Just because you're fine with the way they've been handled doesn't mean that they have been handled well and that the criticism is invalid. I certainly have never heard even one convincing defense of the storytelling so far when it comes to Lois and Clark/Lois. I also don't know how any fan of Lois or Lois and Clark could be okay with Lois and her relationship with Clark being almost non-existent for over half a year. A better writer would have been able to evolve their relationship, if that was the goal, and highlight Clark as a journalist by using his most important supporting cast member instead of flooding his work with his own creations and using bizarre contrivances to excuse long absences and lies.