Now you either hated them or loved them. There was no in between (at least for me). When I say "distraction" I mean who was a bigger road block in Lois and Clark's road to a romantic relationship.

Personally I would say Mayson because Lois always thought that Clark had a "thing" for her. Dan to me was just annyoing.

What do you think?

~L.L Wanna Be

I said Dan, because Mayson never really seriously got between them. It didn't affect either of their behaviors to any extent, and if anything, helped Lois figure out she likes Clark.

Dan, OTOH, almost made Clark leave Metropolis and gave Lois an excuse to redirect her attraction away from Clark. Clark never went out on a real date with Mayson. Lois, AFAIK, never sat at home with her head in her hands worrying about losing Clark to Mayson, while Clark spent too many visits to Smallville worrying about "Call me Daniel" Scardinooooo!!!

I have always hated Dan.

Clark was willing to leave Lois to him.

That is much worse than Lois thinking that Mayson had a thing for Clark.

Besides, Mayson was much better at comic relief.

I loved the time when Lois and Mayson told each other that they didn't like each other and it was a relief for both of them!

James

Yeah, I've got to go with Roger and James on this one. Mayson served some positive plot purpose -- got Lois thinking along the right direction. She didn't split up L&C because there was nothing there to split. Dan, OTOH, was a regression, when L&C had started to date and the show's producers were panicked that they were getting along too well. :rolleyes:

Plus Dan was a lot more obnoxious than Mayson ever was.

PJ

Definitely Dan.

Mayson was actually a plus because I remember during Lucky Leon she wanted to take Clark to a play, and Lois was like, "Nope, we have plans," and bam there's the first date.

Dan was a serious hinder. Granted, Clark had a lot to do with it because his timing was just *terrible* with rescues, but it sort of thrusted Lois into Dan like, "Hey, he's there for me when I need him, and Clark's not."

My $0.02
Jen

I chose Mayson, but I still think that Dan was awful.

So true. <g>

Lois and Clark weren't aware of their feelings for one another when Mayson started to throw herself at Clark. Mayson was another woman who would be willing to date Clark if Lois wouldn't. As others mentioned, Lois truly thought Clark was interested in Mayson. That intimidated Lois (to a certain point) and Clark didn't get to see that. Clark still thought she saw him as a friend and nothing more.

As for Dan...

Lois and Clark already knew that there was something special between them when Dan was introduced. At the time, Lois was frustrated with Clark and was flattered by the undivided attention Dan gave her. IMO, Lois didn't take Dan too seriously. He just showed up when she was sick of Clark running off... I always viewed Dan to be another obstacle Lois had to face on her way back to Clark.

It could go either way, lol.
~Amanda

I had to go with Dan. I always hated his character in the show. He always seemed to show up at the wrong time, like right after L & C had just gotten done with a big argument, or right after Clark had run off, which pushed Lois to him. He was always such a pain, and if I were Clark I would have punched him a long time ago!

Like the majority, I said Dan. Dan= slime IMHO. I hated him in Whine, Whine, Whine, horning on on Lois and Clark's date. Grrr.

I actually liked Mayson, and I agree that she helped advance a couple of plots. The only thing I can fault her with is that she chose a *terrible* time to die!

Caroline

Dan, IMHO. I really don't like either one. (Sorry, I know Mayson is actually pretty well liked, but I really don't like her.) And despite my twin, I can't stand Dan either. But my reasoning for saying Dan was more in the way... Mayson was never really a roadblock except when Lois was already pushing Clark away. Dan, OTOH, was constantly in the way. Mayson never would have been in between them if Lois hadn't allowed it.

Jana

You can add me to the Dan voters. Why? For all the reasons already mentioned.

Clark never really went out with Mayson, although to insecure Lois it may well have looked as though he might. Mayson did the chasing; Clark seemed pretty intent on running away from her. (I think he'd have quite liked her as a friend, but not as a girlfriend.)

That Clark was so keen to avoid Mayson's advances -- and, in fact, seemed to find them embarrassing -- should have told Lois something about Clark's feelings for her. Here was a man who was mostly 'afraid' of women -- look at his reaction to Cat Grant, for example -- but who was not only prepared to spend time with Lois, but who actually appeared to want to spend time with her.

By contrast, Lois seriously considered a relationship with Dan; yes, she was frustrated by Clark's behaviour, but is that really an excuse? (In Dan's defence, I will say that I think he genuinely cared about and for Lois; I don't think his 'interference' was on a whim.)

To be honest, I think one of the reasons why I think Dan was more of a distraction than Mayson has to do with timing. Yes, he interrupted what could have been a nicely developing relationship, but whose fault was that?

The writers!

Mayson had been a distraction. Then the character died. What did the writers do then? They put in another distraction. By the time Dan appeared, I was already suffering from 'distraction-fatigue'. That may have made Dan seem even more annoying and distracting than he would have been had he been introduced at some other point in either the season, or in the show.

Incidentally, why did Lois get distracted by all those men? Luthor, Dan, Dieter...

I'll shut up before I digress.

Chris

Well, I voted for neither, because I actually liked Mayson, who was gutsy and had a nice dry sense of humour. Dan, meanwhile, was bearable with the occasional charming touch.

What I did hate was the writers who felt they needed to complicate the L&C relationship with these people. To their credit, at least they didn't make them as shallow as the 'girlfriend of the week characters' you used to get in series like Starsky and Hutch (showing my age there, methinks ). But I would still have preferred them not to exist at all - they were too obviously plot devices to delay L&C getting together. I guess I have a limited attention span for that old "will they, won't they" thing, especially when it's so clumsily done.

Yvonne

Well the biggest distractin of all was probably Lex,but since you didn`t mention him I would say yes, because by Mayson I knew Clark wouldn`t fall for her, but by Dan I wasn`t so sure.

I found this man just absolutly annoying and was glad we he went to Tahiti or wherever that was

sunshine

You and me both, Yvonne! A little bit can be fun but you can't just get *stuck* there!

PJ
who is glad that the oh-so-frustrating TV show has been superceded by all these wonderful fanfic stories!

I voted that Dan was the bigger distraction.

Ok, Mayson got on my nerves, too. But only because of her behaviour in respect towards Clark. While Dan... I think I didn't like him as a person.

Despite that, it's what some other ppl already said: Mayson was no true danger. Clark loved Lois and vice versa. Her appearance made Lois determined to gain Clark while Dan's appearance managed to reveal Clark's insecurities and drove him to the edge of leaving town.

So, it's Dan. At least for me.

~Sira.

Another vote for Dan.

I never took Mayson as a serious obstacle since we knew that Clark was totally and irreversably in love with Lois from day 1.

Dan always annoyed me with his digs at Clark. I hated when he would point out to Lois how he was always abandoning her and that she wasn't important to him..grrrrrrrr.

~Liz

I said Dan because I have always thought (although I have never done the research so I don't know if I'm right or not) that he had more screentime. At least, screentime when he was pursuing Lois. Mayson was there part of the time when she was just part of an investigation and not pursuing Clark, if I remember right. It was after she started, that she became so annoying to me. Dan, on the other hand, always seemed to be after Lois right from day one, and he bugged me to death right from day one...

I'll allow myself to be corrected if I have my facts wrong, but that's my opinion

Melisma (under her Rock, wishing she had her LnC tapes with her)

Truthfully, it'd be Dan. Clark already knew he wanted to be with Lois, but she just couldn't make up her mind! Not to mention, those gifts...

Dan definitely! I always thought that while Mayson was clearly interested in Clark Lois knew that even though Clark might start dating Mayson she wouldn't lose Clark's friendship. Dan was just the most annoying man I've ever seen (both fictional and real) in that not only would he show up at bad times almost cost Lois and Clark not only their budding relationship but also their friendship! Then again Clark and Lois were as much to blame for it as Dan cos of Clark's running away all the time and Lois neglecting to tell Dan from the start that she was
sort of taken.

I always felt Dan was a bigger distraction because it seemed Lois was willing to go to him whereas Clark was never interested in Mayson, since he only had eyes for Lois.

That's true, Crazy Babe. Dan was annoying because Lois and Clark let him be annoying. Clark acted so stupid after Mason's dead, repeatedly pushing Lois away. :rolleyes:

She wasn't interested in Dan; for Lois the final straw was when Clark ran away while they were having a discussion about their relationship. In exasperation she turned to Dan and asked him if he wanted to go eat some icecream.

And of course Dan was conveniently around, you can't blame the guy! <g>

He did something nice though, for Clark. He's the one who told Superman to go talk to Constance, the last honest lawyer in Metropolis!

I voted for Dan being the most annoying because I rather liked poor Mayson. I was just very annoyed at the time they picked to blow her up.

Ursie

I'm late to the party but I wanted to post anyway.

Even though I liked both (and like Dan more than Mayson) Dan was definitely the bigger distraction for the sole reason that Lois too him much more seriously as a romantic possibility than Clark did Mayson.

So, because Lois took him seriously Clark took the threat he posed more seriously. Although I think Clark and Lois should share more of the blame for how their relationship wavered during that arc than Dan, they're the ones with the responsibility to keep it strong. And the fact that Clark actually considered leaving town made me :rolleyes: how melodramatic and passive-aggressive can you get?

Lunkhead.

At well over 6 feet tall, Dan was definitely the bigger distraction.

Carol

`

I went for 'neither'. I don't think Mason nor Dan where real 'road blocks'. They were jut here to provoque a reaction from either Lois or Clark. To make them face -or word- their true feelings for one another. (to make it short, of course).

But if the question was "what"...then I'll go for Lois&Clark's own fear of relationship.

Carole

I voted for Dan. Everyone has already covered my reasons for why, which I agree with. I actually liked Mayson, but Dan just got on my nerves.

I don't think either was much of a threat. Re-watching 2nd season recently, I noticed that Dan doesn't become really annoying until WWW, the ep he leaves. And I loved Mayson. I wanted her and Clark to get together. But give me a break, I was like 14 at the time.

The thing about Dan that I always found rather funny was that - so I've been told - Justin Whalen had a hard time winning over the show's fans after replacing Michael Landes - until Jimmy whacked Dan over the stairs in Target: Jimmy Olsen. After that he was a hero and became rather popular.


LabRat

Well, I got online right after Tempus Fugitive, and the fans were already plenty sick of Dan -- I think one of reasons they adored TF is because Dan wasn't in it I think that your reaction has a lot to do with how much knowledge you have, going in. Watching it live, we were going nuts worrying that the suits would wipe out all the romantic progress L&C had achieved that year. I'm told that at one point, TPTB had planned to end S2 with Clark marrying Mayson! <shudder> So we had reason to be scared. But pretty much everyone who watched the show in repeats knows that Dan's just a temporary annoyance, so don't get as worked-up about him.

And ROFL, Labby! I'd never heard that, but I don't doubt it one little bit <g>

PJ

I think you're probably right there, Pam. I've never found either Dan or Mayson especially annoying in the sense of getting in the way of the relationship - but then I watched seasons two and three for the first time during reruns on cable, where I only had to wait a day to find out what happened next.

I think I'd have a far different perspective if I'd watched it weekly and 'live'.

LabRat (who, even so, endured the longest day ever between ATAI and WHALTTA. Got no work done that day, I can tell you and practically broke all speed records for getting home...)

I remember thinking that Lois would choose Dan in WWW. Seriously, right up until that last kiss I was thinking, "Oh well. First Lois and Lex, now Lois and Dan. Here we go again."

I was properly surprised when she chose Clark.

I couldn't help but feel sorry for Mayson when she died, and I too thought that the scene where she and Lois and confess to each other that they don't like one another was pure gold comedy. But Dan was a (very painful) pain in the neck. what I especially hated about him was that instead of trying to get Lois with his own efforts, like a normal man, he stooped to low and tried to convince her that Clark is never there for her and that he is no good for her.

I don't think Dan was 'stooping' when he told Lois that Clark was no good ... it definitely wasn't a very mature thing to do, but honestly, from his perspective, that's exactly how things looked. I'm sure Dan saw himself as the good guy that Lois should logically choose, and Clark as the bad guy "user" that was only causing her heartache. And really, whose fault was that? All Clark's. I know I wanted to smack him upside the head more than once for his lunkheaded behavior in those episodes.

The only episode in which Lois really showed a true interest in Dan was "Ressurection", when she seemed very captivated and intrigued by him, but even then, she did save her image at the end by telling Dan that she and Clark were involved. "Target Jimmy Olsen" would have been a nightmare had they gone with their original plan (for Lois to tell Clark that she would always wonder "what if" if she didn't pursue things with Dan) but fortunately, they changed things around enough that it was clear that Lois really prefered Clark, but his pushing her away was making her settle for Dan. Still, I don't deny that I really ground my teeth when Dan would insult Clark ... he really knew how to push his buttons! I believe that Dan genuinely cared for Lois -- unlike Lex or Deter -- but he would have had a better chance if he'd stopped bashing Clark at every opportunity.

Oh, and incidentally, I never heard that TPTB considered having Clark marry Mayson, but I do understand that the original plan was to have him enter into a real romantic relationship with her, only to find out later that -- sort of like Lois with Lex -- Mayson was working for Intergang. We can all sigh in relief that they changed those plans!

Kathy

Ah! So that explains the strange scenes in CoM where Mayson is seen with Bender, Bill Church Snr and other dodgy characters! That was never explained, and afterwards they seemed to act as if there'd never been a suspicion that Mayson might not be one of the good guys.

Though I can't remember now which episode had the conference-room scene in which Lois yelled at Clark about Mayson and, among other things, alleged that Mayson was 'dirty'. (That's the scene which finishes with Clark yelling at Lois something like 'If anybody's blind here...').


Wendy

That was in CoM as well. I think that was the only episode that ever tied Mayson in any way to Intergang.

Kathy