“Checkmate” Airs Tonight!
PAM GRIER GUEST STARS AND PHIL MORRIS RETURNS AS MARTIAN MANHUNTER – Tess creates an elaborate hoax in order to kidnap Green Arrow, and delivers him to Amanda Waller, who tells him that that the government is recruiting him to serve his country. However, Green Arrow escapes before they can reveal his identity. After Oliver brings Clark and Chloe up to speed, the three investigate and Clark is surprised to find John Jones investigating Oliver’s kidnapping too. Clark senses that John is keeping information from him. Oliver and Clark are shocked when Tess reveals that Amanda is after something called “Watchtower.” Waller threatens to kill Chloe unless Clark gives her the names and locations of the rest of the Justice League.
Check back soon for episodes 145 and 146 of SHoE with your hosts Steve Glosson and Derek Russell!
In the meantime, when the episode is over come back here and let us know what you thought, or email us so we can read your thoughts on the air!
What did everyone think about the violence towards Tess? Woo and Natasha any thoughts? I have to be honest that I was uncomfortable with it. I have defended Clark several times this year on that front but it upset me last night. @Tim, no Chloe was never a stand in for Lois. The plan was that Lana + Chloe equaled Lois. Lana represented the erotic and romantic desire and Chloe represented the friendship and partership. This was straight from Al and Miles from the beginning. Even Tom Welling confirmed this on a number of occasions. Together, they made up his perfect woman and that woman was recognized in Lois who is both a friend and a lover. Chloe’s interest in journalism was the only think she ever really shared with Lois Lane. Her personality was utterly unique and different. That was always the design. It turned out pretty brilliantly I think. They got a new character in Chloe and Lois showed up as the woman who could be Clark’s friend but also his lover. Pretty cool huh?
Totally agree with MJ, but why didn’t they explained her absence at all in “Checkmate”? I was hoping for that, and also, how do you think the Wall-Lois relationship will continue evolving since she wasn’t in this episode and I’m afraid Pam won’t return until next year?
@MJ I didn’t have a problem with the violence towards Tess, what was your problem with it? Tess hasn’t become a stand in for Lex like we all thought she would be. She really has become the new Lionel. Cassidy even said on the Season Eight Blu-ray/DVD commentary for “Identity” that she studied a lot of Glover’s work as Lionel… Even after Lionel turned “good” at the tail end of the fifth season Lionel was frequently physically assaulted by Kal-El. The scene in “Phantom” where Kal-El finds out Lionel threatened Lana to go through with the wedding to Lex when he choked him in his office. I think Kal-El isn’t so sure, who he can trust, this season but one thing he knows for sure Mercy isn’t one of them and that’s why he is so violent with her. He has been through mind games with Lionel and Lex and he is tired of mind games.
@Woo i totaly agree clark sick of games and tess likes to play them so the only way to get her talking is to threatn her
@MJ I know what Chloe+Lana=Lois, I meant that she stood in and filled the reporter position.
P.S. Indeed, Clois is cool. someone make that a t-shirt please! ;)
I can understand the violence in Kandor, it was his father’s life at stake. I can understand Persuasion, as he was under the influence of Kryptonite. Last night however, I got a big Batman vibe with dangling her off the roof, and that kinda bugged me.
@MJ, I would have a problem with the violence towards Tess if it weren’t for the fact that if she were a man no one would have a problem with Clark doing what he did. The thing is that I never fear for her life when Clark “threatens” her, and Tess isn’t helpless. Now, if it were Zod or even Oliver, then I would have issue, but that’s because those two are unpredictable. We can be 100% positive that Clark’s threats are idle.
If I didn’t know anything about Superman’s stance on capital punishment, then my opinion would be different and I would abhor the constant threats against Tess as a woman, but I DO know Superman and I know this isn’t something unprecedented (because I’ve seen Superman suck all of the air out of a person’s body, and then blow it back in to shock their system…how’s THAT for our boyscout) and I also know he would never have actually let her go over that roof, just as I know he wasn’t actuall choking her in Kandor (because people who are choking can’t still be talking). But once again it goes back to Tess not being the helpless damsel. And if she wants to play a Big Boy game, she has to be ready for the consequences. Today, I had to spar with men only in my karate competition, I got punched in the face and kicked square in the solar plexus, but I still came in 2nd place out of 5 competitors. So, no, I don’t have a problem with it. The only problem I have is that I know some people (not you, MJ, but just the average Clark-hater) would use it as evidence against him.
That’s one thing I don’t get. If someone hates Clark, why bother watch a show about Clark Kent?(I know the answer is the other characters) But in reality, it’s not about Superman, it’s about Clark. Now Steve can come in with the whole relationships thing.
@Drew Well, if we were to look back to as far back as “Rogue” which I know the guys did a SHoE2 Ep. for and is one of of John S. favorite episodes. One of the things that Clark has to do deal with is people taking advantage of him and his powers and it all began with Sam Phelan in “Rogue” and later on Roger Nixon and a few others but Clark has to constantly deal with people manipulating him and his abilities whether it be Lex, Lionel, Brainic, and mostly recently Zod and Mercy. He has no time for it any longer. @Natasha I do agree with you, now that you mention it Clark will never mortally wound Mercy. That’s not The Man of Steel that stands for truth, justice, and the American Way. What bothers me more is Mercy trying to act tough around Clark, that may work with Ollie and Zod but it won’t work with Clark. I think she needs to stop underestimating him and stop treating him like a Punk especially since she has nothing other than meteor rock to defend herself with.
That just got me wondering, Tess may be just playing Zod to aide Checkmate, and that is why she wanted the kryptonite stockpile. DOH!
hey guys ive seen people having a promblem with chloe but in my opion she hasnt done anything really that bad for fans to get mad at her last season chloe was hurt her husband died and everthing she had crumbled she doesnt want that to happen thats why she is overprotective towards the people in her life. in my eyes i can seewhy she is going behind clarks back with certain things he would disagree. so i think peoples promblems with chloe are just out of the air
@Drew I agree completely. While I’m not a big fan of what Chloe is doing right now, can you really blame her?
Some Smallville news… “Checkmate” is No. 6 on iTunes now, it is yet to appear on PlayStation Network, but I’m sure in the next day or so it should be on there. However, “Checkmate” is on Zune Marketplace, I just don’t know it’s ranking. I’m assuming it will be in the Top 5 Good for Smallville.
Some of my favorite moments:
*Any time Martian Manhunter was on screen. How awesome are his powers? I wonder if he can make Lex forget a few things before the series ends.
*The scenes between Tess and Oliver, especially at the Luthor mansion. Bonus points to Oliver for pulling off black-on-black.
*The slow motion rescue scene. Reminded me of comic book panels.
So many great comments on here! I’ll try to respond to a few of them.
@Woo and Natasha, yes I totally understand what you are saying about Tess. Honestly, I think I’m still processing so much of this episode. I totally agree that Tess has played mind games with Clark for far too long. I also agree that if Tess was a man no one would have an issue with this. The funny thing is that on “Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman,” Dean Cain’s Superman dangled a villian over a building in much the same way out of anger and then he actually dropped him (and caught him) just to make a point and get information out of him. He was also rather violent with the clone of Lois when he realized that she had been deceiving him. (He X-rayed her ankle and realized that it wasn’t the real Lois and he physically assaulted the clone becuase he was so upset. Perry had to get between them.) Dean Cain’s Superman was the most gentle man you could ever imagine and even he was rough at times. It could be that I just found Cassidy Freeman’s performance so mesmerizing last night that I almost wanted to see Clark have more sympathy for her. I always see Clark as being that person who is able to forgive and offer people second chances. That’s part of what makes him so special and sets him apart from others. That being said, I know that at this point Tess has sort of made her bed and now has to lie in it. She was the one who put Jor-El’s life in danger and she has lied so many times that I understand why Clark doesn’t trust her. So I have mixed feelings on the whole thing. I feel for Tess but I understand why Clark would just feel totally unsympathetic towards her. You know?
@Tim, yes I can blame Chloe for her actions. You know, despite my negative feelings towards Chloe this year, I am not totally unfeeling towards her. On the contrary, I feel very strongly that she’s in a lot of pain and I do feel sympathy for what she has been through. I also believe that her intentions are often good. But here’s my problem with that: The bottom line is that LIFE IS HARD. That’s not an excuse for lies and crime. We can’t justify people’s sins: that’s how villians are born. I’m a lawyer in my real life. Do you know how many criminals I’ve met who claim that the reason they did the things they did was due to some kind of personal trauma in their life? Does that mean that we can excuse their crimes and not send them to jail for breaking the law? No. People are responsible for the choices that they make.
Not to mention the fact that almost ALL of the characters on Smallville have had tragic things happen so them. Clark lost Jonathan, the man who meant everything to him, in a terribly tragic way. He then watched Jor-El die in front of him. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg for poor Clark. But does he make excuses and use that pain to break the law? No, he owns up to his mistakes, asks forgiveness from the people he’s wronged and he tries to make it better. Martha Kent lost her husband and is now forced to live with that grief. But she’s in Washington fighting the good fight as a Senator. Lana’s parents were both killed in the meteor shower. Even Lois has had tough things in her life. Her mother died when she was very young and her father pretty much abandoned her throughout her entire childhood. Look at Lex. He had a very tragic childhood. His baby brother was killed. His mother went crazy and died tragically. His father abused him. Lex had a very sad life. Does that excuse the things that he did later in his life? Are his sins excused because he had a tough childhood? No. Lex is responsible for the decisions that he made. No one forced him to become a villian. He allowed his pain and suffering to weaken him as opposed to growing stronger from it and actually seeking help.
When I say that I dislike Chloe it does not mean that I am unfeeling towards her. OF COURSE I feel for her. She’s been through quite an ordeal. But yes, I can blame her for the things she has done because I believe strongly that we are responsible for the choices that we make in life. No excuses. People that make excuses for themselves as opposed to owning up to what they have done are WEAK. A strong person…a mature person….owns up to their sins, asks forgiveness, and MOVES ON. Or they ask for help if they need someone to help them. Clark would be there for Chloe in a second if she took the time to really be honest with him. But instead, she continues to lie to him, to keep important information from him and to justify her actions. That’s how villians are born. Chloe needs to honestly own up for the things she has done. She needs to drop the snarky act and she needs to honest to goodness just say she is sorry (and a REAL apology not the half ass one she gave Clark this episode that wasn’t a real apology) and she needs to try to really deal with what happened with Jimmy and move her life in a better direction If she did that, I would forgive her in a minute and I know Clark would too. But until that point, until I see that real honest moment of contritrion from her, I continue to dislike her presence on my screen and I continue to feel anger and negativity towards her character.
This episode has been growing on me the more I think about it. I really did enjoy the different camera work and the amazing guest stars. I still think the writer could have done a better job making the hero of the show, Clark Kent, come off a little better. But I’m hoping that my issues with his characterization will be resolved in the coming week. I think it was a set up for something pretty big in the next few weeks. I’m excited to see what happens.
@MJ Well, I can’t argue with that, lol. I just suppose that I can understand having the kryptonite stockpile, but I just wanted her to tell Clark.
P.S. Judging by the “Upgrade” trailer, Clark on Red K finds out about the stockpile and that’s what makes him mad at Chloe and saying she betrayed him. Which also means we were all right about Zod and Clark walking away from the explosion. BAD-A.SS
It has been interesting reading everyones opinion on this episode. And just like most comments I’ve read on various forums, I enjoyed checkmate before the whole Clark/Chloe apology.
I understand what the writers where trying to do with that scene and I believe they didn’t think it will have as much negative views as it seems to be getting. From what I’m seeing most are split 50:50. I’m just finding it hard to stomach that they can make me hate a character that I used to love so much in 16 episodes of 1 season after 9 years of watching the show.
J’onn J’onzz and Waller were the star of this episode for me and Clark was awesome as usual. The last scene between Clark and J’onn J’onzz was cool. The FX was alright and I didn’t like the slow mo save of chloe by clark. I think it was overdone and a bit too much. My best use of the slow motion/superspeed FX was in heroes this year when Edgar (knife man) had a fight with Peter. They showed how to use a good mix of slow mo and super speed in a fight scene without over doind it. I know the budget on smallville is not that big but it still can be done without making it look too cheesy.
Overall enjoyed checkmate but I wouldn’t be rewatching it again. The second half of the season (apart from absolute justice) hasn’t really been good IMO compared to the first half of the season where we had episodes like Kandor and metallo. But nothing new there smallvile usually has a poor second half.
Okay, I have stumbled across a site worse than television without pity. While they haven’t bashed SHoE, Steve, or Derek, I am officially tired of haters. If you don’t like the show (I don’t know why you wouldn’t) Don’t watch. Simple as that. This whole thread bashes smallville, and pisses me off. http://forums.earth-2.net/index.php?showtopic=354&pid=93237&st=720&#entry93237
HOLY SPIT! On the page before the one I posted, someone actually said they preferred “Noir” to “Society/Legends” these people are freaking delusional!
On page 45 of that thread, someone actually said “Smallville’s writers suck.” That is dumb. They are dumb. I am through.
MJ pretty much took the words out of my mouth about Chloe. I’ve already stated on this board that I would forgive Chloe in a heartbeat if she would own up to everything she’s done since Turbulence (poor tasered Jimmy). But harboring a serial killer who then killed your husband and then blaming your supposed best friend for it, to completely spying on Clark from his house to his phone calls (which, if she hadn’t been doing, Lois wouldn’t have found out Clark was the Blur), and just everything in between…and then snarking at Clark in Escape about minding his own business *facepalm* So, no I’m not feeling very charitable towards Chloe these days. But if by Sacrifice she actually owns up to her role in everything, then by God I will probably hug her because it’s more than Lana ever did.
when is the new shoe episode coming out
@eat it twilight There was a big ruckus about this, Derek has the flu. It will be out once he feels better.
tim are you the tim that drinks orange juice and won’t watch horrow movies
smallville has had a great second half of the season whoever thinks not hasnt been watching
@Drew I totally agree, it is getting better than ever. Seriously, preferring “Noir” over “Society/Legends”?!?!?!? De-lusion-al!
tim ty thinks this season sucks and guess what stars watches smallville now
that smallville episode was dope
Ummm, I’m not the same Tim from the Crossroads podcast… But okay.
I wish we could have more J’onn on smallville like with Oliver. It would be awesome if Phil becomes a regular on smallville next season.
@Tim I never said I preferred Noir to AJ. In fact I hated Noir. Personally I haven’t enjoyed the second half. Disciple, Warrior, Persuasion and Escape have been weak but all better than Roulette. AJ and Conspiracy have been the only standouts in the second half. I hope the remaining episodes are good and Upgrade looks like it might be the start.
@Drew I have watched every episode and every minute this season and I believe I am entitled to my own opinion that I have found (so far) most of the episodes in the second half weak in comparison to the first half of the season.
@Smallville_fan i agree but i think you should make that claim until the season is over cause it is a bold claim to make with a couple episodes left in the season
@Smallvillefan no no, not you. I posted to a link to a site which I find worse than TV without pity. On the 45th page of that thread, someone said Noir was better than AJ
Another hater site. And they bash Erica Durance. They said they only watch episodes she isn’t in. I joined and posted that everyone is entitled to their own opinion, and my post was deleted. I hate haters. http://forums.comicbookresources.com/showthread.php?t=316966
Um, yeah, so anyway to get this board back on topic…
I really hope Phil Morris can become more of a semi-regular if not actually in the opening credits next season. Although Clark is an adult, I like that he has this older, wiser mentor figure in J’onn. It’s something I miss with Jonathan Kent gone and Martha in Washington. Plus, in the comics it is J’onn who is considered the heart of the JLA (Blackest Night #8!) and the writers have actually done a great job of using him in such a way that leaves us wanting more. I love that he is actually used to SUPPORT the main character. His actions have always, so far, been in service of Clark, not against him, and his words have always been to affirm Clark, not break him down. This is the kind of supporting cast we need.
@Natasha i agree if next season is going to show clarks finest hour we need a cast that will be there for him and support him to becoming superman
I hope that both John and Emil are regulars next season. Hell, if Michael McKean and Anette O’Toole are willing to be regulars, themm too, but I’m just willing to have them as recurring, or even a mention.
In the cover for Brightest Day #0, J’onn in the comics is alive again, with his old classic outfit. With the exception, that now he has pants! Yay pants! :)
Pants! Pants on everyone! …Just some random Smallville quotage.
@ Tim, yes I would love for Martha and Perry to have regular mentions if not recurring roles, but I absolutely wouldn’t object to J’onn and Emil being regulars. I want ambiguous Tess to stay on as well, but as far as the season arc’s villian, I’m holding out for the finale to decide.
i think red queen is either Lana ,martha kent or someone we dont know
@Natash That is one of the best smallville quotes. Lois always has the best lines. Here is a link to the picture, with the resurrected heroes, plus J’onns pants! =) It’s a combo of the old/new costumes http://dcu.blog.dccomics.com/files/2010/04/bday_cv0-copy.jpg
Damn youse, Geoff Johns! Always making me add more comics to my pull list! Damn yooooouse!!! (Sorry, I love Dogma)
I agree that would be awesome if Martha came back more often. She had to be the one to make Clark get out of his black on black stage.
Yeah, she would kick his rear end into gear, lol. @Natasha Geoff Johns is awesome, isn’t he? I knew Aquaman would be back from the promo, but even though he has only been gone a year, I really miss MM. He is my Top 5 DC Heroes alongside Superman (Duh), Green Lantern (Kyle Rayner), The Question (Vic Sage), Barbara Gordon, and Dick Grayson (Go ahead, make the joke. I love Dick, ha ha ha). But J’onn really brings the humanity (even though he’s a Martian) to the JLA, the only one who I could say does the same would be the Flash. Oh, sweet Wally. Professor Bailey got it right when he made this: http://www.fortressofbaileytude.com/Pictures/New_DC_Poster.jpg
So, are we to expect that J’onn’s talk with Clark at the end of Checkmate is the REAL moral of hte story and this is how the PTB truly feel about this whole situation concerning the mistrust in the proto-JLA, or is this going to be a Doomsday situation all over again with Clark being given the shaft to make the other “heroes” look good? I need to have hope that J’onn’s pep-talk wasn’t all for nothing.
@ Tim, that was six heroes you named, lol. Clark/Supes is obviously at the top of my list, and probably takes up positions 1-5, but I think I would agree with Oracle and MM being on my list, and I also love Bruce and Mr. Terrific (Michael Holt). I loved that he got a mention in Absolute Justice.
But seeing as how JLU was my introduction to the DC universe, I loved their version of John Stewart and Hawkgirl. Next two the World’s Finest, they were my favorites for a loooong time.
@Natasha, well, Superman’s a give in, so he doesn’t count . Or I f*cked up and am using that as I cover. I also love Bruce Wayne and am a huge fan of all things JSA.
do you think john will remember everything that happend in metallo
One of my favorite episodes of the back half of the season. I loved scenes between MM and Waller, and busted out laughing when Tess and Ollie realized who the other one was! I do have one question…what was the red queen about at the end of the episode that pissed off Waller so much?