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Slick’s Nit-Picks: Young Justice Invasion, Episode 213 – “The Fix”

No, you can't read my JOKERFACE!

Having bested Black Beetle with the help of the unknown Green Beetle of Mars, the team is trying to get back on the offensive. The Justice League is nearly powerless to act against their enemies thanks to the combined efforts of the Reach Ambassador and G. Gordon Godfrey’s continuous slander. Even if their roster were full, their hands would be tied which makes their covert ops team much less effective. The secret nature of the team, in this case, weakens them further after the undersea rescue mission which left their deepest cover agent in a comatose state. Unable to currently act against either The Light or The Reach, Nightwing’s options are extremely limited and team morale is suffering. Hopefully the aid of the Green Beetle will turn things around because things could not get much worse.

Paging Doctor Creepy, Doctor Creepy, to the OR please.

A TURN FOR THE WORSE M’gann is still doubting her abilities after realizing that she hurt one of her friends. Whatever she and Conner talked about in Chicago, it does not seem that she revealed Kaldur and Artemis’ secret to him. She hesitates to help the team when they need her to confirm Green Beetle’s loyalty. Fortunately, B’arzz O’oomm volunteers his mind to her and she confirms that he is not of The Reach. While Nightwing debriefs Green Beetle on The Reach’s agenda, Black Manta’s plan to restore his son’s mind with Psimon’s help goes into motion. Needing to protect both Kaldur and herself from this, Tigress drugs Psimon with a blow dart, but not before he is able to telekinetically toss her about like a rag doll. With Psimon out of commission, she covers by saying that Miss Martian must have left some kind of telepathic virus in Kaldur’s mind to prevent his restoration. Manta sends her and Death stroke to capture M’gann and force her to restore his son. With only an injured Lagoon Boy to aid her, the duo capture M’gann with ease. Manta informs M’gann that her options are to either fix Kaldur’s mind or die via explosive decapitation from the inhibitor collar Deathstroke has fitted her with. Back in Laos, Jaime approaches B’arzz after Nightwing dismisses the team. He pleads with him for help in being free of the Scarab’s control. Impulse finds them together with Green Beetle’s hand accessing Blue’s scarab. The episode ends with Jaime telling Bart that he is completely free and the Scarab is silent.

“Dahhhh, all clear boss!” She said, in her dopiest Rocksteady voice.

IF IT AIN’T BROKE, DON’T ASK A MARTIAN I took issue with the end of this episode because things just did not add up. First of all, B’arzz O’oomm told the team that he was a Martian archaeologist; Jaime heard him say that himself.  His desperation to not betray his friends is clouding his judgment. Regardless of the fact that the Green Scarab was not ready to deal with Martian physiology, there is no reason to think that Green Beetle can do something that The Reach Scientist could not. Then there was the mind link. No one knows exactly why M’gann is so reluctant to use her powers all of the sudden but Nightwing should know that telepathy for Martians is like normal conversation for us. If you just let someone tell you things, they can tell you what you want to hear. I am not saying Green Beetle is a bad guy, but I would have expected Nightwing to be more suspicious.

Please, not the potty tentacle!

THE LION’S DEN M’gann and Artemis have clearly made progress in repairing Kaldur’s mind but Black Manta has covered all bases. They are deep beneath the Atlantic Ocean and Deathstroke has his finger on the trigger to the bomb on M’gann’s neck. He is well with in range to detonate the bomb, but even if she could use it, M’gann is not close enough to manipulate or attack his mind. Even if that were not the issue, escape seems impossible because Kaldur and M’gann are not going to leave Artemis behind. With Manta in the main ship and Deathstroke in the mini-sub, her only other option would be one of the suits Manta’s men wear. I doubt those are designed for someone to survive a swim from the ocean floor to the surface or the changes in pressure. Saving M’gann without blowing their cover seems impossible; a successful escape of the trio seems even more unlikely.

We all have to have regular prostate exams!

WHEN ALL FALLS DOWN Due to the explosive and immature nature of La’gaan, Nightwing reveals that Aqualad and Artemis are undercover to Superboy and Lagoon Boy. It was the only way to keep La’gaan from further injury as he wanted to rush to M’gann’s rescue. Nightwing knew that this mission would have repercussions, but he always thought that they would come after the mission was over. This was also the first time he learned why Miss Martian was so afraid to use her powers and should have set off at least some concern about Green Beetle.  Hopefully there is nothing to worry about on that front.

Get your hands off of him! What are you, a priest on Mars?

APOCALYPSE NO? Green Beetle claims that when his Scarab fused with him that it was not ready for Martian physiology and that the combination of his shape-shifting and telepathy allowed him to avoid Reach control. He also claimed to know of “another way” to save Jaime from The Reach aside from trying to remove the Scarab. When Impulse finds the two Beetles outside of Star Labs, B’arzz literally has his hands in the blue Scarab. Jaime claims that he is free and that the Scarab is silent. He says that B’arzz “fixed” him. What I wonder is exactly how was Jaime broken before this because the only time the Scarab ever forced his hand was when it felt Jaime was in mortal danger. Any other time it would make demands but then defer to whatever Jaime said.

Magic mirror, can you make the curtains match the drapes?

This episode was weird. Overall it was a good episode but it was full of plot holes and writing not up to the show’s normal standard. This was also the first time an episode ended without any real resolution. M’gann is still a captive, the team really did nothing, and Jaime’s “freedom” just seemed rushed in terms of story. We are supposed to believe that a Reach scientist cannot modify the Scarab’s behavior without killing Jaime but a Martian with a Scarab can. Despite that nonsense, I look forward to seeing the two Beetles work together in battle. Their concerted attack on Black Beetle produced outstanding results, and if Green Beetle is truly an ally, they would make a nearly unstoppable pair. This is exactly why things do not sit well with me in this episode; not to say that the team cannot catch a break, but such good fortune is never theirs. Only time will tell the fate of the trio in Manta’s sub, along with showing us the effectiveness of this new “free” Blue Beetle. Keep your fingers crossed for the team because I think things are going to get much worse before they start to get better.

Oh don't mind us. . . we just like to watch.

I considered going on a rant about this attack but it is not even worth it. Deathstroke is supposed to capture the chick who fried Kaldur’s brain and mentally stomped a mudhole in Psimon’s ass not once, not twice but three times, yet the master strategist had no kind of plan for protecting himself or his team. The only thing that made sense was that he got that inhibitor collar on M’gann the very second she was vulnerable.

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