TV Review: Young Justice: Outsiders Episode 17

Young Justice Season 3 Episode 17 “First Impression”

Director: Mel Zwyer

Starring: Troy Baker, Greg Cipes, Zehra Fazal, Grey Griffin, Bryton James, Stephanie Lemelin, Eric Lopez, Jason Marsden, Danica McKellar, Khary Payton, Mae Whitman

Rating: TV-PG

Runtime: 23 minutes

Outsiders continues to move pieces around it’s intricately designed chessboard as we get closer to the season’s conclusion.  “First Impressions” is certainly not one of the most exciting episodes Young Justice has ever delivered but its major addition to the season-long narrative is a very important one that goes a long way towards alleviating the concern that this season is too complex.

Tired of the limitations being placed on the League and the Team, Gar/Beast Boy has convinced several members of the latter to join him in forming a new unit that will not be publicly affiliated with either (though they’ll still covertly report to M’Gann/Miss Martian)  and will hopefully revive public confidence in superheroes.  Joining Gar in the new group are Bart/Kid Flash, Jaime/Blue Beetle, Brion/Geo-Force, Virgil/Static, and Cassie/Wonder Girl, while Forager, Terra, Traci 13, and Violet/Halo remain with M’Gann on the covert Team.  The former group is put to the test when Intergang revives salvaged Reach tech and attacks a small town to test it before selling.

Adding yet another team might not seem like the best decision given the concerns about the cast’s size and season’s split focuses but it really is key in making both more manageable.  The new team, the first to be called the “Outsiders” in-show, finally gives a spotlight to members of the Season 2 cast, who have been unfairly sidelined throughout Season 3 so far, while also explaining Beast Boy’s renewed prominence and progressing Brion’s hero’s journey.  Additionally, it allows for the possibility of Dick, Conner, and Artemis moving on to things other than the mentor roles they’ve occupied so far, even if that benefit isn’t taken advantage of this episode.

“First Impressions” is an episode that counts on the characters and its plot importance to entertain more than its spectacle.  The actual battle between the Outsiders and Intergang is fairly lifeless, especially considering the high standards Young Justice usually has for its action scenes, although the inhabitants of Brooklyn, Maine do provide an amusing Scooby-Doo homage.  But the introduction of the Outsiders is enough to make the episode worthwhile.  Gar’s plan of fighting meta-trafficking in the public eye is an interesting wrinkle, especially considering the series’ past exclusive focus on covert operations.  It’s all part of the plan, both in a meta-sense and within the narrative world.  The final scene checks back in with the cabal of superhero team leaders Tim Drake ironically referred to as the “anti-Light” as Kaldur and M’Gann report on the events of the episode.  It turns out they were aware of Intergang’s plan ahead of time and allowed it to take place so the Outsiders could have a win for their debut.  The anti-Light, on M’Gann’s recommendation, decides against bringing Gar into their inner circle, highlighting the slippery slope these characters are on.  Having the various superhero factions operating in a more unified fashion is undoubtedly a good thing but keeping the actual team members in the dark is questionable both ethically and in how it relates to the personal relations between all the heroes.  Hopefully, the consequences of this storyline, both personal and thematic, will be given more weight than the undercover operation in Season 2 was.

Wally West Watch: No new hints at or mentions of Wally this week.

Other Notes:

• Gar’s explanation of how the Outsiders will function marked the third time in this latest batch of episodes that an important and potentially impactful scene was let down by clunky dialogue, the others being when Halo announced that they identify as non-binary and Dick, Conner, and Artemis’ explanation of the pros and cons of hero life to their students.
•  I understand what they were going for, but I can’t help but feel “Titans” would have been the more appropriate name for Gar’s team.  Dick’s covert team from the first half of the season was much more deserving of the “Outsiders” designation.
• On the topic of names, I believe this episode marked the first time the name of the show has been said out loud when someone asked Gar’s team if they were related to the “young Justice League.”

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