Faith, I completely respect and admire that you are such a huge fan of the Iconic Couple of Clark and Lois and that you want to see the relationship treated properly. I also understand your passion for the Superman legacy both in and outside of Smallville. But I have to tell you—-you are not unique in that way. I’m not sure how many Smallville fansites you visit. But I can tell you right off the bat that the largest Clois site on the web, Divine Intervention, is LOADED with Superman comics fans. I am a huge fan of Smallville but like you, I’ve been a fan of Superman and his story since I was as little girl in various mediums whether it be the comics, the animated series, the movies and LnC.

Steve and Derek are probably the two biggest Superman fans you could ever imagine. Yes, they love Smallville. But these guys are Superman fans first and foremost. So please just be aware that you are not the only one out there who is concerned with the Superman legacy and with the overarching love story of Clark and Lois in the story. There are MANY of us even on this site that care deeply about these characters and the way they are portrayed.

I’m the first person to get pissed off whenever fans of this show refer to Clark and Lois as just another “ship” or refer to Lois as just one of the supporting characters. That’s just not true. Smallville is the pre-cursor to a Superman story. It ALWAYS has been and the closer we’ve gotten to the end of the journey the more important Lois and her relationship with Clark has become. Clark and Lois aren’t just a freaking “ship”–they are THE central relationship of the Superman story. Period. End of story. Lois Lane is not just a supporting character in the Superman story. She is the SECOND most important person in the mythos and second ONLY to Clark himself. (And I would argue that Lex is a very close 3rd.) When you are talking about the supporting cast of the Superman story (ANY Superman story) it goes Lois…and then everyone else. She is more important. Which is why I find it laughable when people try to compare Smallville’s enhanced focus on Clark and Lois to “becoming Lois and Clark 2.0.” EVERY live action version of the Superman story (with the rare exception of Superboy) has featured Lois Lane as the most important female in Clark’s life. The only reason that Lois wasn’t heavily featured in Superman III (and Lana Lang given focus instead) was because Margot Kidder had a falling out with the producers when Richard Donner was replaced. The focus on Clark and Lois wasn’t something that the 90’s TV show invented or something. They didn’t create these characters and neither did Smallville. Lois is the only other character who has been there since Action #1 in 1938. She was created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster to be Superman’s soulmate. She was based on a model who was named Joanne (Lois’ middle name) who later became Jerry Siegel’s wife.

Why am I saying all of this? Because I just want you to know that I totally understand that these are characters that mean a TON to people. Clark and Lois both as the INCREDIBLE individual characters that they are and as a couple mean an enormous amount to a ton of people. I know they mean quite a bit to me. And I DO care and take great interest and investment in how they are portrayed in every medium.

With all of that being said, I think that Smallville has done an incredible job and shown great respect to this iconic relationship over the past 6 years and particularly during the last season.

I’m not really sure how Clark could have “manned up” anymore than he did this past year. This was the first time in 9 years that Clark was EVER portrayed as the aggressive person in the relationship with a woman. This was the first time in 9 years where Clark was ever portrayed as the one pursuing as opposed to the one being pursued. This was the first time in 9 years of Smallville where Clark openly and honestly went after what he wanted whether it be grabbing Lois in the middle of the bullpen, or asking her out, or expressing that he wanted to move their relationship faster, or even expressing that he actually wants a sexual relationship and is willing to let go of his previous fear of for lack of better words…killing his partner during sex. He got over ALL Of that this year. Then in “Salvation” he was put in a position where he felt he had to let Lois go. So what did he do? He told her how he felt and he let her go with dignity. HE didn’t get down on his knees and cry nor did he mope or whine. He did what he thought he had to do to save the world and keep Lois save. Then, in the last few moments of the finale, he made two pivotal choices. First, he grabbed Lois on the street and kissed her passionately most likely knowing full well that she might learn his secret. Then, he made the ultimate sacrifice when he stabbed himself with the BlueK and gave up his own life in order to protect the world from the wrath of Zod.

On top of it, I think it’s worth mentioning that on several occasions this year Clark offered heartfelt and humble apologies to people that he felt he had wronged (whether they deserved those apologies or not is another debate all together) and asked for NOTHING in return for his humility and kindness. He stood by his friends even when they treated him like an enemy.

Clark needs to man up? Frankly, sometimes I’m not sure how Clark walks down the street because for lack of better words….he’s got balls of steel.

The break up in Hostage was the most mature break-up we’ve ever seen on Smallville. There was no name calling, no intentionally trying to hurt the other’s feelings, no declarations of “I don’t know how I could’ve ever loved you” or anything like that. It wasn’t a mutual break-up and it was clear that they still loved each other.

In Salvation they showed that they were willing to work it out, but Clark, albeit mistakenly, thought Lois would be better off leaving than staying just to have him disappear forever. In that scene they all but said ILY, and IMO the words that they DID say was more meaningful than an “I love you” that has been thrown around on this show too casually in the past (and even in the episode). And at the end of the day (almost literally), Clark finally “manned-up” and told Lois in the most unique way to the series. Because, you see, Lois has these mad kiss-identifying-skillz, and Clark who has an eidetic memory (proven in Season 1) and knew from Crimson that Lois could kiss him and remember that she’d done it before, isn’t dumb enough to think that after kissing him for 8 months (canon length of time they’d been dating) and not recognize it.

I also want to point out that Clark “manned-up” not only in his Blur activities but in his pursuit of Lois in a way that he’s NEVER done in past seasons. Clark as never gone after someone he had feelings for the way he did with Lois (at least not while he wasn’t on RedK).

This isn’t to convince you, just to give a different perspective. I think they’ve treated Clark and Lois with enormous respect. They’ve shown us the lighter side to their relationship, they’ve put them in situations (Echo, Warrior, Escape) and had them work it out by the end of the episode without anyone crying alone or “throwing balls” in a loft, and they’ve given us some really good non-manufactured angst that wasn’t solved in 42 minutes, and they still have issues to resolve in season 10, but that’s what relationships and television are about.

Second, Zod imitated the Blur because of Zod. Zod was on his way to becoming a menace with or without Clark’s “help” and I’m getting a little tired of people always blaming other’s villainy on Clark when everyone is responsible for their own actions. The Zod that was put in the orb already had a screw loose and he’d already committed two known acts of murder and one known attempted murder before he started imitating the Blur, so I guess I just don’t agree with this argument. The first thing Zod wanted when he appeared on Earth was the powers he should’ve had under yellow sun. I guess I just see it as naive to think that whether he’d met Clark or not he wouldn’t have tried to take over the world once he got those powers. That’s not something you can put on Clark’s head.

And as for the Red Queen thing, hell I bought it.