hosted by popgeeks.com | Forum DC Comics Solicitations June 2024 DC Comics Solicitations May 2024
Skip to content
Skip to content

Young Justice – Reviews – Season Three – Rescue Op


GUIDES – EPISODE REVIEWS – “RESCUE OP”

Rescue Op
Original Airdate – January 11, 2019
Brion Markov is determined to rescue his missing sister – even if it means throwing down against the entire League of Shadows.

Written by Joshua Hale Fialkov
Directed by Vinton Hueck
Review by GregX
Media by Warner Bros. Animation

Images
        
 
 

 

Review:
We open in Al Qawiya as Jaqqar Marlo stumbles out of a what might be a sleezy dive distracted from his surroundings by his Goode Goggles. He is then accosted by somebody who is totally not Spider-Man. Sure he wears a skin-tight outfit that covers his body, but he is not Spider-Man. Sure he displays amazing agility, but he is not Spider-Man. Sure he is equipped with a device on his wrist that shoots a web-like substance, but he is not Spider-Man. Sure he web-slings through the air, but he is not Spider-Man. Sure he’s voice by Josh Keaton, but he is not Spider-Man. Want to know how I know he’s not Spider-Man? Spidey is from Queens, and this guy who is totally not Spider-Man has a southern accent. Although, there was that one time Spidey imitated a southern accent when he was mocking Montana’s accent, but… no, no, no…. this is a totally different guy. Marlo outruns Black Spider only to be crushed by a boulder that falls out of the sky. Black Spider congratulates the “kid” on a job well done as the camera cuts to an ominous figure hiding in the shadows.We cut to Gotham City where we finally see Oracle in the flesh. A wheelchair bound Barbara Gordon and I love it. I’ve always loved Barbara’s Oracle persona, I always thought it was great that despite being paralyzed from the waist down, Barbara still managed to use her brain to be one of DC’s most influential and important heroes. What I never cared for was how she got there. I’m all right with a version of “Batman: The Killing Joke” having happened on Earth-16, but I dearly hope that in this version, Barbara Gordon had more agency. And the less said about the animated adaptation of “Batman: The Killing Joke”, the better. But back to Young Justice, I am glad to see Dick and Barbara as a couple. I know that in the tie-in comics, Barbara was his first kiss but wouldn’t get into a relationship with Dick until Dick matured a little more. And now, we can see them happily in love. The chemistry is so thick between them, you can cut it with a batarang.

Back in Happy Harbor, Brion and Halo are still getting to know each other and they are soon introduced to Forager who they grow to become fast friends with. I also think that it’s worth noting that this entire sequence at Happy Harbor, the majority of it being character development and deepening the bonds between these new characters is nine minutes. Most television animation wouldn’t take that time for just character development, instead inserting or cutting to some kind of action sequence due to a perceived low attention span from its audience. But instead we learn that Forager’s species, as a culture has a complex sense of self, and that he has an intuitive bond with Miss Martian’s bio-ship. We also get the first conversation between Brion and Dr. Jace via Black Lightning. Jace confirms that Brion’s sister, Princess Tara (I nearly typed Princess Terror. Freudian slip?) had her metagene activated before being taken away by Baron Bedlam… and that Jace surmises that Terra could also have geo-force powers.

Dick arrives and suggests that this was what “we” were thinking, too. “We,” Dick? Who’s “We?” You and Barbara? Or you and someone or something else? He quickly covers it up, but this show has always worked on wheels within wheels. Dick then brings Brion up to speed on the murder of Jaqqar Marlo by Black Spider and an unknown assailant who dropped a boulder on Marlo, before informing Brion of the League of Shadows, their main base on Infinity Island, and their leader, Ra’s al Ghul. While Dick urges Brion to chill and have patience, Brion does what we all know he’s going to do… he, Forager, and Halo steal Orb and take off for Infinity Island.

There’s a great moment where Dick realizes they’ve done what he, Aqualad, and Kid Flash way back in the pilot of the series and Dick then laments being the grown up. Dick, how old are you this season? Twenty? Twenty-one? Take it from this thirty-seven year old… it never gets easier, and I’m not even a crime fighting vigilante trying to take down a neatly all powerful secret cabal of supervillains that can claim Ra’s al Ghul as a member.

Our trio of newbies arrives on Infinity Island where they find an almost deserted island, save for Sensei who is angry about having his meditation interrupted. We then get an exciting action sequence where Sensei, with the help of Ubu and a “red hooded ninja” take out our trio, and Sensei snaps Halo’s neck…. did I mention that she declared her new civilian name is Violet? No? Well, I just did. Sensei has a good line about how, perhaps, Princess Tara may not wish to be found and since he’s known Brion for a few minutes and can’t stand him, he’s sympathetic.

The older generation arrives and frees the newbies while Brion mourns Halo and blames his recklessness for getting her killed. But she manages to resurrect herself? How? Keep watching! Our heroes try to fight their way off Infinity Island before the hostilities are called off by Ra’s al Ghul. Ra’s al Ghul has always been one of my favorite Batman villains, if not my favorite. I think this may be his first real conversation with any of the heroes throughout the entire series. And what we get is vintage Ra’s al Ghul. He reveals that there are no Shadows on the island, that he is no longer their leader and also no longer a member of the Light. But he does so with a knowing smugness, as if he were talking to Batman. Brion accuses him of lying, bur Nightwing corrects him by informing him that Ra’s al Ghul is many things, but not a liar. Now I have seen some people take issue with this line, considering that in Batman’s first comic encounter with Ra’s, Ra’s kidnaps Robin and Talia and manipulates Batman to test his skills. But Ra’s al Ghul is very much an exact words sort of villain. He said the same men abducted his daughter, that’s true. He just omitted certain truths in order to manipulate him.

And I am sure Ra’s al Ghul is omitting certain truths here. I believe he is no longer a part of the Light and that he’s left the Shadows. But he’s still protecting the organization’s secrets. As such I am inclined to believe that his stepping down left him on good terms with the Shadows and the Light. The tie-in comic revealed that Ra’s can shut down any member of the Shadows’ with a code word, as we saw him do to Matt Hagan. But I believe that his step down was willing, that he wasn’t overthrown, and that he’s still on good terms with the Light. After that stand-off, Ra’s tells them to get off his island, and the Red Hooded Ninja pulls back his hood and mutters the name Grayson… which is giving me thoughts. We then see Talia step outside of the palace holding a baby. Now anybody who has been paying attention to Batman in the last decade knows who that baby is.

On the bio-ship, Nightwing chews out the newbies, before accepting them as a new team all on their own, and almost groans when he hears that he’s leading another new team of outsiders. But I especially appreciated that he read them the riot act the same way that Batman did all those years ago. But the really interesting moment is when Artemis reveals that they found out Halo was a Queraki girl named Gabrielle Daou, but Halo immediately clams up and wants nothing to do with that name and person.

Another fantastic episode that opens up possibilities for future events this season and beyond. I hope to see Damian Wayne on the team some time.

Back to Reviews ]

Get the latest Young Justice updates at The World’s Finest News!

Young Justice and related characters and indicia are property of DC Comics and WarnerMedia.
The World’s Finest and all original content on this site – copyright, The World’s Finest.
Contact us and share your thoughts on social media via Twitter and Facebook pages!
Check out WF video content at The World’s Finest’s YouTube channel!

Leave a Reply