Task Force X (episode)
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| Justice League Unlimited episode | |
|---|---|
| |
| "Task Force X" | |
| Airdate: | May 21, 2005 (USA) |
| Production Number: | 17 |
| Airdate Order: | 17 |
| Animation Services by: | DR Movie Co., LTD. |
| Teleplay by: | Darwyn Cooke |
| Story by: | Dwayne McDuffie |
| Directed by: | Joaquim Dos Santos |
| Episode images (6) | |
"Task Force X" is the fourth episode of the second season of Justice League Unlimited. It originally aired on May 21, 2005. Unusually, it is told not from the perspective of the Justice League, but from that of a covert operations team employed by Project Cadmus to raid the Watchtower.
Contents |
Plot 
Edit
At Belle Reve Correctional, Floyd Lawton is being led to his execution, apparently unconcerned. Before entering the chamber, his guards are intercepted by a tall man bearing release papers. The warden is appalled – Lawton, aka "Deadshot" has merited the death penalty many times over – but sees he has no choice after examining the papers. On the drive away from the prison, Floyd's savior introduces himself as U.S. Colonel Rick Flagg, and that Deadshot is being recruited for a top-secret mission, which he can either accept, or go right back to his execution. The mission is a simple break-in and theft – from the Watchtower.
At headquarters, Lawton is introduced to the rest of "Task Force X": explosives expert Bette Sans Souci, aka "Plastique"; inventor George Harkness, aka "Captain Boomerang"; and planning expert Temple Fugate, aka "The Clock King". All of them, with the exception of Flagg, are likewise criminals being offered amnesty in exchange for their services.
The plan, largely Fugate's, calls for Task Force X to infiltrate the Watchtower disguised as members of its support staff, at a time when only three major obstacles are aboard: Green Lantern, Captain Atom, and J'onn J'onzz. Flagg warns the other members that there is to be no unnecessary killing.
The first phase goes off perfectly: the squad ambushes a group of four Watchtower staff members before they are teleported up. Once in, Deadshot and Plastique head to the lower levels and into the generator room, while Flagg and Boomerang make their way to the high-security storage area. Plastique sets off a bomb on the reactor to cause a diversion from Boomerang's break-through into the vault. There, Flagg takes control of the "package": the Annihilator.
J'onn orders the Watchtower evacuated. Green Lantern assists with the evacuation, while Captain Atom flies down to contain the reactor explosion. Once there, he reports to J'onn that the explosion was not an accident.
Deadshot and Plastique sprint up to join Flagg and Boomerang, and together they and the Annihilator make their way to the bridge. Along the way, they are stopped by Shining Knight, Vigilante, and Atom Smasher, but manage to defeat them with the Annihilator's help. Reaching the bridge, they are confronted by J'onn who easily defeats them. The Annihilator tears him in half, disabling him long enough for the team to get the transporter. J'onn recovers and defeats the Annihilator, but Plastique creates a diversion by holding a bomb above the throat of an unconscious Atom Smasher, and J'onn reluctantly allows the others to mount the transporter platform. But as Plastique runs to join them, Captain Atom arrives and tackles her, and one of her bombs goes flying. Deadshot explodes it with a shot from his pistol, and in the confusion, three of Task Force X and the Annihilator transport away. Plastique is left behind, severely wounded. J'onn checks the transporter console, which has been sabotaged and blows up before he can trace the coordinates.
Flagg turns the armor over to Amanda Waller and Tala. Before leaving, Waller commends Flagg, telling him his father would be proud of him. Deadshot bids everyone a cheerful goodbye, but Flagg decks him with a punch and informs him that he's joined Task Force X for five years before he can go free. Deadshot snidely asks Flagg how Waller is blackmailing him. Flagg gives a sneer of contempt and states that he is only serving his country.
Aboard the Watchtower, J'onn has realized that Vance, a member of the bridge crew, passed inside information to Task Force X that allowed their operation to succeed. He is tempted to use his telepathy to wipe Vance's mind clean, but Lantern tells him it would be pointless – Vance has already passed along everything he knows. When J'onn objects that they can't trust him with any further information, Lantern grimly reminds him that they can't trust any of their staff now.
Continuity Edit
- Deadshot smuggles his weapon in Lightspeed Energy Bars wrappers — the candy bar that the Flash sponsored in "Eclipsed".
- The Annihilator has apparently been stored in the Watchtower since the events of "Hawk and Dove".
- Tala first made reference to Project Cadmus's plans to steal the Annihilator in "The Doomsday Sanction". She is next shown working on it in "The Balance".
- Plastique's final fate is unknown.
- Captain Boomerang re-appears in "Flash and Substance", in which Batman mentions that he has left Task Force X. He claims to have had his sentence cut down to five years.
- The technician who sold the League out bears a striking resemblance to (not to mention the same name as) Bobby Vance from Batman Beyond. He's most likely Bobby's father and Robert Vance's son, who reportedly died from a heart attack at some point before the events of "Lost Soul".
- Among the objects in the secure vault besides the Annihilator are:
- A Gorilla City hover bike and Grodd's mind-control helmet from "The Brave and the Bold;"
- Pieces of Luthor's giant robot from "Legends, Part I"
- Lex Luthor's battlesuit featured in "Injustice For All", "Legends", "Tabula Rasa, "Only A Dream", and "A Better World, Part I;"
- Several Thanagarian melee weapons presumably impounded following the events of "Starcrossed;"
- Luthor's power disruptor from "A Better World".
Background information Edit
Home video releases Edit
- Justice League Unlimited - Season One (DVD)
- Justice League - The Complete Series (DVD)
- Justice League: The New Frontier (2DVD, Blu-ray only)
Production inconsistencies Edit
- The handcuffs on Deadshot are too loose.
- High profile executions such as that of a super criminal usually have an audience. However, the viewing gallery for Deadshot's execution is empty.
- In DC Comics, Belle Reve Correctional is a fictional prison located in Louisiana, but Deadshot is being executed by means of a gas chamber. Louisiana executes by lethal injection, before which it used the electric chair. To be using a gas chamber, Belle Reve would have to be located in Arizona, California, Maryland, Missouri, or Wyoming. These states use the chamber as a secondary method of execution which prisoners who meet certain criteria (the date of their sentencing, for example) can elect to use.
- When Flagg inserts the security code before being interrupted, he types in "622". When he then goes back to finish it, the sequence reads "6-22".
- Shining Knight's sword is knocked from his hand during the fight, but after he is locked in the other room, his sword is back in its sheath.
- The Watchtower Personnel wears two standard uniforms: one with short sleeves, and another with long sleeves. The technicians who wear long sleeves also wear a black head piece. Captain Boomerang wears the long-sleeved uniform but doesn't wear the head piece. This should have raised suspicions.
- Vigilante has one rope coiled around his left shoulder. However, when Captain Boomerang cuts off his lasso ensnaring Flagg, Plastique, and Deadshot, Vigilante still has a rope coiled around his left shoulder.
- When last seen in "Time Out of Joint", Fugate had white hair, yet here he is portrayed with dark brown hair.
Trivia Edit
- With the exception of Rick Flagg, each member of Task Force X belongs to the rogues gallery of one of the members of the Justice League in the DC Comics:
| Hero | Rogue |
|---|---|
| Batman | Deadshot & Clock King |
| Flash | Captain Boomerang |
| Captain Atom | Plastique |
| Green Arrow | Clock King |
- The appearances of Clock King and Deadshot mark the final times that villains from Batman's rogues gallery are used in the DCAU. Copperhead, Blockbuster and KGBeast do appear in Season 3, but they escaped the Bat-embargo due to the fact that they are not as well known as other villains.
- This episode debuted on Canadian YTV on April 14, 2005.
- J'onn J'onzz is called "Martian Manhunter" for the first and only time on the DCAU, though the name had appeared in the credits of "A League of Their Own, Part I".
- Task Force X is another name for an organization most commonly referred to in DC Comics as the Suicide Squad. However, censorship rules prohibited the use of the word "suicide" on children's television, so the other name was used.
- In DC Comics, Belle Reve Penitentiary is a fictional prison used by the comics Waller as the headquarters and main recruiting grounds for the Suicide Squad. Similar to Arkham Asylum, it is a sanatorium specially equipped to house metahuman prisoners.
- Waller makes a reference to Rick's father, in the comics a World War II veteran and a member of the original Task Force X.
- First and only time Deadshot's face is seen.
- On special feature Cadmus Exposed, the producers stated that the episode began as a fairly conventional story, but it didn't click until they decided to tell it largely from the perspective of Task Force X, rather than the League.
Cast Edit
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Phil LaMarr | John Stewart Watchtower Personnel (uncredited) |
| Carl Lumbly | J'onn J'onzz |
| Adam Baldwin | Rick Flagg |
| Michael Rosenbaum | Floyd Lawton/Deadshot Vigilante (uncredited) |
| CCH Pounder | Amanda Waller |
| Chris Cox | Captain Atom Shining Knight (uncredited) Warden (uncredited) |
| Juliet Landau | Bette Sans Souci/Plastique Tala (uncredited) |
| Alan Rachins | Temple Fugate/The Clock King |
| Donal Gibson | George Harkness/Captain Boomerang |
| Jamie Alcroft | Vance Esposito (uncredited) |
Uncredited appearances Edit
Quotes Edit
Deadshot: (as his handcuffs are unlocked) What if I don't want to go with him? |
Deadshot: What do you want, exactly? |
Deadshot: An expert with nothing to lose... this must be some nasty business. |
Clock King: I've scheduled your visit for when they're at their weakest. |
Rick Flagg: Okay, Plastique, you're setting the charge, and Superman walks in the room. |
Deadshot: I thought he was gonna wet himself when you mentioned the Martian. He couldn't let us through fast enough. |
Deadshot: Uh, excuse me, Mr. Lantern? For six weeks now, my wife's been after me for Hawkgirl's autograph. You wouldn't know where she's at today, would you? |
J'onn J'onzz: Ask yourselves: is being in here with me what you truly desire? |
Deadshot: C'est la vie. (French, "That's life".) |
Amanda Waller: You really think we can do something with this? |
Amanda Waller: You're a good soldier. Your father would be proud. |
Deadshot: Tell me, Colonel: what's Waller got on you? |
| Previous episode: "The Doomsday Sanction" | Cadmus Story Arc | Next episode: "Clash" |
| Previously produced episode: "The Doomsday Sanction" | Episodes of Justice League Unlimited | Next produced episode: "The Balance" |
| Previously aired episode: "The Doomsday Sanction" | Next aired episode: "The Balance" |
