments where they have to make sure that the characters are not taken to a place they would not normally go , specifically where the parents are useless without the " innate intelligence of [ their ] teenager " . 
