Absolute Justice

"Absolute Justice" is the eleventh episode of the ninth season of the CW series Smallville, and the 185th episode of the overall series. The episode originally aired on February 5, 2010 in the United States, and was initially slated to be two individual episodes before it was ultimately turned into a two-hour, single episode. Glen Winter directed the first half of "Absolute Justice", which was originally known as "Society". Tom Welling directed the second half, which was called "Legends". Comic book scribe Geoff Johns, who first wrote the season eight episode "Legion", wrote both hours of "Absolute Justice".

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 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 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 was dealt for what was perceived as a poor choice of a villain.