What if Lois knew or thought she knew Clark's secret? Would she be able to keep it a secret long enough for the "gang members" to be taken care of?

I think the better question would be - could she keep from throttling him before the gang was taken care of? By the time of the second season, chances are pretty good she'd think twice about outing him.

So I haven't seen the show. But Clark took a bullet in his chest because he threw himself in front of Lois, who would have been hit and quite possibly killed if he hadn't. If Lois had figured out his secret then and there, would she really have been furious enough to spill his secret to the gang, or to anyone else for that matter? Would she have thought - or would her subconscious mind have concluded - that he was enough of a louse to be outed to the world? Even though he kept saving a lot of people, particularly her, all the time?

Ann

If this was first season Lois, she probably would have no qualms about revealing it. She was hungry for any type of story that would get her a Pulitzer that season. S1 Lois would not think twice about the consequences. Second Season Lois would probably think twice, primarily because she has gotten to know Clark and his parents, and anybody associated with Superman, his parents and herself included (though she probably wouldn't necessarily think of herself as in danger) would be threatened by Superman's enemies if he was outed, so S2 Lois would probably not out him. Personally I think around Great Green Glow of Home is where Lois would start to make that turn, because if you remember, she had a perfect oppurtunity to expose Superman's weakness to Kryptonite and she aquiesed and buried it.

You really must watch the episodes one of these days, Ann.

Anyway, no, it wasn't like that. Dillinger was hitting on Lois. Clark stepped in front of her to tell him to back off. Barrow drew a gun and fired. So he didn't step in front of Lois to shield her from gunshots. She could legitimately argue that there would have been no guns drawn had he left her to deal with Dillinger herself.

There have, as I recall, been a couple of stories written where Lois was the one to be shot (one was my A Twist of Fates), but none with this intriguing angle of Clark needing to choose between revealing his secret and letting her die. Interesting idea!


Wendy

That would be an interesting idea, one where Lois tells Clark to back off and let her deal with Dillinger