2x07 Depths

[7.6/10] I’m conflicted about this episode. There’s a lot of big picture developments here I like and appreciate. But they’re also presented as fake outs and big twists and schmuck bait, which rubs me the wrong way.

Look, it’s tremendously reassuring that Aqualad didn’t turn to the dark side. It never seemed intuitively plausible even if you could intellectually accept how things might have changed for him in the five years since we last saw him. But the twist that he’s deep undercover to get close to The Light via his biological father makes more sense. There’s a strong setup there (see: The Departed/Infernal Affairs), and the “hard choices” Kaldur has to make in that role creates lots of potential for good character work.

But it kind of stinks that the show tried to pull out the rug from under its audience in that way. I’m not opposed to twists. Yet, it comes off cheap to lure the audience into thinking Aqualad would go so far as to try to blow up the Kroloteans or kill Artemis in service of some out-of-character shock value. It all adds up eventually (sort of, the explanatory dialogue between Dick, Kaldur, Wally, and Artemis at the end is clunky as all hell), but the journey to get there ends up being more of an exercise in frustration than something satisfying.

You know what, though? At least I bought the deal with Aqualad. I didn’t like it, because it did seem out of character, but I believed the show would go there. I didn’t believe for a second that Young Justice would unceremoniously kill off Artemis, especially not in an opening teaser. So all the portentous comments about Wally not wanting her to go back out there and “He’s afraid I’ll do it to my dying day” and near-misses with Black Manta’s goons played like cheap shmuck bait.

I didn’t know what the twist would be (My money was on a Red Tornado-style robot decoy) but you just knew the show wasn’t going to go through with axing Artemis, so I bristled a bit at all the false jeopardy.

Still, I like the basic idea at the center of this one. Given how much new blood the show’s introduced to this point, there’s something cool about seeing four of the original working together on a secret mission. It adds intrigue to Wally’s and Artemis’ concerns about whether to stay out of the game, and Wally’s worries about Artemis joining Kaldur under cover. But for a show that was always steeped in at least some mystery boxes, I’m already a little exhausted by the four of them talking about some vaunted “secret” that's motivating them, but which they conveniently don’t mention within earshot of the audience.

Put your cards on the table, damnit! Let us know what’s motivating our perspective characters! It’s okay for there to be mysteries and surprises, but shrowding so much of what’s driving the main players in darkness really weakens an already arguably overcomplicated plot.

I have similar qualms about the M’gaan/Superboy/Lagoon Boy love triangle. I’m not on board with those types of tired romantic entanglements to begin with. But there’s something to be said for L’gaan being frustrated that he’s forced to patrol the seas while his girlfriend's on a mission with her ex, and fly off the handle. The drama is stale, but the results are legitimate.

More to the point, we finally have a legitimate reason behind Superboy and M’gaan’s break-up, In the Rann episode, Conner suggested it stemmed from him not visibly aging, which was...odd as a reason he ended things with Miss Martian. But the reveal that it came from M’gaan’s scary enhanced interrogation techniques and messing with Conner’s own head is much more momentous and legitimate. Miss Martian’s already seemed unnerving with how she’s willing to effectively lobotomize enemies to get information, and her justification that “they’re the bad guys” isn’t reassuring. Plus, the fact that she apparently tried to mess with Conner’s memory of it when he got upset (a la Buffy) makes it personal, a violation of their intimacy and Conner’s autonomy. These are real, meaningful issues, and I just wish we’d gotten to them sooner.

The actual skirmish du jour is a nice dose of action as well. There’s a nice mix of air, land, and sea battles taking place while the Young Justice team tries to protect a space launch. Most of the action and fireworks are pretty standard superhero fare, but the mix of different combat settings gives it some variety, and provides chances for different characters to interact.

Also, god help me, I love Tim Curry’s unctuous trouble-making newsman. He’s just so delightful in a love-to-hate sort of way. He hits the right notes of xenophobic bullshit, mapped onto a fear of extraterrestrials rather than other outgroups, in a way that, sadly, has a resonance up to today.

Overall, I’m both encouraged and frustrated by this episode. It takes the characters to a number of places I find very interesting and worthwhile, and advances the major arcs of the season in a meaningful fashion. But some of the routes to get there feel cheap or convoluted, more interested in shocking the audience than in earning these big moments.