Viewing Review: ‘Young Justice: Outsiders’ part 4

We have a special treat this week with four episodes slated instead of three.  So, we are at the midpoint of the series of twenty-six episodes.  Warning: this review contains spoilers.  Read on at your own risk.

In Episode 10, ‘Exceptional Human Beings’, we get our first look at Metamorpho as Batman leads a black ops team that also includes Katana into Santa Prisca. Batman and the Outsiders anyone? Also, we have the first appearance of Victor Stone aka Cyborg.  There’s even a tip to ‘Teen Titans, Go!’ with the ‘Booyah!’ cheer.  Personally, I couldn’t care less about a reference to that show.  Those are cutesie Titans.  MY Titans are coming together on this show, and I’m grinning ear to ear.

There’s a touching moment where Cheshire spies on Lian, but is discovered by Will Harper.  They talk a bit, and Cheshire admits she’s no ‘soccer mom’.  Will tries to convince her otherwise to no avail.  She says she is beyond redemption, and this is goodbye for her.  I’m not convinced.  This relationship hook could prove useful later.  I’m just not sure how it’ll turn out.  Cheshire is cold-blooded, but she has a soft spot for her daughter.  Let’s see what happens.

Back with the newbie Outsiders, Nightwing trains  the them alone(because Superboy had a ‘rendezvous’ with Miss Martian in Happy Harbor) in a three on one battle. We get to see just how good Dick is while also seeing the inexperience of Geo-Force, Forager and Halo working as a group.  These kids still have a ways to go working as a unit, but they’re in good hands.  We also have a Cisco Ramon aka Vibe in the comics sighting, but I don’t know if we’ll be seeing his as Vibe anytime soon.  The fact that he is in Detroit with Victor Stone is a nice nod to JLA Detroit.

Then there’s a Lady Shiva and Katana duel alongside a Bane and Batman duel.  Bring out the popcorn!Deathstroke takes on Metamorpho.  The battle is intense and entertaining.  Batman and the Outsiders (Ooops!) don’t stay long though and are airlifted out of Santa Prisca to the frustration of Bane.

The episode ends with an ominous reference to Victor Stone’s future and the appearance of Father Boxes.  I already know where this is headed.  Cyborg will be out and about soon.

Episode 11,’Another Freak’, continues the story and speaking of soon…Victor Stone goes, ‘BOOOM!!!’The sight of him after the explosion is very graphic even for animation. Dr. Silas Stone, Victor’s father, fuses him with the Father Box to save his life, and, well, there you have it…the origin of Cyborg, albeit a modified version of his recent comic book origin. It holds more in common to the ‘New 52’ version than the original one, but the essentials are still there.

Back in Happy Harbor, Violet Harper aka Halo and Fred Bugg (thanks to a glamour charm made by Zatanna to mask his appearance) aka Forager enter their first day of  high school  to which Brion Markov aka Geo-Force warns Violet of boys who ‘only have one thing on their minds’.  There’s this developing romance between the two that is very innocent and sweet.  At school, the two new high schoolers get introduced to Harper Row.  We’re really getting a lot of new characters from DC lore. In this case, Harper Row is Bluebird from the Batman mythos.  We’ll see if she actually turns to that or is that already in this series.

In school, Halo discovers a new aura color, indigo, which allows her to create a Boom Tube…which takes her to Victor as he is about to murder his dad, Silas Stone.  She heals him from the effects of the Father Box, and takes Victor back with her to Happy Harbor High School.  Victor did not want anything to do with his father whom he blames for his current ‘cyborg’ condition.  So he leaves with Violet, and just like that we have another ‘freak’ to join the Outsiders.

The episode ends with Dick and Brion having a heart-to-heart talk about what Brion wants of his life moving forward(after a rough bout of hand-to-hand combat with each other earlier. Boys will be boys.).  I think, Brion will be settling in nicely now that he’s willing to leave the problems of the past behind…for now.

We move on to Episode 12, ‘Nightmare Monkeys’, where we have Garfield Logan aka Beast Boy starring as Lieutenant Tork in ‘Space Trek 3016’to open the story.  He’s really got a cheesy character which utilizes his natural abilities on-screen.  Gran—Gretchen Goode visits Gar after the shooting, and has a chat with the star of the show.  Gar has no idea who Gretchen really is, and this could spell trouble for our star.  Enter Mento aka Steve Dayton, Garfield Logan’s stepdad, and we have a glimpse of the dysfunctional relationship between the two.  They really don’t like each other and that’s fine with the both of them.

Back at Happy Harbor, M’gann aka Miss Martian calls in the troops for an emergency meeting regarding what happened to Violet at school, and of course the appearance of Victor Stone.  We find out that Violet might actually contain the soul of a Mother Box that Baron Bedlam was experimenting with earlier in the season.  The ‘soul’ of the box revived Violet to who she is now.  This explains her powers among which is the ability to create Boom Tubes.  It also explains how she was able to heal Victor from his madness last episode.  Halo is a living Mother Box.  Yes, she is very powerful.

We go back to Gar who is going on a date with Perdita.  He tries out her Goode goggles which we have seen used earlier.  Now, Gar takes us on a tour on how they actually work by using them himself.  And, he gets pricked by a needle from the goggles which he brushes off.  He gets mind controlled to go to Encino. Not-so friendly toy after all, right?   And, we are treated with a virtual Wally West aka Kid Flash and the younger versions of Young Justice.  There’s a replay of Wally’s final days in season two in Gar’s mind. Hmm…’Doom Patrol Go!’.  I’m not sure if they’re making fun of ”Teen Titans Go!’ at this point or giving reverence to it.  But, the hilarity is a traumatic retelling of how the Doom Patrol died and is obviously a very traumatic stage of Gar’s life.

The mental trauma of the Goode goggles experience leaves Gar in a coma that ushers Perdita to call on M’gann and Conner.  M’gann tries to save Gar from his mental fugue state after they throw out the 911 medics that Perdita calls on to help as well.  As M’gann tries to save Gar, Gar relives all his childhood traumas at once. Ouch.  Gar finds his way back to reality, and out of his mind, with the help of M’gann.  He also reveals to M’gann and Conner that the Goode goggles are no good (sorry, couldn’t help it!) and Gretchen Goode is one of the bad guys. Finally, we have an unmasking of one of Darkseid’s goons.  We end the episode with Brion and Violet’s first kiss. Yeah, couples are a dime a dozen in this series.  They aren’t forced though so it’s all good.

Onward to episode 13 entitled, ‘True Heroes’, and it’s Halloween in Happy Harbor.  Brion and Violet dress up for the occasion.  Halloween seems to be a traditional celebration on this series. It’s very appropriate since we do have characters who have multiple identities.  By this time, Halo Geo-Force and Forager are comfortable with being ‘freaks’.  Victor is not quite on board with this term of endearment just yet.

But, Halloween is cancelled by Dick who calls on Brion and Jeff to head out to Greater Bialya with a solid lead on Tara Markov.  Forager joins them, but Halo has to stay home with Victor just in case he goes murderous and needs cleansing once again.  Dr. Jace stays with them.  Dick, Artemis, Conner, Brion, Jeff and Forager leave in the Bio Ship.  On the trip to Greater Bialya, we find out that the Goode goggles tests for the metagene and if it exists it tries to brainwash the meta to go to a depot: just like what almost happened to Gar.  They’re hitting a meta-human depot there. Also, we now a reference to Granny Goodness.  In DC comic book mythos, Granny Goodness is the sadistic trainer of the Female Furies on Apocalypse.

Additionally, intel on the Bialyan depot reveals a meta-human up for sale of the same age and possible powers as Tara Markov.  So, Dick and company decided to make their move.  Brion might just get to see his sister.  And, he does via a live feed courtesy of Dick’s bug projecting what is happening in the depot. But this isn’t a depot.  It’s a fight club for meta-human teens who are all enslaved by control chips. There’s a match, and Tara is one of the participants.  This angers Brion.  Dick tells him to cool it because Psimon, a powerful telepath, can sense his emotions and could blow their cover.  Brion is staying whelmed (love that word) at the behest of Conner.

Back at Happy Harbor, Violet has succumbed to her emotions because of concern for Brion.  This shuts down her powers.  The Father Box in Victor notices this, and makes his move to destroy the Mother Box abomination that is Halo. Dr. Jace is knocked out, and there’s trouble at home.

In Bialya, the team successfully rescue Tara with a winning bid for her after she loses her match.  I’ll put this out in the open.  I don’t trust Tara Markov.  In the comic books, she betrayed the Teen Titans as she was working with Deathstroke in the seminal ‘Judas Contract’ storyline.  She then committed suicide for she had gone insane.  Her escape was too easy.  I smell a Terra rat.

We shift back to Happy Harbor where Violet is hiding from Victor, possessed by the Father Box, who is now out to kill her.  Fortunately, Victor takes back a bit of control to prevent himself from killing the now powerless Halo.  Halo’s loss of powers does not last long as she realizes she can balance her emotions and use them as a source of strength.  This kids powerful and she shuts down the Father Box again.

With Tara Markov safe, the infiltration team sans Brion and Forager(who is piloting the Bio Ship) go back to destroy the depot.  There are still other meta-teens that need to be rescued and our heroes will not allow this place to operate any longer.  We get some cool(ha!) banter between Superboy and Icicle, Jr. regarding M’gann…until Superboy knocks him out.  Brion decides to help out in the battle upon the request of Tara who empathizes with the other captured teens.  With their help, Nightwing and the rest are able to escape with the captives as Lightning toasts Onslaught with everything he’s got. Wow.

Everyone is back at Happy Harbor now.  Halo has cleansed Victor of the Father Box influence.  Meta-human trafficking has been dealt a big blow.  Brion is back with Tara.  Tara reconciles with Dr. Jace after activating the metagene out of coercion from Baron Bedlam. Brion declares Violet to be his girlfriend to Violet’s delight. Everything is peachy.  Then, the other shoe drops. Tara contacts Deathstroke.  True to the comics, Dick and the others fail to notice Tara’s two-faced nature. I knew it. This will not end well.

As it stands, we might have two traitors on both sides on our hands.  You have Cassandra for the ‘Light’.  Then we have Tara for our ‘Young Justice’.  It’s a counterbalance that’ll have heavy emotional repercussions on both sides.  If it pans out the way I expect it.  Cassandra lives, and Tara dies. Both betray their current allegiances. Well, in the case of Tara, she was never aligned with Nightwing and company in the first place. I don’t know if that’s a fair exchange.

What I do know is it makes for a great story as we move into the second half of the series.  Relationships are building.  Plot lines are advancing.  The intrigue is still sustained, and there is still plenty of story to tell. All of this makes for great storytelling that balances out with outstanding animation.  The series hasn’t provided a letdown episode yet, and I don’t see that coming anytime soon if even ever.

That’s all for this week.  The hooks are still there with just enough payoff to satisfy the audience.  Well done.  Let’s hope we see Wally West for real  and alive in the future.  Till the next Boom Tube to adventure, see you around Happy Harbor.