Ahh, nothing says it’s not really summer anymore like the idea that we’re reviewing a frickin’ Halloween episode. Oh well, chronology is chronology. As part of our not so aptly titled Multiversity Summer Binge, here are our thoughts on the eighteenth episode that spins its wheels for Halloween and throws in a couple minutes to try to justify it being a part of the season with a little more traitor talk. Let’s dive in.
1. Spooky scary!
So, the whole conceit of this episode is that it’s Halloween and the team is headed to a dance at Megan and Connor’s school, which, of course, is a costume party. Artemis and Zatanna leave, though after Artemis realizes Miss M and Superboy are dating, which I don’t understand how she doesn’t already know that, or why it would make her mad because we established last episode she’s into Wally…also, Wally goes back to unnecessary horniness with the line “You can eat my brains anytime.” It’s a fun idea for a one-off, which is a little ruined by point three, made up for by Zombie Captain Marvel, and misses the perfect opportunity for Batman/Robin Halloween fun.
2. Harm is a bad anime character
Oh boy, hyper masculine, pure of heart, but super evil Harm is the main villain of this episode, and he’s really a bad anime character rip off. Which, I think, is a conscious choice on the part of the writers because he’s voiced by a voice actor (Benjamin Diskin) who has some anime credit. But yeah, this guy looks and acts like he could be a frontman in a Final Fantasy game. And not in a good way
3. Why is Roy here?
As mentioned above, there’s a few minute clip of Batman, Robin, Aqualad, Red Tornado, and Red Arrow talking about whether or not the team has a traitor again, and it feels really out of place, only serving the continuing idea that Artemis has a secret. Why didn’t Robin at least go the party? Why does Batman think Superboy is the mole? And why the hell is Roy in this meeting since he isn’t on the team, plus Robin for that matter, since he isn’t the team leader. It’s a tiny attempt to make this episode more than a one-off themed thing. Why couldn’t we just go all in with the fun? This few minutes would’ve been fine with the Forever People stuff last episode that should’ve been it’s own episode. Perhaps, they were originally connected.
4. Marvin v. Marvin the Martian
So the other plot of the episode, minus Zatanna and Artemis fighting Harm, is Wally, Megan, and Connor at the dance and a kid named Marvin trying to prank the school claiming there’s a Martian invasion. The members of the team prank and scare him, and Megan morphs into an outline of Marvin the Martian to “attack” Superboy and Wally. It’s really funny watching this kid get scared and fess up. Totally opposite in tone to the scary bits at the end of the episode. Love the corporate synergy, but again, this is two episodes in a row of polar opposite tones.
5. House of Secret(s)
So the Abel’s House of Secrets magic shop is a fun Easter egg of DC Comic lore as the biblical Abel is the first inhabitant of the House of Secrets, while his brother Cain lived in the House of Mystery. Both Houses had anthology horror titles for awhile, and Cain, Abel and the houses have appeared in other DC stories, namely Neil Gaiman’s “Sandman” and in The New 52 “Justice League Dark.” So cool.
But, as the other scary plot of the episode continues to unfold, we realize that Harm sacrificed his sister Greta to make himself pure. Forget Final Fantasy, this is some Kingdom Hearts level shit. The only words Greta can speak are “secret” because the last thing she saw when she died was the word “Secret” on the “House of Secrets” sign with the “s” burned out. Wow that’s dark. I get it, Halloween is both hokey and scary, but please pick one.
That’s all for this week, sound off in the comments and join us next week for more magic fun time.
