[7.0/10] I can’t say that of all the characters to cross over into The Zeta Project I’d have predicted that The Brain Trust, who first popped up in Batman Beyond, would show up here. Truth be told, it’s kind of an odd fit. “Robot on the run” doesn't necessarily mesh super well with “magic power potpourri bad guys.”
But the connection, I suppose, is a thematic one. Ro befriends kids whose parents gave them to The Brain Trust in the hopes of helping them, little realizing that Bombshell and the others would exploit their offspring rather than teach them. It gives Ro common cause with her new allies and helps her understand that her parents might have had well-inteitoned motives for giving her up as well.
(Speaking of which, it’s been a while since we’ve seen Ro trying to find her brother.)
This one also gets a bit of juice from the whole case of mistaken identity, where the Brain Trust saw Zeta-as-Ro performing a spectacular feat and then assumed that Ro herself had magic powers. The mix-up starts to feel a little contrived as things wear on, but it’s a solid enough throughline.
Truth be told, a lot of this episode is just kind of boring though. The Brain Trust’s plot to unleash a psychic wave on everyone to awaken empowered kids is bargain basement villain stuff and a touch convoluted in terms of the obstacles they need to overcome. The encounters with Zeta didn’t do much for me either. The only real saving grace is the cool impressionistic effect when Transista and Amp combine their powers to scramble the minds of their captors.
Otherwise, this is a pretty standard outing -- sound but not amazing. The best part is Ro’s epiphany about her own family’s possible motives, with most of the magic stuff falling flat.
(Crazy theory: What if Either Zeta himself, or a robot like him, was hunting Ro’s parents because they were spies or something along those lines and that’s why they gave her up, leaving Ro internally conflicted over her parents’ killer being her best friend. Just a thought!)
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2020-07-25T17:57:20Z
[7.0/10] I can’t say that of all the characters to cross over into The Zeta Project I’d have predicted that The Brain Trust, who first popped up in Batman Beyond, would show up here. Truth be told, it’s kind of an odd fit. “Robot on the run” doesn't necessarily mesh super well with “magic power potpourri bad guys.”
But the connection, I suppose, is a thematic one. Ro befriends kids whose parents gave them to The Brain Trust in the hopes of helping them, little realizing that Bombshell and the others would exploit their offspring rather than teach them. It gives Ro common cause with her new allies and helps her understand that her parents might have had well-inteitoned motives for giving her up as well.
(Speaking of which, it’s been a while since we’ve seen Ro trying to find her brother.)
This one also gets a bit of juice from the whole case of mistaken identity, where the Brain Trust saw Zeta-as-Ro performing a spectacular feat and then assumed that Ro herself had magic powers. The mix-up starts to feel a little contrived as things wear on, but it’s a solid enough throughline.
Truth be told, a lot of this episode is just kind of boring though. The Brain Trust’s plot to unleash a psychic wave on everyone to awaken empowered kids is bargain basement villain stuff and a touch convoluted in terms of the obstacles they need to overcome. The encounters with Zeta didn’t do much for me either. The only real saving grace is the cool impressionistic effect when Transista and Amp combine their powers to scramble the minds of their captors.
Otherwise, this is a pretty standard outing -- sound but not amazing. The best part is Ro’s epiphany about her own family’s possible motives, with most of the magic stuff falling flat.
(Crazy theory: What if Either Zeta himself, or a robot like him, was hunting Ro’s parents because they were spies or something along those lines and that’s why they gave her up, leaving Ro internally conflicted over her parents’ killer being her best friend. Just a thought!)