Episode Report Card Tippi Blevins: A- | 416 USERS: B YOU GRADE IT War Games
By Tippi Blevins | Season 9 | Episode 17 | Aired on 2010.04.09
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.
Checkmate castle. Waller waits in her office for the power to come back on. The door opens behind her. Without turning to see who it is, she says, "Tell me you caught them; I can't wait to see the look of defeat on their faces." A ray of light washes over the back of her head. She turns to see John Jones, the light emitting from his upraised hand. Images flash through her mind as the identities of the Watchtower gang are wiped away. When it's all over, Waller is left slumped over on a sofa, disoriented, and alone.
Metropolis, night. Tess sits at a table outside a coffee shop. After a moment, Oliver joins her. All her usual bravado gone, she's surprised he showed up. He snarks about being safe from her in such a public place, but she doesn't have a snappy comeback. Instead, she just apologizes -- for everything. Oliver doesn't accept the apology. "I told you how to shut down the castle's power grid," she says hopefully. "That's worth something, isn't it?" He's still not willing to budge, though. Eventually, Tess gets around to saying this might be the last time she sees him. "When I joined Checkmate, I took an oath. An oath I want to break," she says, "but there's only one way to leave Checkmate." She plans to go underground, but took a chance to meet him. He's still unsympathetic, though, jabbing at her for finally doing something moral for once. He demands to know what she wants from him. She wants his forgiveness. She takes his hand and asks for his help. "Please?" He thinks for a while, then talks about their past together, back when he could still trust her. "Then you betrayed me, Tess," he says. "You, of all people." She looks down. He leans forward like he's going to kiss her forehead, but he's just getting close to drive home his parting words: "If you ever come near me and my friends again, I will expose you to the world. You understand?" She nods once, almost imperceptibly. With that, he straightens up and walks away, leaving her to cry into her hands, alone. She has to be up to something, right? I mean, she was so badass with Zod last week!