By now it should come as no surprise that, while both have their ups and downs, I tend to lean more towards the animated side of DC's catalogue when it comes to watching shows and movies related to DC, the highs have been higher, and even some of the low points can still loom over parts of their Live action films, and shows at times. One that many held in high regard was Young Justice, a show focusing on a team made up of sidekicks and younger versions of league members handling more covert ops missions, which was at one point cancelled, then brought back on DC's new streaming platform. Was it for a good reason though?
As said in the intro, the basic premise of the show is that Young Justice (known in-universe as just "the team") is a team of sidekicks that handle covert ops missions for the Justice League. Original members include Robin, Kid Flash, Aqua lad, Ms Martian, Superboy and eventually Artemis, with the team expanding even further in Season 2, though downsizing a lot in Season 3. However, a covert ops team of heroes has the threat of a secret villain, with it taking the form of The Light, a team of villains who want to... this is honestly one of the worst parts of Young Justice, for me at least because while the villains are interesting, with notable members including Vandel Savage, Lex Luthor, Ra's Al Ghul, and other big name villains, their ambitions are a bit on the murky side. Vandal wants Earth to be one of the strongest forces in the universe, but allies his organization with larger threats like The Reach and it's eventually revealed that he's an ally of Darkseid himself, both of which are trying to control Meta-Humans in some form (though in the case of Darkseid, it's currently unclear due to a mid-season hiatus on the aforementioned streaming platform. For all we know Darkseid's the big bad for the next season, with Granny Goodness being the current villain). While I'm all for a continuous plot for seasons, cross season stories are very hit and miss for me personally, because they can be lost for the sake of raising the stakes, and I do feel like that has happened here. While I'm not against season villains like The Reach and Darkseid, my issue comes from tying them to The Light, something that is especially true for Darkseid because of how the character was introduced. It felt unnatural when compared to the introduction of The Reach, where the actions of The Light's take over of the Justice League caught their attention. For Darkseid, it felt like a case of Vandel going "Hey buddy, need to ask a favour from you".
What does help this though is the characters themselves, because this is a really strong cast of characters. Each of the members of the team does have distinct personalities, even the many clones of Roy Harper. I don't exaggerate when I say that the episode in Season 3 that has the three Roys and Dick Grayson working off each other is one of the highlights of the show to me, if not the best episode of the show. In terms of characterization, this is easily on par, if not superior in some cases, though inferior in others, to the old DCAU. What does help it as well is the focus on characters that haven't gotten much attention in the spotlight. Members from the DCAU and extensions including a large chunk of the main Teen Titans cast and the Bat Family take a back seat for characters that didn't get much attention back then, including fleshing out the characters families and relationships. One problem I have with it though is that many characters have a lot of their development off-screen between seasons. Zatanna was a character introduced late into season 1 of the show as a member of Young Justice, though by the time Season 2 comes around, five years have passed and she's a full member of the Justice League. Even characters who had prominent roles in seasons like Bat Girl in Season 2 had off-screen development where between Season 2 and 3, she was Killing Joked and is now Oracle. The worst offender of this is Aqua Lad who between season 1 and 2 lost his Girlfriend and used that as an excuse to go deep undercover via his father, Black Manta, and then between Season 2 and 3, became the new Aquaman and the head of the Justice League? Anyone want to fill in the blanks here?
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| "Look at some of the characters you will barely see in Season 3!" |
Character designs are hit and miss for me. I like the character looks in Season 1 and 2, Season 3 though has some design choices that I can't help but ask "what the hell happened here?". Ms Martian is one of the biggest examples of it. While I do get the ideas going into it, things like the fact that she's a White Martian, and the lack of hair is similar to Martian Manhunter, it looks lifeless when compared to her Season 1 and 2 design. Season 3 on the whole though feels like a large downgrade, with a far smaller cast compared to Season 2, only disguised by fan service moments like ms Martian and Superboy being a thing, and the inclusion of Terra (did anyone not see her reveal to be siding with Deathstroke coming?). I was hoping to see some of the underused characters from Season 2, such as Static Shock, and while I have nothing against Black Lightning, it's just something I would have personally prefered to have seen. One thing that Season 3 does have though is that it doesn't need to care about what can and can't be shown on TV. We get introduced to Cyborg here and the explosion that caused his need for Cybernetics is one of the most gruesome things I've seen when it comes to reviewing media for this site. How gruesome? Missing eye, half his skull is visible, lower arm missing, visible heart, lung and rib cage, and a pool of blood to boot. It's somewhat unnerving when it happens because the first potential death is the usual off-screen scream, and the only visible death is completely tame in terms of blood and gore, with most blood spilled being small pools of it on the clothes. It goes to show how much more creators can get away with when they don't need to be safe for TV.
The only thing holding this show back for me is the lack of proper interaction with the Justice League. We get great moments with some League members like Green Arrow, Black Canary, Captain Marvel, and even Red Tornado, but the rest of the League feels like an afterthought, and constantly pushed to the side with excuses to focus on the Young Justice team, which is a shame because there are some moments I'd have loved to see, such as Superman training Superboy. It's honestly the one thing keeping this show from surpassing shows like Justice League and it's sequel, Justice League Unlimited, which should honestly go to show how good this show is. Flawless? No, as there are some things missing that I would have loved to have seen happen, along with some things that aren't needed, but strong none the less. I'm curious to see what the second half of Season 3 looks like and if there are plans to see it continue even further.
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