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Monday, February 14, 2011

Young Justice - "Infiltrator"

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Episode Six: "Infiltrator" - Airdate 02/11/11

by Andy Luckett

On this week's Young Justice, a new member joins the team, but what is her allegiance?
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Episode six of Young Justice begins on Infinity Island, where Speedy, now calling himself Red Arrow, rescues a captive scientist, Dr. Serling Roquette, from the League of Shadows. However, in rescuing the scientist, he must leave behind a highly important piece of technology which is the kidnapper's real prize.
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After the opening, we check in on Happy Harbor and Mount Justice, where the team is enjoying a relaxing day at the beach; except for Kid Flash, who for some reason is the only one in school.
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At the end of his day, Wally shows up at Happy Harbor ready to party, only to find the team in the middle of a mission meeting with Red Tornado, Batman, and Green Arrow, who introduces his new protege, Artemis.
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Red Arrow appears, none too pleased about his former mentor having a new partner. He outlines the situation of the kidnapped scientist's technology, a nanotech cloud that destroy anything but can also steal data from computer servers.
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The team assembles at the local high school where Dr. Roquette is in hiding. Their mental link, set up by Miss Martian, reveals some confused and resentful feelings directed at Artemis, who some see as a newbie trying to break onto the team in Speedy's place. Sure enough, an assassin is soon dispatched to the school, leading to an exciting confrontation with Aqualad and Artemis, who are able to chase her off. Unfortunately, Robin and Superboy call in from Philadelphia, reporting that the League of Shadows has used the nanotech cloud to steal data from S.T.A.R. Labs.

Back in the high school, more Shadow assassins appear, redetermined to take out Dr. Roquette before she can finish uploading a virus to destroy the nanotech cloud. Among bickering with Artemis, Kid Flash and Miss Martian defeat two of the assassins, one of whom does a great Spider-Man impression. Finally confronting the main assassin, Artemis is surprised to recognize her under the Cheshire Cat mask. As the episode ends, the team thanks Artemis for her help and welcomes her to the team. However, we then see a League of Shadows operative communing with "The Light", the mysterious cabal that have made an appearance in almost every episode so far. They tell the operative that "they now have an asset on the inside". Dun-dun-DUHHHH!

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I enjoyed this episode. Artemis has been teased for so long in the promotional materials that I wondered when they would bring her to the forefront. It sets up an intriguing mystery for the future, as she seems to have secrets known to The Light and The JLA. I have to say, however, I'm still a little confused as to why she is called 'Artemis'. As far as I can remember, there was a blonde female Speedy in the comics, and an Arrowette as well, but the only Artemis I remember was an Amazon that took up the Wonder Woman mantle for a while.

Aqualad is very active in this episode, not only directing the team as a leader and level head, but also getting in on the action as well. His Atlantean super-dense skin is shown off, as he shrugs off throwing stars and arrows to the chest (poisoned with jellyfish toxin, no less) without much trouble. It really feels that the writer's are interest in showing him as the team's natural leader and a powerhouse, and I appreciate that.

To be honest, I was a bit unsure about this show at first, and I would prefer to see more of the Justice League appear, but the themes and the characters are growing on me, and I look forward to see what's next.

5 comments:

Ken O said...

I think if they made the character Speedy or Arrowette people would have a harder time believing that she may be the Light's spy. Being an unknown, it is easier to suspect her.

Adama said...

Most of them have justifications for not being in school. Miss Martian is an alien, Aqualad a citizen of Atlantis, and a little older than the others, so he may be done with school. Connor is a clone who had all his schooling downloaded into his brain. The only one without an excuse is Robin. Maybe his school is shut down because a superhero fight destroyed half of it last episode.

So far, I've loved Young Justice, and I appreciate that Speedy is a supporting character, even if they did choose to replace him with a brand new character when suitable existing substitutes were available.

Joseph Brian Scott said...

Great show, but can they please have an adventure in the daylight? Some of the scenes in "Infiltrator" were so murky that I couldn't tell who was doing what.

I do think that this new Aqualad is being handled very well. Giving him a weapon was a stroke of genius, allowing him to contribute more when away from water; and mentioning little details such as his partial immunity to jellyfish toxin makes the fanboy in me get all giddy. He did kind of drop the ball in this one, though, letting Cheshire get to the doctor. The only reason the doc's still alive is due to some silly plot contrivance.

Anonymous said...

why is serling getting adultnapped

Caileah said...

do serling and speedy like eachother