Double Date

Justice League Unlimited episode
"Double Date"
Airdate:	June 4, 2005 (USA)
Production Number:	19
Airdate Order:	19
Written by:	Gail Simone
Directed by:	Joaquim Dos Santos

"Double Date" is the sixth episode of the second season of Justice League Unlimited. 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 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 a very 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.

Returning to her cabin, she happens across those of 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 (which, in reality, is nothing). He accepts.

Mandragora, it turns out, is being kept in a safehouse by federal agents before his trial, 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. Taking watch from a treehouse, they see Huntress and Question pull up outside. Forewarned by J'onn, they bar the way, and the two couples clash. 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 safehouse, 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.

En route to the docks, Question reveals that he knows full well that Huntress knows nothing about Cadmus – and knows 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.

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 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 because he has feelings for her. Swept away, Huntress plants a big kiss on his face (mask and all), then drags him away to someplace more private, while Arrow and Canary look on.

Continuity

• Question was ordered by Batman to investigate a possible link between Lex Luthor and Project Cadmus in "The Doomsday Sanction."
• Green Arrow and Black Canary are now officially a couple, after the ice was broken between them in "The Cat and the Canary."
• The adult Edgar Mandragora appears as a powerful psychic in Batman Beyond, "Mind Games," and in The Zeta Project, "Ro's Gift."

Background Information

Trivia

• First appearance: Special Agent King Faraday.
• First speaking appearance of Huntress.
• 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, the nemesis of Black Lightning.
• The relationship between Huntress and Question is likely a tribute to a brief liaison featured in the comics storyline Huntress: Cry For Blood, 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.
• While stalling, Mandragora refers to a deceased associate who was killed by "one Tommy Monaghan," a tribute to Marvel Comics' Hitman character.
• 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 she would recreate herself as Oracle, and get in touch with Black Canary and Huntress to finish her case. Neither of them would meet her in person. Due to the Bat-Embargo, the story replaced Batgirl with Green Arrow and The Question.[1]

Cast

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

Uncredited Appearances

• Starman
• Stargirl
• Edgar Mandragora

Quotes

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

Huntress: Wow. I had no idea that the Girl Scouts were responsible for the crop circle phenomenon. Question: Few people do. Few even bother 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?

Steven Mandragora: Speaking of squealing, Black Canary, I notice you can't take your eyes off of me. I can hardly blame you. Perhaps after Agent Faraday helps absolve me of my alleged crimes, I could put you in a cage and have you sing for me. Green Arrow: Listen, you giant tub of...! King Faraday: Green Arrow, may I remind you that you're here strictly in a security capacity? Mandragora: Yes, why don't you go and fetch me another four platters of oysters like a good little leprechaun? I'm sure your girlfriend and I will have much to discuss while you're gone. I like my oysters sweet, by the way. Sweet and juicy. Black Canary: Let him talk, Arrow. With all the enemies he's made, he never knows if he's eating his last meal.

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: I think you'll live to punch suspects another day, pretty bird.

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.

(Huntress punches Question on the arm) Question: Ow! What was that for? Huntress: All that crazy mystery man mojo, and you couldn't even pick up a clue without being seen? Question: The key wasn't the clue. The key was mine. Now, this list of container ship arrivals I palmed while they were yelling at you - that's the clue.

Black Canary: I don't get it. Why aren’t we on our way to the train station? Green Arrow: Shh. (Huntress and Question run out of the house) Green Arrow: Because I know when I'm being conned. Black Canary: You're cute when you're an insufferable smarty-pants.

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.

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

Question: But you saw it all, Helena. Steven Mandragora killed your parents while you watched helplessly. Isn't that what happened? Huntress: (wipes away a tear) If you know all that, then you probably know what I'm going to do to Mandragora when I catch him. So why help me? Question: That... is the question.

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

(Question jumps his car over a ramp and onto the train tracks) Green Arrow: This is so unnecessary... (Canary jumps her bike to follow them) Green Arrow: Are we dead yet? Black Canary: No. Green Arrow: ARE WE DEAD YET? Black Canary: Look, if we die, I promise I'll let you know.

Black Canary: I can't believe you! I re-built that bike by hand! Green Arrow: You're absolutely right. Sorry I saved our lives. Black Canary: Ooh! Green Arrow: And J'onn thinks Huntress is the unstable one...

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

Huntress: You knew all along that kid was gonna be on that freighter. The Question: I do my homework. Huntress: Then why go to all the trouble to help? Why risk your life for me? The Question: (embarrassed) Because I... like you. (Huntress grabs him and kisses him, then drags him away by his tie) Question: Where are we going? Huntress: Don't ask so many questions.

Footnotes

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