And one full day is more than enough time for Clark to gradually regain his memory—no big revelation necessary.
Actually, that doesn't make much difference to the possibility I'm talking about in the end. Lois could indeed have thought that his memory had returned gradually. There's nothing to prove that she realized what we and Clark know, that there was a definitive trigger in the alley. But I believe she noticed that he seemed more like himself when he returned to the Daily Planet, so regardless of how it happened, she knew he had regained his memory. Therefore, Lois's question could have been about the first thing he remembered since the last time they saw each other, when he still seemed so lost. That's what I meant earlier, not that she necessarily thought there had been a big revelation. Or, of course, she could have been asking about the very first thing Clark remembered overall, hoping he would admit that it was a little habit of hers, but that wasn't the impression I got when I watched ASU. What I do agree with is that, regardless of what she was asking, she probably wanted the answer to be her - even if she wasn't aware of that desire herself. And then Clark lies, or rather, tells less than half the truth, and unfortunately, we don't get to see a sweet moment.
I think I need a L&C detox center...
If you find one, please let me know
And she just obeyed his order? I’m so glad that’s not our Lois.
Oh, I can imagine a scenario or two in which she would do that.
Poor Clark—sometimes the evil producers were too harsh on him.
Indeed, indeed.
The beginning of this episode feels a little strange to me. Why does everyone, including Jonathan and Martha, seem so impressed by Superman in Paris? The way they talk, you'd think he'd never left Metropolis to make a rescue before, which doesn't make sense unless this was right at the beginning of Superman's career... Or is everyone so excited because it's specifically his first time in Paris and they're thrilled to see Superman in action in a city he hasn't visited before?
The first meeting between Clark and his clone was pretty anticlimactic. I mean, I liked their conversation itself, but the way they met was a bit dull. And it was funny to see Lex Luthor being a father and scolding his son for getting home after ten. What was that version of Little Red Riding Hood? Wow. And we can't forget the scene where he carries the clone - because how much does Superman weigh? Are Kryptonian molecules denser, meaning Clark weighs more than an ordinary man in the L&C canon? I don't know, but either way, it seems Luthor doesn't skip his workouts.
Speaking of which, about this line:
LUTHOR: You will be the instrument of our victory, then _you_ will be the one, the only Superman. _My_ Superman. Maybe Lex was in love with both Lois and Superman at the same time, which is why he caused so much trouble for them.
I wonder why the clone was also attracted to Lois. Was she the only woman who had approached him in those last few days? Impossible. This was the time to see Superman flirting with a blonde named Tiffani, not when he was under the influence of red kryptonite.
But anyway... Maybe she was the only woman who approached him with the kind of boldness that suggested prior familiarity, which made him curious.
I also wanted to mention how funny this part is:
MARTHA: I saw this movie once. There was a parallel universe and...
CLARK: Mom, don't get sci-fi on me, please.Seriously, Clark? You're an alien who came in a spaceship that traveled who knows how many light-years through outer space while keeping you alive, you found a mysterious globe containing a hologram of your parents and you have superpowers. What does all that sound like?
I liked Lois's attitude during the dinner (which never actually got served), questioning the supposed Superman about what was wrong. She didn't act like a groupie. But I wish that after everything that happened in this episode, and after realizing that Superman was ignoring her more than she'd thought, she'd given up on him for good. At the same time, I understand why she didn't.
Needless to say, Clark once again pulled a well-meaning stalker and stationed himself outside Lois’s apartment building that night, eavesdropping on every word exchanged between Lois and Superman #2.
Indeed, it's something the viewer can tell he's going to do the moment he leaves the note, so we didn't even need a scene of him standing outside her apartment this time.
Clark’s testosterone-poisoned state is even more obvious in that arm-wrestling match with Superman #2—the Kryptonian version of mating contest.
Yay, biology!
Well, the conclusion any woman with a properly functioning brain would make here is “You must be in love with me,” because the guy could very well have gotten his arm yanked off by challenging a merciless god.
Hey, let's not be so certain
Having a brave, purely platonic friend is everything in life.
Yet the possibility that Lois could be caught in the crossfire and killed for good doesn’t seem to bother Luthor at all.
I think Luthor was sure Superman would protect her from any harm the clone might cause. Which, of course, is still absurd, and brings us back to that discussion about how real love can be when there's no purity in it. In any case, it's definitely not a kind of love I'd have the slightest interest in experiencing.
Inevitably, Lois would have had to endure endless ridicule and teasing from her colleagues while waiting miserably for Superman’s invitation that never came.
This makes me think once again that I really wish we'd seen more of her interactions with other people at the Daily Planet. By the way, this scene made me laugh:
CAT: Uh huh. She left a few minutes ago... with Superman.
CLARK: What!?
CAT: Yeah. They flew out that window... is something wrong... I hope?Under other circumstances, I would have praised Clark wildly for his huge improvement in intellect and tactics in the courtship arena.
I would have praised him if it weren't a little too late to try to sneak out unnoticed.
Now that Superman and Lois had a whole history together because he hadn't managed to establish boundaries between them earlier, the ideal and smartest thing for Superman to do would have been to ask her to have an honest conversation to put an end to everything. And then Clark could step in, so to speak.
That’s because it’s the same lunkhead operating behind those two personas, lady.
Well, that's a relief, huh? Better to be rejected by one man than two.
The final scene of this episode is yet another Season 1 ending that appears lighthearted on the surface, but has a rather sad and ominous tone running underneath.
Definitely. It's especially sad for Clark and the clone himself. Lois suffers gracefully, not only because this is a minor matter compared to the family crisis we witnessed, but also because deep down, perhaps she'd expected this outcome from the beginning. It's interesting how she goes through moments of feeling like she has a claim on Superman or is someone special to him, only to end up feeling the exact opposite: like an absolute pathetic nobody for having even entertained the idea that something might happen between them. It makes me wish we'd seen what a relationship between Lois and Superman would have looked like in the series. It probably would have been very short and awkward, and she might very well have ended up realizing that she couldn't feel like she was on equal footing with him and that, as a result, things wouldn't work out between them.
The clone's story is especially sad because shortly before dying, he realizes that his own father doesn't truly love him and sees him only as a tool. At least he helped Clark with the lock of hair, showing that he could have been a good brother under different circumstances. And then Clark gives him a dignified ending. I think this moment is important enough that it should have had a greater impact on the end of the episode (considering I can't expect what happens in one episode to affect the next, even though it naturally bothers me a little. For example, the consequences of Mayson's death were short-lived. I mean, I understand that the series couldn't turn into a drama. Still, I think there are ways to honor these characters in this kind of story. But anyway, I've completely gone off on a tangent). Instead, the script has Clark think more about what the clone could have been to him than about who he was and the life he could have had, which makes the character seem a little selfish. There's also an intentional reference to Bizarro, another character from other Superman media who also has a sad story:
LOIS: I don't know. He's just... bizarro, that's all.Perry and Jimmy's subplot here is really good, and I love that scene at the end where they and L&C are sitting close together even though there's plenty of room to spread out on the bench. These four are just too adorable! The scene where L&C are left alone there afterward is cute too. And Clark laughing so openly at Lois's joke about being available to keep Superman company just proves that he knew how to handle her crush on or flirting with the hero. It's not as though he were some poor doormat who suffered because of superficial and evil Lois all the time. In fact, for most of season 1, he seems cheerful and hopeful, although he certainly went through some complicated and painful moments in this love triangle involving two people.
Wow, I ended up writing much more than I expected. I've been writing so much lately that I'm afraid I'll run out of my monthly word count.
At this rate, I won't be able to publish my special Halloween fic in time.
