[7.6/10] So confession time -- I knew the twist here. I saw this one when it came out, so the reveal of Darkseid as the being that Lex brought back was no great shock for yours truly. But despite that, I still really like the twist. It’s a good bait and switch. Lex has been chasing the dragon that is Brainiac for so long, and finding a connection to the place where the audience saw a version of him blow up makes sense as a recovery point.
The catch is that Darkseid blew up in that same explosion, so his resurrection works neatly as a “Be careful what you wish for scenario.” It’s a choice that fits in with continuity and dovetails with the characters’ motivation, but also reveals Lex’s hubris. When Metron shows up to tell Lex that he’s messing with forces beyond his understanding, and Lex still lays claim to becoming a god, it adds meaning to the image of absolute destruction that emerges from the reconstitution tank and shows, definitively, that even the megalomaniacal and uber-prepared Lex luthor is out of his depth here. Hell, I love the way the episode ends with that -- chiefly the glory of understatement when Lex and his Legion of Doom (or new Secret Society) cronies come knocking on the Justice League’s door to tell them “We have a bit of a situation.” The notion that even Lex realizes how badly he fucked this one up, to where he’ll work with his mortal enemy to solve the problem, shows a humility or at least practicality in the increasingly mad scientist. It’s as cool a prelude to the series finale as we could hope for.
That works for Darkseid himself just as much. Even this dark lord acknowledges that his resurrection is improbable, but he’s undeterred from speaking in the same stentorian threats he always does. I don’t think we ever got to see Lex and the baddie of the Fourth World face-to-face like this despite their common enemy, so just the pair meeting carries a certain amount of juice to it. SThe same goes for Darkseid showing up on Apokalips and instantly stopping the war between so many of the planet's residents that we’ve seen bits and pieces of before. The New Gods have been girding themselves for battle for some time, and now we’re about to see them turn all that force and artillery on Earth.
Despite all of that, the description misses the fact that most of this episode is an “oops All Villains throwdown. I’m glad that before we head to the universe-threatening consequences of Darkseid’s reemergence, we take some time to resolve things with the Legion of Doom, specifically in the form of Grodd’s mutiny and the inevitable “villains can never get along for long” distentegaration.
I’ll admit, a lot of that mutiny material is harmed by the fact that there were neer really any characters in the Legion of Doom before Luthor, Grodd, and Tala, and just like with Shayera and Green Lantern, love triangles are no more interesting on the villain side than the hero side, even if they’re mercenary power plays. The result is that a lot of the skirmishes here are between baddies whose names I barely know, let alone who have defined personalities that makes the sides chosen make any sense or have any resonance.
Still, there’s some cool grace notes to the whole thing. Toyman is especially creepy here, and it’s nice to see him have something to do. GIganta getting her revenge (however temporary) on Grodd is a cool bit. And Lex using Grodd’s mind control abilities to get him, and their “distinguished adversary” routine is a highlight as well. A lot of the episode is just namely supervillains clashing with one another, but there’s still something decent there.
The juice, though, is in Lex accidentally bringing Darkseid back. It’s a cool setup and twist, with some payoff to the headquarters launching into space, Luthor exerting his will over the rest of the Legion, only to find that he’s unearthed something beyond even his control. That gives us plenty to work with going into the series finale, and I’m more than happy to see the conclusion once more.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2020-10-30T20:03:57Z
[7.6/10] So confession time -- I knew the twist here. I saw this one when it came out, so the reveal of Darkseid as the being that Lex brought back was no great shock for yours truly. But despite that, I still really like the twist. It’s a good bait and switch. Lex has been chasing the dragon that is Brainiac for so long, and finding a connection to the place where the audience saw a version of him blow up makes sense as a recovery point.
The catch is that Darkseid blew up in that same explosion, so his resurrection works neatly as a “Be careful what you wish for scenario.” It’s a choice that fits in with continuity and dovetails with the characters’ motivation, but also reveals Lex’s hubris. When Metron shows up to tell Lex that he’s messing with forces beyond his understanding, and Lex still lays claim to becoming a god, it adds meaning to the image of absolute destruction that emerges from the reconstitution tank and shows, definitively, that even the megalomaniacal and uber-prepared Lex luthor is out of his depth here.
Hell, I love the way the episode ends with that -- chiefly the glory of understatement when Lex and his Legion of Doom (or new Secret Society) cronies come knocking on the Justice League’s door to tell them “We have a bit of a situation.” The notion that even Lex realizes how badly he fucked this one up, to where he’ll work with his mortal enemy to solve the problem, shows a humility or at least practicality in the increasingly mad scientist. It’s as cool a prelude to the series finale as we could hope for.
That works for Darkseid himself just as much. Even this dark lord acknowledges that his resurrection is improbable, but he’s undeterred from speaking in the same stentorian threats he always does. I don’t think we ever got to see Lex and the baddie of the Fourth World face-to-face like this despite their common enemy, so just the pair meeting carries a certain amount of juice to it. SThe same goes for Darkseid showing up on Apokalips and instantly stopping the war between so many of the planet's residents that we’ve seen bits and pieces of before. The New Gods have been girding themselves for battle for some time, and now we’re about to see them turn all that force and artillery on Earth.
Despite all of that, the description misses the fact that most of this episode is an “oops All Villains throwdown. I’m glad that before we head to the universe-threatening consequences of Darkseid’s reemergence, we take some time to resolve things with the Legion of Doom, specifically in the form of Grodd’s mutiny and the inevitable “villains can never get along for long” distentegaration.
I’ll admit, a lot of that mutiny material is harmed by the fact that there were neer really any characters in the Legion of Doom before Luthor, Grodd, and Tala, and just like with Shayera and Green Lantern, love triangles are no more interesting on the villain side than the hero side, even if they’re mercenary power plays. The result is that a lot of the skirmishes here are between baddies whose names I barely know, let alone who have defined personalities that makes the sides chosen make any sense or have any resonance.
Still, there’s some cool grace notes to the whole thing. Toyman is especially creepy here, and it’s nice to see him have something to do. GIganta getting her revenge (however temporary) on Grodd is a cool bit. And Lex using Grodd’s mind control abilities to get him, and their “distinguished adversary” routine is a highlight as well. A lot of the episode is just namely supervillains clashing with one another, but there’s still something decent there.
The juice, though, is in Lex accidentally bringing Darkseid back. It’s a cool setup and twist, with some payoff to the headquarters launching into space, Luthor exerting his will over the rest of the Legion, only to find that he’s unearthed something beyond even his control. That gives us plenty to work with going into the series finale, and I’m more than happy to see the conclusion once more.