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Episode 11 – Witness
This is the episode where Clark earns Lois’s complete, unwavering trust—the kind she doesn’t give lightly.
We open this episode with a flicker of Lois's long-dormant chip-on-the-shoulder attitude resurfacing, as she greets Clark's offer to escort her with full-throttled stubbornness right after stumbling into a murder scene. It feels a little out of step, given everything they've been through together in "HIM," "GGGoH," and "MOSB." But her repeated insistence throughout the episode that "This is my story" offers a telling clue. Clearly, she's starting to realize just how much she's been leaning on her partner lately—and she's desperate to reclaim the professional independence she's always prided herself on. Of course, that lingering “chip” doesn't stand a chance against Clark's steadfast support, and it falls away quite obediently as the plot unfolds. Sam Lane once remarked about his daughter: "It's been tough for her to trust people." But in this episode, we begin to see Lois turning to Clark—not the police, not even Superman—whenever fear or danger creeps in. It's not a stretch to say this might be the very first time in her life she's ever placed her complete faith in another human being—well, humanoid. Either way, it's a significant milestone in Lois Lane's character development.
Some fellow viewers might point out that Clark’s all-night vigil outside Lois’s apartment is undeniably an act of love—and I couldn’t agree more. The only catch is, Lois has no idea he was there. If she asked how he managed to show up at her door so quickly after the assassin’s attack, he would inevitably offer some excuse about already being on his way to pick her up for work. Throughout this episode, he never lets on to anything more than the concern of a caring friend who’d rather not lose his partner so soon. And that’s where Clark’s courtship falters: while all his human rivals gush over Lois Lane with practiced ease, Clark not only struggles to verbalize his emotions, but he also keeps his actions under wraps. Once again, it feels like a losing battle from the very start.
I'm embarrassed to admit it, but I clipped that kitchen-floor scene and watched it in slow motion more times than I care to count—and I suspect I'm not the only FoLC guilty of that level of obsession. I've also often wondered what happened after that moment. Surely Clark wouldn't just leave Lois there on the kitchen floor. It would only be natural for him to carry her to the bedroom and lay her down to rest—and in the process, he'd inevitably catch an eyeful of that "Clarkie bear" propped on her pillow, the one he won for her at the Corn Festival back in September. Of course, he'd pretend not to notice. He's always known that Lois harbors some tender feelings for him—that's hardly breaking news. He just hasn't quite worked up the courage to face that terrifying truth yet. But surely, if the lady herself took the initiative to bring it up, he'd find the nerve to respond properly?
The final scene of the episode is absolutely charming, as Lois begins to develop that sweet habit of looping her arm through Clark’s as they walk:
CLARK: “Where are we going?”
LOIS: “I thought you might want to walk me home.”
CLARK: “I thought you didn't need a bodyguard?”
LOIS: “Who said anything about a bodyguard?”
On Clark, *pretending* to be in the dark, we——
Wait. Pretending? How come he’s showing signs of brain damage again? Did they share a kiss recently? Why yes—they most certainly did, when Clark tried to revive Lois after the assassin’s attack on her kitchen floor. Apparently, that kiss short-circuited this Kryptonian’s brain all over again. Such an unfortunate case of bad timing. Poor Lois—another attempt to nudge Mr. Lunkhead into asking her out met with spectacular failure.
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Hack from Nowheresville
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instead of making it seem like Lois had no other decent options.
Exactly, Lois ended up being disrespected by the writing in this regard too. And it even does a bit of a disservice to Clark's character, because when all your competitors are terrible, it's kind of obvious you're going to be the one chosen.  It also makes her feel more energetic and more relatable to younger audiences.
Yes, totally, I understand. It's just not something that's easy for me to watch.  I used to be a huge Shawn Mendes fan when I was a teenager, but the most I ever did was write a Y/N-style fanfic, which, by the way, is something I have a pretty negative opinion of nowadays. I've always been more of a fan of stories (and even characters) than of actual people. These days, I know almost nothing about the lives of my favorite singers. So it's something that feels a little strange to me I kind of feel like he already knew.
Sometimes I'm sure he knew, and other times I'm sure he didn't. Lately I've been thinking about the possibility that he both knew and didn't know at the same time (Schrödinger's romance?  ), which, considering the complexity of the human mind, seems possible to me. Or maybe I'll come to a more concrete conclusion soon - perhaps after I rewatch the series, since I've forgotten a lot of things. Exactly. Sometimes Clark Kent's character setup is a little too saintly for my liking. I've dug through the fanfic archives trying to find darker takes on Mr. Kent, but I came up with very few.
I think it's because Superman is so powerful that a darker version of him could easily end up in a pretty ugly massacre, and it's something people don't like to imagine. My three favorite pieces of media actually contain quite a lot of violence (ASOIAF, AOT and THG), so Superman ended up becoming a sacred place of comfort for me lol. But I like seeing Clark make mistakes and sometimes do something unethical because of a story he's pursuing or something like that. It makes him more human, which is what he's always been and how he's always wanted to be seen (at least in TNAoS). Imagining him as the perfect prince all the time puts him closer to a "god" than a human, and that's a portrayal that doesn't respect the character's central desire. But sometimes it's hard to let go of that view. And it's even harder to find a balance when writing a flawed character without compromising their essence, as so often ends up happening. I'm embarrassed to admit it, but I clipped that kitchen-floor scene and watched it in slow motion more times than I care to count—and I suspect I'm not the only FoLC guilty of that level of obsession.
You're definitely not alone!  It would only be natural for him to carry her to the bedroom and lay her down to rest—and in the process, he'd inevitably catch an eyeful of that "Clarkie bear"
This sounds like a one-shot you should write...  Just a possibility: maybe Clark was letting Lois flirt with him and express some of her feelings for him so that later, when he finally brought that subject up with her, he'd have "evidence," so to speak, and it would be impossible for her to dodge the conversation. The problem was that he let too much time pass, and when he finally acted, desperation kept him from being rational.
Stories are written by the victors.
(Hmm, come to think of it, that's not the exact quote...)
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I've always been more of a fan of stories (and even characters) than of actual people.
That’s the direction I’ve been trying to move toward as well. Reality shows featuring actual people almost always end up messier, uglier, and more often than not, tragic. Still, I’m rooting for Zendaya and Tom Holland—keep it up, you two! Sometimes I'm sure he knew, and other times I'm sure he didn't.
I think it has a lot to do with Lois’s shift in attitude toward Clark. In most of Season 1, Clark surely "knew," but he just sat there and enjoyed all the attention Lois gave him, never really encouraging her feelings. Eventually, his lack of response frustrated her so much that she gave up on him and turned her attention to suboptimal alternatives like Luthor or even Superman. That’s when Clark suddenly "didn’t know" anymore and started whining about how she kept ignoring him and swooning over his rivals—one of whom just so happens to be himself! I think it's because Superman is so powerful that a darker version of him could easily end up in a pretty ugly massacre.
 This sounds like a one-shot you should write...
No, I shouldn't. My imagination could never get detailed enough to write actual fanfic. That's why whenever I get a plot bunny, I go digging through the archives hoping some kind soul has already written a story about it—with way more detail than those dim, hazy, muffled scenes playing in my mind. I've always been amazed at how you guys can describe clothes, furniture, and even medicine boxes like they're right there in front of you. Guess that kind of talent's something you're born with, not learned. Maybe Clark was letting Lois flirt with him and express some of her feelings for him so that later, when he finally brought that subject up with her, he'd have "evidence," so to speak, and it would be impossible for her to dodge the conversation.
Wow, that is the dumbest idea I've ever heard—and definitely the kind of thing Clark's dense brain would come up with. If that's really what he's been playing at all through Season 1, then this alien is beyond redemption. 
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Freelance Reporter
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Episode 12 – The Ides of Metropolis
This episode puts on full display just how completely and unconditionally Lois now trusts her partner, following the assassin incident in the previous episode.
The very next morning after harboring a convicted murderer in her apartment, Lois pulls Clark into a quiet corner of the newsroom and tells him everything. In doing so, she takes an enormous risk with very little to gain—Clark can't really do much to help her here, beyond offering some emotional support. And if he somehow turned against her, she'd be facing jail time, a shredded reputation, and a career in ruins. Yet she confesses to him without a moment's hesitation. Why? Because she carries within her an absolute, unshakable conviction that this man will never let her down—that she can entrust him with her very life. It's an act of extraordinary courage, especially given that she's only known Clark for eight months—and that the last colleague she loved and trusted, Claude, fatally wounded and cruelly betrayed her. This is a clear sign that the old emotional wounds inflicted by her first love are finally beginning to heal, thanks to Clark Kent.
There’s a cute little exchange during the phone-banter scene in the script that really should have made the final cut:
LOIS: “Clark, men and women lie to each other all the time. It's a national pastime. Sometimes it's okay to lie.”
CLARK: “It's never okay.”
LOIS: “So, you've never lied to me?”
CLARK: “I didn't say that. I said it's not okay. Besides, we're talking husbands and wives here.”
I absolutely adore Lois’s little jabs at Clark’s heart, and the brain-dead ways he reacts to them. “We're talking husbands and wives here.”—Come on, that’s exactly what she’s getting at! Could he not offer her something remotely encouraging? Ugh, this alien is irredeemably hopeless.
The final scene of the episode is another sugar-sweet overload. It seems Lois and Clark have slipped into a cozy little routine of having dinner together after work—just the two of them, no chaperone in sight. After heaven knows how many hints dropped in Clark’s general direction, Lois has finally realized that this lunkhead's information-processing core only recognizes and responds to very specific directives—like "I'm starving, and you're buying." Sure, it's not exactly a date, but it's a whole lot better than nothing. This must have been a happy time for Lois, because she no longer has to eat microwaved frozen dinners alone in her apartment, with a flickering TV as her only company. Too bad this sweet ritual didn't last long. And for now, Lois still has the habit of looping her arm through his when they walk—an adorably intimate gesture she'll sadly drop soon enough, thanks to Clark's sheer density, and won't pick back up until after they're married.
A little side note: I think both Lois and Clark acted wildly out of character in that skeet-shooting scene on Luthor's penthouse balcony. Even though what Luthor did wasn't technically against the law at the time—I did some research and was shocked to learn that "depositing objects from high buildings" was perfectly acceptable in the barbaric '90s—it undeniably posed a serious threat to people on the street below. Yet Lois didn't seem to have a problem with it at all, and Clark just let it slide with nothing more than a casual remark. Where's their professional integrity? What about their sense of social responsibility? Shouldn't Clark have written an article calling out Luthor's reckless, dangerous behavior to put a stop to it? He could've at least saved that poor pedestrian who got hit by Luthor's clay pigeon at the end of the episode—not to mention given Lois a reality check about who this billionaire really is.
I blame the Season 1 writers for this. They never should've let Luthor do anything despicable in front of Lois. Scenes like that do nothing but undermine Lois's moral integrity. If Lois had stayed true to her character, she would've cut off her private interactions with Luthor as early as "ILTY"—the moment that billionaire stepped his crocodile-leather shoe up onto the bar stool and started cleaning it with a napkin he snatched off the counter. And to top it off, the guy actually threw the dirty napkin right back onto the counter, practically under Lois's nose! That move wasn't just disrespectful to the staff and other patrons—it sent a clear, contemptuous message to the woman standing right next to him. How could anyone accept a date invitation from someone that arrogant and ill-mannered? It's these kinds of scenes that make me wish I could erase my own memories.
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Hack from Nowheresville
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Hack from Nowheresville
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I’m rooting for Zendaya and Tom Holland
Me too, they're adorable. Guess that kind of talent's something you're born with, not learned.
I was tempted to try to convince you otherwise ( ), but I actually understand what you mean. I'm sure I could never learn how to dance, for example, and my sister also has a hard time imagining things out of nowhere in her head, so creative writing isn't appealing to her. However, stories don't always require visual imagination or physical details. You can have a whole story centered around feelings too Wow, that is the dumbest idea I've ever heard
Episode 12 – The Ides of Metropolis
I like this episode, and I think it portrays Lois in a nice way.  (As far as I remember, at least... I really need to rewatch the whole series lol) “We're talking husbands and wives here.”—Come on, that’s exactly what she’s getting at! Could he not offer her something remotely encouraging?
Indeed, looking at it that way, Lois sometimes gave Clark some very good opportunities to flirt with her (whether consciously or not) that he wasted. I mean, this whole conversation about men and women (and attraction) is something she had already started in IGACOY. What about their sense of social responsibility?
 How could anyone accept a date invitation from someone that arrogant and ill-mannered?
Yeah, that doesn't seem like something Lois would do. I think that's why I was so reluctant to believe that she would accept Luthor's proposal, because of this combination of little things. I mean, I admit I still have some issues with it, but compared to how I felt about it before, I've kind of made peace with this arc.
Stories are written by the victors.
(Hmm, come to think of it, that's not the exact quote...)
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However, stories don't always require visual imagination or physical details. You can have a whole story centered around feelings too.
True, but it’s the ones that do require them that are the most appealing. I read somewhere that some people have what's called a photographic imagination—the scenes they conjure up in their heads are every bit as detailed as a feature film. People with that kind of gift probably never need to buy a movie ticket in their entire lives. At the opposite extreme are the unlucky few who can never truly enjoy reading novels, because they lack the ability to turn printed words into mental images. I fall somewhere in between. I particularly enjoy stories where the protagonist’s emotions come through indirectly—through dialogue, facial expressions, body language, or even the description of the surrounding environment. Those are the kinds of cues I rely entirely on the author to provide. Lois sometimes gave Clark some very good opportunities to flirt with her (whether consciously or not) that he wasted.
Well, not only did he waste them, but more often than not he came back with something so dense it effectively shut her down. Take the phone-banter scene in this episode—Lois was practically hinting that she and Clark were a couple and wanted to know if he felt the same way. But by replying, " We're talking husbands and wives here," he unintentionally sent her a message: "Don't flatter yourself—you and I are not a couple."If that isn't cosmic-level stupidity, I don't know what is.
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Sorry, but I need to take a break from the episode reviews and sidetrack this thread a bit. A massive plot bunny sparked by recent events in GGGoH and IOM has been stuck in my head for days. It's hogging so much of my mental processing power that I can barely think straight, which is bad news since I really need that brainspace for my thesis proposal (the cursed thing). I've got to write it down and post it somewhere, just so I can purge it from my system. Not sure where it belongs, though—it's not really fanfic, just some random daydreaming. But it’s also a little too long for the Fanfic Challenge forum, so I figured I’d just drop this oversized bunny right here in my humble little thread. Please excuse the detour, and thanks for bearing with me. INTERLUDELois and Clark's daughter was conceived while Clark was under the influence of a heavy-dose Kryptonite exposure—the kind that knocks out his powers for days, not minutes, just like in GGGoH. It makes sense, doesn't it? A massive hunk of Kryptonite essentially turns Clark into an ordinary human, making him biologically compatible with Lois. And it also means birth control for L&C is ridiculously easy—no contraceptives needed. All they have to do is stay away from each other for a few days whenever Clark gets Kryptonite-poisoned. Of course, L&C had no idea about any of this, so they both freaked out pretty badly when they discovered the pregnancy. The girl inherited Clark’s basic defensive and reconnaissance capabilities—super-healing, invulnerability, super-hearing, and X-ray vision. However, the Kryptonite radiation suppressed most of her offensive physical powers (super-strength, super-speed, heat vision, cold breath—none, nada), meaning she could never become a superhero like her father. But what she lacked in muscle, she more than made up for in mind—her mental powers were wildly enhanced by the Kryptonite radiation. She possesses mind-reading power over all Earthlings. Clark is the only person on Earth immune to it, since it doesn't work on Kryptonians. The girl can share minds with her father only when he allows her to. Clark actually has weak telepathic powers himself—like all Kryptonians do. His instinct for sensing people in danger stems from that power, and his brief telepathic exchanges with Lois in BATP, HIWTHI, and BGDF are further proof. He just never learned to use it on purpose. The girl also has the ability to control the minds of other Earthlings. Once she reached full maturity, her mind grew so powerful that she could make a group of strangers kill each other or take their own lives from miles away. She only resorted to that two or three times over her centuries-long existence, and only in extreme necessity. I recall reading somewhere that some older comics and movies gave Superman weak mind-control abilities—he uses them to hypnotize people into believing Clark Kent and Superman are two different people, and he even used it once on Lois to erase her memory. This power is also super-super-enhanced in his daughter, thanks again to Kryptonite radiation. *I got the impression that prolonged Kryptonite exposure weakens Kryptonians physically but somehow sharpens them mentally from what happens in the series. The most obvious example occurs in HIWTHI, when, after being exposed to Kryptonite radiation for an entire night, Clark establishes a two-way telepathic connection with Lois for the first time since they met. A related incident takes place at the end of HOL, when Clark hears the Wedding March—and even the Bishop speaking in the penthouse—all the way from the basement. But how is that possible? He should have lost his superhearing after being "Krypto-baked" for a full day. My only explanation is that he unintentionally intruded into Lois’s mind, and was hearing the music and the Bishop from her point of view. This inadvertent mental connection likely played a major role in Lois's moment of revelation walking down the aisle.* Although L&C’s daughter doesn't display any offensive physical powers herself, she can pass them on to her male descendants—meaning her sons and grandsons could step into the Superman role if they ever wanted to. The men in her bloodline also get some mental powers, though nowhere near the level of her female descendants. The girl can fly, but not at super-speed—only about as fast as a commercial airplane. The girl inherited her father’s compassion and her mother’s ambition. She also got her mother’s big brown eyes and her father’s jet-black hair. In my mind’s eye, she looks a bit like Anne Hathaway. ![[Linked Image]](https://img.ge/i/VTQXS42.png) Yes, I recently became a huge fan of Anne Hathaway—largely because of that phenomenal movie The Odyssey. And I particularly like her breakout role as Mia in The Princess Diaries. But “Mia” feels a bit too cute and soft for a goddess’s name, so I’ve decided to temporarily name my heroine Maya Lane Kent. “Maya” has a similar ring to “Martha”—but unlike "Martha" or "Mia," it works equally well as an ordinary city girl’s name and as one that would become legendary over time. It also shares the same stylistic vibe as other Kryptonian princess names like Zara and Lara. More importantly, the name carries meanings like 'magic,' 'great,' 'mother,' 'beloved,' 'princess,' 'prolific,' and 'rebirth'—all of which are a perfect match for my heroine.
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Maya inherited her father’s super-long lifespan and lived for five centuries. She led a normal, happy human life—working as a Professor of Sociology at Metropolis University—until she reached her sixties, when her immortality started to attract unwanted attention. That's when she decided to go into hiding. For decades afterward, she lived like a hermit in one of the "Fortresses of Solitude" that Clark had built for her in remote corners of the world—places entirely out of reach and uninhabitable by any ordinary Earthling. Another reason she withdrew from human society was that L&C died soon after Maya turned 60. Thanks to the "essence" Clark regularly passed on to Lois through intimacy, Lois acquired a partial super-healing ability from her husband and aged at roughly the same rate as Clark. (Sorry, I didn't mean to go all nfic—but I really wanted them to grow old together, and I couldn't come up with a better way to make that happen.) As a result, even at 90 years old, they still looked like a middle-aged couple. This is how L&C looked when they were in their nineties (Yes, they indeed shared a wonderfully long life together) : ![[Linked Image]](https://img.ge/i/n2FDh44.jpg) But because of what happened in “Brutal Youth”, L&C's self-protective powers had declined considerably by that time—which is why they were both killed together in a terrorist attack. That was the moment Maya decided to devote her life to building a non-violent utopia for mankind. She spent decades in solitude studying the human mind and social dynamics, crafted a detailed plan, and eventually set it in motion. Maya took seven human mates throughout her long life—a psychologist, a strategist, a scientist, a physician, an engineer, an artist, and a philosopher. They were all extraordinary men, because they all had to pass Maya's "mind-sweeping" test. With each mate, she bore seven children. The younger ones were mostly brought up by their older siblings. Maya could share minds with every one of them, and each child carried a genetically hardwired loyalty to her—like worker bees to their queen. In effect, she commanded an army of super-beings and could theoretically do whatever she pleased with the people of Earth. And yes, L&C eventually had some 50 grandchildren—though they never lived to see any of them. Maya didn't give birth to her first child until she was nearly 100, which, by human standards, was roughly the equivalent of being 20. The existence of this goddess-like alien queen and her super-army was exposed to humanity when Maya was over 200 years old. The clan was betrayed by one of her sons’ wives, a woman who refused to let her husband remain Maya’s puppet, bound to her will for eternity. Unsurprisingly, humanity panicked and turned against them. They twisted Maya’s family name into something monstrous— The Lanekens—and with it, damned her entire race. (The name's just a placeholder—I'm going for a "Tom Riddle to Voldemort" rebrand, but I've got nothing good so far.) For generations, parents taught their children to fear and loathe that name. The Lanekens became scapegoats for every inexplicable human death. And in their fear-fueled frenzy, mobs tricked, captured, tortured, and killed one of Maya's mates and three of her youngest children. They subjected these demigods to unspeakable experiments before finally dissecting them like frogs. *** Lesson learned, L&C—Never, ever swear on the lives of your future grandchildren! ***This tragedy broke Maya’s heart nearly beyond repair. She possessed every justification to unleash her divine power—to enslave, or even annihilate the entire human race. But she didn’t. Because deep down, her soul was still sheltered by the boundless love that L&C had planted in her heart centuries ago—back when she was just an ordinary, carefree little girl running around a sunlit brownstone on Hyperion Avenue. ***“ That one great love that changed us forever.”*** Maya continued her quest until a self-sustaining utopia was established—one that could function without her race's oversight. (The 22nd-century version that H.G. Wells mentioned was merely a flawed prototype, and it didn't last long at all.) In the generations that followed, the lifespans and combat prowess of her male descendants declined rapidly, until they were scarcely distinguishable from exceptionally strong human men. But the longevity and mental gifts of her daughters were much better preserved and passed down to granddaughters and great-granddaughters alike. The female Lanekens are not particularly prolific, however. For one thing, the "mind-sweeping" trials make suitable mates exceedingly difficult to find. For another, unlike the male Lanekens who are able to sustain their wives through sexual intimacy, the females consistently outlive their partners. Which means they're left to endure the agonizing pain of losing their true love over and over again. As a result, many female Lanekens chose to devote their entire lives to serving the clan, forgoing families of their own. Over time, Maya's female descendants formed a secret sisterhood—a shadow organization that would watch over humanity for eons to come. Eventually, though, they would have to elect a new queen bee once Maya passed. No one knew for certain when or how Maya died. She simply faded from the world at around four hundred and fifty years old. In the post-utopia society that followed, she was remembered and revered as a Gaia-like goddess. L&C, on the other hand, occupied a far more modest place in Utopian memory—they're like Martha and Jonathan to us: beloved, but mortal—because they only lived about ninety years and barely made a dent in human history. To the Utopians, the one true hero—the founding mother of their world—is Maya Laneken. Data dump complete. Now my brain is back to being blissfully numb and empty—just the right state for wrestling with my doomed proposal. 
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Hack from Nowheresville
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It's hogging so much of my mental processing power that I can barely think straight
It’s so annoying when that happens. And unfortunately, it happens a lot. But it’s also a little too long for the Fanfic Challenge forum
As far as I know, there’s no problem with that. The plot bunny can be posted there normally. Lesson learned, L&C—Never, ever swear on the lives of your future grandchildren!
I can’t believe it! I almost screamed laughing, that caught me completely off guard! This kind of fanfic isn’t usually what I like to read, but it’s a very interesting idea. There are shades of gray instead of just black and white, with real dilemmas that are difficult to classify as right or wrong. And I think that if utopia exists, it makes sense that it wouldn’t be easy to get there. I also liked the part where Clark and Lois wouldn’t be revered, but respected as ordinary people. just the right state for wrestling with my doomed proposal.
I hope you’re managing to develop something! 
Stories are written by the victors.
(Hmm, come to think of it, that's not the exact quote...)
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As far as I know, there’s no problem with that. The plot bunny can be posted there normally.
Thanks for the tip. I think I’ll go ahead and post it there anyway. Even though the chances of adoption are pretty slim—It looks like the waiting list is at least five years long—it’s still better than having no hope at all. I almost screamed laughing, that caught me completely off guard!
I'm glad you like it. The idea caught me off guard, too. It actually hit me during my latest rewatch of IOM: the moment that irresponsible pair started cursing their descendants, I got this vivid mental image of some evil scientists dissecting their poor, innocent grandkids on an operating table... I hope you’re managing to develop something!
Thank you so much. With doomsday closing in, I need all the good wishes I can get. 
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Episode 13 – Illusions of Grandeur
I couldn't pick up on any clear time clues in this episode, except that the weather feels warmer than in "IOM." So I’ve decided to move it down in the order and place it after "IOM."
The opening scene greets us with a little standoff between L&C that makes you wonder what’s been going on between our favorite duo lately. Soon after Cat strides in wearing something more shroud than suit, Clark offers the overly conservative Ms. Grant a compliment: “I think you look very nice.” What prompted him to say that—we would never know. But I have a a nagging feeling that he’s after that guilty pleasure of watching Lois get jealous over him and Cat. And sure enough, he receives a well-deserved dagger glare from Lois. If Clark thinks her retaliation stops there, he’s sorely mistaken. The moment Cat starts comparing Arthur Chow’s wealth to Lex Luthor’s, Lois wastes no time cutting in: “But not as handsome as Lex!” That brutal counterattack predictably triggers Clark’s “green vision,” which he uses to stare her down in protest. Alright, so this little game of "seizing the high ground" — in whatever this is between them — seems to have ended in a draw.
One of my favorite things about those L&C-only moments is their private conversations—like that one they shared at the table in the Magic Showroom. You can clearly observe how curious they are regarding what the other is thinking, and how they never pass up a chance to pry a little further. Even a year-plus later, on their first official date—when they already know each other backward and forward—they're still just as eager to learn more. To each other, their souls are boundless, enchanting landscapes they never tire of exploring.
This stands in sharp contrast to the kind of conversations Lois has to sit through with her human suitors—which are almost always one-way streets, man to woman. These exchanges typically come with two staples: an endless supply of cheap compliments (mostly about her looks) and nonstop declarations of affection for a woman they barely know. (If I recall correctly, the first time Clark ever complimented Lois's appearance was in "The Rival"—ten months after they met. And the very first time he really gushed over her was right before his disastrous marriage proposal.) That kind of monologue doesn't just show that those suitors have zero interest in Lois’s inner life, it also effectively prevents her from picking their brains and seeing their true colors. Fortunately, after nearly two years with Clark, Lois eventually became too spoiled—if you will—to tolerate empty talks like the ones Scardino or Sullivan served up during their lunch dates.
The morning after Clark gets hypnotized by the evil magician, he shows up to work super late and dream-walks past Lois toward his desk, clutching a copy of the Morning Edition. His odd behaviour immediately prompts Lois to ask, “Did you get enough sleep last night? You look kind of funny.” Jimmy sees the exact same scene but doesn’t notice anything out of the ordinary. This is just one of those Season 1 scenes where Lois is always the first to pick up on Clark not being himself—even early on in their relationship. In fact, more often than not, she's the only one—aside from Clark's parents—who can tell when something's wrong with him. It's yet another reminder of just how much more attention she pays him than any other human being on the planet. And yet this “poor sensitive baby” still has the nerve to complain that she's always ignoring him. Really—how high-maintenance can Kryptonians get?
It’s also worth pointing out that Lois’s chip-on-the-shoulder attitude makes a comeback in this episode—and for good reason. She’s been working on Clark for seven solid months and is still getting nowhere with this hack from Nowheresville. All he’s done so far is tiptoe around her, dish out endless teasing without ever getting real. Naturally, Lois’s old insecurities start to creep back in, and she might even begin to reconsider her romantic prospects. But hey—at the end of the episode, Clark sends her a spray of red roses. Even though they’re presented as a magic prop, their floral language still means LOVE! Clark may have done it on nothing but a super whim, but Lois doesn’t know that. For an ordinary guy, pulling off a trick like that would’ve taken some serious planning. Could it be that this lunkhead is finally taking the bait? This bunch of red roses sure got our heroine's hopes up all over again—only to have them dashed in the very next episode.
On a related note, one more thing I appreciate about Clark’s courtship is that he rarely sent Lois gifts before their relationship was solidified. He only did it when he absolutely couldn’t help himself—and always hid his real intentions behind something else: The Clarkie bear doesn't count, since Lois requested it of her own accord. The red roses were disguised as a magic trick. The yellow ones came wrapped in the safe guise of 'friendship.' The star-shaped crystal was a Christmas gift he was supposed to bring to the party host anyway. Even though Clark knew Lois loved getting gifts (as 'The Prankster' more than proves) and was dying to shower her with them (as “Ordinary People” clearly shows), he was still adamant that dazzling her with presents wasn’t the right way to win her heart. It’s these little distinctions that set an honest man apart from a world of opportunists. (Technically, the very first gift Clark ever sent Lois was that plastic Godzilla with an 'S' painted on its chest—but I’m pretty sure Lois didn't keep that one in her bedroom.)
Finally, I have to say I really like the A-plot of this episode. In fact, I like all the episodes involving supernatural elements—"COS," "NOS," "Ghosts," "Seconds"... you name it. At least those magic-based A-plots have a right to be ridiculous. So I could just take my brain out of my skull, plop it in my lap, and enjoy the storyline without a worry in the world.
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Hack from Nowheresville
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Hack from Nowheresville
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the moment that irresponsible pair started cursing their descendants
Ah, I think this part is so cute. What prompted him to say that—we would never know.
I think he was trying to say that she didn’t need to sexualize herself all the time to be pretty. Or simply to give her a positive word after everyone’s jokes about her new look. You can clearly observe how curious they are regarding what the other is thinking, and how they never pass up a chance to pry a little further.
Yes, that’s really nice! It's yet another reminder of just how much more attention she pays him than any other human being on the planet. And yet this “poor sensitive baby” still has the nerve to complain that she's always ignoring him.
That was something I always thought too. I think Clark was already so in love that he’d lost some of his ability to analyze things Technically, the very first gift Clark ever sent Lois was that plastic Godzilla with an 'S' painted on its chest—but I’m pretty sure Lois didn't keep that one in her bedroom.
Speaking of which, I wonder where that Godzilla ended up... I hope Lois kept it somewhere! That thing has become an icon of journalistic ethics.
Stories are written by the victors.
(Hmm, come to think of it, that's not the exact quote...)
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Freelance Reporter
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I think he was trying to say that she didn’t need to sexualize herself all the time to be pretty.
If that was indeed what Clark was trying to say, then he clearly didn't know Cat Grant at all. In a later scene, Cat remarks that regular girls' clothes feel like straitjackets to her, suggesting that her choice of revealing attire is driven primarily by personal preference rather than a desire to appeal to men. Too bad Clark wasn’t there when she said that. I think Clark was already so in love that he’d lost some of his ability to analyze things.
I think Clark is being unfair to Lois sometimes. He keeps using Superman—rather than any other earthling—as the benchmark for how much she should care about Clark Kent. If she doesn’t gaze at him with the same mooney-eyed adoration she gives his flashy alter ego, he just assumes she’s ignoring him. He should have been using Lex Luthor as his control group all along—It would have made it painfully obvious how much more she favors him, a poor farm boy, over the third-richest man on the planet. I wonder where that Godzilla ended up... I hope Lois kept it somewhere! That thing has become an icon of journalistic ethics.
I’m pretty sure Lois tossed it into the first trash bin she came across, because she clearly learned nothing from that icon of journalistic ethics. Didn't she pull another unethical trick on a fellow reporter at the beginning of ASU? 
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Freelance Reporter
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Episode 14 – The Rival
The primary reason I placed "The Rival" immediately after "IOG" is that I wanted to borrow that spray of red roses at the end of IOG—Clark’s impulsive gift to Lois—as an alibi for Lois’s otherwise baffling, full-blown territorial frenzy in this episode. In the canonical broadcast order, "The Rival" originally followed "Foundling," an episode in which L&C interacted like perfectly platonic friends from start to finish, with absolutely nothing flirtatious between them. That’s why I was utterly confused when I watched Lois suddenly lock horns with Linda King over Clark’s attention, and not even bother to conceal her feelings for him. To be fair, the red roses from "IOG" still don't fully justify Lois’s frantic, almost unhinged behavior here. But at least they offer a thread of continuity, making her seem less like she's suffering from a sudden psychotic break. The backstory between Lois and Linda—bitter as it may be—is the kind of petty college rivalry that happens all the time among old friends. It hardly qualifies as a credible excuse for Lois’s theatrical meltdown across the entire episode. It seems the writers were trying to craft a "fun" story by turning Lois into a comic tornado of jealousy—well, I can't speak for others, but I personally derive little pleasure from watching a prize-winning investigative reporter regress into a high-school girl, all because the script decides her emotional insecurities should take a wrecking ball to her professional judgment.
For the above reason, I have to fast-forward through most of the Lois-vs.-Linda theatrics. So how about we skip ahead to the scene in the Metropolis Press Club at night?
Here we're reminded that L&C's cozy little routine—post-work dinners, just the two of them, no chaperone—is still very much alive. By this point, how many such intimate dinners have they shared since "Witness"? Thirty? Fifty? Any human suitor with half the openings Lois has handed Clark would have proposed by now. But then again, when you're a demigod with a lifespan measured in centuries, I suppose there's no particular urgency, is there? The press club dinner also highlights Lois's habit of treating Clark like a "gentleman-in-waiting"—fetch, serve, endure. It's a telling detail: for all her possessive attraction, she still does not truly love him, because she's been actively avoiding that landmine ever since her last heartbreak five years ago. And Clark, for his part, knows this only too well, despite all the teasing and flirtation she constantly throws his way. Perhaps it's the bitterness of that unrequited love that propels him into one stupid action after another for the remainder of the episode.
His insistence on walking Linda to the subway is perfectly understandable, since he needs the opportunity to gain Linda's trust and infiltrate the Metropolis Star. What he gravely underestimates, however, is the collateral damage to Lois’s emotional state. She is so wounded by Clark’s small betrayal that she skips dinner altogether and heads home on an empty stomach. He should have recognized the glaring red flag when he returned to the press club and found her untouched platter, but apparently, he didn't. Given that Lois had enough time to walk home at human speed, change into casual clothes, and scrub half the grout off her kitchen tiles by the time Clark knocks on her door, it's safe to assume that he didn't go after her right away upon seeing her seat empty. More likely than not, he took his time and thoroughly enjoyed his dinner—maybe even ate Lois’s portion as well. After all, it was angel hair with extra Parmesan cheese, a considerable temptation for the calorie-greedy alien.
I find it hard not to sympathize with Lois during that kitchen scene in her apartment. She tries desperately to explain to Clark why his actions hurt her so much, opening up to him entirely and revealing an old emotional wound that still hasn't fully scarred over. Clark should have realized that this is the very first time Lois has opened up to him with such raw honesty outside a life-or-death crisis—she's taking a huge emotional risk and placing considerable trust in him. But can you believe what this lunkhead does? He sprinkles a pinch of salt on her gaping wound almost immediately after she exposes it to him! Of all the moments Clark could have picked to stage a fight with Lois, he just has to choose the one when she's at her most vulnerable and most in need of his comfort. In my book, that crosses the line from stupidity into something closer to selfishness—maybe even cruelty. He seems to be savoring the savage pleasure of finally holding the upper hand, so much so that he's willing to hurt Lois's feelings on purpose. If only he had known the terrible price he would pay a few months later for that fleeting moment of shallow satisfaction—it would effectively wipe that smirk off his face after Lois shut the door on him.
Yep, you've done it now, Mr. Kent. That dinner at the press club is going to be the last unsupervised, post-work meal with Lois you'll ever get—well, the last one before your official first date at the exorbitantly priced Fouquet's Restaurant over a year later, that is.
And if you think Clark's idiocy ends at Lois's doorstep, you're sorely mistaken. Throughout this episode, he once again makes repeated attempts to "regain the high ground" by forcing Lois to verbally acknowledge her attraction to him—a classic blunder that ranks at the top of the "100 Mistakes You Should Never Make When Courting a Woman." His "she stole a guy" jab in Lois's apartment was only his first try. The second comes in his own apartment, right after Lois walks in on his clandestine meeting with the boss:
LOIS: “So you mean I've been having all these feelings for nothing?”
CLARK: “What feelings?”
LOIS: “Forget it. I'm not feeling them anymore.”
Sadly, Lois isn't joking when she says, "I'm not feeling them anymore." Even though she eventually finds out that Clark didn't actually betray her, the callous way he handled the situation has undoubtedly pushed Lois further away from him. After that disastrous Linda episode, she probably files away a little mental note to herself: "Remember—open up to Clark, and you get hurt." From that point on, she even drops her endearing habit of slipping her arm through his when they walk together—and it won't resurface until "Dead Lois Walking," a solid two and a half years later. Because trust takes months to build, seconds to shatter, and forever to mend. Real smooth, Kent. Real smooth.
Another noteworthy aspect is Clark’s behavior when he’s alone with Linda King. Not only does he act far more loyal to his partner behind Lois's back, but he also makes no real effort to conceal his feelings for Lois from Linda. It seems Clark is perfectly comfortable with the entire world knowing that he wants Lois—as long as Lois herself remains oblivious. That fits beautifully with what Bobby Bigmouth says in "The Phoenix" a year later: "You think it's a big secret that Clark here's been mooning over you?" By then, it’s pretty clear that everyone in their circle has long since figured out that Clark has loved her all along.
As usual, the production team excised a few critical lines that revealed too much of Lois’s real feelings for Clark in this episode. The following exchange was originally scripted for Lois's latest near-death confession, while she and Linda were tied up on the floor of the walk-in freezer:
LOIS: “ Okay. I forgive you. But what about Clark?”
LINDA (lying): “ I never cared about him. Take him. He's yours.”
LOIS: “ He's not mine to have.”
LINDA: “ Well, you can have him if you want.”
This tiny fragment of dialogue shows how transparent Clark's love for Lois is to outsiders—and, more poignantly, it exposes Lois's deep-seated lack of self-esteem when it comes to romance. On the brink of death, her most honest thought is: “I'm not good enough for Clark.” As a result, she's probably the only one in Metropolis who doesn't know Clark is madly in love with her. Which raises an intriguing question: when Clark finally declares his love in "BATP," does she actually believe him right away?
One final note: "The Rival" appears to mark the first time Clark outshines Lois in the journalistic arena. He spots Carpenter's scheme from the very beginning, simply by connecting the timing of his editorial with the onset of the "accidents"—a pattern that completely eludes Lois. Consequently, when their story on Carpenter's downfall is finally published, the byline reads: "By Clark Kent and Lois Lane"—for the first time, his name comes before hers. It's a subtle but effective touch, and I think the show does a commendable job of tracing Clark’s career development from a rookie to a journalist of genuine substance.
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Hack from Nowheresville
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If that was indeed what Clark was trying to say, then he clearly didn't know Cat Grant at all.
Well, it doesn’t hurt to try ^^ He should have been using Lex Luthor as his control group all along—It would have made it painfully obvious how much more she favors him, a poor farm boy, over the third-richest man on the planet.
That’s something I had also thought about since the first time I watched the series. Didn't she pull another unethical trick on a fellow reporter at the beginning of ASU?
I don’t think I consider what she did at the beginning of ASU such a serious flaw because I can easily imagine a large number of other reporters doing the same thing at some important point in their careers. So I ended up labeling that scene in my mind as a great example of rudeness. Just thinking about rewatching this episode makes me want to roll my eyes. I imagine that in 1993/1994, this whole theme of women fighting over a man was probably funny to people, but even when I was a child watching soap operas where female competition was normalized, I never liked this narrative device. I don’t like male competition either, to be honest. Jealousy is generally very poorly explored in romance stories, when it could actually be interesting if it were handled with maturity. Besides, sometimes there’s much more than romance at stake in male competition. Just look at Superman and Luthor, for example. They’re mainly fighting over principles and justice. Anyway, I can’t help finding the writing in The Rival kind of ridiculous. And for a long time I judged Clark pretty harshly in this episode. But you’re right, this is a great moment in his career, and he did what he should have done - although the way he did it wasn’t the wisest. A normal person wouldn’t simply recover from that argument in the kitchen without a clear and honest conversation about it after everything that happened. is the kind of petty college rivalry that happens all the time among old friends.
Wait, what? Suddenly I feel even more grateful that I’ve had such good friends throughout my life. That is definitely not normal to me. In my book, that crosses the line from stupidity into something closer to selfishness—maybe even cruelty. He seems to be savoring the savage pleasure of finally holding the upper hand, so much so that he's willing to hurt Lois's feelings on purpose.
Sad, but humanly understandable. Anyway, it’s important to remember that sometimes the writing (when it isn't very good) will make characters do things that - according to what we’ve been shown about them - they wouldn’t do, just to fulfil some plot requirement. I’m not saying that’s the case with Clark’s apparently cruel behavior, especially because, as I said, I find it understandable in the end, but it’s something worth keeping in mind. Which raises an intriguing question: when Clark finally declares his love in "BATP," does she actually believe him right away?
Good question. After all, there’s a difference between believing that someone is saying what they think is true and believing that someone actually knows the truth.
Stories are written by the victors.
(Hmm, come to think of it, that's not the exact quote...)
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And for a long time I judged Clark pretty harshly in this episode. But you’re right, this is a great moment in his career, and he did what he should have done - although the way he did it wasn’t the wisest.
And it's a great moment in terms of how Clark's character is portrayed. It's so hard to find any dark spots in the heart of this near-perfect Alien Prince. So when I finally found one, I couldn't help but magnify that infinitesimal speck a hundredfold and appreciate it from every angle. Suddenly I feel even more grateful that I’ve had such good friends throughout my life. That is definitely not normal to me.
Well, it doesn't feel normal because the writers exaggerated the storyline. But if you dial the drama down a notch or two, you'll find it's a mundane enough situation: a friendship torched over a shared love interest. I've never experienced it myself, but I've heard that kind of gossip a lot—although in real life, it seems to happen more often between male buddies who wreck their friendship by fighting over the same girl. I’m not saying that’s the case with Clark’s apparently cruel behavior, especially because, as I said, I find it understandable in the end.
I'm with you here. I think Clark was perfectly in character in this particular case—He did what he did because he was so inexperienced with relationships that he had no idea how badly he had hurt Lois. If he had known how serious the consequences would be, he never would have done that to her. Now she's practically labeled him a landmine that could give her another "federal disaster" if she doesn't steer clear of him emotionally.
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Episode 15 – Pheromone, My Lovely
“PML” serves as a perfectly tailored finale for the second part of this trilogy, delivering defining moments for nearly every major player on the board:
For L&C, the elaborate game of "seizing the high ground"—the one they've been playing ever since “IGACOY”—finally reaches its endpoint. Lois folds with grace, conceding defeat by openly admitting that she does, in fact, feel attracted to him. Would you look at Clark—what a happy chap he is at the end of this episode! If only he had any genuine courtship experience under his belt, he might have known that the second a woman throws in her cards is the exact moment she gives up all hope on you.
For Superman, driven by his foolish desire to savor yet another hit of hollow pleasure, he feeds Lois a lethal dose of catalyst and transforms her once-insubstantial fantasy into something perilously real and tangible.
Lex Luthor, for his part, finally secures definitive proof—courtesy of that marathon kissing session happening literally under his nose—that Superman does, in fact, love Lois Lane. And so he decides that he should love her, too. Yes, I remain one of those firm believers that Luthor never truly cared for Lois as a person. To this billionaire maniac, Lois Lane is nothing less than a living, breathing manifestation of his obsession with Superman, and his most unattainable desires. In Part 3, we will witness the full parade of atrocities he commits in response to that revelation.
Of course, the above statements only hold true within my custom viewing order. As I've noted in earlier posts on this thread, I've always felt "PML" is the most out-of-place episode in L&C Season 1 (“HIM” is a close second). In the Northern Hemisphere, fruit fly sprays typically begin in spring, when the pests emerge from winter hibernation; the earliest applications usually occur in mid-to-late February in heavily infested regions. Nobody sprays pesticides in the dead of winter when the insects are still eggs underground. Furthermore, “PML” carries a distinct “Valentine's Day” theme throughout. That's why I strongly suspect this story was originally slated to air right before February 14, 1994—the slot designated for Episode 15. However, due to the usual behind-the-scenes chaos—guest star availability, soundstage conflicts, resource allocation—this episode got shoved way up the shooting schedule. And that timeline scramble completely destroyed the continuity and internal logic of Season 1's B-plot.
That said, I'm happy to report that once “PML” is restored to its proper chronological position as Episode 15, most of the scenes that felt jarring or disjointed in the original broadcast order now fall into place with surprising coherence. In fact, it’s entirely possible that we're now looking at a reconstructed early version of D.J. Levine's original storyline—one that was later abandoned for practical reasons：
Because of Clark's spectacularly dense maneuvers in "The Rival," Lois has already halfway checked out on him by the time this episode begins. She shifts a fraction of her attention back to the only other viable candidate left—Lex Luthor—and resumes accepting his dinner invitations. This is, without question, a perilous sign. But what we earthlings can never comprehend is that Clark doesn't seem the least bit bothered by it. Could he really be so naïve as to believe that as long as Lois worships Superman and is attracted to Clark, she'd never take a billionaire seriously?
For reasons I've already laid out in previous posts, I'll skip over most of the scenes where Lois goes full-throttle into self-humiliation while Clark stays perfectly composed. One detail is worth pausing on, however: Lois remains fiercely monogamous even when she’s completely unhinged. The primal attraction she feels toward Clark is so overpowering that it utterly eclipses Luthor’s formidable charm. One can only imagine the sheer self-restraint it takes for her to work alongside Clark every single day—poor, poor Lois. Which means, of course, that Lois was outright lying when she told Clark, “I just don’t feel that way about you—romantically,” in "BATP". So that begs the question: why did she lie?
Another telling detail is that Luthor doesn't seem to mind in the slightest that Lois feels zero romantic pull toward him and has fallen for a "peasant" instead. Which only reinforces my earlier claim: Luthor has no interest whatsoever in forging any emotional tie with Lois. What he truly wants is to collect her and own her—the one woman Superman treasures above all else—the way he owns that full-figure painting of the “Mona Lisa” and the arms of the “Venus de Milo” in his underground bunkers.
Just as in the honeymoon suite at the start of Part 2, Clark's famously infinite patience is once again put through an all-night, inhuman trial—except this time, he would have failed entirely if the magical enchantment hadn't broken at dawn. Needless to say, Lois’s harem getup combined with the Dance of the Seven Veils must have fried that poor Kryptonian’s brain beyond repair, because his subsequent behavior for the rest of the episode pushes the very definition of "galactically stupid" to a whole new extreme.
"Okay, I'm going home, get dressed. I'll be back in an hour."
After delivering that line with her signature chip-on-the-shoulder attitude, Lois gathers up the seven veils—along with what's left of her dignity—and heads out of Clark's apartment. (I truly hope she kept that harem outfit and the veils. Those two really ought to finish that dance on their honeymoon—Lois doesn't have to be the one wearing the veils, though.) Care to guess how she spent the next hour solo in her apartment? She rummaged through her wardrobe and emerged with a staggeringly sexy, bright-red satin bandeau that was sooo not her usual style. What was that about? Was she making one last desperate play for Clark's heart?
Well, whatever Lois was going for with that unusually sexy top, it obviously didn’t work. Because Clark is staring right at her bright-red bosom when he delivers arguably the dumbest declaration in DC history: "I guess I'm just not attracted to you, Lois." Lara and Jor-El must be stomping their feet in heaven right about now, terrified they won't see a single grandkid within the next century or two, and bitterly regretting not tucking a manual on courtship rituals into Clark’s baby blanket before rocketing him off to Earth.
Just as in "The Rival," Clark's words to Lois outside Metropolis R&D are not only galactically stupid, but also rather selfish—and maybe even a tiny bit cruel. What Lois endures here is one of the worst nightmares a woman can possibly face in a patriarchal world: not only throwing herself shamelessly at a man and offering herself to him, but having that man respond by declaring flat-out disinterest in her affection. Adding to her already crushing humiliation is the fact that Lois has been trying everything to cover up her feelings for Clark from the moment they met. Now that carefully guarded secret fantasy gets exposed in the worst possible way—and then shattered in the cruelest one. For a soul as sensitive and fragile as Lois's, this experience would almost certainly rank among her top three most devastating emotional traumas.
And even with a brain as dense and slow as Clark’s, he should have sensed at least a fraction of Lois's mortification and tried to ease it for her. He could have simply offered a partial truth—that due to differences in individual metabolic systems (a common issue with all drugs), his self-restraint hadn't been as severely compromised by the perfume as others'. And that they ought to be grateful the pheromones didn't affect him that much, because if both of them had lost control simultaneously, the fallout could have been catastrophic and could even have brought repercussions for decades. But no—instead, he decides to tell a string of utterly unnecessary lies, whose sole purpose is to make himself feel better, while piling more misery and humiliation onto Lois. To borrow a line from my earlier commentary: If only Clark had known the terrible price he would pay a few months later for this fleeting moment of shallow satisfaction—it might have effectively deflated that euphoric air that had been puffing up his ego throughout this whole episode.
Lois must have done a great deal of thinking after that conversation with Clark outside Metropolis R&D, and eventually made her peace with it—because physical attraction is, after all, something you can't control. In fact, Clark's claim provides the perfect explanation for his almost inhumanly gentlemanly behavior around her at all times, as well as his baffling cluelessness in response to her endless flirtations. It also means that while Clark may no longer be boyfriend-worthy, he has now become ideal material for a best platonic friend—and that's exactly how she'll treat him going into the third chapter of this trilogy. She might even have felt a quiet gratitude that she had held back from investing too deeply in him—and thus escaped what would surely have become yet another “federal disaster” in her romantic history.
Lois Lane has always been a graceful loser—never one to refuse conceding defeat. When we see her at the Planet the next morning, she’s already reverted to her most conservative, drab outfit and looks remarkably serene. She likely tossed that sinfully sexy bandeau straight into the trash the night before—because unlike most of her wardrobe, that particular garment never makes a single reappearance for the rest of the series. That little scrap of red satin serves as the perfect burial shroud for the Clarkie bear with the red ribbon around its neck—which Lois undoubtedly disposed of right alongside it when she gave up all romantic hopes about Clark. By the time we find Lois in bed again in “HOL”, three months later, the Clarkie bear is already long gone.
I wholeheartedly wish that, after meeting its gruesome end inside a garbage compactor, the soul of that black Clarkie bear finds its white counterpart—the bridal bear that was brutally murdered in “HIM”—and together they enjoy a happily-ever-after in the great beyond. But before that, the ghost of this Clarkie bear ought to visit Clark in his dreams and deliver a brotherly warning. Because based on his behavior at the end of this episode, that lunkhead is still utterly blind to the tragic fate awaiting him and his relationship with Lois.
Yes, he finally got the answer he'd been trying to pry out of Lois for eight long months, ever since “IGACOY”—she is, in fact, attracted to him. That should have been more than enough encouragement for any humanoid—Earth-born or otherwise—to ask the lady out. But not for Mr. Kent, of the house of El. Not only does he fail to do that—he actually has the audacity to say, "As long as you're being honest with yourself, Lois," when he's been lying to her about his own feelings the entire time.
It's painfully clear that even after months of being head-over-heels for Lois, Clark still hasn't mustered the courage to face his own emotions, let alone committed to starting anything serious with her. So how much longer does he need? How many more fears does he have to conquer before he can finally be honest with himself? At this pace, it would take at least three seasons—if his billionaire rival hadn't stepped in and forced his hand by snatching Lois away for good.
One more thing worth noting: although Lois does shift some of her attention back to Luthor in this episode, she's clearly less than enthused about this backup option. Her reluctance to consider a romantic future with the billionaire shows through loud and clear in her date-night attire: she picks the ugliest evening gown she’s ever owned, skips all accessories, and doesn't even bother to do her hair. I seriously doubt she spent more than ten minutes getting ready for her dinner date with the Prince of Metropolis. It's almost as if she deliberately tried to resemble a plain old crone, secretly hoping Luthor would take one look and lose interest for good. Unfortunately for her, thanks to the "Revenge" business, that dinner date ends up being anything but a turn-off.
Unlike the indecisive, cowardly Mr. Kent, Luthor has never had a problem being honest with himself—or his bottomless appetites. So it's safe to assume this crime lord sprang into action the moment he realized he wanted to claim Lois Lane as his own—the first crime he committed was to dispatch his thugs to invade Lois’s apartment, photographing every inch of her private space and cataloging every piece of her personal effects. He later re-created the whole place in his secret lair—like a collector constructing a glorified cage for an exotic species, right down to the simulated details of its natural habitat. Lois's replica apartment inside Luthor's underground bunker must have taken at least two weeks to construct. Yet the Nightfall news was announced to the public just four days before impact. This timeline suggests that Luthor had duplicated Lois's living space for some other purpose—I shudder to think what that purpose might have been.
An interesting sidenote: the white lace dress Lois selects to impress Clark in this episode bears a striking resemblance to the one she wore to the Press Club party in "The Rival"—that deep-blue lace number that earned Clark’s first-ever compliment on Lois's appearance since they met: "Lois, you look... incredible." Though the episode order was severely jumbled in production, with “PML” actually shot months earlier than "The Rival," this little wardrobe coincidence is still fascinating—because Lois's choice of that particular Clark-seducing attire would have made perfect thematic sense if “PML” had aired immediately after "The Rival."
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Joined: Dec 2024
Posts: 201 Likes: 44
Hack from Nowheresville
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Hack from Nowheresville
Joined: Dec 2024
Posts: 201 Likes: 44 |
And it's a great moment in terms of how Clark's character is portrayed.
I think that big moment of journalistic ambition comes to everyone eventually. If we stop to analyze it, Clark pushed Lois just as she did that other reporter at the beginning of ASU - although in a figurative sense. It’s like watching a baby take his first steps! Way to go, Kent! he had no idea how much he had hurt Lois.
Or maybe he did know and let himself be carried away by impulse and the belief that Lois would forget all about it once they got another scoop (which, on top of everything, was only possible because of him). Just speculating. Lois folds with grace, conceding defeat
Which shows a lot about her dignity, and at the same time, is also kind of scary haha courtesy of that marathon kissing session happening literally under his nose
This was one of the moments when I really felt sorry for Lex lol! While I was laughing at his "I may throw up" line, I also felt a little bad because of the feeling that kiss shouldn’t have happened. It’s a scene I don’t particularly like, you know... Well, except for Lex’s part in it! To this billionaire maniac, Lois Lane is nothing but—and always will be—a living, breathing manifestation of his obsession with Superman.
I think that’s one of the reasons, but definitely not the only one, in my opinion. There’s also the fact that she’s one of the most prestigious journalists in the city, and being able to deceive her must have been an appealing challenge to him. I also believe he thought about corrupting her, trying to turn her into an ally, which would have been another appealing challenge. And last but not least, I do think there was some feeling on his part - but one that we, normal people who aren’t obsessed with power, would never be able to understand. When he says that, in his own twisted way, he fell in love with her, I believe him. How healthy that love is is another discussion altogether. And whether love can be unhealthy or whether it is by definition something pure is another discussion too, an even deeper one. And since we’re talking about fiction, I’m not going to rack my brain over that question (for now). Lois remains fiercely monogamous even when she’s completely unhinged. The primal attraction she feels toward Clark is so overpowering that it utterly eclipses Luthor’s formidable charm.
I think that’s pretty cute, and I’d really like to know what her reaction would have been if she had encountered Superman while she was still affected by the pheromone. Either she would have completely ignored him too or she would have short-circuited. except this time, he would have failed entirely if the magical enchantment hadn't broken at dawn.
This is another scene that to this day makes me wonder how different things could have been! Lois doesn't have to be the one wearing the veils, though.
Is that what they call poetic justice? emerged with a staggeringly sexy, bright-red satin bandeau that was sooo not her usual style.
Now I’m feeling pretty oblivious, because I remember being surprised by that outfit too, but I never made that kind of connection haha Lara and Jor-El must be stomping their feet in heaven right about now, terrified they won't see a single grandkid within the next century or two
When we see her at the Planet the next morning, she’s already reverted to her most conservative, drab outfit
I want to believe that this was a deliberate choice by the show team, but I’m scared. The Rival traumatized me way too much lol! after meeting its gruesome end inside a garbage compactor
Nooo, don’t say that and together they enjoy a happily-ever-after in the great beyond.
Another great fanfic idea... he actually has the audacity to say, "As long as you're being honest with yourself, Lois," when he's been lying to her about his own feelings the entire time.
Well, that’s obvious: he can lie to her as much as necessary, but she can’t, or there will be serious consequences she picks the ugliest evening gown she’s ever owned
(Again, I’m really hoping that this and the strange absence of accessories were actually deliberate choices on the part of the writers! But even if they weren’t... at some point we have to make the best interpretation we can of the information we’re given, right?) I shudder to think what that purpose might have been.
Hmm, maybe something involving a clone? Or two clones... Hm... Lois's choice of that particular Clark-seducing attire would have made perfect thematic sense if “PML” had aired immediately after "The Rival."
Yes, that makes total sense. The costume department never worked so hard as they did in this episode haha. Your explanation about the fruit flies and the chronology of the episode also makes a lot of sense. And I agree that Clark wasn’t particularly smart here. I don’t think he was cruel because, to me, you can only be cruel when there’s a real deliberate intention to be cruel and to hurt someone on a level that goes beyond the ordinary. Here, I think it would be perfectly human if he had wanted to hurt Lois a little so he could feel superior - as a strategy to keep himself from feeling inferior, which is how we usually feel when we’re in love with someone who doesn’t reciprocate our feelings in the way we wanted them to. And I think that adds a welcome complexity to the character and makes him more interesting. Now, whether he knew how much Lois would be hurt by this treatment, I don’t know. Either way, we can say that besides love being blind, it’s also kind of stupid - sometimes galactically stupid
Stories are written by the victors.
(Hmm, come to think of it, that's not the exact quote...)
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Joined: Jul 2026
Posts: 54 Likes: 7
Freelance Reporter
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Freelance Reporter
Joined: Jul 2026
Posts: 54 Likes: 7 |
Or maybe he did know and let himself be carried away by impulse and the belief that Lois would forget all about it once they got another scoop.
Yes, I also think he assumed Lois would forget all about it soon enough, which still goes to show he didn't realize how much he had hurt her. He probably took that fight in her kitchen as just another one of their little daily squabbles. But he wasn't aware that there's a world of difference between them fighting with both their shields up, and him stabbing her unexpectedly when she dropped all defenses. All the more reason to get some genuine dating experience before meeting your true love! I think that’s one of the reasons, but definitely not the only one.
You're totally right. That "nothing but" is way too absolute. I'm gonna have to fix that part. I think Lois represents the two things Luthor wanted most in the world: what he wasn't supposed to have, since she was Superman's girl (and later Clark's wife), and what he could never truly have, because she was the one woman who would never love him. Possessing a woman like that would surely give him a thrill unlike anything else. When he says that, in his own twisted way, he fell in love with her, I believe him.
I, too, never doubted that he believed it when he said it. Because Luthor's definition of "love" is: "I want to possess this woman more than anything else in the world". But the normal definition of love in the L&C universe is: " Making you happy makes me happy" and " He wants my happiness more than his own." Those are the two criteria Luthor never met. He never once put Lois's well-being above his own desires, and he always took great pleasure in ruining her life and causing her abject misery. I waited three seasons for Luthor to hesitate even one second before setting out to destroy Lois's life and crush her spirit, but he never did (which was pretty disappointing). On the contrary, he absolutely enjoyed the whole process. It was as if the L&C crew and Mr. John Shea himself were reluctant to make Luthor a more complex, in-depth character. I wonder whether it had anything to do with L&C being a Sunday-night 8 p.m. family show? Perhaps they were afraid that if they made Luthor too complicated, some teenage girls might fall for him and go after equally toxic guys in real life... The costume department never worked so hard as they did in this episode
I’ve always suspected there were quite a few dedicated FoLCs on the L&C production team... I don’t think he was cruel because, to me, you can only be cruel when there’s a real deliberate intention to be cruel and to hurt someone on a level that goes beyond the ordinary.
I should probably clarify something here: whenever I called Clark "selfish" or "cruel" in my posts, I was comparing him to his usual self—that eternally gentle, altruistic, disgustingly decent, almost boringly perfect Kryptonian Prince—not to us petty earthlings. It didn't help that the love of his life just happened to be the most sensitive woman in the world. So what he did to Lois in "The Rival" and "PML" might not count as "cruel" by normal standards, but by L&C's standards, it was. And it was extremely rare for him to expose this side of his character. In fact, over all 88 episodes, I counted only three times he acted purely out of selfishness: twice to Lois, in "The Rival" and "PML," and once to M&J in "Contact," when he woke his 60-plus-year-old parents in the middle of the night just to hear him whine about his little love problems. Did he have any idea how dangerous that was? He could've given his poor parents a heart attack. If I pulled that kind of thing on my grandparents, my mother would personally make sure I didn't live to see the morning sun. It's funny how selfless people tend to be the most selfish around the people they love most—whether in fiction or in real life.
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Joined: Dec 2024
Posts: 201 Likes: 44
Hack from Nowheresville
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Hack from Nowheresville
Joined: Dec 2024
Posts: 201 Likes: 44 |
which still goes to show he didn't realize how much he had hurt her. […] But he wasn't aware that there's a world of difference between them fighting with both their shields up, and him stabbing her unexpectedly when she dropped all her defenses.
Yeah, yeah, you’re right. All the more reason to get some genuine dating experience before meeting your true love!
Lana Lang:  (But jokes aside, I feel like they were more or less on equal footing when it came to dating experience. Most of the problems they have are because Lois has trouble trusting people and because Clark forgets to use his head at various points.) were reluctant to make Luthor a more complex, in-depth character. I wonder whether it had anything to do with L&C being a Sunday-night 8 p.m. family show? Perhaps they were afraid that if they made Luthor too complicated, some teenage girls might fall for him and go after equally toxic guys in real life...
Indeed, that makes sense. So what he did to Lois in "The Rival" and "PML" might not count as "cruel" by normal standards, but by L&C's standards, it was.
Oh, okay, I think I understand what you mean. I like to see the characters as if they could be real-life people - I mean, as much as possible, since they can't be so complex as we are and we only see a small part of their lives. Because of that, I sometimes end up disagreeing with the writing because it limits the characters, developing them in a two-dimensional way (or even contradicting things that were initially established about them). And that’s why, I think, I see more potential in Luthor than what is actually explored, disagree with some of L&C’s characterizations, and insist on treating Clark as an equal and seeing him as fully one of us. I see a lot of fans of several Superman adaptations saying that he’s a perfect being - different from all humans - precisely because he isn’t human, but that doesn’t make sense to me. I believe that if he was raised among us, then he is human and has the same kinds of flaws, vices and little quirks that we do. And that doesn’t erase the fact that, at the end of the day, from an objective standpoint, he is an alien who is more ethical and kind than most people. That doesn’t make it any less beautiful. But on a deeper level, he is a human being with human pain and human flaws who still chooses to act better than most humans. That is even more beautiful, heroic and meaningful, in my opinion. Anyway, I probably went off on a tangent from the point that was being discussed and still didn’t make my ideas clear enough, but in my defense, I’m sleepy. 
Stories are written by the victors.
(Hmm, come to think of it, that's not the exact quote...)
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