Ken,
I loved the ending where Clark was telling Lois about how his parents viewed her.
Later, back in Metropolis, Lois and Clark were discussing their time in Smallville with his parents.
“Clark, I really love your mother. The more I get to know her, the more special I see that she is. I can see how you turned out the way you are. They have to be the best parents in the world.”
“I don’t think I need to tell you that they think a lot of you too. Dad loves you like a daughter, the daughter that they never had before. They have always told me that I was an answer to their prayers for a child, well, you are the answer to their desire for a daughter.”
“I’m glad that things have worked out this way. I’d hate it if they didn’t like me or if they were like my parents. I couldn’t bear that. I’m glad we can visit them on the spur of the moment that way. We couldn’t do that with my family.”
“You want to know a secret?”
“You know I always do.”
“When Mom called us when we were at the Lexor, she wasn’t calling me. She wanted to talk to her favorite daughter.”
Clark didn’t need his super vision to detect the tear that formed at the corner of Lois’s eye and he was sure that it wasn’t a tear of sadness either.
This theme is to me one of the richest undercurrent plot strategies of the series. Lois thought she would never find love and certainly not unconditional love. That if seemed like she had then that person would betray her. It may have seemed as though the Lex Luthor fiasco and the Scardino arc were just devices to get her to Clark eventually (or keep them apart as long as possible - the more likely scenario) it was in my opinion an effort by Lois to hook up with someone she did not truly love and hence not get hurt when it did not work out. The series was really about her learning to trust her feelings and finally acknowledging her feelings for Clark and while not explored as much in the series there have been many FanFics that explored her relationship with Jonathan and Martha in much more depth. I suspect/hope if there had been a fifth season that might have been more deeply explored in the series.
I love the idea that Herb short circuited all that stuff and by planting the memories in Lois of the end result and as a result got her past all of those pitfalls/problems. It is one of the reasons I look forward to Tuesdays and Fridays each week and will be a bit down when you reach the end of Season 1.
Still wondering how you do the "House of Luthor" with Lois and Clark being married...
Mike
