i'm going to jump in early here because i want to respond to the concerns that have been raised.
yes, i expect lois is quite upset about the bugs. under more ordinary circumstances, she'd have torn into lex in half a second. my thinking here, though, is that she's confused and overwhelmed. between lex's proposal, clark's revelation, clark's suddenly taking the job at LNN, the revelation of the bugged office, and the reminder that clark kent has super powers, she's got quite a lot on her mind.
as i see it, it's not that she dismissed it as an annoyance. it's that she set it aside for the moment because she has bigger issues to deal with first.
she certainly hasn't let him off the hook. i expect there'll be words once she gets herself together enough to find the right ones. she may even change her mind about bringing up the bugs, once she has time for a second thought.
i just thought that the situation with clark was more immediate. she's got more questions for him, and, whether or not she's prepared to admit it, he's more important to her.
Also, Missy introduced Clark as the newest anchor man, but Lois just sent him out on an assignment. I wonder what the producer is going to say when he/she finds out that Lois sent an on air personality out into the field?
ah. you're right. i'd misread that. in any case, he's the new guy, she's top bananna, the person he was talking to probably had no idea who he was, and it was a handy excuse on short notice.
there may well be some confusion to sort out when he gets back (maybe someone will have a chat with lois about ordering the wrong people around or maybe clark is actually a roving reporter and accidentally said "anchorman" because he's new to the job and the medium), but that's for the next writer to decide.
As for Clark, she's appropriately upset at Clark and very confused, but she seems to have completely written him off as a romantic partner and is now concentrating exclusively on Luthor as her "maybe soon to be fiance," which sounds very much like she's leaning towards saying yes, odd given the bugging of her office. She thinks of Clark only in the terms of whether she even wants to be his friend or not, not whether she wants to be involved with him, be his friend, or neither.
this is actually something i'd intended. i'm glad you picked up on it. here are my thoughts on the matter:
(1) she told clark that she's not in love with him. maybe she is, but if so, she hasn't admitted it to herself yet.
(2) she's in the middle of at least 2 arguments with clark (over the revelation and over the job)
(3) she's not even sure what clark thinks of her, given that she hurt him by turning him down and then asking him to find superman.
so, clark is not looking like a romantic prospect at the moment. and, since she now knows clark is superman, that rules out blue boy, too.
which means that lex is looking like her only choice unless she wants to stay single for the forseeable future.
she knows she doesn't love him, she knows that it wouldn't be perfect. she knows that even more now. on the other hand, he's there, he's very eligible, he's proposed, the DP is gone, and the only one of her old friends who is even still talking to her is clark (who, as mentioned, is a confusing and infuriating figure at the moment).
lex is looking like a worse and worse option, but she's still trying to talk herself into it because she doesn't know where else to turn.
If Clark is actually there to investigate Luthor, she would be unjustified in being angry at him, not that that would stop her. What business is it of hers what he does? If he wants to waste his time investigating such an honest man, that should teach him.
what buisiness it is of his to persue an unjustified vendetta against her boyfriend? especially behind her back?
(as to whether or not clark will tell her, i'd say no. he knows she wouldn't take it well. though the bugs may change her mind.
maybe. in any case, it's not up to me to decide. personally, i don't see how he can really investigate lex from within LNN, but maybe someone else knows.)
anyway, i'll respond to other comments later.
what i want to know is if my explanations work and if you think any of what i've said should be worked into the story (added to this part as introspection, perhaps). do i still need to change anything? add anything?
thanks for taking the time to point out the problems. i'd appreciate any further thoughts.
Paul
