I watched even less SV than you. Somewhere around s3 (okay, not somewhere -- right after the involuntary electroshock treatment ) I gave up on the show, despite how much I'd loved the Lex/Clark vibe of early seasons. But it's interesting because you hit a lot of the things that I remember about it: disliking Lana; finding Chloe far more interesting; finding the strained relationship between Lionel and Lex utterly fascinating; believing that if Lex could get a little support to fight against the bad guy mold that everyone wanted to force him into that he could be a great man. But more than that, the first couple seasons really had that feeling that if Clark could only be honest, that Lex would not only forgive him but move heaven and hell to keep him and the Kents safe.

...In a nutshell, I think that makes up the majority of my favourite SV stories. (Truth, trust, sexytimes.)