The truth behind Red Tornado’s actions are revealed, as well as a much deeper past of his line.
What They Say:
Humanity – The team searches for Red Tornado.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
After a strong episode involving the Injustice League that had a lot of action and really worked the team in some different ways, Young Justice has to slow things down a little bit. With the way everyone came together and did so well against the heavy hitters, they’re still not all that happy that they’re being treated like they’re on probation and being kept out of the loop with all things related to Red Tornado. There’s something to be said in the Justice League’s attitude about it because Red Tornado is definitely one of their own, but they also have to realize where things stand when it comes to the younger team and their involvement with him.
On the plus side, the episode kicks off by having Zatara bringing in his daughter Zatanna for a bit of a show of the place and she kind of fits in well with the dynamic considering she’s essentially an outsider. And she’s completely game for a sneak mission outside of the base in order to help them find Professor Morrow and Red Tornado. Morrow has long been a favorite mad scientist of sorts of mine and we get a really great little flashback sequence that shows his creations over the years and where he is now with all those variations on his original work of Red Torpedo. Even Firebrand is given a bit of a nod which is really neat especially as it’s followed up with a Justice Society highlight.
Like any good mad scientist with a twisted agenda that makes sense only to him, he’s created the next evolution in the Red series with Red Volcano, a robot that has definitely evolved beyond anything else and is intent on ending humanity and creating a red planet of its own. The Morrow angle is kind of awkward with his reasoning, but he’s not exactly the clearest of thinker in some ways sometimes so it works alright. It’s all a decent setup for the action segment of the episode though in which the team, with a suited up Zatanna, have to stop the dastardly plans. It’s kept dark enough to be sure and even though it’s a quick setup when you get down to it (one that was laid out a couple of episodes ago too, which is a nice touch), it’s good to see the team working together again so quickly and to take care of one of their own. Even if they’re not exactly up tot he task and it lets Zatanna shine a fair bit.
In Summary:
While Red Volcano falls into the obvious trap of a superior being by being all superior about everything, he does up the ante a bit for the gang and they run through some good challenges here, including an amusing moment where it feels like Zatanna uses a Naruto move with Wally to make multiples of him. What I liked best about the episode beyond the solid team camaraderie and the banter is that it expanded the scale of the world these characters inhabit, showing us the past, Morrow’s involvement in things and some of the early days of heroes. It’s these kinds of small nods that the hardcore fans will love, twists, tweaks and all, while the show as a whole is completely accessible to newer fans. It just hits so many right marks even with a basic and quickly dealt with story that I can’t help but to love it.
Grade: B+
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