Episode Report Card Tippi Blevins: A- | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT War Games
By Tippi Blevins | Season 9 | Episode 17 | Aired on 04.09.2010
Meanwhile, in the blood sample room, John is using his abilities to walk through the protective cage. He shoots beams of light from his eyes and the sample dissolves in a swirl. Back in Waller's office, she's taunting the "Blur" for protecting the streets of Metropolis while leaving Watchtower vulnerable. "I did not abandon her," Clark protests. In the checkered room, Chloe cringes away from the gun. "All you have to do to save her life is give one simple address," Waller says. Before Clark can answer one way or the other, the lights go out. An alarm sounds. In the checkered room, one of the gunmen asks for permission to shoot. Clark picks up on the sound of his voice.
What follows next is the probably most creative action sequence the show has had in a long, long time. Or possibly ever. As the gunman pulls the trigger, everything slows to a crawl, and then stops entirely. The ensuing fight takes place in freeze-frames that evoke comic book splash pages or panels. The "pages" are, in sequence: Clark busting through the doors; a gunman suspended in midair as a result of a super-shove, his gun flying from his hand; Clark, his coat frozen in mid-flap, punching another gunman; a closeup of Clark's pretty eyes; the bullet from Brennan's gun, departing from the barrel in a flash; Clark, halfway to grabbing the bullet; his hand stopping the flame-trailing bullet against a backdrop of Chloe's wide-eyed gaze. The action resumes at normal pace as Clark shoves Brennan into a wall. As Clark crouches beside Chloe to remove her gag, the sirens wail and the lights flicker on and off. One moment, Chloe and Clark are there, and then when they lights flicker on again, they're gone. It's just all so very awesome that the show needs a commercial break to recover.
Watchtower. Clark whooshes Chloe to a chair and sets her down and breaks off her cuffs. Clark tells her that he didn't tell Waller anything. "Well, at least we have that," Chloe sighs. And, you know, your lives. Clark looks at her for a moment. "I'm sorry, Chloe." She looks confused, so he goes on: "I'm sorry for everything." "I think we're both a day late and a dollar short in that department," she says. She gets up and tries to get back to work, but he presses on. He acknowledges abandoning her. She turns toward him. "You didn't abandon me, Clark, you pushed me out of the way." What's going on here? Two episodes in a row where people acknowledge their problems and talk like human beings? Clark says he thought Chloe would be safer that way, but Chloe thinks he didn't trust her. Clark looks sad. "I've broken your confidence in me," Chloe admits. "You saw Watchtower as Big Brother, and you turned away." She thinks he was probably smart for trying not to depend on her. Clark doesn't take the out: "I didn't give you enough credit. You're the one who brought us all together. You're the one who saw our potential." They look at each other openly and honestly and let it sink in for a minute. Then the moment passes and it's back to the matter of Waller knowing who they are now. "She not going to stop coming for us," Chloe says. Clark looks sad again.