4. She Wasn't A Typical Damsel In Distress
The issue I often have with how Lois is depicted is when it seems she exists for the sole purpose of giving Superman someone to save. Granted, Supes saves everybody at some point or another (that being, of course, the nature of his job). The problem comes when Lois is depicted as not being able to tie her own shoes without needing rescuing. Being a reporter in Metropolis isn't a hazard-free job, yet she was doing just fine before Superman showed up. Granted, as Smallville went on Clark ended up saving her on a number of occasions. But it never felt like he was getting her out of situations she couldn't get out of herself. The two functioned as more of a team (especially in later seasons), rather than him acting as her personal Deux Machina, and she continued to function as, not just another person for Clark to save, but Clarks partner. She was partly responsible for helping him come up with the bumbling persona he used to hide his secret identity, she knocked a helicopter pilot unconscious to keep him from finding out that secret. Additionally, the show went to great lengths to establish her as a hero in her own right, counting Lois as a member of the pre-Justice League. And when Darkseids planet was hurtling toward Earth in the show finale, it was Lois who was aboard Air Force One, convincing the President not to fire nukes at it. Durance/Lois wasnt someone preventing Superman from doing his job, like Kidder/Lois or Bosworth/Lois, but she helped him do his job, she grounded him and, in the end, she made him a better Superman.