GUIDES – EPISODE REVIEWS – “THE LADY, OR THE TIGRESS?”
The Lady, or the Tigress?
Original Airdate – November 18, 2021
Oracle’s memories challenge Tigress’ decision to trust her new allies.
Written by Nicole Dubuc
Directed by Christopher Berkeley
Review by Yojimbo
Media by Warner Bros. Animation
Please note our regular reviewer, “GregX,” is currently on sabbatical.
Review:
Written by Yojimbo, edited by James Harvey
Both leading women Tigress and Miss Martian grapple with problem that is unsolvable in the aptly titled episode, “The Lady, or The Tigress?”.
First, I had a feeling Miss Martian would move on from the grieving stage and go after Ma’alefa’ak and his group. However, she reads his mind to confirm the horrifying truth: there’s no one for her to blame. No outlet for her grief and anger. The next gut punch comes from Hawkwoman, who calls in from the Watchtower to confirm all Kryptonite is accounted for, and therefore all leads have been exhausted, leaving Miss Martian crestfallen and blaming herself. She opts to return to Earth with Martian Manhunter and is so numb when Em’ree asks to come with them to bond with her sister and learn about Earth, she barely reacts. And equally crushing, M’aatt and J’ann couldn’t serve their as parents and comfort her and may well never see two of their children ever again.
While it’s no surprise that this arc revealed just how down Beast Boy and Miss Martian are, there’s still the intrigue of what impact does the saboteur’s intervention and thus Beast Boy and Miss Martian’s survival mean for the timeline? Or even the survival of the Martians? And now Em’ree moving to Earth.
Oh, and how the merry mind games continue in Tigress’ arc. In hindsight, what a tell it was when Tigress tells Cassandra she needs to stop thinking like a Shadow if she really wants to be free of them and her father, Vandal Savage. The truth unfolded so beautifully in this episode. It was one of the most intriguing and satisfying arcs of Young Justice ever and still have an episode to go! Oracle then provides that caveat of what the real goal of this whole farce: to steal data from the Justice League’s computers!
Plus, Lady Shiva had her own goal of getting her daughter Orphan back. Also thankfully, Oracle isn’t just inserted into the story for no reason nor just to be Tigress’s Jiminy Cricket. It is again perfectly laid out in beats of what her stake in this op is. But to mess with our mole theories, they throw in a patent trust montage with Cassandra and Onyx saving each other as the trio traverses through the island. Then just before the finish line, Cassandra reveals she was a mole and taking a page out of the Team’s handbook, used a glamour charm to make it look like she took a beating from her father, while holding the nanotech from “Infiltrator” to steal intel from the League computer in Green Arrow’s vault!
The execution of the main story was near perfect. “Classic Young Justice if that’s even a thing to call it. Sure, there’s still an episode left and as Tigress notes, Onyx could still also be a mole. But for who if she is? Shadows, Light, CIA, Interpol, Suicide Squad, a Legionnaire in disguise? Plus, the nagging question of how will they get out this. As the episode title is a hat tip to Frank R. Stockton’s “The Lady, or The Tiger,” there is no right choice to solve the problem at hand. Dead is dead. Surrender, even worse for them. What other value do they have to trade?
And what could happen? Perhaps a sacrifice? Batgirl’s sacrifice in the flashback further cements the thought. Cheshire will offer to rejoin the Shadows in exchange for immunity for her family, namely her daughter Lian, and for Tigress, Onyx, and Orphan’s safe passage off the island. And again, like last week expanded on season one’s “Homefront” and a cheeky callback to the mole arc, we got another unexpected return to season one with Shiva’s use of Dr. Roquette’s utility fog nanotech.
Another great part of this arc is Oracle and Orphan. Their roles had a purpose, their connection had depth and emotion, and an unanswered question bugging fans since Outsiders premiered got answered. We found out how Barbara Gordon got crippled. Again, smartly and adeptly, it’s all tied to an event from season one. Joker finds out he was a pawn in the Injustice League fiasco and doesn’t take too kindly to the revelation so he opts to blow up delegates in the United Nations headquarters, and things don’t go so well. Batgirl spares Orphan from a life of killing by taking the strike from her blade that was intended for the Joker. And in that moment, they become sisters. Oh yeah, and we get to see Joker get the tar beaten out of him by Batwoman, Spoiler, and Robin.
“The Lady, or The Tigress?” centers on Tigress and Miss Martian both facing unsolvable problems, with Batgirl’s flashback suggesting that her sacrifice might not be this arc’s last. The penultimate episode brings lots of twists and turns, revelations and out right shockers, as well as making us wish the next seven days goes by really fast. Stay whelmed.
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