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EPISODE REVIEWS - "INTO THE ABYSS"

Green Lantern: The Animated Series
"Into The Abyss"

Original Airdate - March 24th, 2012
The Green Lanterns are called upon to save a cargo ship caught in a dangerous black hole-type anomaly. With help from Red Lantern Razer and Aya, the Interceptor's AI, Hal and Kilowog must bring the ship and it's valuable cargo to safety before they're crushed alive.

Written by Matt Wayne
Directed by Rick Morales
Review by klammed

Images:




Review:
Help the civilians of outer space! This will likely be a running episode set up with the series, with Aya receiving distress calls and beacons and our motely crew answering them. Razer is of course, now part of that crew. If you have yet to catch up with the early promos and the first three episodes, then know that, yes, one of the enemy, captured, and now defected, has joined Hal and Kilowog in their quest to stop the Red Lanterns. This is not without its own issues. Sharing space on a tiny ship in the middle of space, at the edge of the Guardian Frontier... can be taxing. And entertaining.

Writer Matt Wayne scripts excellent repartee between Kilowog and Razer within the first few seconds of the episode, wonderfully delivered by Kevin Michael Richardson and Jason Spisak. Spisak's sardonic tones in particular are very much the part of the young anti-hero. Squared against the drill-sergeant railings of Ricahrdson's Kilowog offers a fantastic contrast in personalities. The bickering will probably become less heated as the series progresses, but in the meantime, the humor derived from them is very well executed. A number of cultural confusions and ‘shocks' also manifest visually: again, funny. Aya's “Oh” at the start of the mission is also able to convey enough surprise and neutrality for an artificial life form, and her “He must not have heard me” in the same manner later on is only one of the funny moments littered through the episode. We are already seeing quite clearly the paths of growth each character will take – Kilowog in understanding others, Razer coming to peace with himself, Hal's heroism and leadership, and increasingly, Aya's assimilation into ‘humanity'. That's a whole load of character development, and something to look forward to.

Back to the episode. The plot is simple. A captain is in need of saving from a black hole currently dragging his ship further into it, and our heroes are called to do the task. Well, no, there are added complications, like a whole colony of unhatched eggs to be saved too. The wonderful thing about this episode, however, is that focus is much more on the development we get between the ‘Red recruit' and the hardened Green ‘vet'. The conflict between the two allows for a nifty duel scene, where we get to see the Red Lantern constructs again, and observe the fluidity of the animation.

With regards to design, GLTAS has so far done much better in the off-world environments in terms of engaging landscapes. Yes, it is early in the show to be making such a judgment, but once again a simple comparison between the pinhole and, say, Earth, places the pinhole in a much brighter, more compelling light. The rich magenta hues, light and shadow make for awesome setting shots. I don't even know what that thing is made of – harder than hard light? Mass of miniscule cosmic dust particles? It is a sight to behold. They have also done a great job this episode around playing with different gravitational forces, while showing its effects both inside and outside the ship. The crush zone is really not something you want to get stuck in.

Miscommunication is the order of the day, and not just between our two main hotheads. All with interesting results. They (and who ‘they' are may be more than you think) do eventually all begin working together, though in their own ways. For some of them, unconventional is probably an understatement. Aya's role behind, and not so behind the scenes really tie this episode together, with a nice reveal at the end, as our main characters finally get to some level of mutual agreement and respect. Creepy bug-like robot parts are creepy though. Not complaining, because the alternative is stunning.

“A body like this?”

Yes, Aya, a body like that.

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