We’re back post-SDCC and we got the first look at the trailer for Young Justice: Outsiders! It looks big and bombastic, there’s Outsiders and Markovia and New Gods and more. IF you’re following along with me and this is your first Young Justice experience, maybe don’t watch it yet as it spoils a bunch of stuff. But still it looks like the right amount of espionage, intrigue and darkness (unlike a certain F@$% Batman that we got at SDCC). Still no release date though.
Anyway we’re almost at the halfway point this week on our venture through Young Justice: Invasion as a part of the Multiversity 2018 Summer TV Binge. Aqualad and co. plan a home invasion of the cave, and things get dire as the secrets get weightier. Let’s dive in!
1. Edgelord Aqualad
We start off this week with Kaldur talking to Lagoon Boy and then sedating him. Black Manta tells his son that he’s gotta go through initiation 2.0 in order to be able to meet The Light, he agrees, and we’re off. The thing that always gets me in these scenes with Aqualad is just how scary, how intimidating, and how angry he looks. I mean I get that he’s trying to sell that he’s actually a villain and that he’s loyal to his father, but I am consistently struck by his tone, and his eyes. It’s the eyes in all these scenes that sell the acting, the way they are pointed down and it almost looks like he has black eye shadow. Aqualad has never been an overly ecstatic character, he had happy moments in season one, but he was always the most serious of the Team. The most calm, the most serene. Here it’s just malace. It’s crazy how quick and believable the change is. Maybe that’s a win for the animation or Khary Payton’s voice acting, but I feel it, I think he could be evil. And it makes Wally’s outburst at the end of the episode justified.
2. What’s with this show and skeezy dudes?
We move from their to Kaldur, the Terror Twins (the ones Superboy and Miss M impersonated and had their weird incest-y kiss thing), Icicle Jr., and Tigress who is Artemis in disguise, as they head off for their mission. Icicle Jr. tries to put the moves on the sister and it’s just…really gross. Also him telling her that he’s had a thing for her since the first time they met even though that was Miss M is just all kinds of gross and off. I am not quite sure what this show’s obsession with skeevy guys is. Last season I made a lot of comments about how Wally was way immature and too horny and too much, and he’s come a long way and may be the stand out this season. But man it just…is nah good.
3. Home invasion
Aqualad’s squad try to hit Blue Beetle and Impulse outside El Paso and they manage to get away, but lure the aggressors to Mount Justice where they get the best of everyone there. They take out Beast Boy real quick alongside Wolf and Superboy and get to Nightwing, Impulse, and Blue Beetle quicker than they should. The whole scene with Impulse and hearing him say he’s “moded” was really funny. Besides that, this whole segment is intense as Aqualad and co. take out literally all the Team. I’m wondering why they didn’t call for back up/where was everyone else? But I digress.
Aquaman pulls a bomb like he did on Molina, and you have to think he’s pulling double agent duty just like he was there, but again, he just looks like he’s going through with and gonna blow the place. Beetle manages to escape and we realize the bomb is a decoy, but him and Tigress blow it anyway. Her look of sadness and remorse for the place isn’t great. She’s sad, he feels nothing. Ho boi.
4. Mal’s relationship problems
The side plot with Mal Duncan and Karen Beecher (Bumblebee) as Mal wants to spend time with Karen just like they did in high school seemed a little out of place to me. Mal wants to take Karen out for a night but they’re both busy superhero-ing and if she’s not doing that she’s working for Ray Palmer in Ivy Town on some project. Guy really can’t catch a break. It only links up with the main plot as Mal sees Mount Justice blow up at the end of the episode and has to rescue Superboy, Nightwing and Wolf. In the comics, Mal has had many monikers, Vox, the Herald, and Guardian. Maybe this sense of helplessness seeing his home destroyed will spurn some character development, because we haven’t gotten much out of him so far.
Continued below5. Necessity
We get to the Hall of Justice at the end, Wally shows up to see Dick and he’s pissed. And he has every right to be, the cave is gone and Artemis could very well be in a lot of danger. Dick gives excuse after excuse, Kaldur gave them a flash drive, he had to keep his cover, we have to stop the invasion (from the aliens that are the Light’s partner that we got a short glimpse of this episode). Wally’s not having it. What if Kaldur is a triple agent? We don’t know.
This level of intrigue, secrecy, deception, it seems more Batman than it does Nightwing or Dick Grayson. But Batman and some of the other League are in space trying to answer for their crimes during the 16 hours. Maybe someone needs to fill that void? This episode took everything away from the Team, but it got Kaldur to meet the Light. You know what they say, always darkest before the dawn. Good thing that’s the title of next week’s episode.
That’s a wrap, we’ll be back next week as we hit halfway and maybe the tables turn. Sound off in the comments below and we’ll see you then!
