Slick’s Nit-Picks: Young Justice, Episode 109 – “Bereft”

Amnesia – we have seen it happen to heroes on many occasions. It has been used to make them commit evil acts, turn on their allies or even just pick a different girlfriend. The mind is our most valuable asset and it can be our deadliest weapon. Dr. Simon Jones knows this better than most. He knows that whatever “Psimon” says, you’re going to do. He knows that the Young Justice team is getting a little bit too close to his current assignment. He knows that he does not have to beat them when he can simply make them FORGET.

Quick flashback to the end of “Downtime” has Batman briefing the team about a situation in the nation of Bialya. This brings us to the opening of the current episode where Miss Martian regains consciousness and wonders (in Martian) where she is. She figures out that she is on Earth in just before the maniac  wearing a Superman tee starts attacking her. “Who is he? and why is he attacking me?” These are questions she has no time to ponder as Superboy is on a bonafide rampage, destroying eve she flies off wondering how she got to Earth, why she is wearing the clothes she has on and what to do next.rything in his path. Having temporarily escaped,

We find Robin in a similar state of mental disarray. Waking up, he sees that he has to dodge a Bialyan military patrol and wonder why they are there. After checking his GPS and realizing he is in Bialya he wonders what he is going to do next when he realizes that Batman’s orders were to maintain radio silence. He needs to do this quickly as he sees on the GPS that six months have passed since Batman gave that order and there is a Superman emblem torn from someone’s black t-shirt laying around.

This brings us to Kid Flash and Artemis, who wake up together in a shed. She recognizes him but is unsure as she comments that Kid Flash does not wear black (his costume’s stealth camo). He does not recognize her and assumes she has a Green Arrow fixation. Artemis assumes that her father made her wear the outfit. When he asks why he would do that, she assumes her father is testing her and assigned her to kill Kid Flash. Interrupting their conversation, a Bialyan strike force starts firing at them. Artemis tries to take out a tank with her arrows but Kid Flash grabs her and runs off. There is a quick cutaway scene to M’gann where she meditates and starts putting some of the pieces back together. She sees most of the team and hears some of their voices. She recognizes that the maniac is Superboy and that she needs to find him and help him.

Wally runs out of gas and has to put Artemis down. He notes that he has no backup food on him so he has been in the desert for a while. Hold that thought as Superboy comes crashing in and backfists Wally into a cliffside. Artemis puts three arrows dead center in his chest with no effect. Lucky for her, the tank mortar works wonders. Two tanks come bearing down on them and Superboy rips them apart as Kid Flash scoops Artemis and runs off, only to trip and fall down a sand dune. Now they are attacked by two unmanned drones and Artemis misfires at them as she hears M’gann in her head and has no idea who it is. She telekinetically smashes the planes and joins the others where Wally mistakes her for her uncle, in drag no less.

M’Gann’s knowledge of the two convince them that she is on their side and they follow her when she mentions that Robin and Superboy need help. Robin follows a GPS tracker and walks into a Bialyan trap. He makes short work of the squad, especially with help from the three teammates he didn’t know he had. M’Gann uses her psychic powers to piece their memories back together but not before Artemis insists only the last six months and only info pertaining to the mission. Wally holds her hand and she calms a bit. After they figure out what is happening, they realize that Aqualad is missing and probably is not doing too well in the desert. So much for the budding romance between Wally & Artemis, as restored memories mean restored animosity. With Aqualad found, M’Gann flies off to save Superboy and runs into Psimon. A meeting of the minds ensues and M’gann does not think she is strong enough to beat Psimon. with some help from Superboy, she overwhelms him and the team locates the alien object they were assigned to investigate. Luckily for them, it seems to be friendly because it is definitely alive.

Very impressed with this episode, especially after the mess of an ep that was “Downtime.” Having their clocks reset by six months gave us some insight into the more mysterious characters. M’Gann and Kaldur apparently were not on Earth (meaning the surface of) as you will note they are both speaking in their native languages. This ep even further proves that Aqualad was full of crap when he said he had no regrets last episode. While unconscious, you’ll notice that the first word out of his mouth was “Tula.” M’gann’s questions to herself raise a lot of questions about where they intend to go with her character. Is she really J’onn’s niece, or will they follow the canon story where she is a White Martian? Also it remains to be seen how far the now obvious romance between her and Superboy will go. Robin showed some of the immaturity of earlier episodes which he has since outgrown, but he also showed that when it really counts that he is able to lead the team. What I found most interesting was that in a previous episode, Dr. Fate basically told Kid Flash that he should be with Artemis by saying that he should hold on to the one that challenges him and never puts up with his crap. When Wall had no memories of her, hold on to her is exactly what he did. Of course, if that relationship goes anywhere, it may tear the team apart when whatever secrets Artemis has come to light. Then there’s Psimon – he raises the question of how much more Teen Titans characters we will see on the show. Psimon was a physicist until Trigon the Terrible made him what he is now. Trigon is the father of Teen Titans member Raven and Psimon was a member of the Fearsome Five, who bumped heads with the Titans over and over. I want to close this episode out with two Easter eggs that I hope you picked up on. First, the voice of who I assume is Queen Bee was provided by none other than Marina Sirtis, aka Counselor Deanna Troi from Star Trek: The Next Generation. The last item being the “partnership” she spoke of. We see the alien sphere coming out of a boom tube, which means it came from Apokolips. Darkseid anyone?