Aquaman is back on "Smallville". In an effort to protect the rest of the team, Oliver decides to register for the Vigilante Registration Act to see what the government plans to do with the new law. As he suspected, it was a trap to lure superheroes to an undisclosed location where he is confined to a jail and subjected to a battery of brutal tests under the supervision of Col. Slade (guest star Michael Hogan).

Aquaman (guest star Alan Ritchson) and his new wife Mera (guest star Elena Satine) team up with Clark to free Oliver. Lois is frustrated when Clark continues to push aside her offers to help the team and sets out to prove she can play with the big boys.

"It opens on this guy who is dark," Ritchson told Zap2It about the development of Aquaman. "Costumes are dark... the set is dark. This guy is moody. You don't know what's come over him. You just see this world-weary guy who's obviously been around trying to deal with this stuff."

The November 19 episode is called "Patriot" and it is directed by series star Tom Welling. "We're going to shoot underwater, with dolphins [and] with explosions," Welling revealed back then. "It's going to be a huge episode."