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Slick’s Nit-Picks: Young Justice, Episode 107 – “Denial”

Do you believe in magic? Don’t worry, I am not about to break out in song, after the events of today’s episode, Kid Flash might. Wally believes that everything, including so-called magic, is based upon science and can be scientifically explained. On multiple occasions, he explains what the others see as magic with scientific reasoning, much to the annoyance of Artemis. The members of the team are starting to grow on each other and there are signs of individual growth and maturity. And then you have Wally, who seems to put more of the “young” in the justice than any of the others.

Making use of their down time, Superboy and Aqualad have a sparring session while Miss Martian and Artemis have some “girl talk.” Kid Flash does what he always does when he is not yapping, stuff his face. Don’t go too hard on the kid, he does have a super fast metabolism. After wolfing down his food, he sees Red Tornado and asks if they will have a mission. Red Tornado explains that Batman, is in charge of mission assignment, not him. He explains that he is looking for Kent nelson, aka Dr. Fate agrees to let the team help locate him. Nelson has retired as Dr. Fate and has been guarding the helmet of fate for some 65 years now, waiting for the next person worthy to don it. The team travel to the location of the Tower of Fate, not knowing that Abra Kadabra and Klarion the Witch Boy lie in wait with Nelson as their captive.

After experiencing some “scientific” marvels, Wally finds Nelson and together they battle Klarion. Unfortunately, Kent dies in the battle and Kid Flash temporarily becomes the new Dr. Fate. After defeating Klarion, Fate makes short work of Abra Kadabra, who at this stage in the game is not a real sorcerer. Ironically, after spending time together inside the helmet, Wally makes a pretty good friend of Nelson, which makes the loss that much more poignant. He still refuses to acknowledge magic (at least publicly), but Wally keeps Fate’s helmet in the Justice Cave along with the team’s growing collection of souvenirs.

First off, I have to say that this episode made me happy that the writers will at least for one episode take a departure from the mysterious group “The Light.” I have no fear that it will be properly fleshed out, but that story is too convoluted too early on. The other thing I am happy to see is that finally there is some growth in Superboy as he is following Black Canary’s training. What I found weird and mildly stupid was that no one was in costume (except Superboy). I understand that this was not an official mission and the fact that they went in as civilians made Robin’s absence all too convenient since he is going to be the last to reveal his identity. It made things extra weird that four of the five were “incognito” and then you have Superboy. Can we get the kid another shirt? It’s just a cartoon, but they do try to make it realistic. If this team were real, someone would say “Wow, I wonder who those four normal kids are standing with SUPERBOY.” Let’s not forget that one of the chicks is GREEN. Really people, can we learn some stealth? And then there was the underlying hinted plotline, namely the possibility of a romance between Kid Flash and Artemis. Megan and Nelson hinted at it and the last scene pretty much solidified it. What I dislike about this is that it is very reminiscent of the Beast Boy/Terra romance from Teen Titans. You know she is going to wind up betraying the team and Wally will go after her. I guess this is the “kid friendly” version of what happens in the comics, since it is supposed to be Red Arrow and Cheshire hooking up. Not likely that we will see any teenaged cartoon characters getting pregnant though.