I'll see Robinson's "wow" and raise it to "woohoo" for Dr. Friskin, the miracle worker. I loved her insights and questions for Clark about how he sees police and firemen that don't have superpowers. It was a very appropriate question, since he was as vulnerable as anyone else during the war.
I thought the argument (the first one in this part) between Clark and Lois was great in an angsty, terrifying kind of way.
“We just have to ignore it,” she said with a shrug.
Clark snorted. “I guess that seems logical from your standpoint. You’re not the one they’re making out to be a damn china doll.”
“No, I’m the one they’re calling a diva, junkyard dog, and hypocrite all in the same breath.” Why on Earth was she rising to the bait? Her brain kicked and screamed and yelled at her to stop.
He stood up straight, his posture stiff. “Lois, don’t you get it?” His voice took on a tight, strained quality. “I’m finished in this business. Who’s ever going to take me seriously again?”
“These people are idiots, Clark,” she said. “They have the attention span of gnats and, in a week, they’ll move on and forget all about this.”
“Who’s going to allow Clark Kent, alien abductee, to interview them? How do I go on a stakeout when the entire country knows who I am? And who in their right mind is going to let me stop a hostage situation when I can’t even stop my own hands from shaking?” he demanded angrily. “But I guess it doesn’t matter, since you can take care of all that stuff now. You certainly don’t seem to need my help.”
“Don’t you dare,” she whispered. She was near tears, but the tone of her voice was a warning. “Don’t call me a liar, Clark Kent. You know that I couldn’t count the number of nights I cried myself to sleep because I needed you. Because I was lost and afraid and I couldn’t figure out how to make things work without you here.”
Sorry for the long quote, but I think this passage is important. Clark is at least talking about his professional fears here and Lois (although she could probably qualify for sainthood soon with all the patience and love she's giving Clark) still showed us she had backbone. I think the only thing worse than experiencing war and torture would be trying to help someone else readjust to life after it.
“How complicated is it? I’m not the first man to come home from war. I fought. I got wounded. It’s happened to plenty of people before me and they managed to go back to their lives just fine.”
I think that before Clark can make a statement like this he ought to go and talk with a few soldiers that have returned from war. It's probably the exception, not the rule, when a soldier comes home and reintegrates with his former life without a struggle.
Also, although I have no first - or even second hand - experience, I think there is an important distinction between being a soldier in a war and being a tortured prisoner of war. I thought that Dr. Friskin explained the difference to him very well, especially with the effects of solitary confinement, but Clark either doesn't believe her or hasn't had time to internalize her advice yet. I hope that he can do that soon.
As Dr. Friskin said, "It takes a remarkably resilient person to come through such an ordeal with their sense of self intact." Clark was able to do this in part because of his love for Lois. It's been a while since I read the last installment of the story, but IIRC, his memories of Lois helped him to hang on to his humanity and drove Nor crazy trying to figure out what a "Lois" was. I hope that Clark remembers this soon. Maybe it will help him.
Can't wait for more.
