Misplaced Pages

#306693

92-526: In the episode's narrative, Clark Kent (Welling), Chloe Sullivan ( Allison Mack ), Oliver Queen/Green Arrow ( Justin Hartley ) and John Jones ( Phil Morris ) meet a team of superheroes, called the Justice Society of America , who operated during the 1970s. The Justice Society is being hunted by an assassin known as Icicle ( Wesley MacInnes ). Icicle was recruited by the organization Checkmate , which

184-525: A New York Times interview, Mack claimed that the human branding was her idea. On April 20, 2018, Mack was arrested by the FBI in Brooklyn on charges of sex trafficking , sex trafficking conspiracy and forced labor conspiracy. The federal indictment accused Mack of "recruiting women to join what was purported to be a female mentorship group that was, in fact, created and led by Keith Raniere." Mack

276-475: A benign multi-level marketing company selling professional and personal development courses, while critics described it as a cult. Mack joined NXIVM after attending a two-day introduction to "Jness", a women's group within NXIVM, eventually becoming a high-ranking member of the organization. Mack was co-creator of "The Source", a NXIVM program that recruited actors. She was also a member of "Simply Human", an

368-429: A cappella NXIVM singing group, and the emcee of "A Capella Innovations", a multi-day festival. Hosted by NXIVM in 2007 and 2008, the events were billed as a university singing showcase and were alleged to be "a front to draw impressionable undergrads into NXIVM." In 2015, Raniere created a secret subgroup within NXIVM called " Dominus Obsequious Sororium " (DOS), of which Mack was allegedly second-in-command. DOS

460-578: A dose of the DNA but is still able to communicate telepathically with the group. One of the android's other functions is to monitor his teammates to make sure they do not lose control. If that situation were to arise, he is supposed to kill them, or as the Black Queen puts it "terminate the link". The organization's headquarters is a castle in the Swiss Alps known only as "The Castle". At the start of

552-554: A fine of $ 20,000. On September 13, 2021, Mack reported to Federal Correctional Institution, Dublin , in Dublin, California to begin her prison sentence. She was released early on July 3, 2023, after serving 1 year, 9 months, and 20 days of a 3-year sentence. In January 2020, Mack, Raniere, Clyne and other NXIVM individuals were named as defendants in a civil lawsuit filed in federal court by 80 former NXIVM members. The lawsuit details allegations of fraud and abuse and charges of being

644-518: A full sense of history for the characters. This included specific paintings, cards, tables, and how their costumes appeared. Johns also included mentionings of former members and relatives of the current members. According to the writer, the executive producers embraced his ideas completely. In addition, Johns researched where the Smallville writers had taken the show since the last time he wrote an episode, although he acknowledged that he did not have

736-639: A group of nuclear warheads in Russia. It is revealed that Harper called in Checkmate and that he was working on their side all along. Ultimately, Deathstroke is also revealed to be working for the CIA, and joins up with the American and Russian Checkmate to invade Cheshire's base later, after she threatens the world (unleashing a nuclear warhead on the country of Qurac as leverage). They are able to defeat Cheshire, and

828-408: A life of his own" when Johns was writing him. According to Johns, Kent Nelson is portrayed as being in a "different place and head space than he is in the comics". Regardless of any differences between where the characters are in their respective lives, Johns stated that they both still "embody the same values and traits". Johns also noted that he almost did not use the character of Doctor Fate. While he

920-598: A museum curator, in an episode of The Batman . Adding to her DC Comics resume, she lent her voice for Power Girl in the animated feature Superman/Batman: Public Enemies (2009). Mack was also listed as a member of the Iris Theatre Company. In March 2012, Mack was cast in a recurring role in the second season of the FX sitcom Wilfred . She played Amanda, the love interest of Elijah Wood 's lead character Ryan. Mack returned to Wilfred for one episode of

1012-425: A museum; he also finds Kent Nelson, who is mumbling incoherently to himself and clutching onto a small bag. Using his X-ray vision , Clark sees a helmet inside the bag, which turns on its own and looks back at Clark. Having enough of Clark's questions, Carter sends Clark on his way. Meanwhile, Chloe sends Oliver Queen after Sylvester's staff. Unfortunately, high school sophomore Courtney Whitmore has already taken

SECTION 10

#1732790180307

1104-557: A negative review: "Admittedly, the episode was kind of light on story and ended up having major plot-holes, the least of which being how exactly "Hawkman"'s helmet stayed on". He compared the episode to the Watchmen movie and asked why the Justice Society were scared of Icicle, and thought that the show creators could have used Vandal Savage or another menacing villain. He compared Dr. Fate's death with possible foreshadowing of

1196-734: A new image and organization, dubbed Checkmate, in relation to its chess-inspired organizational scheme. "The Janus Directive" is a crossover storyline that involves an inter-agency war between Checkmate, the Suicide Squad , and Project Atom , who are manipulated by Kobra in order to distract the United States intelligence community from his activities. Checkmate loses at least 38 Knight agents (tallying to more than two thirds of Checkmate's Knight force ) and its headquarters (as well as its cover, Konig Industries) in Shelby, Virginia, in

1288-473: A new team of superheroes for today's generation. Back at the Daily Planet after having been visited by Agent Waller, Lois publishes her article on the Justice Society, revealing them to be a team of superheroes who were lambasted by the government, and falsely imprisoned. Icicle is transported back to Checkmate. With Icicle in a heated cage, Agent Waller subsequently kills him after informing Icicle that he

1380-577: A pyramid scheme, exploitation of its recruits, conducting illegal human experiments, and making it "physically and psychologically difficult, and in some cases impossible, to leave the coercive community." In 2019, Catherine Oxenberg produced the Lifetime television film Escaping the NXIVM Cult: A Mother's Fight to Save Her Daughter with actress Sara Fletcher as Mack. Mack had a long-term relationship with Canadian actor Chad Krowchuk during

1472-535: A result, Hawkman grabs Oliver, throws him through the Watchtower window, and then threatens to do worse if Oliver interferes again. Meanwhile, Checkmate sends Lois Lane an anonymous package that provides her with the truth about the Justice Society. Clark awakens at the museum, where Doctor Fate informs Clark that his fate is to lead a new generation of superheroes, and that he will one day conquer his greatest enemy, Lex Luthor . Oliver and John Jones show up at

1564-746: A series of print ads and commercials. She went into modeling for a short period and studied at the Young Actors Space in Los Angeles at age seven. Mack's first major television role was in an episode of the WB/ CW series 7th Heaven , in which she gained attention playing a teenager who cut herself . In 2000 she co-starred in the short-lived series Opposite Sex . Her film credits include roles in My Horrible Year! ( Eric Stoltz 's directorial debut), Camp Nowhere and in

1656-478: A symbol representing Raniere's initials, with the branding ritual following a script created by Raniere. Mack's recruits were unaware the brand was Raniere's initials and said that Mack told them the brand was a symbol of the elements: air, earth, fire and water. Former NXIVM member Sarah Edmondson stated in a 2017 New York Times exposé and a 2018 A&E special on cults details about DOS that she had been branded in an initiation ceremony at Mack's house. In

1748-410: A virgin successor. Mack detailed Raniere's role in devising assignments for Mack's slaves, including, among other things, Raniere's repeated requests for nude photographs from Mack's DOS slaves; Raniere's instructions regarding the seduction assignment; and Raniere's encouragement of the use of demeaning and derogatory language, including racial slurs, to humiliate DOS slaves." Mack provided information to

1840-517: A weekly television series, was surprised to find so much attention paid to a guest starring role. Shanks said producer James Marshall respected and took into consideration some of his artistic input. He also said that his character's return for future episodes was a "strong possibility". According to Johns: "Their costumes work because the Justice Society members were from the generation before Clark and his allies". Nielsen Ratings for "Absolute Justice" came in at approximately 2.77 million viewers, which

1932-422: Is Smallville' s highest-rated episode for season nine in total viewers, adults 18–49, and men 18–49, a 7% increase from the season nine premiere, which had 2.58 million viewers. Reviews for the episode were generally mixed. Carlos Delgado of IFMagazine gave the episode a B+, stating that "'Absolute Justice' was ambitious. A two hour defibrillation trying to restore a pulse to a show that had been relegated to

SECTION 20

#1732790180307

2024-402: Is being headed by Agent Amanda Waller ( Pam Grier ). Clark, Chloe, Oliver and John team up with the Justice Society members to battle Icicle. The introduction of the Justice Society was developed to be relevant to the series, primarily being used to teach the new generation of superheroes—Clark, Oliver, and the rest of the team —a lesson about family and leadership. Johns modeled his vision of

2116-492: Is framed for the murder of Vesper Fairchild. She is recruited as a Checkmate operative by Jessica Midnight, as the two fake her death and Sasha undergoes plastic surgery. It is revealed that Maxwell Lord has assumed the position of Black King within the Checkmate organization with the intent of manipulating the agency to kill all of the metahumans present on Earth. While DC did not explain how or when Lord came to power (or had seemingly gone from supporting metahuman involvement in

2208-639: Is odd how in a major city like Metropolis , main characters are the only ones out on the streets. He expressed disappointment with the Sandman 's death: "I'd have liked to see some old school Sandman roughhouse, and I felt cheated when a...Golden Age legend like Sandman goes to his eternal rest without so much as a single blast from his gas gun. I suppose the argument could be made to say that's how formidable Icicle Jr. was, or how rusty Sandman was, but I'm not buying that. Sandman deserved to go down fighting, not frozen solid while frozen in hesitation". While criticizing

2300-453: Is remodeled in a manner similar to that of Marvel Comics ' Hellfire Club (with the organization itself more closely resembling S.H.I.E.L.D. ). The chess-motif remains, but there are sets of Kings and Queens, as well as Bishops, Rooks, Knights, and Pawns, divided between a Black and White set. Their functions remain the same, although neither Rooks nor Pawns are seen. Kings and Queens are the head of each department. Bishops oversee plans behind

2392-470: Is reorganized as the UN's Chartered Metahuman Monitoring Force. The organization was restructured utilizing the "Rule of Two". Each super-powered or otherwise enhanced member in the "Royal Family" must have an un-powered counterpart in a corresponding position of power. Pawns still remain as low-level field agents. The Rooks make their first appearance in issue #25 as Checkmate's highly powerful black ops squad (while

2484-562: Is subsequently dismissed from Checkmate by Taleb Beni Khalid. The members of the new Justice League International eventually infiltrate Checkmate headquarters by disguising themselves in stolen Rocket Red suits, but the mission goes awry and they are forced to flee before they can capture Lord. Max eventually tells Blue Beetle that one of the major goals of his plot was to have the Justice League International discredit Checkmate by making them look incompetent, causing

2576-615: The Brightest Day crossover, Maxwell Lord returns from the dead and uses his mental abilities to erase all memories of his existence from everyone on the planet, save for several former members of the Justice League International . Following this, Lord discredits Fire (who is one of the heroes who still remembers him) by forcing everyone at Checkmate to believe that she has failed a psychological evaluation and has begun to show signs of mental instability. Fire

2668-602: The Disney film Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves . In October 2001, Mack began starring as Chloe Sullivan (an original character created for the show), one of Clark Kent 's best friends in the WB/ CW television series Smallville . Mack earned several awards and nominations for her portrayal of Chloe, including the Teen Choice Award for Best Sidekick in 2006 and 2007. She appeared as a series regular for nine seasons and returned as an intermittent main cast member in

2760-506: The Friday night death slot . It takes guts to air something that could so easily make or break a season. Two hours of garbage, the show is done. Two hours of comic book bliss, well, let's just say contracts might be written up that very night to secure the next phase of the Man of Steel's odyssey. Yes, it was that big". He said that Icicle was a weak antagonist but mentioned that "Absolute Justice"

2852-424: The Justice Society , he said: "They brought with them — or, more likely, Geoff Johns did — a banter and wit that the show often lacks, and also a speed and lightness that worked better than the show's usual po-faced drama.... the show just seemed better than usual". He concluded his review by saying that even though the special effects were disappointing, the episode was fun. Ken Tucker from Entertainment Weekly said

Absolute Justice - Misplaced Pages Continue

2944-523: The Watchmen ?" and throw in some James Bond and you've got Checkmate". Rucka's stated plans in several interviews include depicting the repurposing of Checkmate as a United Nations-affiliated intelligence/intervention force with a specific purpose of maintaining "balance" between Earth's human and metahuman communities in the wake of events in The OMAC Project and Infinite Crisis . Pursuant to UN Security Council Resolution 1696, Checkmate

3036-625: The 2000s when she was residing in Vancouver , British Columbia , where Smallville was produced. In February 2017, Mack married Canadian actress Nicki Clyne , a fellow NXIVM member. The marriage was alleged to have been a sham to get Clyne around U.S. immigration laws , and only became public a year later during legal proceedings on the conspiracy and racketeering charges as part of Mack's involvement with NXIVM. In December 2020, Mack filed for divorce from Clyne. Mack and Clyne were both sexual partners with NXIVM founder Keith Raniere . It

3128-463: The Helmet of Nabu back on and transforms into " Doctor Fate ". After investigating Dodds and Pemberton's deaths, Clark and Chloe believe they have located the killer at the psychiatric ward of Metropolis General Hospital. When they arrive, they find the individual, Joar Mahkent , in a vegetative state and Doctor Fate reading his mind. Doctor Fate then sees Clark's fate and teleports Clark and himself to

3220-442: The Justice Society after the film Watchmen , where a group of superheroes come out of retirement. Johns also included references to other Justice Society members throughout the episode. "Absolute Justice" is Smallville' s highest-rated episode for season nine in total viewers, adults 18–49, and men 18–49. The episode received generally mixed reviews from critics; while praise was given to the guest characters' back stories, criticism

3312-515: The Knights are "Special Agents" and Bishops "Advisers"). Specifically they include four operatives of different specialties one being Cinnamon , the second Gravedigger, Sebastian Faust , and a new incarnation of the G.I. Robot . They are further augmented with DNA from Starro the Conqueror which links them telepathically allowing instantaneous communication. The android member however cannot take

3404-665: The Rooks planned missions and supervised the field agents, or Knights, and the Knights' support, the Pawns. List of operatives during first series. The Agency is first set up by Amanda Waller to serve as a small branch of Task Force X under the command of Colonel Valentina Vostok (formerly Negative Woman of the Doom Patrol ) to perform operations worldwide considered vital to the security of American interests. She relinquishes command to Harry Stein , who recreates The Agency into

3496-521: The Terminator #17, in order to find the comatose Deathstroke (Slade Wilson). Phil Kramer is promoted to King and Kalia Campbell to Queen. Harry Stein is said to be on indefinite leave of absence after his son is shot, and to be spending more time with his family. Gary Washington and two other Knights appear in the story as well (one of whom might be Winston O'Donnel, who appears in Deathstroke,

3588-575: The Terminator #19). Checkmate Knights invade the lair of supervillainess Cheshire in Deathstroke, the Terminator #18, but most are killed by her operatives and a revived Slade Wilson. Just as two Checkmate agents are about to defeat Deathstroke, Roy Harper (at that time also known as Speedy ) knocks them down, revealing to be helping Cheshire as a double agent in both Checkmate and the Brotherhood of Evil. The Russian outfit of Checkmate appears when Deathstroke, Cheshire, Speedy and others try to steal

3680-523: The United Nations to pull their funding and fire Khalid and most of the other senior Checkmate higher-ups, leaving Max the opportunity to regain control of the organization. At the very end of the series, Lord is still shown to be in control of Checkmate. He then releases a video onto the internet where he blames the rogue superhero Magog for an accident in Chicago that resulted in the deaths of

3772-405: The United States delayed court proceedings, including the sentencings of Mack and other NXIVM defendants. In 2021, prosecutors began the process of sentencing Mack. Under advisory sentencing guidelines, Mack faced 14 to 17.5 years behind bars. The U.S. Attorney credited Mack with providing "detailed and highly corroborated information" and advocated for favourable sentencing for Mack. Days before

Absolute Justice - Misplaced Pages Continue

3864-421: The actor who portrayed the character "poor", and stated he "got goose bumps", regarding his fate at the hands of Clark Kent . Reviewer Graeme McMillan praised Tom Welling 's directing, while calling Clark the character who was the least fun of the episode; he praised writer Geoff Johns , saying that "there was a sense of scale and history to the episode that the series doesn't usually manage". When talking about

3956-470: The cancellation of the second volume, the team returned in the Final Crisis one-shot tie-in "Resist" by Greg Rucka and Eric Trautmann. The name Checkmate is taken from the winning move in chess , and the agency's hierarchy is modeled after the various pieces of a chess game; one King, one Queen and several Bishops, Rooks, Knights and Pawns. The Bishops oversaw the Rooks behind the scenes while

4048-610: The case. According to a filing by the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York , Mack sat down for proffer sessions to assist the government in the prosecution of Raniere starting in April 2019. Mack detailed the inner workings of DOS. "Mack also provided details regarding crimes committed by other first-line DOS masters, including assignments to seduce Raniere and efforts to find Raniere

4140-547: The crossover " The Janus Directive ". Checkmate! was canceled after 33 issues but the organization continued to appear, mostly in titles related to either the government or Batman . After the events of the mini-series The OMAC Project , a precursor to the Infinite Crisis limited series, the Checkmate organization was re-organized and its title was revived with Checkmate (vol. 2). This volume ended after publication of its 31st issue, dated December 2008. After

4232-508: The early death of Chloe. He ended by stating: "The episode didn't quite live up to the hype, but it was close enough". Allison Mack Allison Christin Mack (born July 29, 1982) is an American actress. She played Chloe Sullivan on the superhero series Smallville (2001–2011) and had a recurring role on the comedy series Wilfred (2012–2014). Mack was a member of NXIVM , a cult and multi-level marketing company . In 2018 she

4324-407: The entrance for the Justice Society to be relevant to the series. Peterson felt that the Justice Society should teach the new generation of heroes—Clark, Oliver, and the rest of the team —a lesson about family and leadership. Peterson also stated that the mid-season episode "Disciple" was written so that it could set the table for "Absolute Justice", and reveal that the show's heroes are not coalescing

4416-535: The episode's airing, the Smallville writers announced on their Twitter page that they still consider "Absolute Justice" to be two separately produced episodes, but was aired and packaged on the season nine DVD as a single episode. For the Complete Series DVD package released in November 2011, Warner Bros. Home Video acknowledged the two separate episodes in their official count of 218 episodes. When

4508-542: The episode, he compared the episode to the Watchmen film and disapproved of the " Batman " voice the Hawkman had. He also said that there should have been more John Jones and less Lois Lane. While praising the episode, he approved of Amanda Waller and said that Tess Mercer became a lethal hand-to-hand combatant. He concluded by saying that the episode did not live up to its hype and thought the episode before it, "Disciple",

4600-420: The fallen hero". He said the episode approached an "epic scale not seen in the series for a long time" and criticized the "raspy voice" of "Hawkman". In concluding the review, he wrote that he enjoyed slight nods to the comics and thought the episode could have been told in one hour. Reviewer Chris Carabott praised "Absolute Justice", saying that it brings various members of the Justice Society of America to life on

4692-473: The first hour of the episode contained the "stand-out visual sequence" and thought the second hour was "more lumbering", with the big fight sequence toward the end "unsatisfying". Tucker wrote: "For viewers who only know the Superman/boy mythos according to Smallville , it must have seemed strange to have most of the series' ongoing subplots put in storage for this week's two-hour edition. Then again, since

SECTION 50

#1732790180307

4784-400: The flying scenes that he would have to film while in full costume. One difference in the costume is the inclusion of a chest plate. According to Shanks, the costume designers added a chest plate to assist the flying harness they created. The chest plate and Hawkman's helmet were given a bronze color, as opposed to the more traditional "yellow/gold" color. Shanks, who is accustomed to the chaos of

4876-693: The fourth and final season. In 2014, Mack guest-starred as a policewoman named Hilary in an episode of the Fox thriller The Following . On March 21, 2015, she tweeted that she would be appearing in American Odyssey as Julia, who befriends Suzanne, the daughter of Anna Friel 's lead character Sgt. Odelle Ballard. Beginning in 2006, Mack was a member of NXIVM , an organization founded by Keith Raniere and headquartered in Albany , New York . Throughout its existence, advocates of NXIVM characterized it as

4968-518: The government about Clare Bronfman 's attempts to harass and threaten DOS victims. Mack also provided a recording in which Raniere detailed how he wanted the branding ceremony conducted. On April 8, 2019, Mack pleaded guilty to racketeering and racketeering conspiracy and admitted to state law extortion and forced labor. In June 2019, Raniere was found guilty on all charges and was sentenced to 120 years in October 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic in

5060-486: The hospital to investigate the truth behind Sylvester, which ultimately leads them to the Daily Planet archive room. There, Clark and Chloe discover documents and an old 16 mm film that identifies Sylvester as part of a team of "criminals", which includes: Carter Hall , Kent Nelson , Jay Garrick , Alan Scott , Ted Grant , Abigail Hunkel , Wesley Dodds , and Al Pratt . In the documentary footage, Sylvester and

5152-506: The incident. In the aftermath, Sarge Steel takes Waller's place as head of Checkmate, and Checkmate relocates to a new NORAD base in Colorado. A Russian version of Checkmate ( Russian : Шах и мат ) (presumably under the KGB) is introduced in the last issues of the original series run. They are admittedly underfunded, but wear armor similar to their U.S. counterparts. Checkmate's hierarchy

5244-804: The leader of DOS concealed from new recruits. As a pre-condition for joining DOS, women were required to provide "collateral", which included nude photographs, damaging information about family and friends, and rights to their assets. Recruits were told their collateral could be released if they left DOS or told anyone about DOS's existence. Recruits were also controlled in several other ways, including requirements to seek permission, physical isolation, forced participation in "readiness drills", sleep deprivation , extremely restrictive diets, and being subject to corporal punishment . Mack reportedly recruited four women into DOS, including India Oxenberg , daughter of actress Catherine Oxenberg . As directed by Raniere, Mack and others required their recruits to be branded with

5336-413: The marriage was fake and orchestrated by Raniere to keep Clyne in the United States. Under the original indictment, Mack faced a minimum of 15 years to life in prison if found guilty. In March 2019, it was revealed in court that Mack and the other defendants in the case were in "active plea negotiations" as Raniere appeared in court to plead not guilty to additional child pornography charges related to

5428-631: The mini-series The OMAC Project and Infinite Crisis , Checkmate is re-chartered as a United Nations Security Council-affiliated agency and was again given its own series, Checkmate (vol. 2). The Checkmate organization was created by Paul Kupperberg and Steve Erwin , first appearing in Action Comics #598 (March 1988). The precursor to this fictional organization was known as the Agency , first appearing in Vigilante #36. Harry Stein

5520-436: The museum to rescue Clark, unaware that Hawkman, Doctor Fate, and Stargirl are actually heroes. Banding together, the group splits up into pairs to locate Icicle. While on patrol, Doctor Fate and John Jones are attacked by Icicle. Before Doctor Fate is killed, he uses his abilities to restore John's Martian powers. While John lies unconscious, Icicle steals Doctor Fate's helmet and acquires the powers that go with it. Clark and

5612-489: The museum. Meanwhile, the real assassin is revealed to be Joar's son, who is killing the Justice Society members for putting his father in that vegetative state decades earlier. Hired by an organization known as Checkmate , and instructed by Agent Amanda Waller , Icicle sets his sights on Courtney. Oliver tracks down Courtney—who calls herself "Stargirl"—and realizes that she is setting herself up as bait to lure Icicle out. Icicle arrives, but Oliver interrupts Courtney's plan. As

SECTION 60

#1732790180307

5704-450: The others regroup at Watchtower, where Icicle arrives to kill the rest of the Justice Society and avenge his father. At first, Clark, Hawkman, Stargirl, and Green Arrow have trouble taking down Icicle and his new abilities. When John arrives, the group is finally able to defeat Icicle. Afterward, Carter tells Clark that he and Courtney have located the surviving members of the Justice Society, their children, and their protégés in order to build

5796-425: The plan to incorporate the primary storyline of season nine. Johns' initial script pushed the production budget to the max. According to Johns: "By turning the story into two episodes, it not only allowed the story to get bigger, but it allowed our budget to become bigger". Michael Shanks wears the traditional Hawkman uniform, complete with strap-on wings and Hawkman's mace. He spent time practicing his wire work for

5888-478: The protection of the planet to this personality), it has been implied that Checkmate may have been the victim of Superboy-Prime , who warped the very fabric of reality by punching the walls of his prison outside this dimension. As a result of Superboy-Prime's actions, the hierarchy of Checkmate was changed and a changed Maxwell Lord was suddenly in charge of the organization. In order to hide his activities, which included hijacking and reprogramming to his own purposes

5980-602: The re-organized Agency, Stein chose the game of chess as his working model. Stein brought in Gary Washington (Knight One) and Black Thorn as Checkmate operatives, both of whom were his friends, and both of whom were introduced during his run on Vigilante. Checkmate! was at various times involved with the other government agencies in the DC Comics universe, primarily the Suicide Squad , which resulted in

6072-464: The remnants of Checkmate to convince the President of the U.S. to disband the organization. Within days, however, it is reconstituted as a United Nations agency. In Week 25, Alan Scott reveals to Mister Terrific that he will lead the agency as White King, and asks him to join as well. Rucka was quoted regarding the new series: "Take a big chunk of The OMAC Project, take the concept of "Who Watches

6164-457: The rest of his team are systematically arrested. Because of allegations of jury tampering, falsified evidence, and lack of connection, all of the individuals are released. While Clark and Chloe are looking into the criminal group, Icicle tracks down and kills Wesley Dodds following Dodds' dream about him; Clark later finds Dodds' body. Following Dodds' death, Clark tracks down Carter Hall, believing him to be Icicle's next target. Clark finds Hall at

6256-484: The role because he did not think he would get many opportunities to play a superhero in the future. Pam Grier appeared as Amanda Waller , a character from DC Comics, in "Absolute Justice", and she also appeared in "multiple episodes". Phil Morris was also brought back as John Jones , a recurring character Morris has appeared as since season six . As the script for "Absolute Justice" was developed by Geoff Johns, executive producer Brian Peterson explained that he wanted

6348-517: The scenes. Rooks plan missions. Knights carry out the plans in field teams. Pawns assist the Knights on missions, providing surveillance and backup if needed. The structure of Checkmate with two halves, Black (ops) and White (intel), may also be inspired by the CIA's original two separate halves, the Directorate of Operations and Directorate of Intelligence. List of operatives between series. Sarge Steel reactivates Checkmate in Deathstroke,

6440-511: The script for the Justice Society episode, which was titled "Society", it was decided that in order to do the characters justice, the decision was made to extend the story into two separate episodes, with the second episode titled "Legends". Executive producer Kelly Souders explained that "there were so many characters and so much great story that people would've been robbed of some great moments if we kept it to just one hour". According to executive producer Brian Peterson , he and Johns realized there

6532-504: The sentencing, Mack released a statement in which she repudiated Raniere, saying that her involvement with NXIVM was "the biggest mistake and greatest regret of [her] life" and expressed remorse in regard to those affected. In addition to the letter, her attorneys asked for no jail time in consideration for Mack's remorse and her cooperation with Raniere's prosecution. On June 30, 2021, Mack was sentenced to three years in prison and three years of probation, 1,000 hours of community service and

6624-507: The show was released on the Hulu streaming service in October 2016, the episodes were split in two, labelled "Absolute Justice, Part 1 - Society" and "Absolute Justice, Part 2 - Legends", with both being recognized as episode eleven of season nine. Michael Shanks , Brent Stait and Brittney Irvin were cast as the Justice Society members Carter Hall/Hawkman , Kent Nelson/Doctor Fate , and Courtney Whitmore/Stargirl , respectively. Shanks took

6716-547: The small screen and it does it brilliantly. He applauded writer Geoff Johns, saying he "outdoes himself with a story that pays homage to the early days of some of DC's finest". While stating disapproval among the costumes, he said Doctor Fate 's "gold helmet contrasted by the dark blue of the costume looked fantastic in HD". He also called the episode "a great achievement" and said it is "fun to watch for both long time DC Comics fans and Smallville fans". Author Joe Oesterle said that it

6808-456: The staff. Before Oliver can get the staff from her, Kent shows up and uses the staff to teleport both him and Courtney back to the museum. Here, it is revealed that Sylvester's team was actually a group of superheroes led by Carter Hall, who went by the codename "Hawkman". The group called themselves the " Justice Society of America ". Courtney, who was Sylvester's protégé, Kent and Carter band together to find Sylvester's killer. As such, Kent places

6900-485: The super-spy satellite Brother I that Batman originally built to monitor all metahumans, Lord murdered former ally Ted Kord . He also mind-controlled Superman , sending the hero after other former allies such as Batman and Wonder Woman . Wonder Woman then proceeded to kill Lord in order to break his control on Superman's mind, which left Checkmate dismantled as an organization. In 52 Week 24, Martian Manhunter reveals that he has spent months undercover undermining

6992-468: The tenth and final season, including the two-part series finale. From 2003 to 2006, Mack's character appeared in her own miniseries Smallville: Chloe Chronicles and Smallville: Vengeance Chronicles . In 2008, Mack made her directorial debut in Smallville season 8 episode " Power ". In 2002, Mack made a couple of appearances along with her Smallville castmate Sam Jones III in R. L. Stine 's miniseries The Nightmare Room . In 2006 she voiced Clea,

7084-456: The villain of this piece was a faux-hawked foe called the Icicle, frozen plotlines were inevitable". Reviewer Blair Marnell said: "For longtime comic fans, catching all of the comic references was part of the fun, including Radu's Cafe from " Green Lantern ", the "Trouble Alert" from the classic Super Friends animated series, and Pemberton's "Star-Rocket Racer", which also served as the home for

7176-612: The warheads are destroyed. A man called David Said has taken over the role of King within the organization, and in the "Knight Moves" storyline Checkmate invades the Batcave , in order to recruit the Huntress in the process. On Batman's word, she agrees to temporarily assume the mantle of Queen, using this position to relay information to Batman on at least one occasion. After the events of Bruce Wayne : Murderer? and Bruce Wayne: Fugitive , his bodyguard and partner Sasha Bordeaux

7268-524: The way they need to be. Geoff Johns described his version of the Justice Society to be similar to the heroes of the film Watchmen , who "come out of retirement to give 'the screwed-up guys of the next generation a needed smack down'". When it came time to translate the comic book Justice Society members into live-action characters, Johns said that he tried to keep everyone exactly the same. Johns noted that Hawkman and Stargirl are virtual duplicates of their comic book counterparts, but that Doctor Fate "took on

7360-408: Was "Grade A entertainment" in comparison. One reviewer praised the show by saying Smallville is "quietly having its best season in at least 5 years". He said the show currently does not resemble its former self and plays more like a graphic novel. He called Hawkman "excellent" but also disapproved of the " Christian Bale "-Batman voice; he called Doctor Fate "awesome". Brad Trechak from TVSquad had

7452-468: Was a part of the new Suicide Squad . Afterward, Tess Mercer is revealed to be an agent of Checkmate. The idea of introducing the Justice Society of America was first made public at the 2009 Comic Con, where producers announced that comic book author Geoff Johns would write the episode. Johns had previously introduced the Legion of Super-Heroes in the season eight episode "Legion". As Johns worked on

7544-413: Was a success. Anthony Ocasio from ScreenRant went as far as deeming "Absolute Justice" one of the best episodes of Smallville in its nine years of being on the air, writing that "it was wonderful to see that guest characters could be on Smallville with a backstory that's more than the normal "guess who just happened to come to Metropolis". He voiced his opinion against the antagonist, Icicle, and called

7636-473: Was appointed Valentina Vostok 's replacement in The Agency's command position by Amanda Waller . Stein later sought out the most stable personnel available from the American and international intelligence and law enforcement communities to form Checkmate. His agency would field only the best-trained and well-equipped of agents, working under the strictest rules of secrecy. For the organizational structure of

7728-546: Was arrested by federal authorities on charges of sex trafficking , sex trafficking conspiracy , and forced labor conspiracy related to her involvement in NXIVM and its subgroup; DOS. Mack pleaded guilty to racketeering and racketeering conspiracy charges and in 2021 was sentenced to three years in prison. She served 21 months in Federal Correctional Institution, Dublin , in California and

7820-424: Was dealt for what was perceived as a poor choice of a villain. As Chloe Sullivan tries to get in touch with Clark Kent , she finds herself cornered in an alleyway by a man named Sylvester Pemberton , who is wielding a staff that has the ability to control light. As Sylvester attempts to inform Chloe that he is a friend, an assassin known as Icicle attacks and Sylvester is ultimately killed. Chloe and Clark go to

7912-541: Was developing the initial concept for the story, and meeting with executive producers Peterson and Souders, there were no restrictions on the characters he could use. The idea of using Wildcat or Jay Garrick was floated around, but Johns believed he had a unique approach to the Doctor Fate character. He also believed that Doctor Fate fit into the storyline better than Wildcat or Jay Garrick. Johns chose to write in as much detail as possible, because he wanted to create

8004-691: Was one of the "top members of a highly organized scheme which was designed to provide sex to [Raniere]." Prosecutors accused Mack of concealing Raniere’s status as the leader of DOS as she coaxed recruits to provide highly damaging personal information, nude photos and rights to personal assets. After Mack recruited women to join DOS, "under the guise of female empowerment, she starved women until they fit [Raniere’s] sexual feminine ideal." Mack directly or implicitly required her recruits to engage in sexual activity with Raniere. In exchange, Mack received financial and other benefits from Raniere. On April 24, 2018, Mack

8096-403: Was released from Metropolitan Detention Center, Brooklyn on a $ 5 million bond and held under house arrest under the custody of her parents in California . During Mack's arraignment proceedings, prosecutors also accused her of entering a sham marriage with Nicki Clyne to help Clyne circumvent US immigration laws. India Oxenberg , a witness at Mack and Clyne's wedding ceremony, confirmed

8188-589: Was released in July 2023. Mack was born on July 29, 1982, in Preetz , West Germany , to American parents Jonathan Mack, an opera singer, and Mindy Mack, a schoolteacher and bookkeeper. Her parents were in West Germany at the time of her birth because Jonathan was performing there; they lived in West Germany for two years before moving to the United States. Mack's first job was for a German chocolate company in

8280-527: Was reported in 2020 that Mack had attended classes at UC Berkeley . Checkmate (comics) Checkmate , a division of Task Force X , is a fictional covert operations agency appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics . The antihero team first appeared in Action Comics #598 (March 1988) and proceeded to have its own ongoing title in Checkmate! In the wake of events depicted in

8372-448: Was so much material for one episode that they decided to make it into two. Peterson describes the episodes as a "mini-movie", and referred to it as one of the most exciting things they have done on Smallville in nine years. Ultimately, the idea of two separate episodes was scrapped in favor of combining them into a single show. The CW then marketed the episode as a two-hour television movie titled, Smallville: Absolute Justice . Following

8464-513: Was structured as a pyramid group with Raniere at the top (and the only man in DOS) with subordinates including Mack and others as Raniere's first-line DOS masters. DOS was ostensibly built around female empowerment but mainly provided a means to traffic women for Raniere's gratification. According to prosecutors, Mack and others recruited women by telling them they were joining a women-only organization that would empower them, with Raniere's status as

#306693