For me, the cancellation of Young Justice after two brilliant seasons
was up there with the cancellations of Spectacular
Spider-Man and Firefly as the
dumbest, most infuriating, most unfair, most heartbreaking premature TV series
cancellations of all time. Thus, when the
news dropped that it was being revived for a third season, I was delightfully shocked. I really thought that such
occurrence – as it is with reviving Spectacular
Spider-Man or Firefly for TV – was
impossible already.
It took nearly three years of
restless anticipation until, at last, it finally dropped this year. So, was the wait worth it? Well, yes.
However, I do wish I could answer that rhetorical question with an emphatic,
“Heck, yes!” But I can’t, for even
though Young Justice returns without
missing a beat as one of my most favorite animated series of all time, I was honestly hoping for something more terrific than what it
ended up being.
Don’t get me wrong. Young
Justice: Outsiders – the name given to this third season – was terrific,
delivering 26 episodes (the first 13 ran in January, and the last 13 ran from
July to August) of quality animated superhero entertainment. Its first half was only behind Romance Is a Bonus Book as my favorite TV
show of 2019 at the mid-year point; and after watching the whole thing, I don’t
think it will fall below my top 5 at year end.
Following the events of season 2 (i.e. Young Justice: Invasion),
season 3 focuses on the superheroes’ ongoing war against the Light and their
Apokoliptan collaborators, who are currently trafficking young metahumans. However, due to their U.N. charter, the
Justice League is constantly being hindered by Lex Luthor, who is now U.N.
Secretary General. Thus, in order to combat
the villains’ operation, the League has to heavily rely on covert operations
and creative – even underhanded – tactics.
As its title suggests, Young Justice: Outsiders is very loosely
inspired by the comics’ Outsiders superhero team. One of the things that Young Justice is pretty good at is subverting expectations, and
some of this season’s curve balls come from determining who the eponymous team
is going to be. The narrative plays with
the audience’s knowledge of who the members of the Outsiders are in comics, as
it presents a lineup or potential lineup which the audience mistakenly assumes
is the “Outsiders” of the storyline. Then,
it goes, “Oh, you thought they were ‘The Outsiders’? No, no, no. These
guys over here are ‘The Outsiders.’”
This is actually pulled off two or three times during the season, and
the audience falls for it every time. It’s
only until episode 17 (!) before the real Outsiders team is officially
established.
For the record, my favorite
faux-Outsiders is [mild SPOILERS] Batman’s “Illuminati” group, who manipulates
all the other teams from behind the scenes.
The reveal of their existence is also, I think, the best plot twist of
the season.
Just as Invasion brings in a bunch of new characters, Outsiders does so as well – or rather, more accurately, it sees the
debut of established DC Comics characters into the Young Justice universe for the first time. In the forefront of much of the season’s main
storyline are Geo-Force, Halo, and Terra – characters who have been canonically
members of the comics’ Outsiders team at some point – as well as Cyborg (whom I
forgot had not yet been introduced in this universe in prior seasons) and a
version of the obscure character Forager.
Meanwhile, making her Young
Justice debut over at the villains’ side is Granny Goodness, the season’s
primary antagonist. Big Barda, still
serving Granny Goodness at this point, shows up in one episode, and I’m
actually excited to see how the show will handle her heel-face turn as well as
introduce her eventual husband, Mister Miracle (whom I also forgot has not debuted
in this universe yet). Orion, Metron, the
Suicide Squad, Rocket Red, Infinity, Inc. and others also made appearances.
Of course, with several new
characters in the mix, a couple of the old characters are not given much
opportunity to shine. But the show does
make its way to pepper the season with moments that seem to say, “Hey, don’t
worry. We haven’t forgotten about these
characters and what ongoing issues their dealing with.” These suffice as far as updating long-time
audiences with where these characters are now in their lives. But for their respective fans who may want
more meaningful arcs for them, they will be left disappointed.
As a whole, although Outsiders is fairly held tighter together
by its thematic vision more than its narrative, it’s still a smooth, stimulating
season in general. Whatever bumpiness it
has along the way is evened out by an overall rewarding experience due to
retaining the core qualities of the Young
Justice brand – a new, imaginative version of the DC universe brimming with
potential; strong writing and clever storytelling; well-layered characterizations
and arcs; a YA-oriented tone; relevant and compelling drama; exciting
twists-and-turns; an extensive, diverse cast of characters; and well-timed and well-placed
jokes for good measure.
Nothing in the season really took
me out of it, but if there was anything close of doing so, that would be its
unveiled attempt of equating Lex Luthor with President Trump. I admit it was somewhat funny. But it was also eye-rolling. First of all, Trump-demonizing tropes are getting
tired and stale. Second, and most importantly,
it was out of character of Lex Luthor.
Thus, this aspect only comes off as rather lazy and artificial, as if the
show was awkwardly trying to be one of the cool kids – bashing Trump just
because it is what the cool kids are doing.
Aside from that, but on a much minor note, I’m also bummed that season 3
didn’t cover Wally West’s return yet, considering that among all the untied plot threads left by season 2, it’s the one I care for the most (with where
things are now, Wally and Artemis’s reunion, when it comes, is going to be ugly
and heartbreaking).
All in all, Young Justice: Outsiders is another great season of Young Justice. But I feel that it’s its weakest one so far. In the end, though, any disappointment I have
with Outsiders may have been mostly
due to unfairly expecting it to be the series’ best season yet, and it’s very
much possible that my problems with it are mere nitpicks. Regardless, it pleased me for the most part,
and I’m excitedly looking forward to season 4.
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