Ambush

"Ambush" is the seventh episode in the tenth season of Smallville, and the two hundred-third episode overall. It aired on November 5, 2010.

Summary[]

The General and Lucy Lane decide to drop in on Lois and Clark for a surprise Thanksgiving dinner. Clark and the General get off to a rocky start after Lois' father bashes the superheroes and tells Clark he is trying to pass a vigilante registration law. Meanwhile, in an effort to stop the vigilante registration act from being passed, Rick Flag lies to Lucy in order to lure Clark away from the farm long enough for him to assassinate the General. Lois is torn between making her father proud and her love for Clark.

Recap[]

Inside a large van, Rick Flag looks over several computer screens tracking a marker. His second-in-command informs him the target is heading toward the Kent Farm.

1007SVAmbush0005 — The Suicide Squad tracks a target

At the farm, Lois and Clark come downstairs from having spent the previous night in intimacy. Clark pours two glasses of orange juice while Lois cuts up strawberries. Clark prepares breakfast and asks Lois what she's in the mood for. Lois replies that she's in the mood, but not for breakfast, suggesting she's ready for round two. She heads toward the front door and Clark tell Lois the bedroom is upstairs. Lois replies "but the porch swing is out there." Clark super speeds to her at the door, where they become tangled up in a passionate embrace. Lois turns to open the door, just as her father and Lucy show up on the porch ready to spend Thanksgiving with the two of them.

1007SVAmbush0047 — Lucy and General Lane make a surprise visit

Later, Clark and Lois dress and come downstairs. Clark thinks that Sam is just there for Thanksgiving, but Lois figures her father is conducting recon on her new boyfriend. Clark assures her that there's nothing to worry about, but Lois warns him that Sam hates superheroes. Sam is going through Clark's scrapbook and immediately starts questioning Clark's credentials. He notes that Lois writes more articles than Clark and wonders what Clark does with his time, and Lois claims that Clark lets her have the bylines. Sam then gives Clark a list of chores to do around the house. The General notes that Martha Kent is his opposition in the Senate. He's the Senior Military Adviser on the Vigilante Registration Act. Sam disapproves of vigilantes, and Clark insists that they serve a purpose. The general is hostile and notes that a "superfreak" blew up the RAO Tower (unaware that it would have served Zod's sinister plan of dominating Earth). Lois tries to interrupt, but Sam insists that soldiers are the true heroes, and are accountable to a higher authority. Clark asks Lois for her opinion, but she ducks the entire argument.

1007SVAmbush0156 — Tess cleans up Oliver

Oliver returns to Watchtower to treat injuries from a recent battle, and notices that Tess has rearranged the place. Although initially hesitant to let Tess check his wounds, Oliver is reminded by her that they both have seen each other naked, so their is no need for embarrassment. She tends to his wounds and finds that Oliver's wounds react strangely to the iodine; Tess realizes that he has a sub-dermal tattoo bearing the logo of the Suicide Squad. She explains that when she worked at Checkmate, Amanda Waller used the Suicide Squad, a black-ops squad. Their leader was Rick Flag, and Oliver recognizes him as the man who captured and tortured him.

Lois prepares Thanksgiving dinner while Sam flips through the channels and comes across the news, which features a fire at a refinery. When Clark arrives with the groceries Lois hints at the refinery fire, and Clark super-speeds away. When the general asks where Clark is, Lois says he went upstairs, and Sam takes the grocery bags as the newscaster announces the fire is out because of the Blur. A soot-covered Clark returns, claiming he went out to get the cranberries, and Sam notes that Lois said he went upstairs. They try to pass it off by saying that he was checking out the chimney. Clark gets a phone call from Oliver.

1007SVAmbush0236 — Oliver shows Clark the tracking tattoo he has on him

Clark meets Oliver in the barn, while Sam calls his contacts for a background report on Clark; by now Sam is suspicious of Clark's all-too-perfect persona, and his taking off for odd things. In the barn, Oliver uses a scanner to confirm that Clark also has a sub-dermal tattoo; Clark realizes that Deadshot must have laced the bullet that hit him with Blue kryptonite. Oliver complains about Tess' presence at Watchtower, but Clark points out that if it wasn’t for her, they wouldn’t know about Flag or the tattoos.

1007SVAmbush0282 — Lois catches Lucy and Clark

Hearing someone on the barn stairs, Clark tells Oliver he has to leave via the upper barn window. Oliver expressed his aggravation at it, but jumps nevertheless. Clark turns away from the window just as Lucy comes in with a glass of lemonade and starts flirting with him. When Clark ushers her out, she kisses him just as Lois comes in. Lois is unimpressed and takes Lucy outside; she knows it wasn't Clark's fault. She insists that Lucy's usual tricks won't work, and says that she's only keeping her around for their father's sake. Lois sends her to the store to get some crushed ice for their father.

A frustrated Clark is smashing firewood with his bare hands. Lois returns and they start to have an argument. Clark notes that she isn't standing up to her father. When she says that she still believes in vigilantes, Clark says that she's making her choices based on fear. Lois starts to say that Clark doesn't have a father, and that he only has himself to answer to. She then tells him that if he wants to be with her, he will have to accept her family. When he says nothing, Lois walks away, leaving Clark to reconsider how he just handled things.

1007SVAmbush0343 — Rick Flag deceives Lucy

Lucy is getting ice when Rick Flag approaches her, claiming to be a soldier from a local base. He warns Lucy that her father is in danger from pro-vigilante sympathizers, and Clark is one of them. Flag asks Lucy to give Sam an envelope, and claim that she found it herself in Clark’s loft. Lucy agrees, and Flag asks her to plant a tracker pen on her father.

At Watchtower, Tess intercepts a termination notice to the Suicide Squad. Oliver complains that Chloe would do it faster. Tess confronts him and Oliver admits that Watchtower reminds him of the time he spent with Chloe. He's having trouble dealing with someone else being Watchtower. Tess insists that she's not trying to take Chloe's place, but tells Oliver that he has to start treating her like she's on his side.

1007SVAmbush0405 — General Lane interrogates Clark

Clark goes out to the barn after completing the list, and finds Sam in military uniform, waiting to interrogate him. He wonders why Lois would date Clark since he’s not Lois' usual action-type boyfriend. Clark avoids the question, and Sam says that his contacts discovered Clark's record is clean, not even the slightest offense is on record (even a parking ticket). However, Sam thinks this is a high level cover up, rather than Clark being a good citizen. When Sam accuses Martha using her power as senator to wipe Clark's records, Clark insists Sam is not going to get anywhere with his witch-hunt for him or for the vigilantes. Sam notes that he didn't bring up vigilantes. He then shows Clark photos from the envelope that Lucy gave him, which show Clark with Kara. Clark points out Sam is reacting out of fear and has terrorized Lois. Sam snaps on him, telling him it's his right to protect his family. Clark responds saying that he loves Lois and doesn’t want a day to go by without her. Sam warns him that today is the last day that Clark will spend with Lois.

Clark returns to the house and Lois yells at him for not getting along with her father. He tells her what happened and that Lucy planted the photos of him and Kara. Lucy comes down with Sam, slips the tracking pen into his pocket, and says that they're going to the Talon, and that Lois should come with them. Sam orders her to go. Lois tries to compromise between the two sides. Sam warns that Clark is dangerous and can't be trusted. Distraught, Lois leaves with her father and sister after apologizing to Clark.

Elsewhere, Flag's Squad agent confirms that Sam is leaving the farm. Now that he isn't under Clark's protection, the agent prepares to launch a missile at Sam. Lois, Lucy, and Sam arrive at the Talon, where Lois insists they go back and work things out with Clark. Sam says that he's going to bring in the NSA and find out what Clark is hiding, but Lois says that what matters is how she feels. She tells her father she's staying with Clark, and that if he loves her, he'll respect her decision. Seeing that they're at odds, Lucy gets her father to leave with her, and Sam reluctantly leaves. However, he leaves the pen (that has a tracker) on the counter.

1007SVAmbush0503 — Rick Flag readies a missile

Just as Flag's man prepares to launch the missile, Clark arrives at Watchtower to find that Tess has managed to decode the encrypted message. Clark thinks that he is the target, but Tess states that Rick identifies with super-powered individuals, and he would try to recruit Clark before killing him. She tells him that he'd attack anyone who would threaten them, and Clark realizes that Flag is targeting Sam. Reciting part of the National Anthem, Flag launches the rocket, which heads straight for the Talon.

Sam and Lucy are outside when the missile smashes into Lois' apartment. Clark arrives quickly and gets Lois out just in time. Sam screams in anguish, but turns and realizes that Lois is behind them, unharmed. The Blur has left his symbol, and Sam realizes who has saved his daughter.

1007SVAmbush0621 — Clark and Oliver confront Rick Flag

Flag realizes that Sam has survived. Oliver and Clark flip over the agents' van and inform Flag that he's lost. Flag insists that he's a patriot, and the Registration Act is a weapon that the politicians will use to gather superheroes and force them to work for the government. When Clark says that he's stirring up antihero hysteria, Flag insists that they have to show people that vigilantes are their leaders and that violence is the only way. Flag's operative, a teleporter, gets himself and Flag away.

1007SVAmbush0669 — Lucy and Lois reconcile

At the farm, Lucy apologizes to Lois and promises to replace everything that Lois lost in the explosion; she also admits that she's always envied Lois as the older daughter. In response, Lois admits that she always liked being the good one. They hug each other, their issues resolved.

At Watchtower, Oliver offers Tess beer and Chinese takeout, but warns that they're not quite friends yet. Tess notes that they've come a long way and Oliver agrees. However, he then says that since he's revealed his identity to the public, he can't risk associating himself with Watchtower and compromise its secrecy. Tess points out that it must be hard given its association with Chloe, and Oliver assures her that it's still in good hands.

1007SVAmbush0799 — Clark and the Lanes enjoy their Thanksgiving

Sam comes out to the barn to apologize to Clark. He admits he appreciated how Clark stood up to him, and that nobody has had the guts to tell him he isn't a perfect father since his wife died. Sam tells Clark that going to war made the simple things like spending time with family that much harder. Clark tells him that he's the girls' hero, but Sam says that he figures Lois has a new hero. He notes that the Blur saved Lois, but not all super-powered types have the Blur's integrity. Clark warns that some politicians could use the law to destroy people, but Sam believes that America will ultimately do the right thing.

Sam then notes that he gave the list of chores to Lois' boyfriends to test her, not them, and Clark is the only one that Lois has ever stood up for, which proves she loves him. As Sam goes, Clark has a question that he wants to ask him. Clark and the Lanes' then have Thanksgiving dinner together.

Flag reads a newspaper article on the successful passage of the Vigilante Registration Act. He takes it as a declaration of war and tells his teleporter to go to work. The man plants explosives at an anti-vigilante act headquarters and teleports away as they go off.

Cast[]

Starring[]

Guest Starring[]

Mentioned[]

Title[]

An ambush is a long-established military tactic, in which the aggressors (the ambushing force) use concealment to attack a passing enemy.
The title refers to General Sam Lane and Lucy Lane's surprise visit to Lois and Clark.
This title could also refer to Rick Flag's ambush of General Lane.
Lois refers Lucy hesitantly kissing Clark right in front of her as an 'ambush'.

Notes[]

Antagonists: Rick Flag and Emil LaSalle.
It seems Amanda Waller didn't survive the Kandorian attack in the last season, as Flag appears to be his own boss, attacking anything and anyone whose bigotry threatens superheroes.
The Talon is destroyed in this episode, marking the end of its use in the show.
Although this episode aired as the seventh of the season, it was shot as the sixth.^[1]
General Lane pulls together a list of 19 things to fix at the Kent Farm.
It is heavily implied in this episode that Clark asked Sam's permission to marry Lois. It is also implied that Sam suspects that Clark is the Blur, but refuses to acknowledge it to set up plausible deniability.
The General says that he's put all of the guys that Lois has dated the series of tests he puts Clark through. Apparently he never got around to Oliver Queen or Grant Gabriel.
Clark is the first boyfriend Lois has had that she stood up to the General for. Sam explains this to Clark in the barn, citing that that's how he realized that she loved Clark. She'd never said a word to him about any of them before, further proof that Clark is the one she's supposed to be with.
Oliver decides that his visit to the Watchtower will be his last, since people are watching his every move now that he has revealed his identity to the world.
Lois actually cooked a home-cooked meal for Thanksgiving that was good. All previous meals she cooked were a disaster, to the point where even Shelby wouldn't eat it in the Season Nine episode Persuasion.
Clark reveals to Sam Lane that while he lives at the farm by himself, his mother's name is still the primary name on the deed to the house.
Sam's treatment of Clark when he first arrives is similar to the post-crisis relationship the two share. In the comics, Sam initially liked Clark but was later written as disapproving of Clark, referring to him as "Po-Dunk Farmboy" or a "Bumbling fool." Though Lois is usually able to mediate the two nowadays, they continue to bash heads.
This episode marks the final appearance of the Talon and the Talon apartment

Clark asked Lois if her father knows he's Superman since he had implied it in "Ambush".

In Guardian, Clark asked Lois if her father knows that he's Superman due to the fact he implied it in "Ambush".

Continuity[]

The Talon apartment is briefly seen in a flashback. (Icarus)
Sam Lane first appeared in Season Four's Gone and Facade.
General Lane is invited to have dinner with the Kents in Gone, but tells Martha Kent he'll have to take a rain check. He cashes it in, this episode.
Lucy Lane first appeared in the Season Four's Lucy. She had not been seen since that episode, although it's implied that Lois called Lucy while under the influence of gemstone kryptonite in Season Nine's Persuasion.
In Season Five's Arrival, Lois and the General left the country in order to locate Lucy. This episode reveals that their effort eventually proved successful.
The Talon is destroyed in this episode by Rick Flag. This marks its final appearance on the show. It first appeared, unfinished and dilapidated, in Leech, the 12th episode of the series.
This is the first time that the Lane family (Lois, Lucy and the General) have appeared together on the show.
Lois is seen wearing Clark's football jersey in the morning after sequence similar to her last time she wore it in Committed and assumed she had slept with Clark the night before.
Rick Flag appeared for the first time in Season Ten's Lazarus. and was last seen in Shield.
Sam is seen over looking Clark's Smallville High School year book which was last seen in Season Eight's Abyss.
General Sam Lane mentioned the destruction of the solar tower and believes a super-powered vigilante is responsible. Unbeknownst to General Lane, he is actually right because Clark used his heat vision to bring down the tower in Season Nine's Persuasion.
General Sam Lane mentions that Martha is currently in Washington D.C. trying to fight against the Vigilante Registration Act being passed in the senate. Martha was last seen in Season Nine's Hostage.
Clark was last seen in his new Blur attire in Homecoming. This is the first episode he's seen in action while wearing it.
Clark and Oliver find the tags put on them by the Suicide Squad in Shield. Clark assumes that they used blue kryptonite to put his on him which Emil Hamilton confirms in Patriot.
This is the fourth episode of the season to feature the primary four cast members (Clark, Lois, Tess and Oliver). The others were Lazarus, Shield and Isis.
The last Thanksgiving dinner at the Kent house was in Season Six's Rage.
Clark's conversation with Kara on the roof that appeared in Season Ten's Supergirl, was captured on photos that are shown to him by the General.
As of the beginning of this episode, Lois knows about Clark's new costume, she mentions a " monogrammed jacket" introduced in Shield.
Clark as "the Blur" has started to have his hair slicked back (as was seen with "future Clark" in Homecoming). This could be an homage to Dean Cain's Superman character who also had the "slicked back" hair style in the 90's show Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman.
Lois comments that Clark has no family to answer to but himself when he asks her why she doesn't stick up to her father. With Jonathan Kent's passing in Reckoning, Martha's departure for the Senate and Kara's departure to act as Supergirl around the world, Clark has been alone at the farm for most of the past four years.
This episode marks the 3rd appearance of Clark's Red Leather Jacket/Blue T-Shirt Blur outfit. It was previously seen in Shield and Homecoming.
Amanda Waller and Checkmate were both mentioned by Tess. Also she mentioned Zod's attack on Checkmate to Oliver, which happened in Sacrifice.
The Suicide Squad were last seen in Shield.
Oliver mentions to Tess that he was tortured by Flag, which happened in Lazarus.

In Other Media[]

Emile LaSalle is the 82nd DC Comics character adapted into the series.

Homage To Previous Seasons[]

The beginning of the episode where General Lane and Lucy surprise Lois and Clark is almost an exact reverse from the beginning of Gone when Martha catches both of them coming out of the bathroom. Ironically Clark meets Lois' father for the first time in that same episode.
Lois wakes up the morning after and is wearing Clark's high school football jersey after having slept together the previous night. She was concerned about this having happened after she woke up wearing it in Season Eight's Committed, although they had not slept together then.
Lois had cooked a disastrous breakfast for the Kent family in Lucy as a way to request their help in allowing her sister to stay with them during her short visit. In this episode Lois tries and actually succeeds in preparing a delightful Thanksgiving dinner to impress her father.
The Thanksgiving dinner scene at the end of the episode is very similar to the Thanksgiving scene at the end of Rage. In Rage, Clark carved the turkey while in this episode Sam Lane takes on that responsibility.
Lucy and Lois having a discussion about their relationship as sisters concluding with Lucy telling Lois she's a good sister is similar to the conversation Lois has with Clark about her relationship with Lucy in Lucy which concludes with Clark telling Lois she's a good sister.
Lois and Clark awkwardly being caught together by Lois' family after a night of intimacy is reminiscent of Lana and Clark being caught together after a night of intimacy by Clark's parents in Hidden.
When Clark uses his super strength to Chop & Stack A Cord of Wood in anger, it's reminiscent of the scene in Season One's Kinetic, when Clark attempts to chop firewood with his bare hands but instead ends up creating toothpicks because he uses the full force of his super strength in anger.

Locations[]

Smallville
- Kent Farm (house, barn, loft)
- Talon (apartment)

Metropolis
- Watchtower

Quotes[]

Clark: So, what are you in the mood for?

Lois: Oh, I'm in the mood. Just not for breakfast.

Clark: Lois, the bedroom's upstairs.

Lois: Mm-hmm. But the porch swing -- it's out there.

Clark: (to Oliver, as they are talking in the loft) You got to go.

Oliver: What, the window? What are we, 16?

Clark: Now.

Lois: Well, this has Lucy written all over it in backstabbing bitch-berry lip gloss.

Clark: We look after each other.

Sam Lane: Good. Because if Lois is going to spend any time around here, I've had a look around, and there's a few things that are gonna have to be brought up to code.

Clark: Like scrubbing the bathroom tile with a toothbrush?

Sam Lane: That's number 17 on the list.

Clark: (looks at list) I guess you're not kidding.

Sam Lane: No, I never do.

Rick Flag: And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air, gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.

Clark: It's over, Flag. We know you blew up that building.

Green Arrow: Fancy move attacking your own country.

Rick Flag: I did it for my country. If you kill Lane, you kill a movement. That registration act is nothing but a weapon to profile, hunt, and destroy us.

Green Arrow: We don't need a history lesson.

Rick Flag: Well, apparently you do, Shamrock. You've become the politicians' poster boy for full disclosure. They're gonna be on your doorstep soon, holding you up as a volunteer. Get up all the other heroes to stand up and be counted and be killed.

Clark: We're not gonna let that happen.

Rick Flag: If the bill passes, it already has! Don't you see? America's turning against us. We have got to fight back, show strength, make them choose us as their leaders.

Clark: You'll be stirring up anti-hero hysteria. Violence isn't the answer.

Rick Flag: Violence is the only answer. And more and more superheroes are coming to my side.

Lucy: I can't believe that I almost got you killed.

Lois: Let's not forget the Talon's "shock and awful" missile makeover. Who would've known fire insurance didn't cover mortar fire?

Sam Lane: It's my right to protect my family!

Clark: It may be your right! But you're wrong to think we don't belong together. I love your daughter, and I don't want another day go by where I'm not with her.

Tess: No need to worry, my friend.

Oliver: I think it's a little early for "friend." "Friendly" -- I can do that. I can be friendly.

Tess: I'll take it. I was beginning to think the best I could do was "frenemy."

Oliver: I don't even know what that means. We've, uh... We've survived tax audits and typhoons together, Tess. I think we're practically like family at this point.

Tess: We've come a long way. From the middle of the ocean to the top of the city.

Oliver: I can work with that.

Clark: (to General Lane) About Lois and I... there's a question I was hoping to ask you.

References[]

↑ http://twitter.com/alseptien/status/24562089184

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[1] ttp://twitter.com/alseptien/status/24562089184

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