Streets of Metropolis. Chloe meets up with Clark to let him know that the Twins are back at the tower, taking down all the Blur's blogs. I've just noticed she's wearing green again, this time in the form of a leather jacket. Maybe Oliver's tailor made it for her. For his part, Clark is wearing Supermanly colors in the form of a bright blue shirt and deep red tie. Clark asks Chloe if she's seen the day's news. Chloe tells him not to take Sacks seriously, then realizes from Clark's knitted brow that's exactly what he's doing. She reminds him of the last time he went public and what a disaster it was. He says he's changed: "I'm wearing my father's shield now." He explains he's worked hard to give people something to believe in. "I am the shield," he says. She talks him down, arguing that he has to let Sacks say crap about him, because if he sacrifices himself then there is no shield. "Your father lives on through you, not your shield." He looks like he's considering her words. They're trying to cram a Superman-shaped object into a Batman-shaped hole here, and it's about as a bad a fit as it sounds. A ladybug perched on a nearby parking meter eavesdrops on their conversation, then flits off.

Clark arrives at the press conference. About two hundred Canadian extras crowd the street. Sacks takes the podium and pours on the smarm, inviting the Blur to come forward and be a true hero. Dylan Neal is really very good in this role and I wish they had groomed the character to be a recurring part of the background cast instead of writing him as a one-off plot device. Clark looks like he's seriously considering stepping forward, but then Lois appears in the crowd and starts pushing her way up to the podium. A guard makes a weak attempt at stopping her, but Sacks tells him to let her up. She plants herself in front of the stand of microphones and announces to the world that she knows the Blur. Clark glances around nervously. I think this would be a good time to surreptitiously shoot fire out of your eyes and set something ablaze to distract the crowd. No? All right, let your girlfriend keep digging herself in deeper, then. She tells everyone why the Blur can't come forward: "It's because he knows the best way for him to protect you and me is to steer clear of all this political hoopla, and remain the one thing you and I need most... a light in the darkness. A symbol for us to believe in, when all other hope is lost." People in the crowd nod their agreement. Clark goes from looking worried to looking proud. She asks them to let the Blur be the hero he needs to be. The crowd cheers. Sacks looks worried. Somewhere in there, I started thinking that Lois reminds me of Sarah Palin. I think the phrase "political hoopla" triggered the association for me.