[7.8/10] I am a sucker for “three stories” type episode, and this is no exception. Telling three different tales of three different hero teams dealing with a challenge du jour is a strong start already. But connecting them altogether, and using their piecemeal missions to question whether what they’re doing is right, bumps this up another level.
I think the first one is my favorite. Seeing the Young Justice crew and the Outsiders go on a hunt for information from none other than Cheshire is a strong premise. I like the fights we see, with Shade in particular being creepy and imposing, Mist seeming to have depths beyond just her cool powers, and the lightning on lightning battle between Livewire and Jefferson having plenty of juice. I wish we got some greater explanation of Halo’s powers, since it seems like she can do pretty much anything at this point, but presumably that will come with time. And Artemis confronting her sister for the mission, but also challenging her to see her own daughter, comes with an added level of the personal amid the superheroic. I’m intrigued by Cheshire’s belief that Lian is better off without her, and hope the show takes time to revisit it.
The junior members of Batman Inc. fighting Clayface and The Mad Hatter is a nice story too. We barely know most of these characters, which should be a detriment, but their team dynamic already feels lived in, which definitely helps. Tetch’s madness comes through loud and clear, and the creepiness of his coercive injection on his subject adds a layer of darkness to this one. That said, there’s nothing like an appearance from Clayface, the signature villain of Batman: The Animated Series, to remind you that while Young Justice’s animation is solid from stem to stern, it doesn’t quite have the artistry or imagination of that prior series.
The last segment, featuring the Justice League stopping a prison break of some supervillains, is the most straightforward, but still has its high points. It’s nice to see so many of the recurring faces from season 1 back in action, including Barry Allen, Captain Marvel, Rocket, and Aqualad. There’s not much to it, but seeing their powers and the travails of the baddies’ rescue attempt has enough verve to keep things moving.
That said, the part that really puts this one over the top is the reveal that these were not standalone ops, but part of a broader, unified plan to stop a bad guy metahuman trafficking plot. The reveal that we saw these stories in reverse chronological order, featuring the rescue, control, and deployment of Shade is the right kind of twist, one that enhances events and the audience’s understanding rather than making things seem contrived.
Granted, the last chunk of the episode is basically one big exposition dump explaining the bad guys’ plans to kidnap and mentally control metahuman villains, to hold viewers’ hands on how this all fits together. And even then, it’s still a little confusing in places. But I appreciate how the heroes loathe the personal violations involved in the vivllains’ plan, even if those violations are of other villains. Likewise, the reveal that the Justice League didn’t fully splinter, but rather deliberately decentralized in order to combat The Light is an intriguing development. The moral questioning over whether they’re doing the right thing by working in the shadows and giving the public face of herodom plausible deniability adds another layer of complexity to the proceedings.
Overall, a bit of clunkiness in the connections and necessary explanations holds this one back a tad, but it’s still a superbly ambitious episode, whose reveals are clever and meaningful to the wider world of the show, while also delivering important turns and answers that matter for this story. Very cool.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2022-06-20T04:26:47Z
[7.8/10] I am a sucker for “three stories” type episode, and this is no exception. Telling three different tales of three different hero teams dealing with a challenge du jour is a strong start already. But connecting them altogether, and using their piecemeal missions to question whether what they’re doing is right, bumps this up another level.
I think the first one is my favorite. Seeing the Young Justice crew and the Outsiders go on a hunt for information from none other than Cheshire is a strong premise. I like the fights we see, with Shade in particular being creepy and imposing, Mist seeming to have depths beyond just her cool powers, and the lightning on lightning battle between Livewire and Jefferson having plenty of juice. I wish we got some greater explanation of Halo’s powers, since it seems like she can do pretty much anything at this point, but presumably that will come with time. And Artemis confronting her sister for the mission, but also challenging her to see her own daughter, comes with an added level of the personal amid the superheroic. I’m intrigued by Cheshire’s belief that Lian is better off without her, and hope the show takes time to revisit it.
The junior members of Batman Inc. fighting Clayface and The Mad Hatter is a nice story too. We barely know most of these characters, which should be a detriment, but their team dynamic already feels lived in, which definitely helps. Tetch’s madness comes through loud and clear, and the creepiness of his coercive injection on his subject adds a layer of darkness to this one. That said, there’s nothing like an appearance from Clayface, the signature villain of Batman: The Animated Series, to remind you that while Young Justice’s animation is solid from stem to stern, it doesn’t quite have the artistry or imagination of that prior series.
The last segment, featuring the Justice League stopping a prison break of some supervillains, is the most straightforward, but still has its high points. It’s nice to see so many of the recurring faces from season 1 back in action, including Barry Allen, Captain Marvel, Rocket, and Aqualad. There’s not much to it, but seeing their powers and the travails of the baddies’ rescue attempt has enough verve to keep things moving.
That said, the part that really puts this one over the top is the reveal that these were not standalone ops, but part of a broader, unified plan to stop a bad guy metahuman trafficking plot. The reveal that we saw these stories in reverse chronological order, featuring the rescue, control, and deployment of Shade is the right kind of twist, one that enhances events and the audience’s understanding rather than making things seem contrived.
Granted, the last chunk of the episode is basically one big exposition dump explaining the bad guys’ plans to kidnap and mentally control metahuman villains, to hold viewers’ hands on how this all fits together. And even then, it’s still a little confusing in places. But I appreciate how the heroes loathe the personal violations involved in the vivllains’ plan, even if those violations are of other villains. Likewise, the reveal that the Justice League didn’t fully splinter, but rather deliberately decentralized in order to combat The Light is an intriguing development. The moral questioning over whether they’re doing the right thing by working in the shadows and giving the public face of herodom plausible deniability adds another layer of complexity to the proceedings.
Overall, a bit of clunkiness in the connections and necessary explanations holds this one back a tad, but it’s still a superbly ambitious episode, whose reveals are clever and meaningful to the wider world of the show, while also delivering important turns and answers that matter for this story. Very cool.