[7.5/10] I appreciate the way this one is anchored around the hole in Dick’s life that came from not having a team and not having Wally. The episode opens with everyone wondering where he is, wondering why he’s not taking a more active role in looking after Halo, Gregor, and Dr. Jace given that each was recovered on his mission. It closes with the implication that he’s ready to take responsibility for them , even after declaring that he was only back in the game for this one op.
The crisis du jour is a little superfluous. You can get why Red Arrow would start his own private security firm, and I have no doubt that the VR goggles the Harper crew (plus Dick) protects will come back as part of the bad guys’ evil plan at some point. But saving a few big rigs from Brcik and his goons isn’t exactly big time stuff. That's good in its way. Not every mission needs to be a world-threatening calamity. But it makes some of the action feel like set dressing for dick tow rok through his issues.
Still, there’s a novelty to seeing Red Arrow, Arenal, and The Guardian working together as the Harper clone gang. Dick inserting Red Arrow in place of Wally after losing his good friend works as a means of projection, and I appreciate Red Arrow calling his former Nightwing on what he’s doing. He needs someone to tell him the truth,as a friend, something Wally used to do, and having the newly-dubbed Will Harper be that voice of reason, and get through to Dick about why, as much as this life weighs on him, he needs this, works well.
I’m also intrigued at the way this episode is suggesting money issues could be a real thing, something not every superhero show delves into. Red Arrow getting into the private security business because he needs to support his daughter, and Superboy fixing up motorcycles to make rent helps ground this series in a way no amount of grimdark storytelling could.
Speaking of which, I like the pairing of Gregor and Superboy here. If anyone knows what Gegor’s going through, it’s Conner. So him showing Gregor how a task, some physical labor to connect with your emotional labor, can be a good thing, is a neat scene.
Black Lightning having a hot dog brunch with Dr. Jace isn’t much, but there’s something here in how both are recovering from doing the right thing and thinking they were helping, but reeling from the ways in which their choices hurt people.
The peak of the B-stories, though, is Zatanna getting to spend her one hour a year with her father, sans the Dr. Fate helmet. It’s bitterly tragic watching them dutifully part, with the father telling his daughter that if they don’t, Nabu won’t allow them to get their time next year. I was, candidly, pretty frustrated with season 2 of the show for not addressing this after making a big deal out of it in season 1 , so I’m glad to see some of the emotional aftereffects here. Artemis being there for Zatanna during the difficult time is a nice character beat for her, and Halo seeing that sort of empathy and compassion, internalizing it herself, is a nice way to build up the character’s psychology despite the fact that she’s not great at language yet.
Overall, this one felt a lot like season 1 Young Justice which is a great mode for the show to be in.A host of character stories as rooted in the psychologies of the figures at play as it is in any globe-shaking events. Let’s hope it’s a harbinger of more good things to come.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2022-06-15T02:42:54Z
[7.5/10] I appreciate the way this one is anchored around the hole in Dick’s life that came from not having a team and not having Wally. The episode opens with everyone wondering where he is, wondering why he’s not taking a more active role in looking after Halo, Gregor, and Dr. Jace given that each was recovered on his mission. It closes with the implication that he’s ready to take responsibility for them , even after declaring that he was only back in the game for this one op.
The crisis du jour is a little superfluous. You can get why Red Arrow would start his own private security firm, and I have no doubt that the VR goggles the Harper crew (plus Dick) protects will come back as part of the bad guys’ evil plan at some point. But saving a few big rigs from Brcik and his goons isn’t exactly big time stuff. That's good in its way. Not every mission needs to be a world-threatening calamity. But it makes some of the action feel like set dressing for dick tow rok through his issues.
Still, there’s a novelty to seeing Red Arrow, Arenal, and The Guardian working together as the Harper clone gang. Dick inserting Red Arrow in place of Wally after losing his good friend works as a means of projection, and I appreciate Red Arrow calling his former Nightwing on what he’s doing. He needs someone to tell him the truth,as a friend, something Wally used to do, and having the newly-dubbed Will Harper be that voice of reason, and get through to Dick about why, as much as this life weighs on him, he needs this, works well.
I’m also intrigued at the way this episode is suggesting money issues could be a real thing, something not every superhero show delves into. Red Arrow getting into the private security business because he needs to support his daughter, and Superboy fixing up motorcycles to make rent helps ground this series in a way no amount of grimdark storytelling could.
Speaking of which, I like the pairing of Gregor and Superboy here. If anyone knows what Gegor’s going through, it’s Conner. So him showing Gregor how a task, some physical labor to connect with your emotional labor, can be a good thing, is a neat scene.
Black Lightning having a hot dog brunch with Dr. Jace isn’t much, but there’s something here in how both are recovering from doing the right thing and thinking they were helping, but reeling from the ways in which their choices hurt people.
The peak of the B-stories, though, is Zatanna getting to spend her one hour a year with her father, sans the Dr. Fate helmet. It’s bitterly tragic watching them dutifully part, with the father telling his daughter that if they don’t, Nabu won’t allow them to get their time next year. I was, candidly, pretty frustrated with season 2 of the show for not addressing this after making a big deal out of it in season 1 , so I’m glad to see some of the emotional aftereffects here. Artemis being there for Zatanna during the difficult time is a nice character beat for her, and Halo seeing that sort of empathy and compassion, internalizing it herself, is a nice way to build up the character’s psychology despite the fact that she’s not great at language yet.
Overall, this one felt a lot like season 1 Young Justice which is a great mode for the show to be in.A host of character stories as rooted in the psychologies of the figures at play as it is in any globe-shaking events. Let’s hope it’s a harbinger of more good things to come.