1x17 Disordered

[7.8/10] So maybe I was too hasty in my criticisms of the previous episode. My problem with “It’s all a dream” endings is not just that they feel like a cheat; it’s that they erase all the consequences from the choices the characters make. But thanks to “Disordered”, we know that Young Justice doesn’t do that. All members of the team are still wrapping their minds around the virtual training session. Having Black Canary as a counselor for each of them, taking time to delve into how each of them is feeling after such traumatic events, not only helps us to get to know each character a little better, but retroactively makes the prior episode seem more worthwhile.

I like each of the sessions we get to sit in on. Some of them tell us things we already know. Artemis is anxious about the rest of the team knowing her secrets. Wally seems chill but has complicated feelings about Artemis he doesn’t know how to deal with. Aqualad worries about whether or not he’s worthy of being leader. All of these are beats the show’s hit before the with the characters, but it does them well.

Aqualad in particular, slating himself for acting like a soldier rather than a general in the simulation, only to realize that he must continue to carry the burden of being leader because no one else on the team is ready, helps the audience to get in his head. In particularly, his empathetic and intuitive understanding of his teammates, their capabilities and vulnerabilities, helps show why he is suited to be leader without the show having anyone come right out and say that.

But it’s the other members who really push us into new territory. The session between Black Canary and Miss Martian adds a lot of dimension to the latter character. She is not only hesitant about using her powers given how they so disrupted this event in particular, but a little prejudiced, or at least afraid when she thinks she’s accidentally transformed into a White Martian.

The most impactful for me, though, is Robin’s confession. His admission that he always imagined himself growing up to be Batman, to be the leader, only to realize after the simulation that he doesn’t want to be that guy. He doesn’t want to be the one who expects everyone to follow him and be ready to sacrifice everything. Jesse McCartney’s heartfelt delivery of all this is excellent, and carries particular resonance for anyone following Young Justice in the wake of the DCAU. Robin still admiring Batman but deciding he doesn’t want that life or that attitude is a big deal, which speaks to broader real life choices about how much we emulate our parents and how much we set our own paths.

That just leaves Superboy, who takes up the bulk of the other (arguably main) story in “Disordered”. He runs into the Forever People, there to protect the technology of New Genesis, and joins them in challenging Whisper, Ugly Manheim, and none other than Desaad himself using Apokolips tech.

It’s all perfectly good. Entangling the Young Justice heroes with the Fourth World presages momentous things. I’ll admit, at times it feels like the first season of the show is trying to encompass every possible corner of the D.C. Universe with just twenty-six episodes, which sounds like a tall order. But through the first two thirds of the season, the writers have gained my trust in their ability to pull it off. And wrangling our heroes into the New Genesis/Apokolips war definitely raises the stakes for all the mysterious thefts and attacks that have happened to this point.

Plus hey, on a personal note, it’s a little funny seeing the Forever People show up on Young Justice shortly after I finally got around to watching The Eternals. It’s neat to see comparable Jack Kirby creations pop up in two different places. We don’t get much of an introduction to the Forever People crew, since they spend more time spouting exposition than giving us character traits, but we get enough of a glimpse of their attitude and power to whet our appetites. And as loony as some of the Fourth World, Infinity Man, Power-Rangers type mecha business is here, I can appreciate that outsized element of the proceedings.

It also helps build to Superboy’s own revelations. Aside from the fact that he bonded with the New Genesphere (a kind of cruddy name, to be honest), we learn that his trouble after the simulation isn’t that he’s traumatized or disturbed by it. Instead, he’s guilty because he was happy about the scenario, because it gave him the thing he’d always wanted -- getting to be the real Superman. That type of validation, and shame over enjoying it at such a cost, is true to the character as we’ve known him. I get tired of Conner’s angsty routine pretty easily, but this touches on something real, and I like deepening his issues with Superman and personal hangups through that experience.

Overall, I am really encouraged by this episode. It teases some intriguing developments involving the Fourth World, but also spends time examining the psychological aftermath of the events of “Failsafe”, which retroactively makes those events more meaningful for their lingering effects.