CRIMSON – Lois and Clark’s Intertwined Destinies.

By Erika Blake, founder CCC published in 2007

After spending five years of focusing on young Superman, Clark Kent’s attractions to his childhood love interests, SMALLVILLE finally has broken the canon barrier with CRIMSON.

Introduced back in season 4, Lois Lane has been a shadowy figure on the show, lurking in the shadows of Clark Kent’s yo-yoing infatuation of his boyhood crush Lana Lang. From when Lana first met her we received a bit of foreshadowing with Lana realizing that there was something between Clark and Lois that both were too blind to see. This is evident in GONE when she and Clark meet in the Kawatche caves and she and Clark share their one and only real conversation to date regarding Lois:

“I thought after all that we’ve been through it would’ve been harder for us to move on,” Lana.
“Us?” Clark
“Yeah, you and Lois.”
“Lois? She’s bossy….She’s stuck up and rude…I can’t stand her.”
That’s how all of the best ones start.”

For the past two years Clark has been forced into ridiculously intimate situations with the brassy, bossy, bold, and sometimes tactless Lois Lane. Clark who’s known for being deeply in touch with his feelings often finds himself thrown completely off guard when he’s with Lois. She keeps him guessing and whenever he’s got himself into a major moralistic pickle, somehow Lois Lane
can see through his dilemmas that tend to emotionally cripple at him from moving forward in his life. Her sage advice not only leaves him with a smile but a clearer conscious over whatever is puzzling him at the time.

From their first meeting Clark has been drawn to Lois, perhaps it’s simply because she’s a riddle he just can’t quite solve, or that he finds her attractive despite himself. Regardless everyone (both Kent parents, Lucy, Lex, Choe, and Jimmy) around them knows that there’s something deeper going on between these two than either will admit.

This season Lois Lane finally found real love. The first introduction of Oliver Queen, Clark Kent, and Lois Lane had Oliver thrown off. Lois described Clark to him as being a geek (which btw by her own admittance is something that she finds attractive “give me a nerd in glasses any day”) Clark, however, looks nothing to be the part. Instead when Oliver lays eyes on Clark for the first time he sees a physically imposing, robust, attractive man. Oliver can only wonder about Lois’s standards if she can point to “one of her best friends” who looks like Clark and think of him as a dork.

Even without knowing much about the history between Clark and Lois, Oliver is observant enough to point out what is obvious to everyone except Clark and Lois.

“Don’t worry Clark if I lived with such a beautiful woman under my roof I’d mask my feelings with sarcasm too.”
Lois (confused)- Feelings.
Clark (incredulous) Feeling???”

As Oliver learns more about Clark he sees that Clark is anything BUT a geek. He’s in fact envious and feels very inferior when he finds himself in the ominous presence of Clark’s morality and his super abilities. Oliver is the catalyst towards waking up Clark to the needs of the greater world around him, but he’s also aware enough to know that nothing can be done without Clark’s approval first. Clark is the alpha male in the Justice League because he’s the real deal. The other members have abilities but none are nearly impervious and indestructible.

With joining in with the Justice League to take on Luthorcorp head on, for the first time we get to see Clark pony up and embrace a part of himself that he’s been shunning for many years…his super side. He looks at the other guys in Justice League and knows each one’s strengths, but he also knows, in his heart that he’s far superior to all of them with his abilities.

Unfortunately at this particular moment in Clark’s life he’s still tied to his past and unable to move onto his destiny. He still has phantoms to track down and he’s got his last lingering issues from his childhood that he needs to come to terms with. This includes his one time friendship with Lex Luthor and his lingering feelings for Lana.

Enter CRIMSON.

Starting in HYDRO when Lois kissed Clark in the Green Arrow costume, Clark has been floored by the wild and freeing passion that he experienced kissing Lois Lane. This is very new and strange to him considering for many years he’s had an idealistic view of love. To him, love is something ethereal and beautiful, passion didn’t seem to ever factor in with his relationship with Lana.

Lois the woman who rubs him the wrong way, Lois who bosses him around and takes credit for his saves, Lois the woman who thinks of him only as a lowly tractor driver has suddenly become a strange new object of desire for him.

In the opening sequence when they’re set up at the Valentine’s Day dance we get to see their usual relationship portrayed with them snarking at each other.

“Did we just get set up?” Lois.

Yep. Clark

“Ick you and me – that’s like hot fudge and…halibut.”

“I take it I’m the halibut.” Clark

Once again Lois immediately rejects Clark outright and he loses interest and walks away. When she’s hit with the Red K infused love potion something amazing happens – Lois Lane is not only smitten by the first man she sees (Clark in the mirror) BUT she, as well as Clark when he’s affected by Red K loses all of her own inhibitions.

Lois Lane who has spent two years trapped under tighter to crack secured walls than a military instillation is suddenly vulnerable. These walls started cracking this season when she dated Oliver. The breakup scene with her and Oliver in JUSTICE was stunning because we saw a side of Lois that we’ve never seen before – gone was her usual tough girl façade and what was left was the true heart of the woman who lies underneath the mask that she wears every day.

The Red K/aphrodisiac laced lipstick that she wears strips her completely of that façade and we get to see the real Lois Lane underneath. What’s more, this is the Lois Lane that we can only believe that Clark would love nothing more desperately to see more of. The few times that Lois has ever chipped down her walls and allowed Clark to see her vulnerability (talking about her family in LUCY or even the passing of her mother in GONE) Clark is always fascinated by her and you can see that he acknowledges that these insights are SPECIAL.

When Lois arrives at the Kent farm, she’s sexy, shy, and playful all at once. Clark is confused and turned on. Ultimately he runs away because he’s not ready to face the possibility of Lois changing the game at this point in their lives…he also suspects that there’s something wrong with her. However, before he takes off on her you can see that he’s seriously intrigued by this sudden change in her personality – once again she’s put him off guard.

At The Daily Planet when Lois finally traps him in the phone booth and plants a big smooch on him, Clark gets infected with Red K and the Freaky Friday effect of the episode comes into play.

Suddenly after years of Clark cowering to Lois and hiding himself from her and Lois being the bossy bold woman in his life –the roles completely REVERSE.

The usually mild mannered and highly moralistic Clark Kent is bossy, stuck-up, and rude whereas Lois is all meek and “yes Clark.”

What’s interesting is that even though both are under the influence they are both cognizant enough to connect with their real issues with each other. Lois questions Clark’s sudden change of feelings towards her, Clark/Kal insincerely responds that of course this is the real thing because he’s desperate to connect with that passion that he feels for Lois…passion that makes him feel alive but he hasn’t spent a lot of time thinking about it so currently there is no depth in his newly perceived feelings towards her.

At the end of the episode Clark only mentions to his mother that he wants to kiss Lois – at this point in his life that’s all that he’s willing to admit to –but we know from the episode that deep down, Clark knows what it is that’s driving his attraction to Lois – she makes him want to be a better person, not only better, but super.

The dusty Daily Planet office room scene speaks volumes over how the future of this couple will unfold. Lois brings up the Clark kiss as Green Arrow, Clark immediately sells out Oliver (LMAO!) and begins to strut his stuff and tells her that Oliver only wishes that he could be half the man that he is. He mocks Oliver’s costume and gadgets he tenderly holds Lois in his arms wanting her to see him for what he wants to be seen as a man, a man who is far superior to that playboy that she had been dating.

For so long Lois has only viewed Clark as a little boy and a farm boy. Clark on Red K gets the most ticked off not by Lois continuing to bring up Oliver but the fact that she likes his “dorky farm boy thing who’s greatest move is driving a tractor.” When she says that he focuses on being called a Dork, yet again, and we see that he’s tired of being belittled by her.

Clark looks Lois in the eyes and declares “It’s time you learned the real Clark Kent.”

Whoa doggy – what???

That moment and single sentence is the most startling moment in the entire episode and series. Clark has used every ounce of his energy for the past six years hiding who he truly is from everyone in his life, something that Oliver points out to him over and over. Never once has he wanted to prove himself to anyone, other than Oliver who he wants to show up.

When he showed off his powers to Lana in RECKONING in the alternate universe, he did so out of fear, fear of losing her and her love, with Lois, his declaration comes because he wants LOIS to see that he’s not only a boy but an extraordinary man – that “someone out there who’s even more special” than any other man she has dated in the past.

Clark takes her for a super-jump over the city – his fear of heights is gone…only for Lois. He reveals that he’s strong to her and had he not seen the party invitation he might’ve revealed everything, because face it she could handle writing off him being an alien as a “personality quirk.” What’s more is that because Lois is not in her usual confrontational mode, she is again keeping him guessing. For Lois herself, she gets the thrill of seeing a side of Clark that he’s never revealed to her before one who is self-assured, passionate, and special beyond her wildest dreams or expectations.

At the party when she tries to stop him they have their last exchange while under the influence as she’s trying to prevent him from leaving with Lana”

Stop Clark, she’s your past and I’m your future!

Clark replies, But this is the present.

It is vitally important to point out that Clark does NOT belittle Lois at the party, nor does he push her out of the way. For being deep in Kal-El mode at this point he was actually quite sweet with her and how he left things. At this moment, Clark is not willing yet to be the man that he revealed to Lois, he’s got issues that he needs to work through first before he can become that man whose worthy of her love. He needs to figure out where Lana really stands in his life – is he still in love with her or the idea of her? He needs to work out these lingering feelings before he can release his past and move on.

The final loft scene with Clark and Lois shows us all that their relationship has forever been altered by the events that took place in CRIMSON. Lois remembers nothing, but Clark remembers everything. When she comes to him and shows him the “Lois and Clark Forever” tattoo and starts pumping him for information over what happened we see that Lois is very frightened over what might’ve happened between them. Her body language is similar to that she exhibited with Oliver where she’s shrugging her shoulders. She is terrified that her best friend might leave her as well because of something that she can’t remember.

Clark puts on his usual mask with her and is sarcastically grinning at her discomfort. When he finally lets her off of the hook that no they did not sleep together and he hands her the CD, the old Lois would’ve just made some snappy remark back about it. Instead when she looked at the list of songs – her favorite ballads – she was shocked. When she replied “Wow I must’ve really liked you,” both she and Clark share this very serious and unreadable stare. As they gaze at each other John William’s SUPERMAN score plays over the scene making it spine chillingly iconic and highly memorable.

The gypsy’s words immediately come to mind in that scene. “I believe that Lois and Clark’s destinies are more intertwined than they will admit.”

CRIMSON was the awakening that both needed in order to retune their hearing frequencies so that when those chords begin to play in their hearts so that they will finally, some day be able to recognize the song of true love that will lead Lois and Clark both towards their legendary future destiny.