1x20 Coldhearted

[7.2/10] Wally’s probably my least favorite character on Young Justice. I don’t really mind him that much. There’s depths and some charm to him. But like Beast Boy in Teen Titans, I get tired of his girl-craziness and faux-cool dope routine pretty quickly, so the prospect of a Kid Flash-heavy episode wasn’t the most appetizing thing for me.

Nonetheless, I like this one in how it gives him depth. It’s his birthday, and he’s on top of the world. He thinks it’s going to be a great day, replete with celebrations and birthday kisses and all the other good stuff in life. Instead, he finds out that his crush is with someone else, that his party’s spoiled by a supervillain attack, and that he has to go play speedy courier while the rest of his teammates get to partner up with the Justice League. The reality vs. expectations game gives him a touch of pathos.

And despite being a little bummed and not getting to play in the big leagues, I appreciate how Wally ultimately comes to really value his mission here. Even apart from being involved in international intrigue, he sees the worth in saving a young girl’s life by transporting the heart she needs for a transplant, even if it’s not exactly flashy, in any sense of the term. He doesn’t get what he thought he wanted, but ends up with something that may be even more worthwhile, which is always a good storytelling approach. Showing Wally maturing a bit, doing good on his own and learning the right lessons, is a positive approach.

My beef is that I have no idea what Count Vertigo’s plan is. I mean, it’s not that complicated. He’s just trying to prevent the heart transplant going down so he can ascend to the throne rather than the young queen of his country. But it seems tremendously circuitous to try to team-up with Vandal Savage to delay Kid Flash or otherwise try to stop Wally rather than just hiring some other goon to assassinate the Queen. The fact that he wants to avoid any suspicion of being involved in order to maintain his diplomatic immunity, but still hangs around the hospital and uses weapons on people in its parking garage seems downright bizarre. I don’t know why he’d try to do things this way.

Wally’s plan is as much of a headscratcher. I guess I can see trying to bait Vertigo into confessing his evil plan on tape, but faking the queen’s death and having it announced publicly with the expectation that Vertigo would come taunt Wally in the hospital seems like a real lucky gamble. The plot points here don’t really add up.

Still, I like the general tenor of what they accomplished here. It’s not the most airtight episode of Young Justice there’s even been, but if they’re going to center an episode on Wally, I’m glad it’s being used to make him feel more like a real, mature young person and not just an outsized cartoon quipper.