2x17 The Hunt

[7.8/10] I like the Runaways. (Is that their official name? It was the name of the episode that introduced them. Plus it’s catchy. Some band or group of Marvel heroes should consider using it.) They haven’t really been developed much, and if I’m being candid, the treatment of the Asami character is low-key racist. But the fact that they’re normal kids who were broken out of The Reach’s captivity, and then broke out of their own quasi-captivity at Star Labs, and then broke ties with Lex Luthor makes them interesting wildcards in all the craziness that's happening in Young Justice right now.

They too are young heroes. They have good reason to want to stick it to The Reach. But they also have good reason to be skeptical of the Justice League and its allies, given their experiences with Star Labs. I’d be lying if I said that having Static as a member of the team didn’t help endear me to them, but regardless, their motivations and allegiances are more complicated than good vs. evil, which always helps me get on board with a group of characters.

Granted, almost everyone in this episode speaks in exposition, emotional or otherwise. I’m a big fan of what “The Hunt” tries to accomplish in the scene where Nightwing and Miss Martian blame themselves for how things have gone wrong. Hearing each beat themselves up for being too reluctant to use their powers or missing clues that, in hindsight, pointed to Blue Beetle’s betrayal, is relatable and true-to-form for both M’gaan and Dick. The choice to focus on making this better now, because “It’s what we do” is uplifting in its way.

The dialogue is just rough in terms of how it writes everything on the screen. I try to remember this show is supposed to be kid-friendly, which means a little more handholding and signposting. It’s tricky though, because in season 1 at least, Young Justice often achieved a level of maturity and complexity greater than that, so my expectations are suitably higher.

Speaking of which, I was surprised at G. Gordon Godfrey’s backbone! I’d written him off a Glenn Beck-style xenophobe and blowhard (which, in fairness, I think he still is). But it was strangely rousing to see him take the Reach Ambassador to task for his lies about The Reach’s available fleet after sidling up to them and practically being a member of their PR team.

As for the main part of the episode, you just knew that when Lex Luthor sent the Runaways on a mission to mess with The Reach by saving Superboy, he had some ulterior motives. But I like how it played out. The idea that the distraction allowed him to deploy Deadshot to retrieve the Crystal Key that would let The Light (or maybe just Lex) take control of War World is suitably savvy. And the fight with Black Beetle turned unexpectedly cool.

I gotta admit, I’m already tired of Black Beetle. Various folks have fought him three times already, and there’s no grand difference between them beyond shuffling the players around. But I love Arsenal’s call not to try to fight him directly, but rather to free Mongul, thereby setting the alien brutes against one another so the young heroes can escape. We haven’t seen as many clever solutions to big fights versus “just punch harder” solutions, so this one got me.

Arsenal’s also a pip here, linking up with the Runaways, and working to save the Young Justice crew who were captured during Blue Beetle’s betrayal. The link up between that group one the one hand, and Nightwing and Miss Martian on the other, made this feel suitably grand given the need to rescue other heroes and escape from an alien fortress.

But all’s not well just because of the rescue. It makes sense that Nightwing would kick Arsenal out after his freelancing (though he probably should have waited until they weren’t “behind enemy lines” to say something that would set the kid off), and it makes just as much sense that Arsenal would side with the Runaways, who don’t fully trust the League or its junior equivalent. The cracks in the foundation are intriguing, and seeing the Runaways turn on Lex when they figure out the truth is a cool beat as well.

Overall, business is picking up as season 2 goes into the home stretch, and it’s nice to see the show having the various groups and characters it’s set up collide in a major confrontation like this, with strong character reasons for the different divisions and shifting alliances.