Wow, Tank. You certainly don't pull any punches. When you say you don't like Lois in this arc, you weren't kidding. You made her extra stupid and extra vindictive giving Luthor free passes and barely holding a conversation with Clark.
She had opened up to him like she had no other person ever before. She even told him about Claude. Not even her mother knew about Claude.
She's comparing this to Clark's secret? When Lois told this to Clark, she barely knew him and actually didn't trust him to not spread it. The "Yeah, right!" comment as she shoved the party hat down her head comes to mind in the pilot. But something personal like that is hardly comparable to an earth-shaking secret that has consequences for the world, except in Lois Lane's ego-centric world. I agree with you that the writers savaged Lois' character here, but still enjoy the arc.
The bugging of her office really bothered her. More so than she let on to Clark.
This is good, except you negated it very deftly later on in the story.
It left her with Lex... and Clark, and she wasn't so sure about Clark anymore.
Too bad she never gave him a chance. Wonder if she ever actually planned to?
They actually didn't walk anywhere, but just slipped around the corner, away from the spying eyes and ears of her office. "What's up, Lois?" Clark tried to keep his voice neutral.
Why in the world did Clark not check for bugs? That was his first thought in the previous part, but it never occurs to him that it's DANGEROUS to discuss his secret in the heart of Luthor's empire.
"I moved you from on-air to on-the-street reporter."
Good explanation for giving him the chance to get away. Imagine Clark in the middle of the 6:00 news suddenly hearing an emergency. He'd never be able to get away. He'd be stuttering while saying something inane while his concentration's elsewhere. He'd be fired like a shot. Makes you wonder why he applied for that position in the first place.
"Don't, Clark," she said as she back up a step.
Clark sighed. "It's still, Luthor, isn't it? Even though he invades your privacy by bugging your office, that's okay. But me, I withhold one secret from you and I'm slime mold."
Very appropriate behavior for this arc from Lois and Clark. Clark can't help putting his foot in his mouth, while Lois can't help being completely non-trusting of Clark. And she blames him for not trusting her. When did she ever trust him anytime in the first season?
But, a significant problem in this particular story with this behavior of Lois', both here with her "Don't, Clark," and her behavior in the entire hallway scene, is that she says earlier that she wonders what her situation is with Clark. She wonders if Clark still considers her a friend, fully giving the impression that she still wants to be his friend. Yet in this situation, she acts as if she doesn't want him anywhere near her. And if she wanted to know how she stood with Clark, this touching of her by Clark would have told her he still cared. But even before the argument starts, she acts as if she doesn't care how she stands with him. Previous parts of this story had Lois recognizing that she had hurt him badly by spurning Clark first and then asking for Superman. She acknowledges she hurt him and wondered whether he still liked her, hence the not knowing where she stood with Clark. She acts and talks as if she couldn't care less about Clark's feelings. So this scene contradicts what was said earlier in the story.
"Lois, of course I trust you. And I was planning to tell you sometime."
Wait a minute. He did tell her. Maybe not in a nice fashion, but he did tell her. This sounds more like something he'd say if Lois had found out on her own. This is about the only sentence Clark got to say of any significance in this entire discussion with Lois, and it's an dumb statement by itself without backup such as telling her the reasons why he didn't tell her in the first place. The entire conversation was her berating him and him not able to get a word in edgewise. So he never had the chance to explain anything, nor did she give him a chance by telling him to shut up. Did she really want a conversation or just a chance to yell at him? If she wanted a conversation, all she got was a one-sided argument.
Lois shook her head, her hair swirling about her face. "No, I don't. But I don't know why it's there either. And until I find out why he put that stuff there I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt."
Clark was clearly exasperated. "Lois, I don't believe you. Listen to yourself."
Clark's completely right here. Lois' character in the arc is completely different from any other time in the series. She's basically taken a vacation while a pod person took her place. Sometimes I wonder why I like this arc so much. Probably because I like angst stories so much.
"What don't you believe, Clark?" she asked. "That a man like Lex, could respect me, trust me? Believe it; I'm going to find out why that stuff is there, but until this incident I never had cause to think that Lex had ever lied to me." Lois took a deep breath. "You, on the other hand, admitted that you blatantly, and repeatedly lied to me."
Wonder if it occurs to Lois at some point that until Clark admitted he was lying, she hadn't had any cause whatsoever to think that Clark had been lying to her. So if she was fallible with Clark, it follows she's fallible with Luthor, and she's a lot closer to Clark than she is to Luthor. And the thing is, HE DID TELL HER. It's not like she found out on her own.
Lois watched as he hurried down the hallway and into the stairwell. She sighed, as a single tear rolled down her cheek. "Yes, I'm afraid it is, Clark... I'm afraid it is."
This is hardly fair of her. She never let Clark speak, yet she's writing him off with none of her questions answered? It's also a departure from canon, which makes sense due to the revelation. Lois typically was the one trying to maintain the friendship and failing while Clark is the one who's normally trying to stay away from her and initiating the arguments. So this is a complete role reversal from the standard arc. Lois is the one who wants a complete cutoff now, a completely unjustified one if she were to think about it carefully because she never gave him a chance to say anything meaningful. So upset, I understand. I don't quite understand why she'd write him off so easily without giving him a chance to explain. It wasn't even that big an argument. It had barely gotten started before he had to dash off.
She didn't get a chance to ask her question before Lex cut her off. "Look, Lois, I want you to know that this was done strictly above board. It was all legal. I went to the police and we obtained a signed court order allowing us to plant the surveillance equipment. I have a copy of it in my files if you'd like to see it. Or you can call Inspector Henderson if you wish. He was the arresting officer on the case."
Truly
It had been the worst hair experience that Lois had ever sat through.
I was wondering when you'd get to the haircut part.
If Lex told her he liked it, she would kill him.
Knowing Lex, he'd not only compliment her, but he'd say that that hairdo was his idea in the first place (you know, control and all). She has to look like his image of her.
Maybe Lois was facing a whole new life now. A life with... Lex?
Ugh! Of course it wouldn't be the same if she didn't pull the bonehead maneuver of saying yes.
I'm very impressed at this portion of the story. It has double the amount of WHAMs I can possibly stomach (yelling at Lois figuratively the whole time and loving it all the while
P.S. What movie was it that Teri ruined her hair for? I looked in the IMDB list, but couldn't tell which movie it was.
