This episode of Young Justice takes a very dark and creepy turn. Focusing on Jamie Reyes, the current Blue Beetle, we head over to his hometown where a friend of his, Tye seems to be on the run and shortly after a panicked phone call to Jamie, vanishes without a trace. Jamie, nervous about his transient friend heads over to visit Tye’s mother. Once there, he is confronted by her boyfriend Maurice, a brute of a man who asserts his authority that he has nothing to do with the disappearance of Tye, nor does he care where Tye goes. His mother cowers from him and disgusted, Jamie leaves to search on his own. All the while his Scarab wants to kill, torture, and atomically disassemble everyone in the room.
The Scarab seems to increase its mean streak, often questioning why Jamie allows everyone to live. The Scarab would rather use more efficient methods to blow things up and annihilate anything in their way.
The young titans infiltrate the nation of Bialya once again, and discover that Queen Bee is somehow back in command and of course, up to no good by enslaving citizen using mind control. They realize her mid control is limited to men, but yet it seems to have a farther reach this time. Someone else must be helping. Nightwing sends an all-girl team to Bialya to break up the criminal party. Batgirl, Wonder Girl, Bumblebee, and the ever-increasingly dangerous Miss Martian are sent in for the mission. Wonder Girl doubts her powers, calling herself “Wonder Woman-lite” and lacks confidence to get the mission done. Batgirl and Miss Martian lead the mission and order Wonder Girl to stay back in case something goes wrong. While the other three girls infiltrate the base, she spots Psimon walking about the premises. Unable to telepathically inform her teammate due to the presence of the mental mastermind, she quickly flies overhead to find any of her teammates. Unfortunately, a henchman staring at the sky sees the flying wonder, and quickly sounds the alarm, alerting everyone of the intruder.
Jamie visits Tye’s grandfather, Mr. Longshadow. The aging Chief tells Jamie that Tye is a wanderer, just like his ancestors and must find his own path. The Chief tells Jamie that while the search for Tye will become deeper, Jamie must search deep within himself to calm the conflict of two storms inside him. Not entirely satisfied with his visit, Jamie leaves, and vows to confront Maurice.
The girls meanwhile are having tough luck on their own. Mammoth, Shimmer, Devastation, Icicle, and Psimon are fighting back and hard, protecting this secret underground lair. This site appears to be ancient, containing a mythical, magical secret. The girls lose the fight and Batgirl is captured. The three girls regroup and plan out their next attack and rescue.
Investigating Maurice, the shady boyfriend of Tye’s mother, Jamie confronts him face-to-face to learn the truth. Jamie reveals that Tye is the next-in-line to become the Chief of their clan, and accuses Maurice of trying to eliminate him. The Scarab starts screaming to kill Maurice, and a cannon starts to form on his arm again. Jamie suppresses the alien artifact, as Maurice tells Jamie he has no intention of ever leading their tribe, since he would rather sell the land, or build casinos to make lots of money. Jamie discovers inside Maurice’s shed, bootleg DVD and electronic equipment. Maurice laughs it off as his business, but Jamie vows to turn him in to the police. The hunt for Tye continues.
The girls stage their rescue, as Miss Martian impersonates Shimmer while Batgirl is rescued. Psimon once again goes to battle with M’gann, and they take the fight to the mental plane. Psimon however tells his cohorts to kill the martian girl while they are locked in battle as she will not see them coming. The plan is foiled while the other three girls commandeer a plane and fight off the villains. Psimon, realizing his plan failed left himself open to a physical attack, where Bumblebee blasts him in the head, and Miss Martian throws him across the room with her telekinesis. She then attacks the real Shimmer and renders her mentally inert as well with the same mind invading attack, and discovers more information about their adversaries plans. The girls manage to save a group of abducted teenagers from Queen Bee and escape.
However, Queen Bee reveals that the girls missed another group of hostages, one of which being Tye. Bee also reveals these teenagers are to be shipped off to their new partner for experimentation.
A very dark episode. Kidnapping teenagers, and teasing domestic abuse?! Young Justice has been pushing the envelope with how far and how mature each episode can get. In previous episodes there have been passionate expressions of love, brutal fighting, and near death experiences. Now, we get mental lobotomy courtesy of an angry M’gann, death of aliens, and now broaching topics like abuse? Wow. I am enjoying each episode, but this last once made me cringe a bit. This is supposed to be a show not just for adults, but for kids too, right?
I was surprised out of all four of the girls, Batgirl was the one who was captured. She seemed to be the most prepared and skilled, yet she was caught with ease. I felt the character explanation of Wonder Girl was a bit rushed and forced, but given the fast-paced episode and this being her second main appearance I am willing to let it slide. I feel like other characters got the time to develop and become familiar to viewers, yet Wonder Girl has not been given that chance.
Once again, Jamie has trouble controlling the Scarab. Maybe the alien artifact is feeding on some deep rooted anger in Reyes? Or maybe the Scarab is trying to fill the head of the young hero with thoughts of evil and annihilation?
All in all, a very good and entertaining episode.
Loading tweets...
Recent Comments