After a somewhat disappointing episode from last week, this week’s episode of Young Justice returns to form with the story quality we expect.
Official synopsis:
“When the Reach forms a devil’s alliance with Lexcorp, Robin leads a squad undercover to investigate.”
If you have not seen this episode yet and don’t want to be spoiled, do not continue reading!
Review:
The opening of “True Colors” was interesting, as we saw Bumblebee and the Atom trying to remove the Scarab from Jaime’s back from the inside. This concept with the Scarab is getting more intriguing as the story progresses; it’s getting more complex, and was presented very well visually. At the beginning of this season, I wasn’t expecting to see the big role that the Blue Beetle currently has. It seems that Blue is going to somehow be a big key to resolving this whole invasion by the end of this season.
The return of Black Beetle was appreciated, and Kevin Grevioux deserves praise for bringing such a terrifying and malicious voice to this character. What I didn’t expect was the appearance of the so-called “Green Beetle,” which I haven’t found anything about outside of the show. The Martian Beetle was visually astonishing, and it makes the character arc for Blue even more interesting now that he apparently has someone that can guide him through this.
Robin’s role as the leader for team Alpha was a nice thing to see, since it shows some growth from the mission he had with Lagoon Boy and Blue Beetle in the season premiere. I have mixed feelings about Arsenal’s role, though. Arsenal was being very obnoxious, which could just be his “bad boy” phase since his awakening, but it could have something to with that cybernetic arm. While it was fun to watch the arm in action, something that’s bothered me since “Satisfaction” is the fact that it comes from Lex Luthor, greatest criminal mastermind of all time, and he still hasn’t realized the potential danger in accepting it. With Lex working with The Light, it’s possible that he could be using Arsenal as his eyes and ears through the arm. The heroes should acknowledge that they have a potential danger in their team, though it looks like Robin has noticed that.
Speaking of The Light, it was very satisfying as a DC fan to see so many of the DC villains in this episode, with or without any dialogue. The thing that intrigued me was the discussion between Lex and Vandal Savage, about forming their own team of people that were abducted. Are we getting a “young injustice” team? Because I would be up for that.
“True Colors” also did something for the Aqualad story that I wasn’t expecting to see this early: bringing in Psimon to fix his damaged mind. This is an unexpected page-turner in that storyline, as this just changed the game completely for our heroes. Now that he’ll have access to all of Aqualad’s memories, they’ll know that his loyalty to his father and the villains is just an act. They’ll also be aware of Tigress’s identity as Artemis, putting her in great danger. I always expected that they wouldn’t be able to keep those secrets a mystery for the entire season, but Psimon was an unexpected element, and makes the villains that much more threatening and powerful while upping the stakes.
The absence of Miss Martian was something I missed, but with everything that we got in “True Colors”, there wouldn’t had been any place for her. Overall, this was a great episode with the fantastic story quality and action that the show does best.
Odds & Ends:
- Despite not having any dialogue, the appearance of Deathstroke (who is also a recurring character on another ongoing DC television show, Arrow) marks the character’s first appearance on the show. The character looks amazing, and hopefully we’ll get to see him being a more physical threat for the heroes, and getting dialogue.
- The appearance of Jonathan Kent marks his first appearance on the show. I was actually surprised that he’d be alive in this universe.
- This was technically the first appearance of the real Roy Harper’s other hero identity, Arsenal, and with it came a horrible haircut. Seriously, I loved his previous hair look. And where is Red Arrow/Clone Roy?
- I wonder what Vandal meant by, “The Reach’s drink contains everything that the Reach needs the human body to need.”
- We got to see the classic (and nostalgiac) “Justice League” logo from the Justice League/Justice League Unlimited.
- Best quote in the episode: “All Martians watch television.”
Young Justice airs on Saturdays, 10:30 AM on the DC Nation block on Cartoon Network.
1 Comment
Keep up the good reviews! It’s always refreshing to read your reviews, because it’s well structured. Thanks you for noticing stuffs and your opinions on the episodes.