2x09 Darkest

[7.2/10] Enough with the bluffing and double-bluffing and triple-bluffing. Pretending Aqualad was a bad guy, only to reveal that he was a double agent is already pushing it. Having Wally suggest that he may be a triple agent is a bridge too far. In season 1, there was the question of “Who is the mole?” and the obvious mystery over what exactly The Light was. But we didn’t get so knee deep into all this twists upon twists and teases upon teases. It quickly becomes overly convoluted.

Despite that, I like the guts of this one. Aqualad, alongside Artemis as “Tigress”, invading and ultimately blowing up Mount Justice in order to get in good with The Light puts him in a tricky position. Dick knows what’s up, but nobody else in the Young Justice stronghold does, so they have to make it look real enough to fool their temporary compatriots among the villain set, while not making it so dangerous or deadly that they hurt their real friends. It’s a fine line to walk, and seeing it in action is exciting.

I’m also a fan of Blue Beetle and Impulse’s budding friendship. The two of them palling around, testing their powers in a rocky outcropping, and having fun one-upping one another before the attack starts is all good character- and relationship-building stuff for the next generation of the team.

Granted, I don’t care for another dose of schmuck bait after the attack. Aqualad blowing up Mount Justice is a big deal, but again, I have a hard time believing the show would actually kill off Nightwing and Superboy, or even Wolf, in this sort of thing, so it’s hard to take the dramatic act break seriously. It’s good that there’s at least some tricky recovery from them, and the deadman switch act with Aqualad not only adds some tension, but reveals that he is holding back a bit. But it’s hard to buy the life-and-death stakes when the show not only hasn’t shown anything approaching the stones it would take to kill off a major character in a random mid-season episode, let alone when it’s already done a death fake out just a couple episodes ago.

For that matter, I don’t really care about the Mal/Bumblee situation. They’ve barely been characters to this point. You have to start somewhere, so having Bumblebee be immersed in her research with Dr. Palmer while Mal feels as though they don’t get enough time together isn’t a bad place to build from. It’s a cliche, but for a reason. But then the episode expects us to be majorly invested when Mal is rummaging through the rubble of Mt. Justice, and the investment simply isn’t there. You can do a lot with a five year time jump, but expecting the audience to buy into major relationships that changed dramatically off-screen isn’t one of them.

Otherwise, I appreciate the return of Icicle Jr. and the chance to spend more time with the actual Terror Twins. The episode builds on the villains’ last adventures in Belle Reve in organic ways, and the three of them provide a skeptical audience to Aqualad, creating added pressure for him to prove himself as a baddie in their eyes.

Overall, the core of this one is fine. The assault on Mt. Justice carries some excitement, and the game of cloak and dagger the quartet of Kaldur, Artemis, Dick, and Wally are playing adds layers to it. But the show continues to stack twist upon twist and feint upon feint, and the whole season is starting to feel too wobbly and ungainly for it.