I like how they left open whether or not Green Beetle is what he seems. He didn't get a real mind probe; MM only saw what he volunteered to her. So we have no idea what he actually did for/to BB's scarab. It could really go either way (and I suspect they'll keep leading us on about that for a while). Even if he's on the level, we don't know what this will do to BB's combat capabilities. And it's doubtful he'll be able to understand the Reach language anymore.
I do like the way they handled MM's kidnapping and the mental reconstruction.
And yes, I don't watch DW, but even I liked the reference.
What gets me is the additive. For one thing, I was sure that what they'd found was just a decoy, and the team would get blamed for blowing up the facility over nothing. We'll have to see how this plays out. But the team totally mishandled the discovery. It makes no sense.
"There are addictive drugs in here which will slowly turn people into mindless followers. But we probably won't tell the public because, with all the PR issues we have, most of them won't believe us." Right, because that's how the League operates. "We can't save everyone, so why even try?" They could make the announcement, and at least some people would still believe them.
But there's an even better option. Go to the FDA. You know, the government agency which is supposed to know in detail every single ingredient in every product sold in the US which is ever supposed to be put into a human body? The one that conducts thorough independent tests of every product, every packaging material, and every combination of the two before it's ever allowed to hit the shelves? Maybe they somehow missed this one. Maybe Lex and the Reach bribed or mind-controlled enough people to get around the tests or maybe somehow they put enough political pressure on the government to somehow get their mysterious alien product exempted from the law (and somehow the public is okay with this and ready to trust the stuff anyway). Or maybe the additive, once dissolved, is hard to detect.
Whatever. The League has their lab results. And, knowing what they're looking for, they can surely find it in the finished product, so they don't even have to admit to stealing a sample of the additive. Give those results to the FDA. Have a press conference, even. "Here are our results. They're troubling. We urge the FDA and independent labs to review our data and conduct their own tests. In the meantime, we strongly advise the public to be cautious..."
There are enough people freaking out about the artificial colorings and flavorings in diet soda, let alone mysterious additives of alien origin.
But no. "The League has a bad reputation right now (mostly for having kept important secrets from the public), so we'll probably just sit on the results and hope the situation improves." WIF?
You make good points. I suspect the problem is simply that the plot is butting heads with reality, and the team/the League have to short-sighted and sit on the results so that the plot can proceed toward the superhero showdown (or Ultimate Reveal) against the Reach. That's not really a satisfactory answer, granted.
Regarding whether or not what they discovered was a decoy, my initial thoughts are this (and I have to rewatch this episode and the last one to see if a second viewing changes those thoughts): the multi-generation additive that's supposed to make humans more docile is the decoy. It's slow-acting enough that the JLA, upon discovering it, don't necessarily feel compelled to immediately report it and instead choose to investigate it further before reporting it (because the Justice League has a bad reputation, or whatever contrivance the plot demands).
My question is whether the meta-gene marker is what the Reach is REALLY angling for, or if this is another mislead.
I also wonder if Godfrey's about-face with regard to the Reach is supposed to be for comedic effect, or to show that Godfrey's a hypocrite, or to indicate that Godfrey's really in league with the Reach/the Light. Because regardless of how "open" the Reach have been, I just don't buy that a xenophobe like Godfrey, who sells himself as a hyper-skeptic, would all of a sudden be shilling Soulstorm Brew for no apparent reason.
And finally: who would actually drink this stuff? I don't care what kind of snazzy jingle you try to sell it with, and I don't care how friendly the aliens seem, I am not going to drink something that's being advertised as "ALIEN JUICE!" I'm just not.
Plot holes happen. And sometimes stupid things are necessary to make superhero stories work. But sometimes it still bugs me. There has to have been a better way to do this.
The metagene thing is certainly high on their list of priorities. But we already knew that. It's what they've always been after. So... I don't know. There could be something else. Lex did specifically say that, while the team got the additive, there was something more they never even saw. There could well be yet another angle here.
Godfrey doesn't seem a fleshed out enough character to have that kind of agenda. I think he's just a loudmouthed idiot with a TV show who will say whatever is convenient to get ratings. No shortage of those in the real world. I do wonder how big an audience he has, and whether there are other pundits taking the opposite side.
He hates the League. He's willing to grab onto the Reach as a convenient counter-example, and he doesn't care about having to dig any deeper than that.
But yeah, no idea who in the real world would drink this stuff. Only thing is that the people of this world are much more used to aliens and oddities than we are. If they can accept Superman and Green Lantern with little or no question (and if they've long since absorbed the idea from those examples that benevolent aliens are awesome) then maybe an alien-enhanced sports drink isn't so hard to swallow.
Well, if Godfrey is anything like his comic's counterpart, there's a reason for him backing the Reach. But yeah, I don't get how he can endorse them and hate Martians so much. Aren't the people of Earth and the people of M'Arzz on friendly terms?
I'd totally drink alien juice, just to say I've tried it. It'd be out of this world!
Green Beetle is an interesting one, and I could see this going either way. Either he really is a genuinely friendly and helpful guy (with a wonderful Samurai Jack-esque voice that makes me smile every time I hear it) on the good guy's side...Or he could very well have a lot more agendas and vendettas then he's letting on.
I admit that I'm in the more paranoid and cautious camp with him...Largely because experience with Greg Weisman stories tells me that if someone with a good amount of power and influence on the plot shows up claiming to be a friend, chances are they're anything but that.
I do like the way they handled MM's kidnapping and the mental reconstruction.
And yes, I don't watch DW, but even I liked the reference.
What gets me is the additive. For one thing, I was sure that what they'd found was just a decoy, and the team would get blamed for blowing up the facility over nothing. We'll have to see how this plays out. But the team totally mishandled the discovery. It makes no sense.
"There are addictive drugs in here which will slowly turn people into mindless followers. But we probably won't tell the public because, with all the PR issues we have, most of them won't believe us." Right, because that's how the League operates. "We can't save everyone, so why even try?" They could make the announcement, and at least some people would still believe them.
But there's an even better option. Go to the FDA. You know, the government agency which is supposed to know in detail every single ingredient in every product sold in the US which is ever supposed to be put into a human body? The one that conducts thorough independent tests of every product, every packaging material, and every combination of the two before it's ever allowed to hit the shelves? Maybe they somehow missed this one. Maybe Lex and the Reach bribed or mind-controlled enough people to get around the tests or maybe somehow they put enough political pressure on the government to somehow get their mysterious alien product exempted from the law (and somehow the public is okay with this and ready to trust the stuff anyway). Or maybe the additive, once dissolved, is hard to detect.
Whatever. The League has their lab results. And, knowing what they're looking for, they can surely find it in the finished product, so they don't even have to admit to stealing a sample of the additive. Give those results to the FDA. Have a press conference, even. "Here are our results. They're troubling. We urge the FDA and independent labs to review our data and conduct their own tests. In the meantime, we strongly advise the public to be cautious..."
There are enough people freaking out about the artificial colorings and flavorings in diet soda, let alone mysterious additives of alien origin.
But no. "The League has a bad reputation right now (mostly for having kept important secrets from the public), so we'll probably just sit on the results and hope the situation improves." WIF?
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Regarding whether or not what they discovered was a decoy, my initial thoughts are this (and I have to rewatch this episode and the last one to see if a second viewing changes those thoughts): the multi-generation additive that's supposed to make humans more docile is the decoy. It's slow-acting enough that the JLA, upon discovering it, don't necessarily feel compelled to immediately report it and instead choose to investigate it further before reporting it (because the Justice League has a bad reputation, or whatever contrivance the plot demands).
My question is whether the meta-gene marker is what the Reach is REALLY angling for, or if this is another mislead.
I also wonder if Godfrey's about-face with regard to the Reach is supposed to be for comedic effect, or to show that Godfrey's a hypocrite, or to indicate that Godfrey's really in league with the Reach/the Light. Because regardless of how "open" the Reach have been, I just don't buy that a xenophobe like Godfrey, who sells himself as a hyper-skeptic, would all of a sudden be shilling Soulstorm Brew for no apparent reason.
And finally: who would actually drink this stuff? I don't care what kind of snazzy jingle you try to sell it with, and I don't care how friendly the aliens seem, I am not going to drink something that's being advertised as "ALIEN JUICE!" I'm just not.
Reply
The metagene thing is certainly high on their list of priorities. But we already knew that. It's what they've always been after. So... I don't know. There could be something else. Lex did specifically say that, while the team got the additive, there was something more they never even saw. There could well be yet another angle here.
Godfrey doesn't seem a fleshed out enough character to have that kind of agenda. I think he's just a loudmouthed idiot with a TV show who will say whatever is convenient to get ratings. No shortage of those in the real world. I do wonder how big an audience he has, and whether there are other pundits taking the opposite side.
He hates the League. He's willing to grab onto the Reach as a convenient counter-example, and he doesn't care about having to dig any deeper than that.
But yeah, no idea who in the real world would drink this stuff. Only thing is that the people of this world are much more used to aliens and oddities than we are. If they can accept Superman and Green Lantern with little or no question (and if they've long since absorbed the idea from those examples that benevolent aliens are awesome) then maybe an alien-enhanced sports drink isn't so hard to swallow.
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I'd totally drink alien juice, just to say I've tried it. It'd be out of this world!
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I admit that I'm in the more paranoid and cautious camp with him...Largely because experience with Greg Weisman stories tells me that if someone with a good amount of power and influence on the plot shows up claiming to be a friend, chances are they're anything but that.
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