[7.1/10] This episode isn't bad, but it’s a little underwhelming as a grand finale. Again, it’s a little convenient that The Outsiders don’t go to confront Granny Goodness and instead follow a tip with Gretchen Good, though without Brion for the thin reason that “they didn’t want to get his hopes up.” I mean, sure, there’s always a gimme or two for how hero teams work together.
But the actual confrontation with Gretchen Good isn’t much to write home about. Most of the team just gets stuck in the ghost dimension the whole time, without a lot to do. There’s a climactic confrontation between Gretchen and Beast Boy, but it’s not as cathartic as the show wants them to be. I know Garfield feels manipulated by Gretchen, and there’s some amusing digs at Hollywood producers. But the emotional quotient just isn't there, so beyond a funny moment when Garfield turns into a gorilla that resembles Gretchen, the fight doesn’t have any oomph.
The bigger eal is Victor tapping into the machine that powers Gretchen and her operation, where has to fight Overlord. Again, the basics of it are fine, and Overlord has a pretty cool design. But there’s a toooooon of rushed development for Victor to make this all make sense. They’ve dropped that he can intercept text messages, but now the show has to dump a load of exposition to explain that he’s basically a techno-god now who can use technology as magic. There’s some conspicuous shoutouts to The Matrix as he basically becomes Neo in cyberspace, defeating Overlord and destroying the machine that separates Gretchen from Granny. There’s a mild story of self-actualization there, with Victor accepting his cybernetic side, but it’s all too rushed to matter.
The same goes when he follows a boom tube to the Orphanage and works to rescue the rest of the enslaved Leaguers. Him using his powers to get rid of the blinders/controller that Overlord put on Violet is a good call, and the imagery of Granny and Gretchen merging is appropriately freaky. But from there, Violet simply saves the day with a magical rainbow aura we’ve never seen her use before and everyone’s able to just blow up the big bad machine until the show’s over. There’s not really any emotional or character development for Violet, beyond the fact that she wants to save people, which sure, and there’s nothing clever about the victory. Both she and Victor just both suddenly have access to super magic they didn’t have access to before that lets them save the day.
That’s not the worst thing in the world. Victor choosing to accept himself and join The Outsiders is nice. Violet and Brion reuniting is sweet. M’gaan and Conner realizing they still have issues to work out is good enough. But this doesn’t feel like a particularly satisfying conclusion to the metateen smuggling story that has been running through the show as a whole to this point. It’s not rooted in the characters, nobody seems to have learned that much from the experience, and there’s nothing especially clever or unique about how they beat the bad guys. It ties up the loose ends and puts the right people in focus, more or less, but it’s never more than the sum of its parts.
Oh, and I’d add that the Infinity Inc. tease seems to come out of nowhere. These characters have barely been introduced, and suddenly they’re the new thing we have to worry about? I know they’re under Luthor’s command, but it plays as random to toss them out there at the end of this big climax with two episodes left in the season and barely any time taken to establish them. Who the hell knows?
Overall, this isn’t a bad half hour of television, but it’s not a box-checking, rather than satisfying conclusion to the big stories the show’s told this season.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2022-07-30T18:17:02Z
[7.1/10] This episode isn't bad, but it’s a little underwhelming as a grand finale. Again, it’s a little convenient that The Outsiders don’t go to confront Granny Goodness and instead follow a tip with Gretchen Good, though without Brion for the thin reason that “they didn’t want to get his hopes up.” I mean, sure, there’s always a gimme or two for how hero teams work together.
But the actual confrontation with Gretchen Good isn’t much to write home about. Most of the team just gets stuck in the ghost dimension the whole time, without a lot to do. There’s a climactic confrontation between Gretchen and Beast Boy, but it’s not as cathartic as the show wants them to be. I know Garfield feels manipulated by Gretchen, and there’s some amusing digs at Hollywood producers. But the emotional quotient just isn't there, so beyond a funny moment when Garfield turns into a gorilla that resembles Gretchen, the fight doesn’t have any oomph.
The bigger eal is Victor tapping into the machine that powers Gretchen and her operation, where has to fight Overlord. Again, the basics of it are fine, and Overlord has a pretty cool design. But there’s a toooooon of rushed development for Victor to make this all make sense. They’ve dropped that he can intercept text messages, but now the show has to dump a load of exposition to explain that he’s basically a techno-god now who can use technology as magic. There’s some conspicuous shoutouts to The Matrix as he basically becomes Neo in cyberspace, defeating Overlord and destroying the machine that separates Gretchen from Granny. There’s a mild story of self-actualization there, with Victor accepting his cybernetic side, but it’s all too rushed to matter.
The same goes when he follows a boom tube to the Orphanage and works to rescue the rest of the enslaved Leaguers. Him using his powers to get rid of the blinders/controller that Overlord put on Violet is a good call, and the imagery of Granny and Gretchen merging is appropriately freaky. But from there, Violet simply saves the day with a magical rainbow aura we’ve never seen her use before and everyone’s able to just blow up the big bad machine until the show’s over. There’s not really any emotional or character development for Violet, beyond the fact that she wants to save people, which sure, and there’s nothing clever about the victory. Both she and Victor just both suddenly have access to super magic they didn’t have access to before that lets them save the day.
That’s not the worst thing in the world. Victor choosing to accept himself and join The Outsiders is nice. Violet and Brion reuniting is sweet. M’gaan and Conner realizing they still have issues to work out is good enough. But this doesn’t feel like a particularly satisfying conclusion to the metateen smuggling story that has been running through the show as a whole to this point. It’s not rooted in the characters, nobody seems to have learned that much from the experience, and there’s nothing especially clever or unique about how they beat the bad guys. It ties up the loose ends and puts the right people in focus, more or less, but it’s never more than the sum of its parts.
Oh, and I’d add that the Infinity Inc. tease seems to come out of nowhere. These characters have barely been introduced, and suddenly they’re the new thing we have to worry about? I know they’re under Luthor’s command, but it plays as random to toss them out there at the end of this big climax with two episodes left in the season and barely any time taken to establish them. Who the hell knows?
Overall, this isn’t a bad half hour of television, but it’s not a box-checking, rather than satisfying conclusion to the big stories the show’s told this season.