Lois & Clark Forums Forums General Discussion Lois & Clark And the Answer Is ... Episode Discussion Thread

This episode made for a great season finale, and it contains my favorite cliffhanger in the history of the show. Although you can argue that a marriage proposal came too soon and that they could have had Lois and Clark dating for a longer amount of time, you have to admit that the way the season ended had to have every fan excited for the next season to see how Lois responded.

I enjoyed the plot of a blackmailer using Clark’s parents to force him to do things he didn’t want to do. I guess leaving Tempus back in 1866 wasn’t such a good idea. If somebody had exposed the secrets of the diary earlier, history could have potentially been altered quite a bit.

I also loved the fact that Lois was willing to put herself in danger in order to help Clark get his parents back. It really shows you just how much she cares about Clark at this point.

"If anything h-happens, tell Clark that I love him."

iDied when she said that. It was the first time we heard Lois confess her feelings for Clark, and the emotion of that scene, with Lois' tears, just made my life worth living. Plus, I liked that black suit on her, and the scene outside of Clark's place where he's dressed in all black too, after robbing the jewelry store.

I had only been watching L&C since "Operation Blackout", and this was a relatively quick payoff for me, in terms of their romance. My favorite episodes are these, in the last half of season two. I could say so much more, but I think I wanna watch the episode again, right now.

I think it would've been interesting to see what would've happened if Clark had gotten out "Lois, I am Superman" before Mazik called OR just deciding to be unafraid and declaring it right after Mazik called instead of the lame excuses.

I wonder how Lois would've processed it if it had gone like that instead of the proposal, then the revelation.

I definitely argue that. They should have had the unresolved sexual tension for, oh, maybe two or three more seasons. Deborah Joy Levine said that (I think in one of the additional tracks on the DVD's of the show.) It would have been great to have a few more seasons of slowly increasing romantic pressure.

Fanfic-ly speaking (if that's a word), there are a *truckload* of "ATAI"-related fanfics. It's an obviously popular episode. There are way too many to list, so I'll list a few of my favorites. Warning: this is a totally subjective list. Make your own list and add to this posting if you want.

The always-entertaining Nan Smith gives us what should have happened, in the aptly titled The Way It Should Have Been . As Nan says, "Basically, Clark made an uncharacteristically smart decision after his parents were kidnapped by Mazik and St. John and events changed from there." There is a sequel to this fic, An Interview With Superman .

Pam Jernigan has Lois hear what Clark is saying to that picture, in Breakfast At Callard's... Or Not . "You know how Superman and I look a lot alike? Well..."

BJ wrote the hilarious Mostly Dead plot-untwist vignette - don't miss this.

On the other side of hilarity are the serious, tragic episode-related fics. Terry Leatherwood tugs on our heartstrings with The Cold Shoulder , where Lois is revived from the freezing, but not without serious consequences. And, a year after Lois's death, Clark can't take it anymore, in Dandello's tearjerker, Time Doesn't Heal . Terry Leatherwood strikes again with a Lois deathfic in She's . Bring out the Kleenex for these - they're at least a three-hankie weeper each.

Two authors show us something from Clark's POV: what's it like when he freezes Lois? LaraMoon has a fine vignette in Soundless . HappyGirl has Clark realize the stakes in No Greater Love . Both are recommended.

It would have been GREAT if Clark did not propose until the end of season three. The sexual tension between those two was completely addictive! I always felt that the romantic relationship between them was rushed and that is reflected in a number of fics.

Of course, if John Shea's character had not been killed at the end of season one it would have been fun to watch Lois' relationship with Lex crash and burn. Ah well, we will never know ...

i agree Morgana. Although I probably would've hoped for a proposal half way through season 3. Definitely would've had the revelation (either Lois finding out or Clark deciding to step up and tell her somewhere in their dating relationship).

Definitely how it should have been. It's like nails on a chalkboard to me when writers miss stuff like this.

People don't forget significant life experiences like this, writers for characters on television shows do. Lois and Clark wouldn't forget an option like that one (no spoilers here) or they'd be unemployed investigative reporters before long. Superman doesn't suddenly forget what abilities he has. People living in the 24th century on the Enterprise shouldn't forget what they can do with the transporter.

Perfect example: We were watching a Stargate: Atlantis DVD last night for the first time and a character was dying. None of the characters knew what to do. While watching, my wife and I thought of three different ways they could have cured him that were already introduced in the series. We were actually taking bets over which one they'd use. Nope. None of the above. First class fumble.

BTW That was an outstanding feature of Nan Smith's Home series--her characters seamlessly use the technology she creates like it's natural to them.

I loved Clark dressed all in black. He looked good in that scene.

I've always thought that, since Clark was about to tell her anyway, he should have done so as soon as he got off the phone with Mazik. Wouldn't the whole blackmail thing have gone better if Lois was in on what was really going on? Why not tell her?

When the show was on originally, it didn't occur to me that they hadn't been dating very long. In fact, Perry's comment that "shouldn't you try dating first?" when Lois tells him that Clark proposed seemed odd to me at the time. How many actual dates did they go on? One? I never noticed until I started re-watching the show in quick succession. Without having to wait in between episodes, that quick timeline was much more obvious. Or maybe I just wasn't paying attention because a was a teenager at the time and squee!!! Romance!!!

My favorite long-developing relationship in a drama is Sheradon and Delenn on Babylon 5. They spent a whole season getting to know each other, at the end of which he told her, "if we survive [this current predicament], call me John." A whole season before they're on a first-name basis. Then they spend another season falling for each other, then the next season they're finally dating, at the end of which they finally get married. It's a very slow romance and very realistic. I'm not sure whether a romance that slow would have worked on Lois & Clark as well. I guess it might have if they didn't start the Clark-skipping-out-on-her problems quite as soon.

One external factor in the pace of their relationship was that the powers-that-be decided that Lois and Clark would get married on the show at the same time as they did in the comics. In fact, I saw in an interview in some special features (I think it might be on the Superman: Doomsday DVD, but I don't remember) that the planned story arc for the comics in '93 was the wedding. Then when L&C came along, they put off that story line so that the comic wedding could coincide with the wedding on the show, so they had to come up with a new story arc. Apparently, someone jokingly suggested, "Why don't we just kill Superman?" They couldn't think of anything better, so they did. I've been wracking my brain to figure out which DVD that interview is on. I think I'll have to pull out my Superman cartoons and go through them to find it.

They went on at least two dates before this episode. The one in "Lucky Leon" and the one at the end of "Individual Responsibility". Plus they were on another date at the start of "Whine, Whine, Whine". And they seem to be about to go on a date at the end of I think "Target Jimmy Olsen".

Maybe not that many dates, but they have been good friends for a while.

If Perry thought they eloped in this episode, why is he so shocked when Clark proposed before they dated in the next episode (WhaLtTA)?

Very good question. Maybe because eloping is irrational, but prosing is thought to be thought out.

I have realized that what they rushed was not Lois and Clark's relationship but Lois telling Clark she knew. It would have been fun to have at least a whole episode where she knows, but Clark does not know that she knows.