[7.7/10] What struck me about this episode is that it’s basically Justice League mixed with Star Trek. There’s not really a villain or even an antagonist, so much as there’s just this weird alien anomaly that our heroes have to figure out, lest they and their people be destroyed by it.
That’s a cool setup and a nice change of pace! Putting the good guys into problem-solving mode rather than just smash-em-up mode definitely works for me, and the titular “Dakr Heart” is a cool concept for a threat the Justice League has to neutralize. It’s not something with real agency or venom for the good guys, just a device programmed for war that doesn't know how to shut itself off. That means it can’t really be reasoned with, only dealt with, which makes it unique among Justice League foes.
There’s even a sense of tragedy and “the folly of war” to it, with a destructive device long outlasting the combatants who built in, continuing to wage a war that’s long since ended, its mission contorted to harm folks who had nothing to do with the original conflict. That’s a trademark of Star Trek foils like Nomad and V’Ger.
I also like the characterization we get for “The Atom” Ray Palmer here. He’s superpowered like the rest of the League, but he’s also a scientist and professor, with a certain awe for the nanotechnological achievements on display in the Dark Heart. But he’s also a little funny and sarcastic, which helps give him a personality beyond just “the shrinking science guy.” In the same vein, I like that despite his early efforts, he doesn’t defeat the Dark Heart just by hitting it hard, but rather by causing a “heart attack” but pinching one of the valves that feeds it. It’s not the most ingenious resolution in the world, but again, I’m always a fan of superheroes using their smarts to save the day and not just their powers.
That said, frankly I liked the action here better than in a lot of Justice League episode. Maybe it’s the fact that the good guys were fighting nanobot creatures and not humanoids, but it seemed like the show felt free to let the Leaguers cut loose and really show the range of their powers. Seeing the main familiar Justice League crew, in addition to newer additions, go hog wild in blasting the bots was a lot of fun. I particularly liked Batman emptying all his resources via the Batwing and asking for a save, not to mention Vigilante six-shootering his way out of jam just long enough for an Arthurian knight of a winged horse to swoop in and save his bacon. This is one of the episodes where the show utilizes its wider roster, and while The Atom is the only one of them who gets any new character depth, it’s still fun to see the full team in action.
(As an aside, I don’t know why Diana couldn’t have put the Atom in her crown rather than in her chest plate. The show doesn’t play it for any innuendo or anything, but it feels a little gratuitous and winking.)
I also like how this one connects with the broader conflict between the League and the government that’s been building for some time now. I like how the General rightfully points out that the Justice League had a WMD it never disclosed to the governments of the world, which is justification for their concerns. (And seriously, why was J’onn’s brilliant idea to blast a trench around the nanobots that didn’t even seem to fully surround them? That seemed like a pretty meager solution, even as a temporary one.) And I like how the League is reciprocally baffled by the fact that the government is studying and potentially replicating a weapon that outlived its creators and overshot their intentions, causing untold collateral damage in the process. The show’s giving us good reasons on both sides of the divide here, and I appreciate that.
Overall, a cool setup for an episode that gives us something out of the ordinary for Justice League Unlimited, giving Ray Palmer a cool spotlight episode, providing the rest of the League an interesting problem to solve, and deepening the tension between our heroes and the government.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2020-09-26T23:47:28Z
[7.7/10] What struck me about this episode is that it’s basically Justice League mixed with Star Trek. There’s not really a villain or even an antagonist, so much as there’s just this weird alien anomaly that our heroes have to figure out, lest they and their people be destroyed by it.
That’s a cool setup and a nice change of pace! Putting the good guys into problem-solving mode rather than just smash-em-up mode definitely works for me, and the titular “Dakr Heart” is a cool concept for a threat the Justice League has to neutralize. It’s not something with real agency or venom for the good guys, just a device programmed for war that doesn't know how to shut itself off. That means it can’t really be reasoned with, only dealt with, which makes it unique among Justice League foes.
There’s even a sense of tragedy and “the folly of war” to it, with a destructive device long outlasting the combatants who built in, continuing to wage a war that’s long since ended, its mission contorted to harm folks who had nothing to do with the original conflict. That’s a trademark of Star Trek foils like Nomad and V’Ger.
I also like the characterization we get for “The Atom” Ray Palmer here. He’s superpowered like the rest of the League, but he’s also a scientist and professor, with a certain awe for the nanotechnological achievements on display in the Dark Heart. But he’s also a little funny and sarcastic, which helps give him a personality beyond just “the shrinking science guy.” In the same vein, I like that despite his early efforts, he doesn’t defeat the Dark Heart just by hitting it hard, but rather by causing a “heart attack” but pinching one of the valves that feeds it. It’s not the most ingenious resolution in the world, but again, I’m always a fan of superheroes using their smarts to save the day and not just their powers.
That said, frankly I liked the action here better than in a lot of Justice League episode. Maybe it’s the fact that the good guys were fighting nanobot creatures and not humanoids, but it seemed like the show felt free to let the Leaguers cut loose and really show the range of their powers. Seeing the main familiar Justice League crew, in addition to newer additions, go hog wild in blasting the bots was a lot of fun. I particularly liked Batman emptying all his resources via the Batwing and asking for a save, not to mention Vigilante six-shootering his way out of jam just long enough for an Arthurian knight of a winged horse to swoop in and save his bacon. This is one of the episodes where the show utilizes its wider roster, and while The Atom is the only one of them who gets any new character depth, it’s still fun to see the full team in action.
(As an aside, I don’t know why Diana couldn’t have put the Atom in her crown rather than in her chest plate. The show doesn’t play it for any innuendo or anything, but it feels a little gratuitous and winking.)
I also like how this one connects with the broader conflict between the League and the government that’s been building for some time now. I like how the General rightfully points out that the Justice League had a WMD it never disclosed to the governments of the world, which is justification for their concerns. (And seriously, why was J’onn’s brilliant idea to blast a trench around the nanobots that didn’t even seem to fully surround them? That seemed like a pretty meager solution, even as a temporary one.) And I like how the League is reciprocally baffled by the fact that the government is studying and potentially replicating a weapon that outlived its creators and overshot their intentions, causing untold collateral damage in the process. The show’s giving us good reasons on both sides of the divide here, and I appreciate that.
Overall, a cool setup for an episode that gives us something out of the ordinary for Justice League Unlimited, giving Ray Palmer a cool spotlight episode, providing the rest of the League an interesting problem to solve, and deepening the tension between our heroes and the government.