The Complications of Heroics
I'm a hero-person. I like the hero. I tend to assume that the hero is just as complicated as the rest of the characters. And I really identified with Clark at the end of Dichotic.
He gets called to the Talon. When he gets there, once again he is insulted for trying to help, for saving lives. Lana says that they need to make their own mistakes, but their mistake would have lead to them getting very dead. They start out apologizing for not trusting him, but they qualify it.
I mean, no wonder the guy goes Superman/Clark Kent. You can't both save lives and keep secrets, apparently. So, create two lives, one where all you do is save lives and the other where no one thinks to ask you all those questions that can only hurt both parties because you can't answer them.
So, he comes to the Talon, gets told off, but this time, instead of taking it, he tells them off in turn. Stop treating me like I'm jealous. I've always been right about this in the past. Trust me to save you, because that's all I can give you.
The same thing happens to Buffy. She keeps getting told that she's seeing demons where there's just life, but when you fight these things, you get an instinct for it. She's never been wrong.
Neither has Clark. And people should take that into account when they judge him.
Is it annoying that he's always right about this kinda thing? To some people, yeah. But that doesn't mean that he's not right. He was right about Justin. He was right about Whitney (re: attacking Kyle). He was right about Desiree. He was right about Byron.
And he didn't start acting off about Ian until he saw him macking on Lana, after he'd seen him macking on Chloe. He didn't get upset until he realized that Ian was playing the girls.
My instinctive, off the cuff response to the moment at the end was pride. Clark stood up for himself. And while that may or may not get washed away by next week's episode, at the moment, he's grown. He stood up for himself, openly declared that all he was doing was helping them, and he was proud of himself for doing it.
I've felt similar moments of pride for my other heros. I'll never forget Buffy saying, "I'm Buffy, the Vampire Slayer, and you are?" Xander walking away from Cordelia at the end of The Zeppo is another moment. Benton Fraser, talking his father into not taking revenge. Doyle, repeating that you never really know what you're capable of until you're tested, punching out Angel and redeeming himself in a blaze of light.
Clark never stands up for himself. He lets everyone diss him, because he feels guilty for everything. And finally, he decides that he isn't the only one who's caused pain and he isn't the only one who's sent mixed signals. It's not all his fault and he's not going to let them convince him that it is. Character growth is pretty.