Round 2 of the Young Justice: Outsiders episode drop ends on a high note with another one-and-done adventure that sets the stage for round 3 in “Rescue Op.” If part one of this chunk was fumbling the where do we go from here question, and part two was about learning there’s no going back, this episode is about how to move forward, to build something where you belong. We get League of Shadows drama (with much unexpected) as Brion continues to search for his sister Tara. Friendships are formed, loyalties are drawn, and by the end, the Outsiders are formed. Let’s dive in!
1. “Oh that’s a boulder. Oh wait THAT’s. OH $#@!”
That’s not a quote from the episode that was me as I watching this wonderful 22 minutes unfold. There were a few times I audibly expletived. Good thing I was in a library! *grimace emoji*
Anyway, this episode starts with Black Spider harassing someone in the town of Al-Qawiya, capital city of Bialya (yes I had to look that up). He’s voiced once again by the former The Spectacular Spider-Man‘s Peter Parker himself Josh Keaton in hilarious evil Spidey archetype fashion. Seriously his mannerisms are all if Spider-Man was bad. He’s chasing this guy through the streets and then all of a sudden A FRICKIN BOULDER FALLS ON HIM. This show is really taking death seriously. You think it’s Spidey…but it’s nottttttt. It’s Tara. She’s a member of the League of Shadows. We are going there. I had no idea that she’d show up this quickly, or in this capacity and not in the intergalactic war going on but here we are. This show continues to be additive, continues to build, and is doing so with “Outsiders” characters while also maintaining everything that has come before and keeping the tension of the coming Apokalips/Earth war in the front of your mind.
2. Oracle
We finally get a look at Barbara Gordon in this episode as she’s been feeding information to Dick quietly, and yes, she’s 100% comic book Oracle. Babs shows up in an apartment that apparently her and Dick live in together in. They’re clearly in love and everything about the Dick/Babs pairing makes me happy as they are perfect for each other. I am curious why it seems like Dick continues to hide the fact that Babs is feeding him information from everyone else. Do the others know that Babs is in a wheelchair? Did a version of “The Killing Joke” happen in this show? Something different? Worse? Does this add to the list of reasons Dick is tired of team’s and working with people? I’m sure these questions and more will be addressed as we continue, for now, I’m glad Babs is doing things, and excited that her role as Oracle has been and will be pretty prominent. And that her and Dick are seemingly happy together. That’s really all I want in my DCU headcanon.
3. “Isn’t it obvious?”
So we get a long sequence where it seems like Brion and Halo are hitting it off, and then they’re introduced to Forager who Brion kind of goes full crappy human and exoticizes Forager cause he’s not human-presenting. People suck. Anyway Forager brushes it off, and very quickly, after we are reintroduced to bioship who is apparently M’gann and Conner’s car because they’re normies, Forager, Halo, and Brion are declared to be family. It’s super cute and super adorable, especially Forager and Halo. Brion’s a jerk (convince me otherwise). Both their assertions that bioship and Sphere are girls and their friendship/relationship with them is cute. Doesn’t take long for Brion to decide to put them all in incredible danger that they are in no way ready for on Infinity Island confronting the League of Shadows. But hey, his sister might be there, so he deems it worth it. Halo “dies” again in the most gruesome way possible, and Dick and co. have to launch a rescue mission. Not Brion’s finest hour. But, it does lead to more of a closeness with this group, and leads us to this discovery…
4. Not the usual suspects
Ra’s al Guhl is no longer in charge of the League of Shadows. Dick and everyone fight the old Sensei and a handful of other ninja baddies, but Ra’s puts a stop to it, telling Dick to go back to the “Detective.” Brion is yelling for Tara, and Ra’s lets the bombshell slip: he’s ousted from The Light, and the League is no longer his. Dick then packs up to leave and we’re left wondering who the new leader is. What we’re then shown, in the most surprisingly and expletive-inducing fashion, is that is not the usual suspects. After the heroes depart from the island, Talia walks out holding a baby who is presumed to be Damian, and the ninja with the mask hiding his face says “Grayson” implying Jason Todd isn’t as dead as we thought in this universe. This show just keeps being fun and full of surprises. It also leaves me with no guesses about who’s running the show for Ra’s at this point after knocking out the top three contenders. Well unless it’s Lady Shiva. But still, I audibly gasped that this episode knocked out my three guesses in a matter of seconds. I also can tell, this isn’t gonna bode well for the newly formed Batman Inc. God this show is setting up so many conflicts I love it.
Continued below5. “We can remain outside together”
And with that, Dick’s leading a new squad. We got Black Lightning, Superboy, Tigress, and Miss Martian as the adults and Geo-Force, Halo, and Forager as the kids who need to be mentored. Oracle of course is providing key assistance in the wings, and Dr. Jace is doing…well whatever her and Jefferson are doing. We have a new group made up of exiles and people who have either been pushed or placed themselves on the margins. Halo also gets told her given name and identity, but chooses to go by Violet as Brion had called her that earlier and she decides she needs a “secret identity.” It also of course works out because the original Halo’s name was Violet. Just keeping things consistent. All of this, the new team, the new mission, new people, it’s exciting, and it feels similar to the impetus the original Team was forged in the first place. We’ve spent three episodes acclimating ourselves to Brion and Halo, as well as watch the young adults try to be mentors, just like the League were mentors to them. We’re getting generations. We’re getting a fully fleshed out world. We’re building to the larger conflict but doing necessary and important work on the way there. This is what I’ve been waiting for for six years.
That’s all for this week’s drop folks, but tune in Saturday as we start to look a whole new batch of episodes! Sound off in the comments below and let us know what you’ve thought about this round of episodes!
