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"Double Date" is the sixth episode of the second season of Justice League Unlimited, and the 19th of the overall series. It originally aired on June 4, 2005. After her vendetta against mob boss Steven Mandragora gets her expelled from the Justice League, Huntress enlists the aid of The Question in tracking Mandragora down, leading them to clash with Green Arrow and Black Canary.

Plot[]

Huntress is out of the Justice League

Huntress is fired from the Justice League.

Huntress infiltrates Steven Mandragora's high-security mansion, sneaks into his bedroom, and empties her crossbow into the bed. But she is shocked to peel back the sheets and see a pile of artfully arranged pillows. Before she can do more, she is teleported up to the Watchtower, where she is confronted by an angry J'onn J'onzz. He says she was ordered to stay away from Mandragora, while she is appalled to realize that the League is actually protecting him. J'onn dismisses her from the League and orders her to clear out her quarters. He then asks Huntress to turn in her Justice League membership card which she angrily did.

Returning to her cabin, she happens across a muttering Question, engaged in his obsessive search for a link between Lex Luthor and Project Cadmus. Using all the feminine wiles she can command, she offers Question a deal: he helps her find Mandragora, and she'll share what she knows about Cadmus. Question accepts.

Mandragora, it turns out, is being kept in a safe house eating oysters by federal agents before appearing in court, as they expect him to testify on his criminal associates in exchange for leniency. The League has assigned Green Arrow and Black Canary to assist the agents. The task proves onerous, as Mandragora goes out of his way to be offensive. Before long, Green Arrow has to be restrained, though it is Canary who throws the punch that gets both of them expelled from the house.

Black Canary and Green Arrow kiss

Black Canary and Green Arrow share a kiss.

Taking watch from a treehouse, Canary is annoyed that they have to go through so much trouble to protect a murderer, but Green Arrow admits however that the world isn't perfect. They both then soon share a moment together until they see Huntress and Question pull up outside. Forewarned by J'onn, they bar the way. The couples then engage in a ferocious battle. Question is quickly dispatched by Green Arrow, whereas Huntress and Black Canary seem evenly matched, until Black Canary reveals she has been holding back. Black Canary then finishes Huntress off. At the same time, two of Mandragora's thugs arrive at the front door dressed as policemen, causing a diversion that allows Mandragora to overpower his captors and escape.

As Canary argues with Huntress and Question over the ruins of the safe house, Arrow notices Question pick up something from the floor – a key to a locker at the train station. Arrow and Canary leave to pursue Mandragora, while Question reveals that the key was a decoy – the clue he picked up was a schedule of freighter arrivals at the local docks. However, Arrow was suspicious, and he and Canary wait to see Huntress and Question leave.

Death of a Family

Huntress' tragic past.

En route to the docks, Question reveals that he knows full well that Huntress actually knows nothing about Cadmus, and also why she is so bent on revenge. Her father, Franco Bertinelli, was a powerful mob boss; when Huntress was only a child, Mandragora, Franco's chief enforcer, took over the gang, killing Huntress's parents while she watched from a hiding place. Blinking back tears, Huntress asks Question why he is helping her perform what he knows will be a revenge killing. He doesn't answer, but instead notices that Canary and Arrow are following them on her motorcycle. Question manages to lose them in a railway tunnel, but the two couples still reach the docks at the same time. Arrow and Canary try to overpower Mandragora, but he is too strong for them. Huntress aims her crossbow at him, and he surrenders.

He is expecting to be returned to custody, but Huntress says that's not what she has planned. She is about to execute him, when a small boy runs to Mandragora from an arriving ship, shouting "Papa!" Mandragora hugs his son, explaining that the boy was kidnapped by a rival gang, and he has only now managed to rescue him. He never intended to cooperate with the federal authorities, but instead was just stalling until the boy was rescued, then they would both disappear and take on new identities.

Huntress saw that the man who killed her parents was now a loving father. Question leaves the choice to Huntress, and she makes the right one: she turns her crossbow up and drops a heavy crane load onto Mandragora, knocking him unconscious. He is returned to federal custody, now left with no choice but to cooperate, while his son is likewise taken into protective custody.

Huntress and Question kiss

Huntress and Question begin their relationship.

Huntress realizes that Question knew all along what Mandragora's plan was, and that his son would be arriving. She asks why, then, would he go to such trouble to help her find him, including risking his own life. Sheepishly, Question admits it was for an entirely foolish and inconsequential reason: he likes her. Surprised at first but swept away, Huntress grabs him and plants a big kiss on his face (mask and all), then drags him away by his tie to someplace more private while Black Canary, who was watching, says "I'm sorry, but... eww!"

Continuity[]

Background information[]

Home video releases[]

Production notes[]

  • Early drafts for this episode featured Barbara Gordon in a Birds of Prey storyline. It would have Barbara getting injured during a case as Batgirl. Since Batman forbids her from participating any further, she would recreate herself as Oracle (an identity Barbara Gordon assumed during much of the 1990s and 2000s in mainstream DC comics). She would then get in touch with Black Canary and Huntress to finish her case. Neither of them would meet her in person. Also, Nightwing would have made a cameo appearance as Gordon's ex-boyfriend.[1] Due to the Bat-embargo, the story replaced Batgirl with Green Arrow and The Question.[2]
  • Huntress's costume is changed from its appearance in her earlier appearances; also, instead of a bo staff she now wields a crossbow. This seems to be due to her promotion from a background character to a recurring role.

Trivia[]

  • Title reference: Two superhero couples, Green Arrow and Black Canary alongside Question and the Huntress, both go after Mandragora.
  • Cecil was voiced by Steve Schirripa who played the role of Bobby Bacala on The Sopranos. Cecil strongly resembles the Bobby Bacala character, who was also an overweight, simple-minded gangster. Cecil's plea to Tony, "Why ya gotta be so mean all the time, Tony? I'm always nice to you," is almost word-for-word what Bobby said to mob boss Tony Soprano in The Sopranos episode "Do Not Resuscitate".
  • Likewise, Cecil's partner Tony is a short-tempered aging gangster with pronounced gray temples, both his appearance and demeanor closely resemble the character Paulie Walnuts from The Sopranos.
  • In DC Comics, Steven Mandragora is the mob boss who ordered the killing of the Bertinelli family, though Huntress did not find out until much later on whose orders he was acting. In this episode, however, his appearance is based on that of Tobias Whale, Black Lightning's nemesis. Curiously, the Netflix plot summary for this episode incorrectly refers to him by Whale's name.
  • Question's opening line "Oh Cadmus, Cadmus, wherefore art thou Cadmus?" paraphrases that spoken by Juliet as she stands on the balcony asking about Romeo in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. It may also reflect his love for conspiracy theories for which Cadmus is a good example.
  • He later mutters "That is the question!" which comes from the famous "To be or not to be" speech from Shakespeare's Hamlet in which the character also faces a moral dilemma.
  • "Fluoride" is misspelled "Flouride" on Question's poster. Given how it's spelled the same in the episode "Fearful Symmetry", this is likely intentional.
  • The relationship between Huntress and Question is a possible tribute to a brief liaison featured in the comics storyline Huntress: Cry For Blood, published in 2000, in which Huntress, framed for mob assassinations she did not commit, flees Gotham City after inadvertently injuring Batman in trying to defend herself. Vic Sage, The Question, takes her under his wing, and there is a strong attraction between the two, but he leaves her in disgust when she reverts to habit and uses her old mafia connections to arrange her antagonist's murder.
  • This episode marks Special Agent King Faraday's first appearance and Huntress's first speaking appearance.
  • While stalling, Mandragora refers to a deceased associate who was killed by "one Tommy Monaghan", a tribute to DC Comics' Hitman character.
  • Question's car seems to be a 1967 Pontiac GTO.
  • Huntress' father, Franco Bertinelli, bears a striking resemblance to Tony Montana ― Al Pacino's character from the 1983 movie Scarface.

Cast[]

Actor Role
Carl Lumbly J'onn J'onzz
Amy Acker Huntress
Morena Baccarin Black Canary
Edgar Mandragora (uncredited)
Jeffrey Combs The Question
Joe Nipote Tony
Scott Patterson King Faraday
Steve Schirripa Cecil
Glenn Shadix Steven Mandragora
Kin Shriner Green Arrow

Uncredited appearances[]

Quotes[]

Huntress: You're the League's data guy, the conspiracy buff, right? Wildcat says you're a nutjob.
Question: Funny. He says the same thing about you.
Huntress: He's right.

Huntress: You must be the ugliest guy of all time, Question, hiding your face like that.
Question: Go away.

Huntress: Wow. I had no idea that the Girl Scouts were responsible for the crop circle phenomenon.
Question: Few people do. Few even think to ask the question.

Huntress: Do you know what "apophenia" is?
Question: Apophenia, noun. The tendency to see connections where none exists. Did you come here just to make fun of my work?

Huntress: Oh, baby doll. And just for the record, I usually prefer my dates to have a face.

Black Canary: Faraday's right, Arrow. Relax, nothing this guy can say is gonna affect me one way or the other.
Mandragora: Is that right? Well then, perhaps you won't mind explaining how a lovely young lady like you ends up with a nobody like him. Were all the real men in the Justice League already taken?

Green Arrow: Why are you doing this, Question?
Question: You wouldn't believe me if I told you.

Green Arrow: I strongly advise you to stay down. These impact arrows are non-lethal, but they hurt... a lot.

Green Arrow: Don't make me sic Black Canary on you. You've only seen her nice side so far.

Franco Bertinelli: Get behind me, Helena. It'll be all right...

Question: Somebody's following us.
Huntress: Lose them!
Question: Like airline luggage.

Green Arrow: You're not supposed to drive when you're angry...
Black Canary: They're heading towards the waterfront. Hang on!
Green Arrow: It's so funny you think you have to tell me that.

Steven Mandragora: Get behind me, Edgar. It will be all right...

References[]

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