#the timing in captions isnt like extremely accurate

[delicatepointofview]

for @ohdeklo

[sebeth]

Young Justice: Welcome To Happy Harbor, Drop-Zone, What’s The Story

Warning, Spoilers Ahead…

 Episode 3: “Welcome To Happy Harbor”

The episode begins with Speedy interrupting one of Brick’s shipments.  Robin, Kid Flash, and Aqualad soon join the party.

Brick gets cocky and pays for it.  I’d completely forgotten about Brick’s appearance in this episode.  We see Brick in the trailer for the third season.  I bet he appears in Arrowette’s origin/recruitment episode.  It would be a nice callback to the first season.

The boys attempt to recruit Speedy to the team but he’s a manly man who doesn’t need to be part of a team.

“Recognized Robin B-01, Kid Flash B-03”

You know Batman programmed the codes and was all “Robin will be the first”.  It’s also a nice nod to Robin’s status as the first sidekick.

“Mission assignments are the Batman’s responsibility.” – Yep, poor Red is the one who has to reign in their shenanigans.  This Red doesn’t know how easy he has it – there should be a crossover between the Red of the cartoon universe and the Red of the comic book universe.  Comic book-Red can terrify Cartoon-Red with tales of his Conner and Bart.

“This team is not a social club.” – Kaldur would be the one most adamant about assignments and not wasting time on socializing.  He entered the Atlantean military at 12 years old.  He’s had structure and duty drilled into him at a young age.

“I cannot read his mind.” – Ooh, foreshadowing of M’gann’s later abuse of her powers?  That is a pretty clear violation of privacy for no other reason than convenience.  On the one hand, I cut M’gann some slack because even at 45 years old she is still a teenager by her race’s standards.  Teenagers don’t always make the best decisions and she’s obviously attempting to impress her teammates.  On the other hand, J’onn is a very ethical telepath and I’m positive he would have coached M’gann on the proper uses of telepathy.

“We all know what you’re thinking right now.” – Wally the horn dog is taken straight out of his solo comic in the late 1980s.

Wally and Dick competing over M’gann’s attention is hilarious.  I don’t think Dick event wants M’gann’s attention as much as he wants to annoy Wally.  Meanwhile, Superboy is not amused by their shenanigans.  At all.

Kaldur continues to be the only “adult” in the room.

“Granny Jones’ recipe from episode 17” – Subtle foreshadowing of an element that wouldn’t become prominent until much later in the season.

Wally needs to learn subtleness in his flirtations.

“Here, your powers are an extreme invasion of privacy.” – Wouldn’t that have been one of the first things J’onn would have gone over with her?”  

Superboy would be highly sensitive to telepathic intrusions due to his experiences in Cadmus.  If your entire upbringing revolved around telepathic manipulation, you are sure not going to want anyone randomly popping into your head.

“Helo, Megan.” – What we thought was a catchphrase is more foreshadowing.

The Martian bio-ship is cool.

“Fast with his feet. Not so much with his mouth.”

“Dude!”

Yep, Dick is having too much fun giving Wally a bad time.

Kaldur takes the lead and reaches out to Superboy.  Even before it was made official, the writers did a great job laying the foundation for Aqualad to become the leader of the team.

“Mimicking boys is a lot harder.” – Would it be?  Do Martians even have gender?  Their natural forms – green or white – are basically androgynous.

“Are tornadoes common in New England?” – A pretty sensible question.  Kaldur lives underwater, Conner’s a newborn, Megan’s an alien, and Wally’s from the Midwest.  Dick is the only one who lives in New England area.

The team battles Mr. Twister and comes out on the losing end.  I’ve always felt Red Tornado was one of the most formidable heroes around. How do you fight a tornado?

“That was quite turbing.” – Dick’s mangling of the English language is thrown back into his face.

Megan deduces (wrongly) that Mr. Twister is the Red Tornado.  To be fair, it was an obvious guess.

“Stay out of our way.” – Is this Conner’s catchphrase?  This is the second time in three episodes he’s stated a variation of it.

The rematch with Mr. Twister is going as well as the first round.

“First thing Batman taught me.” – Yeah, I can see Bruce believing “never be without a weapon” is a valuable life lesson.  

Where did Dick hide the utility belt? It’s rather bulky.

Megan devises a plan and the team makes short work of Mr. Twister.

“Cool.  Souvenir.” – Wally begins his collection of trophies.

The scientist at the end is Dr. T.O. Morrow – his search for Red Tornado sets up a future episode.

“Sorry.  I’ll strive to be more accurate.”

“And more respectful.”

Yep, Dick and Conner could both use lessons in manners and tact.

Conner mutters an awkward “Sorry” to Megan.  Judging from his expression, it pained him in his soul to do so.

Episode 4: “Drop-Zone”

For those curious, the first three episodes of the cartoon, along with the first five issues of the comic, took place from July 4th through the 12th.

“Drop-Zone” begins on June 19th – Kobra has forcibly taken control of Bane’s Venom-production facilities on Santa Prisca.  Bane is not happy.

Bane battles Mammoth for control of the island and loses.

I like Kobra and his minions visual design.  Very nice. I’m not sold on Shimmer or Mammoth (pre-transformation.”

We flip ahead to June 22nd.  Two possibilities for why we are now in June – which is before July, not after.  One – the creators messed up and put June in the captions instead of July.  Two – we skipped a year between episodes 3 and 4.  I’m going with the first option as the team still hasn’t elected a leader. Pretty sure you can’t have a year’s worth of adventures without an established leader.

That said, I’m pausing “Drop-Zone” and switching to the comic as the fifth issue takes place on July 20th. I’m trying to keep this in chronological order.

Issue 5: “What’s The Story?”

Wally is at the HQ – bored and flirthing with Megan.  Wally suggest a camp fire.  Megan enthusiastically agrees but dashes Wally’s hopes by inviting the rest of the team.

Tents are set, fires lit, and smores made.

Dick tells Wally to tone down his flirting as it’s “kinda bordering on the creepy.” Yeah, Wally isnt’ exactly smooth.

Conner’s not impressed with camping: “Sleep in these flimsy things called tents and sit around the fire?”

Dick scolds Wally again: “You’re about as subtle as a train wreck.”

Megan wants to learn more about her teammates.

Aqualad begins.  Here are the highlights:

·         Grew up in Shayeris, a city of Atlantis

·         Atlantis has many people, many cultures

·         Completed his education at 12 and began mandatory service in the Atlantean military

·         At 14 years old - Transferred to the prestigious Conservatory of Science in Poseidonis

·         Queen Mera is the headmistress of the Conservatory

·         Met Garth and Tula at the Conservatory

·         Garth Kaldur saved Aquaman’s life during an attack by the Ocean Master

·         Aquaman offered the boys a chance to become his protégé and later carry on his “suface duties” while he focused on running the Kingdom

·         Kaldur leapt at the chance while Garth continued his magical studies

Nice origin recap for Kaldur.  I love the inclusion of Garth and Tula as it is a nice nod to Arthur’s original sidekicks.

Wally goes next. Highlights:

·         Jay Garrick is still the original Flash!  Yes!  I love the nods to the depth of the DC Universe. Modern creators don’t seem to care about characters and continuity but Greg Weisman and company flawlessly incorporate all aspects and elements of DC’s history.

·         Barry’s next.

·         Wally desperately wants to be Kid Flash but Barry is “No! No partners! I don’t want the responsibility!”

·         Wally’s all “Screw that.  I do what I want.” and recreates the chemical combination that caused Barry to turn into the Flash.

·         Wally as a science nerd is unique to the Young Justice universe but it’s a nice addition to the character.

·         After a few weeks, Wally gains super-speed.  He campaigns to be Barry’s new partner.  Barry’s not thrilled but agrees as long as Wally does “exactly as I say, when I say it.”

The writers did an excellent job of establishing exactly why the heroes allowed the teenagers to run around in costumes:

·         Aquaman is training a protégé to assume his role as surface world ambassador/protector.

·         Batman doesn’t want Dick to turn out like him.  Bruce doesn’t want Dick’s “inner light” to face out.

·         Barry had no choice as Wally was hell-bent on being a hero.  Better to have Wally by his side than face the danger alone.

Roy is too busy being a manly loner to discover Ollie’s reasons.  Traditionally, Ollie doesn’t make the best life choices so it could have been the more typical “well, letting a kid run around in a mask and punch criminals seemed like a good idea at the time.”

Robin passes on story-telling time.  At first, Wally ribs Dick about Batman not letting him say anything but realizes he’s rubbing salt in the wound and passes the story-telling baton to Conner.

Conner doesn’t say much. He mentions the G-Gnomes and the containment pod.  Conner states he never thought for himself until his rescue.

Conner states the one thing that’s always on his mind is “Destroying Superman.

And with that bombshell, I’m off to work.

Up next, we continue story time and resume “Drop-Zone”.