Monsters of Television

“Who knew a Martian would be susceptible to a human virus?”
“Um, H.G. Wells?”

Well, we needed a Robin-centric episode before the one-two punch of the season finale kicks off and we learn all about the mole on team (or at least that’s my prediction based on upcoming episode descriptions), and I wish it were a bit stronger, but perhaps this speaks to Robin’s rather immutable nature as an iconic character that the show can’t push him in the more interesting ways it has pushed M’gann, Konner, Artemis, and even Zatanna.

But the episode has little bits of fanservice with the inclusion of Haly’s Circus (the circus Robin belonged to prior to his parents’ death) and the sudden, but always welcomed, appearance of King Faraday (voiced by Clancy Brown!!!). And the central mystery has a rather solid conclusion, even if the overall episode felt a bit scattershot.

I say the episode feels scattered because while there’s forward momentum on the plot, it never completely linked up in compelling enough ways that my attention was completely focused on the episode. I think part of this is rooted in the notion that no one on the team in the episode understood Robin’s motivations. And while the episode does acknowledge this in a brief conversation with Wally, I do feel like Wally being there would’ve pushed the episode toward an emotional connection that it simply lacks.

Along similar lines, Roy’s assertion that Konner, M’gann, and Artemis aren’t the moles after seeing them in the field is a tad silly. It doesn’t feel particularly motivated, at the very least in Artemis’s case (what, he’s forgiven her after one good mission even though things went less well last week?). So, in Roy’s mind, if those three are cleared, then who is it?

But the episode’s slow reveal of Parasite as being behind the robberies (working for Intergang) was nicely executed. Stealing the circus performers’ skills to commit the robberies while they feel a bit sick between robberies worked really well. And Parasite wasn’t an obvious choice for the crimes, so it was a nice surprise for the episode (and a good voice turn by Adam Baldwin).

The final showdown in Geneva at a CERN-esque location, complete with a stand-in for the Large Hadron Collider, was neat, but the endgame of this seems a bit poorly thought out. Intergang just wanted to create a black hole around Geneva? That’s not a portable weapon so it doesn’t seem like a practical endeavor for a criminal organization. But the fight demonstrated how far the team as come as a unit and their takedown of Parasite feels earned, especially compared to their battles with the Injustice League and AMAZO way back at the beginning of the series.

But I also think it says something about the show that it managed to make that advancement, from the rocky starts to feeling a little more self-assured during this final stretch of the first season. It’s still kind of generic feeling, but at least it is trying tor move beyond that, and hopefully it can resolve its central seasonal arc — the mole — with conviction.

DC Nation Short – Super Best Friends Forever – “Time Waits for No Girl”: Yay! Another one! I rather enjoyed the goofy pleasures of the short, and it felt consistent with the previous one. I like all of Barbara’s little gadgets, like her spring boots, her Dad Monitor in the music box (I love how wiped out James Gordon is; dude should be exhausted!), and (my favorite touch) the Bat-Vespa scooter she has instead of the motorcycle that Barbara typically has.