[7.3/10] This is a two-part episode, maybe a three-part episode, crammed into twenty-two minutes. It’s ambitious, I’ll give it that much! It’s full of interesting ideas like the introduction of Deadman, a Legion of Doom heist of a Tibetan Monk colony, Gorilla Grodd plotting to sneak back into Gorilla City and turn humanity into apes, debating vengeance vs. justice vs. self-defense, Lex Luthor plotting a takeover, and more. But there’s only so much you can do in a single episode without everything feeling breathless and underdeveloped.
That said, the central idea is cool. I’ll admit to not knowing much about Deadman as a character, but the early part of the episode works well as an introduction for him. There’s a cool backstory implied to him, where he’s some combination of Ghost Rider and Iron Fist, both a phantom-like presence who’s seeking vengeance, but also affiliated with Hymelean mystics. Plus, his history with Batman and effort to take out the man who killed him gives him an interesting cache right from the jump. The fact that he’s trying to avenge his Master (one of Bruce’s old martial arts teachers, whom we’ve seen before, I think), and his fellow warriors gives this one a cool vibe.
I also like his powers. The ability to possess people gives him a unique ability set relative to most heroes and villains. Watching him take over metahumans on both sides of the good/bad divide creates distinctive opportunities to foil plans and advance agendas. I especially like when he takes over Wonder Woman to attack Devil Ray, only for her to yell at him “Next time ask first!” The episode only has time to graze the implications of these powers, but they raise a lot of interesting questions.
Likewise, there’s something cool about returning to Gorilla City, especially in the midst of an all out Legion of Doom assault, but it all just happens so fast. There’s no time to process the return of Bizarro, or what Gorilla City’s been doing since we were last there, or anything else really. It’s just boom, fight, Grodd plan (boo!), Grodd plan foiled (yay!). There’s god stuff there, but it’s not quite satisfying, especially when the cheesy ape transformation lasts about thirty seconds before Superman’s solution is to just smash the machine that’s causing it.
Plus, I have real problems with the aftermath. There’s something compelling about the idea of Batman being possessed and feeling his body not only using a gun but killing someone, actions which he abhors. But it happens too fast to be explored here. Likewise, Deadman is chastised by his mysterious god benefactor, but he really was acting to save Diana’s life and the killing part seems to be an accident. It’s a really weird thing to try to stick him with karmically.
That said, I do like that we finally get Lex taking over from Grodd. The Legion of Doom’s goals have been pretty opaque up until now, and the big reveal being that the villainous gorilla was just trying to turn everyone into apes is pretty underwhelming. Lex always has much grander plans, so I’ll be curious to see where the show goes from here.
Overall, there’s some quality material here, but I wish it had been spread out over more episodes.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2020-10-23T23:56:21Z
[7.3/10] This is a two-part episode, maybe a three-part episode, crammed into twenty-two minutes. It’s ambitious, I’ll give it that much! It’s full of interesting ideas like the introduction of Deadman, a Legion of Doom heist of a Tibetan Monk colony, Gorilla Grodd plotting to sneak back into Gorilla City and turn humanity into apes, debating vengeance vs. justice vs. self-defense, Lex Luthor plotting a takeover, and more. But there’s only so much you can do in a single episode without everything feeling breathless and underdeveloped.
That said, the central idea is cool. I’ll admit to not knowing much about Deadman as a character, but the early part of the episode works well as an introduction for him. There’s a cool backstory implied to him, where he’s some combination of Ghost Rider and Iron Fist, both a phantom-like presence who’s seeking vengeance, but also affiliated with Hymelean mystics. Plus, his history with Batman and effort to take out the man who killed him gives him an interesting cache right from the jump. The fact that he’s trying to avenge his Master (one of Bruce’s old martial arts teachers, whom we’ve seen before, I think), and his fellow warriors gives this one a cool vibe.
I also like his powers. The ability to possess people gives him a unique ability set relative to most heroes and villains. Watching him take over metahumans on both sides of the good/bad divide creates distinctive opportunities to foil plans and advance agendas. I especially like when he takes over Wonder Woman to attack Devil Ray, only for her to yell at him “Next time ask first!” The episode only has time to graze the implications of these powers, but they raise a lot of interesting questions.
Likewise, there’s something cool about returning to Gorilla City, especially in the midst of an all out Legion of Doom assault, but it all just happens so fast. There’s no time to process the return of Bizarro, or what Gorilla City’s been doing since we were last there, or anything else really. It’s just boom, fight, Grodd plan (boo!), Grodd plan foiled (yay!). There’s god stuff there, but it’s not quite satisfying, especially when the cheesy ape transformation lasts about thirty seconds before Superman’s solution is to just smash the machine that’s causing it.
Plus, I have real problems with the aftermath. There’s something compelling about the idea of Batman being possessed and feeling his body not only using a gun but killing someone, actions which he abhors. But it happens too fast to be explored here. Likewise, Deadman is chastised by his mysterious god benefactor, but he really was acting to save Diana’s life and the killing part seems to be an accident. It’s a really weird thing to try to stick him with karmically.
That said, I do like that we finally get Lex taking over from Grodd. The Legion of Doom’s goals have been pretty opaque up until now, and the big reveal being that the villainous gorilla was just trying to turn everyone into apes is pretty underwhelming. Lex always has much grander plans, so I’ll be curious to see where the show goes from here.
Overall, there’s some quality material here, but I wish it had been spread out over more episodes.