Private Security
Original Airdate – January 11, 2019
While Jefferson, Conner and Artemis find homes for their Markovian strays, Dick assembles a new squad and hits the road – but may not survive the trip.
Written by Michael Vogel
Directed by Vinton Hueck
Review by GregX
Media by Warner Bros. Animation
Review:
What’s the misquote? Drama is easy, comedy is hard?After a very dark stretch of three episodes, we return to Earth 16 with the funniest episode of Young Justice ever. Now I am aware that Young Justice has a reputation of being dark and serious, but there have always been moments of humor and levity throughout the show. As any good writer knows, humor is a tool that can be used to enhance your drama. The same concept applies in reverse. Humor is also very, very subjective as I am likely to annoy some people with a point that I am going to make later, just warning you in advance.
Following up from the last episode, the Markovians have no where to go and Dick Grayson is reluctant to take responsibility for them. So that leaves Artemis and Will Harper taking care of Halo, Prince Brion in the hands of Superboy and Miss Martian, and Dr. Jace at the Luthor Grande Hotel with Black Lightning footing the bill. You see, unlike the Trump Hotels, the Luthor Grande Hotels actually provide a quality experience and are owned by a businessman who actually IS as smart as he thinks he is. I’m sure Dr. Jace is having a luxurious time (may these words not be foreboding).
The MVP of this episode has to be Crispin Freeman, who I am awestruck by. He essentially plays three Roy Harpers. Three. And yet each performance is different, making each of the Roys a different person entirely. It was nice to really check back in with Red Arrow (I am calling them by their old code names for the sake of my sanity), considering what a mess he was in the second season with his search for the original Roy and his off-screen drug addiction. As has been said elsewhere, being a father agrees with him. He’s happier, more lively, runs his own private security company and has developed a dad gut. I enjoyed Red Arrow in the first two seasons, so I’m glad to see he’s in a far better place in his life.
When Dick Grayson approaches Red Arrow asking him to help bust a meta-human trafficking network in the city, Red agrees in exchange for Dick’s help guarding a shipment of Goode Goggles that his private security company has been hired to protect. What follows is Dick, Red Arrow, Guardian I, and Arsenal, all in rent-a-cop uniforms protecting three trucks full of merchandise from Brick and his gang… and it is hilarious. The animation beats. The music cues. The dialogue. But underneath the laughs we see that Dick is shirking his responsibilities to the Markovian kids because he is still dealing with his grief over Wally’s death. Through the antics of Bowhunter Security’s fight with low lives, Red Arrow manages to talk some sense into Dick, reminding him of what he already knows… and don’t we all need that from time to time.
On the flip side of all that, we get Zatanna visiting her father. It turns out that Nabu has made a bargain with Zatara and Zatanna to allow them one hour a year to visit with each other. And man, does Zatara look terrible. Fate is taking its toll. Unlike the A-plot of the episode, there is nothing funny about this. Especially when the hour is up and Zatanna breaks down as her father is forced to leave her again. I realize Nabu probably sees this as a generous mercy, but I am reminded of Oberon granting Fox and David Xanatos one hour to say good-bye to their son… which he saw as a generous mercy, but for us mere mortals, the gods can be cruel. In the process, Halo observes and learns a lesson in humanity… just who and what Halo is remains a mystery, but we get intriguing hints.
Comedy inside action drama shows can be difficult. A lesser series would deal with this by having the one character who exists to be comedy relief. We see this a lot. For me, the prime example is Bolin on The Legend of Korra. It wasn’t too bad at first, but by the time the second season of that show rolled around around, he is depicted as being so stupid that it’s a mystery that he has mastered the concept of walking erect. His moments would often take me out of the show because his comedy didn’t enhance the drama but instead felt like another Homer Simpson stepped into the series without anyone knowing and then stepped out again when things needed to be dramatic. I don’t mind Homer Simpson in the context of The Simpsons. But I prefer my comedy, especially in my drama, as taking vastly competent characters and placing them out of their element. And if there’s one thing most of the characters of Young Justice are, it’s vastly competent.
Another great episode of the series and I want to thank Michael Vogel for the laughs.
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