I loved this episode, too! The flashbacks were a very clever way of having Lana and Chloe there, but not really.

In most versions of Superman, I'm not all that big of a fan of Lois. She always struck me as a starry-eyed fangirl of Superman, who was dismissive of Clark. Superman came first with her and always would.

But Smallville's version - of a Lois who loves Clark and believes in him and would do anything for him, who thinks of his abilities as a part of him, but aren't solely him - that's a version I adore.