Episode Report Card Tippi Blevins: C+ | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Patriot Acting Up
By Tippi Blevins | Season 10 | Episode 7 | Aired on 11.05.2010
The General admits he felt a little uncomfortable "inspecting the enemy camps." "Your mother is my major opposition in the Senate," he says. "I'm the senior military advisor on a new bill -- the Vigilante Registration Act." Clark bristles slightly at this. He bristles further when the General denounces the vigilantes as masked anarchists. "They stop crime and protect people," Clark says, despite Lois's pleading look. The General calls them terrorists, citing the destruction of RAO tower in Metropolis as an example. The reason there was no evidence of explosives, he says, is that "one of them superfreaks did it." Lois stops her veggie chopping so that she can step between her menfolk. She suggests a break from work, this being a holiday and all. But the General goes on to lecture them about the real heroes out there, the men and women of the armed forces. They have to enlist and follow the rules, he says. "People start believing in these so-called superheroes, pretty soon the superheroes form cells, start taking the law into their own hands!" That horse left the barn a long, long time ago, sir. "I will not let them compromise our national security." Clark pleasantly asks Lois for her opinion. "I think we need some veggies with our starches," she says, thrusting the chore list back at Clark. Clark looks stunned and disappointed, but backs down without pointing out what a dick the General is being for spouting off like that in front of his daughter, as he must know from her articles that she's pro-superhero. Lois stands there looking helpless, clutching a pair of potatoes.
Watchtower. Wearing his full Green Arrow getup, Oliver staggers into Watchtower's hub, clutching his left elbow. He heads for a metal cabinet on the wall, disappointed to find only random office supplies. "You know," he calls out, "when you need first aid, you expect it to be in the first place you look." Tess, sitting at a new desk near the big stained glass window, gets up to find the supplies for him. His pain momentarily forgotten, he gets a look at the new stuff Tess has moved into Watchtower. He reacts like she's hung up a bunch of frilly curtains and dropped lacy pink pillows all over the place, but everything looks about 99% the same as before. He gripes at her for moving in even as he acknowledges that he said she could. "Take off your shirt," she says with a note of weariness. She scoffs when he hesitates. "Like I haven't seen it all before." Thus persuaded, he strips and reveals the cuts and scratches on his back and arms. His costume doesn't seem at all damaged, but I'm not going to try to logic my way out of a shirtless Oliver scene. He explains: "Somewhere between chasing the bad guy and dodging the press, I ran into someone who literally had an axe to grind." Tess dabs at his wounds with iodine, gives a chuckle, and remembers a time when his "cure-all was two raw eggs in a Belgian beer." Oh, man, that sounds atrocious. Oliver sounds disgusted, as well, but for different reasons: "I can do this whole nine-to-five thing with you, all right? But I draw the line at happy hour." Dick. Don't invite someone to your clubhouse and then act like an ass when they show up. Tess gives a wound on his forearm an extra hard poke. The blood bubbles up and makes angry fizzing noises. "How did you say you hurt yourself again?" Tess asks. "Just your typical axe-wielding maniac," Oliver says. Concerned that something under Oliver's skin is reacting with the iodine, Tess a hand-held scanner and waves it over the wound. The Suicide Squad symbol shows up on the screen. "It's a subdermal tattoo," she explains. She also explains about the Squad: "When I worked for Amanda Waller at Checkmate, there were certain dirty jobs a government agent couldn't do -- not even us -- and Waller would send in the Squad." She pulls up Rick Flag's file. Oliver immediately recognizes him as the man who tortured him. Tess is surprised, as she assumed he'd died when Checkmate was attacked. Oliver tells her that Flag is recruiting. Tess realizes that the tattooed tag means Flag is tracking Oliver. Oliver thinks he's not the only one.