No, I can completely see what you're saying about Richard being a placeholder, and if it were *just* the Richard/Lois/Clark triangle, it would still annoy me but it wouldn't matter so much to me. It's when you put a kid in the mix that it becomes impossible, as far as I am concerned. Because it doesn't matter that Clark is Jason's biological father--Richard has been his dad for his whole life. That's not something you just toss out the window. If Lois and Clark get together, it's going to be traumatizing for Jason, and for that reason I am actively opposed to them ever getting together now. I really can't see that changing, either, unless they cop out in some way by making Richard into a villain.