Smallville – Recap & Review – Checkmate

photo: the cw

Smallville
Checkmate

Original Air Date: Apr 9, 2010

Addison-TwoCents Reviewer
addison@thetwocentscorp.com

Hi everyone! I am Addison and I am new to the site as a new reviewer, I will be covering Smallville! It’s great to be here I am a big TV fan so thanks for the nice welcome!

Wow tonight’s episode was a doozey, full of action and mythology, some amazing slow motion and special effects. It was all about choosing sides, and who is worth saving. Tess’ intentions are made clear and our favorite heroes find themselves in danger of being exposed. When you are the savior of the world, who would you trust? And what side are you on?

We open tonight’s episode with Tess in her office at the Daily Planet. After she finds a chess piece on her desk, she flips out and rushes to a secret safe, pulling out a gun and a bag. She escapes the building sporting a black wig. When she realizes she’s being followed to tries to run away but is attacked by a man with a gun. Green Arrow rushes in to help her… but Tess knocks Oliver out and tranquilizes him. Turns out the whole act was a setup to kidnap him. “Checkmate.”

Meanwhile, Chloe is freaking out at Watchtower, knowing she has lost all signs of Oliver: surveillance is down everywhere. Detective John Jones (Martian Manhunter) shows up on screen and Clark goes to the scene of the crime. Clark asks John what he’s doing there and suggests they work together, but John is working with someone else…. the government? Who? Clark asks him what he knows and John flies away. You know, Clark could go after him if he learned how to fly!

Oliver, tied up in an armored van, meets Amanda Waller, the head of Checkmate, via computer screen. Amanda releases Tess from her assignment and reveals to Oliver that he is a guest of the U.S Government and it’s his Patriotic duty to join them. Oliver isn’t having any of it, refuses the recruitment ploy, and breaks out of the van.

John Jones is determined to find out the location of “The Castle,” Checkmate’s headquarters. He meets up with a man in an alley who works for Checkmate, but before he can tell John anything, he falls down dying. Of course. But John is an alien and is able to read the man’s mind…

Tess gets a lecture from Amanda for not securing the Green Arrow since he was their opening move. Tess says that she is fully committed to Checkmate, because if she’s not, there is only one way out of Checkmate… Ooooh wonder what that could be?

Oliver arrives at Watchtower, and Chloe and Clark are relieved he is safe. Chloe and Oliver have a quick lovey-dovey moment before he explains exactly what happened to him. Chloe recognizes the name Checkmate… from back when the Justice Society visited. What is Checkmate? And who runs it?

At the Luther mansion, Tess is having a shareholder’s dinner and Oliver arrives. Chloe’s suggested that it is safer to lay low for the night. Too bad he tips his hand to Tess: “You’re Green Arrow!” Uh oh… so not good.

John breaks into The Castle and is captured by Amanda who would love to enlist him but knows he works for someone else. Who could this be?!

Tess and Oliver have a big confrontation about him being the Green Arrow, and he admits to it. She grabs a knife and continually picks on his outfit and “tights.” “They are not tights!” Clark breaks into the room and grabs Tess. She is a Checkmate agent and knows their identities. He hangs her off of a building and demands answers! She says that Amanda Waller AKA the White Queen came to her when she first took over Luther Corp. She cries that Oliver was not even the true target! Watchtower was… and they have Chloe!

Clark rushes to The Castle, John breaks free from Amanda, and Tess tells Oliver where Clark is going. Clark confronts Amanda while hiding in the shadows, she explains she wants his help and that he needs to pick a side. To help him choose she has Chloe in the other room with a gun to her head! She will be killed unless Clark reveals his face to her, which he does. Amanda wants Watchtower’s entire database to find all of the heroes: Cyborg, Aquaman, and the Black Canary. The power goes out, Amanda gives the OK for Chloe to be killed, and Clark runs to find her (faster than a speeding bullet alright!).

Clark gets Chloe to safety back at Watchtower and apologizes for abandoning her when she needed him the most. But a bigger problem looms: Amanda know what they all look like now! John Jones can take care of that: he erases Amanda’s memories of their faces. They are safe once again… for now.

Oliver meets Tess at a coffee shop, who begs for his forgiveness. She will be killed if she doesn’t disappear and asks for help while clinging to his hand. He refuses and threatens her if she ever comes near him or his friends again.

After Ollie and Chloe share another nice moment, she playfully tells him to be careful since he sounds like he’s falling for her. Clark confronts John once again about who he is working for. All John says is there are more players than he knows! That’s intriguing. And that Evil Amanda Waller? She’s ready to start a new game…

So much is going on and it’s excellent! What is Amanda really up to? Is she building an army? Who is John Jones working for? Will Tess really disappear for good? It’s winding down to the final episodes of the season. What did you think of the episode?