[7.2/10] I can’t help but wonder if I might have enjoyed these first three episodes more if I’d watched them as one complete mini-movie. Despite being separated out, they don’t really feel like standalone episodes, or even chapters in a story, as opposed to one whole tale chopped up into three parts. (And that's assuming there’s not the equivalent of a “part 4” in the next one). It messes with the pacing and structure and makes it trickier to get into the proceedings.
Case-in-point: I still struggle to care about the Markovian royal family. Oh no! It turns out the uncle who was obviously evil is, in fact, evil! And he’s in league with the bad guys! And a metahuman! Ye gods!
I’m being a bit sarcastic there, but there’s no juice to an obvious reveal. Delamb being an anagram for Bedlam is mildly clever, but the uncle who stood to become regent turning out to be aligned with Count Vertigo and Dr. Ecks isn’t much of a reveal. The fact that he tries to shift blame to and turn public sentiment against Brion at least adds some sort of novel element to it -- taking advantage of the prejudice against metahumans to squeeze out a rival for power and influence. But it’s pretty standard stuff.
I do appreciate Brion’s plight a bit. He understandably freaks out when he awakes from the tube and finds that he’s some earth-moving superbeing. My favorite touch is the way that Superboy coaches him through it, having been in the exact sort of disorienting situation Brion experienced. The parallels are potent, without the show drawing too much attention to them. And I appreciate that for all their brotherly bond, Gregor has to banish his brother, lest he be viewed as “soft” on the metahuman issue. The sibling’s resistance shows the pernicious of prejudice, how even someone like Gregor, who probably isn’t bigoted against metahumans in his heart, bows to the pressure as a public figure and shaky ruler.
They also go for some high drama with Black Lightning. I’m reluctant, but intrigued, about the show spotlighting how kids are the victims here. The unspoken conceit of Young Justice is that, from the beginning, it featured teenagers being thrust into life or death situations. This is fun and fantasy, so it’s a little dangerous to start taking seriously that these are the equivalent of child soldiers, some of whom, like Wally and Tula and Jason Todd, perish in action. Black Lightning’s struggles with who suffers in the metahuman creating and trafficking game have power for that reason, but also threaten to break the show if you go too far down that rabbit hole.
Halo Girl also comes into her own here, showing an impressive ability to revive herself despite injuries that would surely kill another hero, and some powerful shielding abilities. I hope she gets developed more as a character, but it’s still neat to see her saving the day and returning the favor for Artemis. I’m again taken aback at how intense the series can get now, as Plasmus’ smooshing of Halo Girl is pretty gruesome, as is seeing her half-melted face in the aftermath.
Otherwise, Black Lightning gets through to Plasmus, who turns out to be the sibling of the girl Black Lightning killed in the first episode of the season, which has some nice poetry to it. We find out that Beast Boy is dating the young monarch Kid Flash saved back in season 1, which is a pleasant canon connection. And Dick is having...playful banter with Oracle in his headset. Why not?
Overall, a solid episode that comes off a little disjointed given the multi-part introduction, but which has some good material in it.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2022-06-09T05:06:12Z
[7.2/10] I can’t help but wonder if I might have enjoyed these first three episodes more if I’d watched them as one complete mini-movie. Despite being separated out, they don’t really feel like standalone episodes, or even chapters in a story, as opposed to one whole tale chopped up into three parts. (And that's assuming there’s not the equivalent of a “part 4” in the next one). It messes with the pacing and structure and makes it trickier to get into the proceedings.
Case-in-point: I still struggle to care about the Markovian royal family. Oh no! It turns out the uncle who was obviously evil is, in fact, evil! And he’s in league with the bad guys! And a metahuman! Ye gods!
I’m being a bit sarcastic there, but there’s no juice to an obvious reveal. Delamb being an anagram for Bedlam is mildly clever, but the uncle who stood to become regent turning out to be aligned with Count Vertigo and Dr. Ecks isn’t much of a reveal. The fact that he tries to shift blame to and turn public sentiment against Brion at least adds some sort of novel element to it -- taking advantage of the prejudice against metahumans to squeeze out a rival for power and influence. But it’s pretty standard stuff.
I do appreciate Brion’s plight a bit. He understandably freaks out when he awakes from the tube and finds that he’s some earth-moving superbeing. My favorite touch is the way that Superboy coaches him through it, having been in the exact sort of disorienting situation Brion experienced. The parallels are potent, without the show drawing too much attention to them. And I appreciate that for all their brotherly bond, Gregor has to banish his brother, lest he be viewed as “soft” on the metahuman issue. The sibling’s resistance shows the pernicious of prejudice, how even someone like Gregor, who probably isn’t bigoted against metahumans in his heart, bows to the pressure as a public figure and shaky ruler.
They also go for some high drama with Black Lightning. I’m reluctant, but intrigued, about the show spotlighting how kids are the victims here. The unspoken conceit of Young Justice is that, from the beginning, it featured teenagers being thrust into life or death situations. This is fun and fantasy, so it’s a little dangerous to start taking seriously that these are the equivalent of child soldiers, some of whom, like Wally and Tula and Jason Todd, perish in action. Black Lightning’s struggles with who suffers in the metahuman creating and trafficking game have power for that reason, but also threaten to break the show if you go too far down that rabbit hole.
Halo Girl also comes into her own here, showing an impressive ability to revive herself despite injuries that would surely kill another hero, and some powerful shielding abilities. I hope she gets developed more as a character, but it’s still neat to see her saving the day and returning the favor for Artemis. I’m again taken aback at how intense the series can get now, as Plasmus’ smooshing of Halo Girl is pretty gruesome, as is seeing her half-melted face in the aftermath.
Otherwise, Black Lightning gets through to Plasmus, who turns out to be the sibling of the girl Black Lightning killed in the first episode of the season, which has some nice poetry to it. We find out that Beast Boy is dating the young monarch Kid Flash saved back in season 1, which is a pleasant canon connection. And Dick is having...playful banter with Oracle in his headset. Why not?
Overall, a solid episode that comes off a little disjointed given the multi-part introduction, but which has some good material in it.