Young Justice S1E06: Infiltrator
*Apologies for this being a week late, I had some RL things to handle. Catch up time!*
We've upped our girl quotiant, both hero, villain and civvie alike, Speedy loses his drug refence code name, and we're shown the writers really are writing for the slightly younger sect. Onward!
Episode Recap
"Infiltrator", Ep 6. We start with a rescue mission, on an island that has a name, but really, like that's important? What's important is we see Speedy Red Arrow being a bad ass. Using only arrows (you know, part of his thing), he sneaks onto a high security compound to rescue one Dr. Serling Roquette, random DC scientist #67223. She's being forced to work on something, and is almost finished when RA breaks in. Roquette doesn't want to leave her work behind, but RA bluntly states it's it (a computer processor) or her; she picks her, and they zipline down to a hidden speed boat (avoiding all that pesky gunfire from the faceless mooks), and get away. I take this time to note that Red Arrow is hardcore, setting off explosives he preset around the beach where they escaped from; not for nothing, but given the size of those booms, someone didn't walk away from that. I'm just saying. Back up at the computer, a guy wearing a eye-covering cyclops helmet and a old guy who looks like an evil Uncle Iroh who goes shirtless look over what was left behind; Roquette apparently finished whatever she was working on, which makes shirtless o'clock there happy.
Insert title sequence here.
In what will probably be seen as one of the weirder moments of YJ, we cut to the next day where the team, minus Kid Flash, are... having a beach party. *thud* What? Seriously, I get they're teens and hit the beach but really? Okay, it's your show, do what you want. My theory is they just wanted this for the slow-mo shot of Megan in a bikini. Intersected with them having fun in the sun is shots of Wally (aka Kid Flash) attending his first day of sophmore year. Guess what; he hates it. What I question here is, why isn't Robin in school as well? Yeah, he goes to what appeared to be a private school (in "Schooled"), so maybe their schedule is different, but still! Not only that, what school starts their year in frigg'n August?
School ends, and Wally rushes to the cave to try to get his beach party on; he arrives through the teleporter in swim trunks, buried under tons of beach stuff, and promptly trips and falls on his face. It's also nighttime. Also, Batman is there. Batman is not amused.
Seems that the team is getting a new member, Green Arrow's "niece" (Robin's line: "Another niece?"; another?) Artemis (no, we don't get her real name). She and KF immedately don't get along and start verbally poking at each other, so it's love at first sight. Red Arrow shows up; I'm guessing he called the meeting, since everyone looked to be waiting for him. RA is still a bit of a douche, angry that Green Arrow apparently replaced him so quick, ignoring the fact he walked out in huff, the drama queen. He wants the team to take over protecting Roquette, since he's only one guy and a group called the League of Shadows (because you can't say "assassian") are after her. They forced her to build a weapon called "the Fog", which is basically thousands of robot termites that eat through anything, hack any computer system and steal it's info, and program your TiVo to only record Gilmore Girls; insidious. Girl Scientist is working on a anti-virus bugspray, so the team better get a move on.
At some local high school computer lab, the team is on watch; Aqualad has Miss M telelink everyone up early so no one can listen over radio. This leads to lots of "head talking" where KF makes some comment about not liking Artemis/hitting on MM and everyone can hear him.
While Roquette works, Aqualad points out having a virus (made in a high school computer lab, just want to point that out) will mean nothing if they can't find the bugs. She's able to track it, but by doing so the LoS can just as easily find where she is. Aqualad has her do it anyway, saying they'll protect her regardless. She tracks, she's counter tracked, and apparently a league of assassians keeps people close to town's called Happy Harbor. I guess you never know?
Artemis makes a slight enemy out of Miss M when she takes the time to admire Superboy's ass, her comments heard by everyone. Miss M is the most embarrassed, mainly because she too likes Superboy's ass but isn't as forward about it. Speaking of, Aqualad sends Superboy and Robin out to track down the Fog, so they'll be in place when the virus is ready. Once gone, Artemis and MM have a girl tiff about "embarassing" Superboy, allowing a shadow to jump over the fence and sneak in.
Note that the time between starting the tracking, the Shadows countering it, and the villain showing up seems to be less than a half hour overall. I know it pays to work fast, but pushing the bounds of time and space to fit into 22 minutes is just...wow. Call it the "24 Principle", where waaaay too much can happen in just one day.
KF shows that he's possibly the worst covert member ever, by running straight into a trap when he sees movement through a door. He runs, slips on some marbles, and is promptly curb-stomped into unconciousness. I get a small warm feeling in when I see him get his ass handed to him. But this killer is stone cold, and pushes him face down into the pool (oh yeah, they're in the school pool) before moving on.
Our killer, a mask wearing female ninja-something named Cheshire, finds and attacks the good doctor, saved by Aqualad being heroic. He alerts the others who run to help, though Miss M doubles back when she senses KF is about to pull a kid-show no-no and drown. There's a short fight, Artemis shows up, then KF and MM, and Cheshire books it the hell out rather than take on the four alone. KF blames Artemis for letting the assassian in, which is rather bitchy considering that MM immediately points out she was on watch outside as well. Well, Artemis distracted MM, of course. Also, Miss M apparently gave Kid Flash live saving kisses mouth-to-mouth off screen; yay for showing kids the proper way to save a drowning person!
Elsewhere (really, Philideplhia), Robin and Superboy are too late to stop the latest Fog attack on a STAR Labs facility, arriving only soon enough to see the building fall to rubble. They continue to track it, moving to the next place.
Back with the pack, the team moves Roquette to a new hidey hole, this time with Artemis and KF bodyguarding the smartie pants, with Aqualad outside. Verbally, he tells MM to do a wide sweep, just in time to picked up by Spider-Man's commando cousin (Black Spider) and pimpslapped by a guy with a large metal hook hand (the Hook (yeah, I know, just roll with it)). Cheshire apparently called in reinforcements, which is smart, but how'd they get there so fast?
Fight scene, fight scene, they go after Roquette, oooh psyche! turns out that this Roquette was really Miss Martian in disguise and you just got Punk'd (tm)! Cheshire runs out to try to finish the mission; Artemis goes after her; KF and MM are left to deal with the Z-listers. Cheshire does not like a fool to be made of, finding Aqualad not where she left him knocked out; his loudly saying what Miss Martian should do was merely a ruse to make the enemies he probably knew where there somewhere think she was outside and invisible. Lucky for Cheshire her mask lets her see infrared footsteps (yeah, sure), which she tracks to where the real Roquette is. Insert small scene where Artemis catches up to Cheshire, but is handed her ass to her so she's out until the next convienent dramatic moment. Cheshire arrives for the Doc, rehash of the fight scene from the school later, Aqualad looses. Luckily for Roquette, she finished the virus and sent it out.
And not a moment too soon, as the younger Greatest DC Heroes duo arrive at the next Fog target, a WayneTech building. This freaks Robin out, because if the enemy gets WayneTech tech, they could possibly be able to track where Batman is and all his gadgets and find out who Batman really is I mean, it'd be not a good thing. Superboy spots the helmet dude from eariler (a Professor Ojo, should you want to know) and jumps down to attack. Robin swings into the building to try to hook up to a computer to download the virus; he does so, but out of all the offices he could choose from, he hooks up to a cafeteria cash register, praying it's hooked up to the main network; why would a register need a company DSL? Whatever, virus loaded, the Fog robots self-terminate (hehe, I knew calling them termites would swing back for me), and WayneTech secrets remain safe. STAR Labs' are not, but they don't seem to loose much stock anyway even though they are constantly getting espinoage-ed. Oh, and Prof One-eye is shown to be fairly weak, Superboy beating him right quick and in a hurry.
Back at the Harbor, KF and MM finally stop playing around and knock out their opponents; Miss Martian using Hook's hook (which he can fire on a chain) against him with her telekinesis (why doesn't she think of that faster?) and Kid Flash using B. Spider's web goo to bring him closer to kick him into submission. KF is still a moron, however, as while he won, he still managed to get himself tied up in the process.
While able to finish her mission, Cheshire doesn't kill Roquette, saying that with the Fog destoryed she no longer has a reason to do her in. And maybe, just maybe, the Shadows may feel the want to kidnap her again if they feel like it (I'd ask why not just take her now and save yourself the time, but that would mean the heroes don't win, and this isn't that episode).
She leaves (out the front door) where she's sucker-arrowed by Artemis, knocking off her mask. We get a slow reveal of Cheshire's real face to see... a some what anticlimatic Asian face. Seriously, why the build up for a unmasked face of someone we've never seen before? Save that build up for when she appears in civvies threatening Artemis later in the show; seriously. I say this, because Artemis knows this woman, the ubiquitous "you", who blackmails her freedom by threatening to reveal deep, dark secrets of our young Artemis if captured. Artemis obviously doesn't want this, and so Cheshire disappears with a bad pun on her namesake. Everyone else shows up as soon as this is over with, just in time to bicker about how she escaped and some minor dialog, and really it doesn't amount to much beyond banter about accepting Artemis to the team. Kid Flash claims Cheshire's forgotten mask as a souvenir, something that's his thing with each mission/villain encounter (I'm thinking I'll start a souvenir tally).
Later, in maybe the worst hiding spot ever, Artemis teleports back to her home; or, Gotham, actually, so I don't know if she lives here or what, cause Green Arrow doesn't operate out of Gotham. But whatever, that's where she appears. I say worst hiding spot for the teleporter ever, because while it is in an alley, the teleport makes a very bright flash when operating, so any bum down that way is gonna see random costumed people suddenly walking out of what appears to be a broken telephone booth (those still exist?).
Getting on with it, she's confronted by Red Arrow (how long was he waiting here, and how did he know she'd be appearing there specifically?), who says he knows she's not really GR's niece (naaah, really, I don't think we ever got that subtle hinting (and really, is it that bad, considering that almost no sidekick/protege is ever directly related to their mentor?) but that he trusts GR and Batman to let whatever they're doing happen. But he still takes the time to say that she better not hurt his friends, while she looks chastened and worried, so obviously she has nothing to hid.
We close with, again, seeing that the Light are involved. Shirtless old guy, better known as the Sensei, reports that while Ojo transmitted the STAR Labs data before capture, they still got hosed on the WayneTech deal. This annoys the Light, who are annoyed that the team continues to be annoying heroes while they continue to be bad guys; would they be this whiny if it was the League up in their business or the teens didn't wear all black? Either way, they say it's a good thing they have an operative on the inside (que evil smirk of smugness).
Kid Flash Souvenir: Cheshire's Cat Mask
Character Analysis
Robin: Nothing new, besides almost slipping that WayneTech is directly funding/linked to Batman/the League.
Kid Flash: Oh my god, please shut up! We get it, you apparently like Miss Martian, freaking do something about it! God all he does is make bad ennuendo and unsmooth pick up lines, but he won't actually do anything. And I guess he's anti-female archer or something, because he is not taking well to Artemis being the teams go-to arrow fletcher. And he continues to be have another secret identity, Foot-In-Mouth Boy.
Aqualad: Stoic leader is stoic. I'm waiting for his character ep so he'll show some emotion beyond stoicness.
Superboy: Pretty mellow this time around. Not given much to do, but that's not always a bad thing.
Miss Martian: Roooawww, kitty can scratch! You could practically see MM's tail poof when Artemis admired Superboy's hindquarters. Girl knows what she wants, just doesn't have the guts to do anything yet. She's also accepting of Artemis, probably because it's another XX chromosome on the team besides her and she's just that kind of person, nothing's going to get her down for long. I say again, writers, lose her non-existant catch phrase. It's not cute having her say "Hello Megan!" once an episode.
Artemis: Fire. Cracker. I called it without ever seeing her, she's the pistol of the team. And about damn time, they need someone who will push back, espeically to Kid Flash. There's a lot of work to do with her, all the secrets and history and whatnot, so it'll be interesting to see where she goes from here, and if she's really as obvious a plant as she's being made out to be.
Villain(s): Well, the production team continues to make badasses out of who they're working with. Cheshire was obviously the headliner this episode, being the most well known to the fans. Her mask looked a little weird, but it grows on you. I know some fuss is being made about her character being Vietnamese in the comics, and how very Japanese ninja she was here, but really can you think if any Vietnamese ninja weapons to give her? Seriously, you're worried about that, but if an English speaking person goes all ninja, it's not a big deal? Stop whining. If anything, I'm a tad let down they didn't give her and Red Arrow any face time, they're a (strange) item in the comics; they even have had a kid together.
For the rest... well, they weren't bad, but I had to look up who they were. The Sensei (yes, it's always "the" Sensei) I thought might've been Ras al Ghul at first, but then figured they wouldn't deviate that far from his character (to my credit, Ras owns/runs the Shadows, so I wasn't just wildly guessing). He looks a good picture, but he doesn't do much beside issue orders. Too bad. Professor Ojo, believe it or not, really is a member of the Shadows, though no where as goofy looking as he was in the printed page. Black Spider is a real (comic) guy too, though way too much a Spider-Man clone. He fills his purpose of cannon fodder. The Hook, well, he's a strong guy with a large hook on his arm; what more are you looking for with that name?
Episode Analysis
A lot happens in this round; Red Arrow puts up instead of shuts up, and for the better (still has a touch of the douche to him), Artemis is literally dropped on us without no fanfare or build up (I don't count one arrow in a previous episode as buildup), and treachery is afoot. Not bad for 22 minutes.
I'm insanely curious about Artemis and how she fits into everything. She was literaly just thrown in, no meeting her in a previous episode, no "hey, you're getting a new recuit", just sit down, shut up, she's here. From "Schooled", Green Arrow and Batman look surprised at that arrow appearing, so I'm not entirely sure she was under GA's wing at that point. Getting her might've been more about keeping an eye on her. I love that she's adding a new dynamic to the team, but several things are obvious from the start; a) I don't entirely buy that she's the spy. Yeah, it'd make sense and they certainly built that up, but I'm hoping the writers are going for a pysche out, because that's just bad foreshadowing otherwise. B), she and Kid Flash are gonna wind up together. Please, don't even act like they're not. He doesn't have a chance with Megan, and it's too easy to see the set up of hate/love between them. C), while I'm not convinced she's the spy, I do think she has something to hide, as Cheshire points out.
Other things; well, besides striking out on his own, Red Arrow is still somehow being funded (unless he got a good divorce settlement when he left Green Arrow) and still has full access to the League and it's younger spin-off. He's even giving them missions (aka, letting them handle the clean up). It's tempered somewhat by the fact they show he does still care for his friends and is looking out for them; he just feels he's better/above them is all.
This was a "mission" episode, so it was pretty well done, and the action was nice. Next one is most likely a character ep, so we'll see how well they can keep up what "Schooled" started, or if they revert to the mediocre "Welcome to Happy Harbor" style of writing.
Final Thoughts
Unsubtle foreshadowing is unsubtle. Seriously, they hammered that point across three times in the last five minutes you'd have to be dense to miss it. Artemis is being set up as a spy, yes, yes, we got that, could you maybe try not yelling that next time? Still, nice to see that another girl is there, and that she's not gonna sit around on her haunches. She fits the team niche, and that's okay.
I did notice she didn't get a black uniform; maybe it's because she's so new they didn't have time to give her one. Maybe dark green blends in good enough. Probably have to wait for ep 8 to find out.
Huh, one thing I'm missing is they aren't teaming up with anyone. Not from the League, I don't mean them, but Young Justice was always about teen heroes, new and old. I'm kinda missing seeing new faces, even if only for one episode. Really, who I want to see is Empress or Secret, because they rocked. But we're not even half way through the first season yet, I'll give it time.
Oh, and to complete the Souvenir list: 01/02 didn't start that yet (unless you want to count Superboy), 03: Twister/Brom robot eye, 04: Kobra mook mask, 05: Speedy Artemis' arrow
We've upped our girl quotiant, both hero, villain and civvie alike, Speedy loses his drug refence code name, and we're shown the writers really are writing for the slightly younger sect. Onward!
Episode Recap
"Infiltrator", Ep 6. We start with a rescue mission, on an island that has a name, but really, like that's important? What's important is we see Speedy Red Arrow being a bad ass. Using only arrows (you know, part of his thing), he sneaks onto a high security compound to rescue one Dr. Serling Roquette, random DC scientist #67223. She's being forced to work on something, and is almost finished when RA breaks in. Roquette doesn't want to leave her work behind, but RA bluntly states it's it (a computer processor) or her; she picks her, and they zipline down to a hidden speed boat (avoiding all that pesky gunfire from the faceless mooks), and get away. I take this time to note that Red Arrow is hardcore, setting off explosives he preset around the beach where they escaped from; not for nothing, but given the size of those booms, someone didn't walk away from that. I'm just saying. Back up at the computer, a guy wearing a eye-covering cyclops helmet and a old guy who looks like an evil Uncle Iroh who goes shirtless look over what was left behind; Roquette apparently finished whatever she was working on, which makes shirtless o'clock there happy.
Insert title sequence here.
In what will probably be seen as one of the weirder moments of YJ, we cut to the next day where the team, minus Kid Flash, are... having a beach party. *thud* What? Seriously, I get they're teens and hit the beach but really? Okay, it's your show, do what you want. My theory is they just wanted this for the slow-mo shot of Megan in a bikini. Intersected with them having fun in the sun is shots of Wally (aka Kid Flash) attending his first day of sophmore year. Guess what; he hates it. What I question here is, why isn't Robin in school as well? Yeah, he goes to what appeared to be a private school (in "Schooled"), so maybe their schedule is different, but still! Not only that, what school starts their year in frigg'n August?
School ends, and Wally rushes to the cave to try to get his beach party on; he arrives through the teleporter in swim trunks, buried under tons of beach stuff, and promptly trips and falls on his face. It's also nighttime. Also, Batman is there. Batman is not amused.
Seems that the team is getting a new member, Green Arrow's "niece" (Robin's line: "Another niece?"; another?) Artemis (no, we don't get her real name). She and KF immedately don't get along and start verbally poking at each other, so it's love at first sight. Red Arrow shows up; I'm guessing he called the meeting, since everyone looked to be waiting for him. RA is still a bit of a douche, angry that Green Arrow apparently replaced him so quick, ignoring the fact he walked out in huff, the drama queen. He wants the team to take over protecting Roquette, since he's only one guy and a group called the League of Shadows (because you can't say "assassian") are after her. They forced her to build a weapon called "the Fog", which is basically thousands of robot termites that eat through anything, hack any computer system and steal it's info, and program your TiVo to only record Gilmore Girls; insidious. Girl Scientist is working on a anti-virus bugspray, so the team better get a move on.
At some local high school computer lab, the team is on watch; Aqualad has Miss M telelink everyone up early so no one can listen over radio. This leads to lots of "head talking" where KF makes some comment about not liking Artemis/hitting on MM and everyone can hear him.
While Roquette works, Aqualad points out having a virus (made in a high school computer lab, just want to point that out) will mean nothing if they can't find the bugs. She's able to track it, but by doing so the LoS can just as easily find where she is. Aqualad has her do it anyway, saying they'll protect her regardless. She tracks, she's counter tracked, and apparently a league of assassians keeps people close to town's called Happy Harbor. I guess you never know?
Artemis makes a slight enemy out of Miss M when she takes the time to admire Superboy's ass, her comments heard by everyone. Miss M is the most embarrassed, mainly because she too likes Superboy's ass but isn't as forward about it. Speaking of, Aqualad sends Superboy and Robin out to track down the Fog, so they'll be in place when the virus is ready. Once gone, Artemis and MM have a girl tiff about "embarassing" Superboy, allowing a shadow to jump over the fence and sneak in.
Note that the time between starting the tracking, the Shadows countering it, and the villain showing up seems to be less than a half hour overall. I know it pays to work fast, but pushing the bounds of time and space to fit into 22 minutes is just...wow. Call it the "24 Principle", where waaaay too much can happen in just one day.
KF shows that he's possibly the worst covert member ever, by running straight into a trap when he sees movement through a door. He runs, slips on some marbles, and is promptly curb-stomped into unconciousness. I get a small warm feeling in when I see him get his ass handed to him. But this killer is stone cold, and pushes him face down into the pool (oh yeah, they're in the school pool) before moving on.
Our killer, a mask wearing female ninja-something named Cheshire, finds and attacks the good doctor, saved by Aqualad being heroic. He alerts the others who run to help, though Miss M doubles back when she senses KF is about to pull a kid-show no-no and drown. There's a short fight, Artemis shows up, then KF and MM, and Cheshire books it the hell out rather than take on the four alone. KF blames Artemis for letting the assassian in, which is rather bitchy considering that MM immediately points out she was on watch outside as well. Well, Artemis distracted MM, of course. Also, Miss M apparently gave Kid Flash live saving kisses mouth-to-mouth off screen; yay for showing kids the proper way to save a drowning person!
Elsewhere (really, Philideplhia), Robin and Superboy are too late to stop the latest Fog attack on a STAR Labs facility, arriving only soon enough to see the building fall to rubble. They continue to track it, moving to the next place.
Back with the pack, the team moves Roquette to a new hidey hole, this time with Artemis and KF bodyguarding the smartie pants, with Aqualad outside. Verbally, he tells MM to do a wide sweep, just in time to picked up by Spider-Man's commando cousin (Black Spider) and pimpslapped by a guy with a large metal hook hand (the Hook (yeah, I know, just roll with it)). Cheshire apparently called in reinforcements, which is smart, but how'd they get there so fast?
Fight scene, fight scene, they go after Roquette, oooh psyche! turns out that this Roquette was really Miss Martian in disguise and you just got Punk'd (tm)! Cheshire runs out to try to finish the mission; Artemis goes after her; KF and MM are left to deal with the Z-listers. Cheshire does not like a fool to be made of, finding Aqualad not where she left him knocked out; his loudly saying what Miss Martian should do was merely a ruse to make the enemies he probably knew where there somewhere think she was outside and invisible. Lucky for Cheshire her mask lets her see infrared footsteps (yeah, sure), which she tracks to where the real Roquette is. Insert small scene where Artemis catches up to Cheshire, but is handed her ass to her so she's out until the next convienent dramatic moment. Cheshire arrives for the Doc, rehash of the fight scene from the school later, Aqualad looses. Luckily for Roquette, she finished the virus and sent it out.
And not a moment too soon, as the younger Greatest DC Heroes duo arrive at the next Fog target, a WayneTech building. This freaks Robin out, because if the enemy gets WayneTech tech, they could possibly be able to track where Batman is and all his gadgets and find out who Batman really is I mean, it'd be not a good thing. Superboy spots the helmet dude from eariler (a Professor Ojo, should you want to know) and jumps down to attack. Robin swings into the building to try to hook up to a computer to download the virus; he does so, but out of all the offices he could choose from, he hooks up to a cafeteria cash register, praying it's hooked up to the main network; why would a register need a company DSL? Whatever, virus loaded, the Fog robots self-terminate (hehe, I knew calling them termites would swing back for me), and WayneTech secrets remain safe. STAR Labs' are not, but they don't seem to loose much stock anyway even though they are constantly getting espinoage-ed. Oh, and Prof One-eye is shown to be fairly weak, Superboy beating him right quick and in a hurry.
Back at the Harbor, KF and MM finally stop playing around and knock out their opponents; Miss Martian using Hook's hook (which he can fire on a chain) against him with her telekinesis (why doesn't she think of that faster?) and Kid Flash using B. Spider's web goo to bring him closer to kick him into submission. KF is still a moron, however, as while he won, he still managed to get himself tied up in the process.
While able to finish her mission, Cheshire doesn't kill Roquette, saying that with the Fog destoryed she no longer has a reason to do her in. And maybe, just maybe, the Shadows may feel the want to kidnap her again if they feel like it (I'd ask why not just take her now and save yourself the time, but that would mean the heroes don't win, and this isn't that episode).
She leaves (out the front door) where she's sucker-arrowed by Artemis, knocking off her mask. We get a slow reveal of Cheshire's real face to see... a some what anticlimatic Asian face. Seriously, why the build up for a unmasked face of someone we've never seen before? Save that build up for when she appears in civvies threatening Artemis later in the show; seriously. I say this, because Artemis knows this woman, the ubiquitous "you", who blackmails her freedom by threatening to reveal deep, dark secrets of our young Artemis if captured. Artemis obviously doesn't want this, and so Cheshire disappears with a bad pun on her namesake. Everyone else shows up as soon as this is over with, just in time to bicker about how she escaped and some minor dialog, and really it doesn't amount to much beyond banter about accepting Artemis to the team. Kid Flash claims Cheshire's forgotten mask as a souvenir, something that's his thing with each mission/villain encounter (I'm thinking I'll start a souvenir tally).
Later, in maybe the worst hiding spot ever, Artemis teleports back to her home; or, Gotham, actually, so I don't know if she lives here or what, cause Green Arrow doesn't operate out of Gotham. But whatever, that's where she appears. I say worst hiding spot for the teleporter ever, because while it is in an alley, the teleport makes a very bright flash when operating, so any bum down that way is gonna see random costumed people suddenly walking out of what appears to be a broken telephone booth (those still exist?).
Getting on with it, she's confronted by Red Arrow (how long was he waiting here, and how did he know she'd be appearing there specifically?), who says he knows she's not really GR's niece (naaah, really, I don't think we ever got that subtle hinting (and really, is it that bad, considering that almost no sidekick/protege is ever directly related to their mentor?) but that he trusts GR and Batman to let whatever they're doing happen. But he still takes the time to say that she better not hurt his friends, while she looks chastened and worried, so obviously she has nothing to hid.
We close with, again, seeing that the Light are involved. Shirtless old guy, better known as the Sensei, reports that while Ojo transmitted the STAR Labs data before capture, they still got hosed on the WayneTech deal. This annoys the Light, who are annoyed that the team continues to be annoying heroes while they continue to be bad guys; would they be this whiny if it was the League up in their business or the teens didn't wear all black? Either way, they say it's a good thing they have an operative on the inside (que evil smirk of smugness).
Kid Flash Souvenir: Cheshire's Cat Mask
Character Analysis
Robin: Nothing new, besides almost slipping that WayneTech is directly funding/linked to Batman/the League.
Kid Flash: Oh my god, please shut up! We get it, you apparently like Miss Martian, freaking do something about it! God all he does is make bad ennuendo and unsmooth pick up lines, but he won't actually do anything. And I guess he's anti-female archer or something, because he is not taking well to Artemis being the teams go-to arrow fletcher. And he continues to be have another secret identity, Foot-In-Mouth Boy.
Aqualad: Stoic leader is stoic. I'm waiting for his character ep so he'll show some emotion beyond stoicness.
Superboy: Pretty mellow this time around. Not given much to do, but that's not always a bad thing.
Miss Martian: Roooawww, kitty can scratch! You could practically see MM's tail poof when Artemis admired Superboy's hindquarters. Girl knows what she wants, just doesn't have the guts to do anything yet. She's also accepting of Artemis, probably because it's another XX chromosome on the team besides her and she's just that kind of person, nothing's going to get her down for long. I say again, writers, lose her non-existant catch phrase. It's not cute having her say "Hello Megan!" once an episode.
Artemis: Fire. Cracker. I called it without ever seeing her, she's the pistol of the team. And about damn time, they need someone who will push back, espeically to Kid Flash. There's a lot of work to do with her, all the secrets and history and whatnot, so it'll be interesting to see where she goes from here, and if she's really as obvious a plant as she's being made out to be.
Villain(s): Well, the production team continues to make badasses out of who they're working with. Cheshire was obviously the headliner this episode, being the most well known to the fans. Her mask looked a little weird, but it grows on you. I know some fuss is being made about her character being Vietnamese in the comics, and how very Japanese ninja she was here, but really can you think if any Vietnamese ninja weapons to give her? Seriously, you're worried about that, but if an English speaking person goes all ninja, it's not a big deal? Stop whining. If anything, I'm a tad let down they didn't give her and Red Arrow any face time, they're a (strange) item in the comics; they even have had a kid together.
For the rest... well, they weren't bad, but I had to look up who they were. The Sensei (yes, it's always "the" Sensei) I thought might've been Ras al Ghul at first, but then figured they wouldn't deviate that far from his character (to my credit, Ras owns/runs the Shadows, so I wasn't just wildly guessing). He looks a good picture, but he doesn't do much beside issue orders. Too bad. Professor Ojo, believe it or not, really is a member of the Shadows, though no where as goofy looking as he was in the printed page. Black Spider is a real (comic) guy too, though way too much a Spider-Man clone. He fills his purpose of cannon fodder. The Hook, well, he's a strong guy with a large hook on his arm; what more are you looking for with that name?
Episode Analysis
A lot happens in this round; Red Arrow puts up instead of shuts up, and for the better (still has a touch of the douche to him), Artemis is literally dropped on us without no fanfare or build up (I don't count one arrow in a previous episode as buildup), and treachery is afoot. Not bad for 22 minutes.
I'm insanely curious about Artemis and how she fits into everything. She was literaly just thrown in, no meeting her in a previous episode, no "hey, you're getting a new recuit", just sit down, shut up, she's here. From "Schooled", Green Arrow and Batman look surprised at that arrow appearing, so I'm not entirely sure she was under GA's wing at that point. Getting her might've been more about keeping an eye on her. I love that she's adding a new dynamic to the team, but several things are obvious from the start; a) I don't entirely buy that she's the spy. Yeah, it'd make sense and they certainly built that up, but I'm hoping the writers are going for a pysche out, because that's just bad foreshadowing otherwise. B), she and Kid Flash are gonna wind up together. Please, don't even act like they're not. He doesn't have a chance with Megan, and it's too easy to see the set up of hate/love between them. C), while I'm not convinced she's the spy, I do think she has something to hide, as Cheshire points out.
Other things; well, besides striking out on his own, Red Arrow is still somehow being funded (unless he got a good divorce settlement when he left Green Arrow) and still has full access to the League and it's younger spin-off. He's even giving them missions (aka, letting them handle the clean up). It's tempered somewhat by the fact they show he does still care for his friends and is looking out for them; he just feels he's better/above them is all.
This was a "mission" episode, so it was pretty well done, and the action was nice. Next one is most likely a character ep, so we'll see how well they can keep up what "Schooled" started, or if they revert to the mediocre "Welcome to Happy Harbor" style of writing.
Final Thoughts
Unsubtle foreshadowing is unsubtle. Seriously, they hammered that point across three times in the last five minutes you'd have to be dense to miss it. Artemis is being set up as a spy, yes, yes, we got that, could you maybe try not yelling that next time? Still, nice to see that another girl is there, and that she's not gonna sit around on her haunches. She fits the team niche, and that's okay.
I did notice she didn't get a black uniform; maybe it's because she's so new they didn't have time to give her one. Maybe dark green blends in good enough. Probably have to wait for ep 8 to find out.
Huh, one thing I'm missing is they aren't teaming up with anyone. Not from the League, I don't mean them, but Young Justice was always about teen heroes, new and old. I'm kinda missing seeing new faces, even if only for one episode. Really, who I want to see is Empress or Secret, because they rocked. But we're not even half way through the first season yet, I'll give it time.
Oh, and to complete the Souvenir list: 01/02 didn't start that yet (unless you want to count Superboy), 03: Twister/Brom robot eye, 04: Kobra mook mask, 05: Speedy Artemis' arrow