We’re moving quickly through our 2018 Summer TV Binge of Young Justice and after two weeks of set up we’re chugging along in an action-packed, Trinity filled blockbuster of an episode. Aside from season one’s finale, this might be the biggest episode of this show so far. Let’s dive in!
1. No Bibbo, but Bibbo
We open the episode as the Team tracks down another Krolotean in disguise (I’m singing the Transformers theme in my head) at Bibbo’s, a diner here and not the Ace O’ Clubs bar, gotta keep it PG. Bumblebee and Blue Beetle start after the alien as he flees, disturbed by Jaime being there (hmmm) and then out of nowhere BAM! The real Bibbo takes him down. “There’s only one Bibbo,” he tells him. Gotta love that cameo life. I love that this show keeps building and bringing in all these elements and we are nowhere near over.
This whole episode is an odd moment thanks though to the reaction the Kroloteans have to Beetle. This comes up again later when the Kroloteans are talking about their “Competitor.” This sounds like Beetle is about to come to the fore with all of his fancy space comic connections. Bring it on.
2. “Thank you father”
Been wondering where Kaldur was? Well he went full turncoat!
This was not a surprise to anyone I imagine who read the “Brightest Day” series in 2010 which followed the ramifications of “Blackest Night,” from Geoff Johns and co. where the comic version of Kaldur is revealed to have Black Manta as a father, an idea carried over also into Rebirth after that version of Aqualad disappeared during The New 52. Comics, what’re you going to do? This series debuted in 2012, so the idea that Black Manta might be Kaldur’s father was out there, still, I remember watching this back in 2012 before I really got into comics and I was shocked by the reveal. So much had changed in five years, I never expected the leader of the Team to flip, even more so over the death of Tula who Nightwing called Aquagirl. It looked like in the season one finale that Rocket and Kaldur might hit it off, but old love never dies (and Nightwing and Zatanna don’t look like they’re still together here). A lot has happened clearly in five years. Who else is dead and what else has changed? Where are Wally and Artemis?
3. Trinity and Trinitites
The whole battle scene in this episode is spectacular. I love this kind of team up action. We get the entire Bat-Family (Nightwing, Batman, Batgirl, and Robin) all taking down Black Manta’s goons. They’re teamed up with Aquaman and Lagoon Boy before Superman and Superboy and Wonder Woman and Wonder Girl. Watching the relationships and admiration between all these various characters is a real treat as there is so much respect and trust between the masters and apprentices. Wonder Girl’s fangirling, but then admiration Wonder Woman gives her with that sly smile is just gold. We don’t get a lot of superhero/sidekick action in this present age of comics, but if it had to happen, this is the way to go. Plus the scene at the end as the League members who attacked Rimbor leave to face justice for their crimes is sweet, and seems well-deserved following this battle. So much love to go around and I am all here for it.
4. This is Superman
Speaking of Superman, this is how he’s done right. I had some issues with Superman’s characterization early on in the show, mostly as it related to Superboy and his aloofness and anger with his clone. All of that here is gone though and I love it. From Superman trying to save the Kroloteans from the bomb that Aqualad’s mysterious helper set off that they’re unaware of, to the way him and Superboy pull off a battle combo together, there’s something about this Superman that feels right. Maybe five more years of maturity really did it for the Man of Steel. The best moment is when he calls Superboy “Little brother” there at the end of the episode as they are heading off to the trial. He just looks so childlike and doting, almost sort of like the dumbfounded expressions the Gorons have in all the old Legend of Zelda games from the N64. It’s great. Superman’s back and he’s good again! Or really he’s here for an episode and then the League is off to space. But you get the idea.
Continued below5. The Competitor and The Light
So Black Manta has replaced Ocean Master, where he went we have no clue, but The Light is still in charge and still scheming in the background pulling the strings on the Kroloteans, all the while cooperating with a new group, the aforementioned Competitor. I’ve said it before (and here and also here) The Light are great villains. Consisting still of Klarion, The Brain, Luthor, Queen Bee, Ra’s al Guhl, Vandal Savage, and now Black Manta, they are consistently at least five steps ahead of the League and the Team. I don’t even think either realize their villains are a coalition and it’s been over five years since the Watchtower attack. That’s how good they are. It’s nice to have villains that seem formidable, ones that you think actually have a chance of winning. There are stakes. And they are really high. And we have 17 more episodes to go.
That’s it for this week folks, sound off in the comments below, and come back next week for as the plot thickens and the mystery continues.
