The premise of Mindbender building an organ which can manipulate the Joes emotions through little robo-ticks embedded on their necks is a doozy, but Carla & Gerry Conway do a great job of exploring how the Joes are pushed to emotional extremes of reckless joy, cowering fear, and vicious anger, then re builds their characters as, instead of something swooping in to save their hides, the Joes instead overwhelm it through their dedication and control as they push past that conflict, acting in spite of it. It's a great metaphor for the old saying that courage isn't a lack of fear, it's acting in spite of it. And for how much this series can make Lifeline's pacifism the butt of jokes, I like him being the focal point of this one, setting it around his sister's wedding and forcing him to confront his disapproving pastor father. All his father sees is a solider's uniform, a symbol of violence and combat. But Lifeline, even in the face of threats and emotions, has always stayed true to his non-combatant philosophies. Lifeline really has risen up as the most interesting of these season 2 additions. I also like that we get to see some of the old crew here, with Scarlett, Roadblock, and Hawk playing big parts, and Cobra Commander again seething at how his command has been usurped. A really nice episode.
Review by noelctBlockedParentSpoilers2022-03-08T15:29:45Z
The premise of Mindbender building an organ which can manipulate the Joes emotions through little robo-ticks embedded on their necks is a doozy, but Carla & Gerry Conway do a great job of exploring how the Joes are pushed to emotional extremes of reckless joy, cowering fear, and vicious anger, then re builds their characters as, instead of something swooping in to save their hides, the Joes instead overwhelm it through their dedication and control as they push past that conflict, acting in spite of it. It's a great metaphor for the old saying that courage isn't a lack of fear, it's acting in spite of it. And for how much this series can make Lifeline's pacifism the butt of jokes, I like him being the focal point of this one, setting it around his sister's wedding and forcing him to confront his disapproving pastor father. All his father sees is a solider's uniform, a symbol of violence and combat. But Lifeline, even in the face of threats and emotions, has always stayed true to his non-combatant philosophies. Lifeline really has risen up as the most interesting of these season 2 additions. I also like that we get to see some of the old crew here, with Scarlett, Roadblock, and Hawk playing big parts, and Cobra Commander again seething at how his command has been usurped. A really nice episode.