Smallville (TV Series) Ambush (2010) User Reviews

Ambush

[Colcatron · 7/10 · 9 May 2011]

The episode "Ambush" starts a series of stories that serve one purpose, and that's to tie up loose ends between Clark and Lois and their families. "Ambush" brings back Lois' father, General Lane, and her sister, Lucy Lane. I don't think there were a lot of people dying to see the return of Lucy, but this episode is worth viewing just for the opportunity to see Michael Ironside in the role of General Lane. Unfortunately the writers seemed to have forgotten the dynamic that had already been established between Lois and her father. Nothing about the relationships in this story seem to match what we've seen before. On the plus side, it's still amusing to watch Clark try to impress his future father in law.

There's more going on here than just a pathetic family thanksgiving dinner. Rick Flag is back for the third time this season, and his purpose starts to become clearer. While I like the inclusion of Flag, I'm not so thrilled about the Vigilante Registration Act plot. One of the issues season 10 has is a lack of originality when dealing with the superhero aspect of the show. Everything is borrowed from past superhero movies. Oliver going public with his identity as the Green Arrow was just ripped off of Iron Man, and the Vigilante Registration Act is a direct copy of the Mutant Registration Act from X-Men. I would have liked this episode, and that overall story a lot more had it not been almost identical to what X-Men told over 3 films and who knows how many comic stories.

Change of personality

[morrisonliz · 7/10 · 8 January 2022]

What happened to the Lois that defied her father at every turn? What happened to the strong willed Lois? I don't know who this person was but it was not the Lois I fell in love with and wanted to be with Clark Kent.

What a terrible and disappointing episode. I miss the old Lois.

Dry and predictable story, stereotyped guest characters, over the top behaviors, lazy identity handling, rushed action, some sweet moments

[igoatabase · 3/10 · 6 November 2010]

Don Whitehead & Holly Henderson, the dream team ? Since Metallo and Charade they have been my favorite writers and with Lazarus they confirmed the respect they deserve. However it could all change with Ambush. Of course processing an episode is also a lot about the head but I wish their chemistry had given birth to a more fluid and deep story. Indeed Michael Ironside's performance as Lois father was disappointing because the General was stereotyped and his behavior predictable. I think some scenes were supposed to be funny but they weren't and others were just over the top or not authentic. I was also disconcerted by the lazy excuses they relied on to hide his identity. They're reporters and Clark should know better after all what he has been through. In fact I couldn't help comparing it to the smart and philosophical Hostage. When Oliver mentioned Chloe it made things even worse because as much as I dig Tess she seemed just misplaced at the Watch Tower. Doesn't she have her own company to manage ? Allison Mack we miss you ! Even what should have been a major twist wasn't that thrilling. The inevitable action part was also rushed and seemed like a quick and dirty shortcut to wrap up the episodic story. Last but not least it should make you question the upcoming episodes. With Lazarus and Supergirl I was expecting the season to turn into an apocalyptic chaos with a dark version of Clark or something more original to dazzle us but now I don't think it will happen. What I've seen so far feels more like déjà vu, specially considering episodes like Checkmate. Still the few Lois & Clark moments can only appeal to long time fans but overall it was a very mediocre episode that just can't appeal a demanding viewer.

One of the worst episodes in several years

[Ace_of_Sevens · 3/10 · 19 August 2012]

How dumb is Lucy? Some guy shows up, says he's a Colonel and asks her to plant a tracking device on her father the general and she just does it? Besides, Flagg was already tracking him at the beginning of the episode. Why not just kill him then?

The Vigilante Registration Act comes out of nowhere. I'm not even sure what it would mean for vigilantes to register. It seems modeled on some similar bills in the Marvel Universe, but they were trying to get people to register based on their powers. Getting vigilantes to register would amount to licensing their actions, which is the opposite of what the act seems to do, not that it is ever explained beyond it being somehow anti- vigilante.

What the hell does Flagg think is going to happen if he kills Sam Lane? Killing a general isn't like killing a union boss or civil rights leader. If a major proponent of anti-vigilante legislation is assassinated, people aren't going to just give up out of fear. They will conclude, quite reasonably, that vigilantes did it and this is why we need them under control. The vote was the next day, apparently. How exactly would this convince any senator to vote no? For that matter, why did they have a military consultant on a bill that has no obvious connection to military matters? And why did Clark just hear about it now when his mom is in the senate and his girlfriend's dad was a consultant on the bill when both his mom and girlfriend know this is relevant to his interests?

What really bugged me about this episode, though, was the fact that Sam is heavily anti-vigilante and very suspicious of his daughter's boyfriends and comes to suspect that Clark is a vigilante- sympathizer. He even has the Pentagon check him out. No one ever mentions that Lois dated Oliver Queen for most of season 6. It is public knowledge that he's Green Arrow. I'm pretty sure that the public would know that he and Clark are friends, too. When they need to tie Clark to a vigilante, they use his cousin, Kara, though.

For that matter, Kara apparently got clearly photographed when she rescued Gordon Godfrey a month or two earlier as Sam Lane recognizes her when shown the picture. It's understandable that the Pentagon missed the connection when doing their background check and she was never Clark's cousin on paper. That's just how he introduced her. However, didn't anyone who knew her in Smallville other than Clark see the pictures and start asking awkward questions? I suppose it's vaguely plausible the military got a hold of the photos and suppressed their publication somehow, but considering it happened at a press conference and they have no real reason to do this since the existence of super-powered people is public knowledge, so there's nothing to cover up, and having the public's help identifying one would make the whole registration thing easier.