DC Thread

[The Skarzs]

@Jetthebinturong 
The second half of the season is here. So far I have seen episodes 14 and 15.

[Jetthebinturong]

I was literally just about to start watching them.

[Jetthebinturong]

Right.

Episode 14

I don't really have much to say beyond: VILLAIN VOICE ACTORS NEED TO STOP MAKING THEIR CHARACTERS SOUND EVIL WHEN THEY'RE TRYING TO PRETEND THEY'RE NOT.

I guess the machine was supposed to be a nod to the anti-life equation?

Who was the Female Fury in gold? I recognised Big Barda and Lasha, but I don't know who the gold swordswoman was. She wasn't Mad Harriet or Stompa, and she probably wasn't Grail. Idk.

Oh also Guy Gardner's childish humour totally didn't mesh well with the overall tone of the show.

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Episode 15

We're really doing Suicide Squad as well? Don't we have enough plot threads to keep track of already?

Windfall's accent was absolutely terrible. Also didn't like that they were trying to set up another chemistryless romance between her and Ed. Just... can't these characters be single and not involved in pointless romantic arcs?

I can't believe Doctor Jace is actually a villain! They spent the whole first half of the season convincing us she wasn't!

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Episode 16

Hrrrrrrrrrrrrrrm....

Good episode.

Jaime and Thirteen are together, and once again have no chemistry or reason to be a couple.

Static's comment about seventh wheeling is really annoying me. Are Ed and Bart a couple (and if so, why?) and if they are, what's with the dancing around it and not confirming it either way - they act like a couple, Static's comment implies they're a couple, and yet they call each other "friend" and "amigo." And Ed's being set up as maybe liking Windfall? This just feels like more queerbait trash I expected the show to rise above, given that it's no longer bound by Cartoon Network restrictions.

Greg Weismann said there would be LGBT+ characters in the series. Thus far we have Violet apparently being non-binary, which is great don't get me wrong, but that's it. Marie Logan is a lesbian, but she's dead so she doesn't matter. Harper Row is bi in the comics, Batwoman is a lesbian, and Kaldur is gay, but they aren't shown as being so on the show. If that's what Weismann means by having LGBT+ characters, then... argh! If all you have is implication (as with Bart/Ed and possibly also Livewire/Mist), or comic evidence (which people can say doesn't matter, because YJ is its own separate continuity), then it doesn't count as representation, especially if you're deliberately keeping it vague for no reason, and that makes Weismann a liar who deliberately misled his fans. Do I believe he wants to represent people? Absolutely, he's said it about every series he's made that he's pushed for it and I believe that. So what's the deal? Executive meddling? But if there was meddling, then he should never have said that there would be representation. To say you have representation when you don't is not on. 

And I realise no one here cares about this except me, but I needed to rant.

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[The Skarzs]

Spoiler

As for myself, it just felt confusing. I think the relationship I'm most interested in is Psimon and Devastation. Seriously, it's hilarious and I want more of it. XD Everyone else can just fade into the background with their awkward and unnecessary romances.
There are a few things I'm not quite pleased with this season, the forced relationships being one of them. So far we have Artemis and Will Harper, Prince Anger-Management-Issues-Brion and Violet, Superboy and Megan, Garfield and Perdita, Robin and the girl from Thamiscara (spelling? Though, this once is just implied, but not gone into),  Black Lightning and Jace, and apparently no sign of new pairings stopping. Ugh. Look, everyone: Aqualad/man is fine by himself, and none the worse for it plot-wise  Let's be like Aquaman.
The other thing is that it feels like they're trying to to make every character have an equal amount of screentime, instead of having one focusing character with supporting characters and side stories; not necessarily to focus completely on one character only, but to have a central point from which all other things can branch out, and watch those characters develop while the others are not as important, and whatever happens with them can be written off as something seen offscreen.

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[Jetthebinturong]

Spoiler

Yeah I agree with pretty much all of that. Except I don't really care about Psimon and Devastation's relationship either.

Artemis/Will feels borderline incestuous to me, and just makes me incredibly uncomfortable.

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Also have you noticed that in the first two seasons, Dick had blue eyes, but now they're black? What's up with that?

[Jetthebinturong]

Episode seventeen was fun.

Spoiler

It was nice to see more planning from the Anti-Light.

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EPISODE 18 THOUGH

Spoiler

So Doctor Jace... isn't evil? That studying Violet's hair thing was just set-up for the "Violet is dying" plotline?

While I'm not a fan of the whole sneaky, promiscuous, cheating bi person angle they're going for with Violet and Harper (seriously tired trope), I'm really into the "Violet's self-destructive spiral" story they're going for. At least they're finally doing something interesting with her character.

Also didn't expect Harper Row's story to be an important part of the series. I thought she was just a fun comic cameo, but apparently not.

The amalgam monster was disturbing, but Zatanna beat Klarion way too easily.

Based on the direction of the scene and focus on facial expressions: Ed getting jealous of the long hug between Bart and Virgil was super cute? And it seems like that's why he announced that he was joining the team. Like I don't doubt what he said the reason was, but I do think he was debating whether he should or not, and that pushed him over the edge. Or at least that's what motivated his decision to announce his intentions right then. Anyway I'm looking forward to him joining the team - he's a cool character, and maybe this means their relationship will actually be confirmed and not danced around.

This is the first time I've actually been excited for the series since the mid-season finale, so that's a good thing.

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[Jetthebinturong]

Episode 19 was perfection. Easily my favourite episode of the series so far.

Spoiler

You'd think one of the protagonists would've noticed that the BIF member was Lady Shiva, given her distinctive sword.

Love Ed's new costume.

Not happy about them continuing to tease Ed and Bart being in a relationship but not outright confirming it. I guess it's more acceptable to show gay couples when it's two girls/female-presenting characters cheating on their boyfriends than a healthy relationship between two boys.

Wonder Woman was right. The anti-Light fabricating problems is morally reprehensible, and it's going to come back to bite them big time. If Lex could prove it, he could completely discredit the Outsiders.

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[Jetthebinturong]

Episode 20 was pretty good.

Spoiler

Liked seeing more of the Silas and Vic dynamic.

Halo telling Gabrielle's family about her death was a nice touch.

Nice that Cullen Row's existence was confirmed. They kind of rushed through the abuse narrative, but it's cool that they tried to tackle the subject anyway.

Glad to see it looks like they're going to do something other than the Judas Contract with Terra this time around. I hope she crushes Slade with a rock tbh. He's got a healing factor, so he'll recover, it'd just be satisfying to see her take her revenge on him.

Nice to see Kaldur has a boyfriend. Weird that he didn't acknowledge his existence when they were both with Orin earlier. And disappointed that their being together was relegated to a montage, so we don't actually get to see what their dynamic is like, but baby steps.

Dolphin is a pretty cool character so far.

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[Jetthebinturong]

So episode 21 happened. It was a pretty good, fun episode.

Spoiler

Kaldur and Wyynde were kinda cute together, but I still need to see more of them.

Karen and Mal's story felt tacked on, unnecessary, and unrelated to the entire rest of the story. How is this relevant? And if it is relevant, why is it only just now being introduced? And what did Karen even do?

I don't agree with painting Vic as in the wrong for avoiding Silas.

There was some good comedy.

The story/Halo stuff was pretty cool.

Helga's predictable face-heel-turn finally happened. Her mentor is Ultra-Humanite? How did that even happen? And now she's planning to kidnap Halo and the Markovs? Or maybe the Light plan to attack the Outsiders, and she wants to get them out before that happens, because she has a sense of twisted affection for them?

I'm interested to see where Dick's storyline is going. He seems pretty effected by Granny's "punishment," moreso than Jefferson. I feel like they're trying to set up that it's triggered some PTSD in him, but I can't think of anything from his general backstory that relates to mind control. Or torture. Maybe he watched Jason die in this continuity? Whatever the case, I'm intrigued.

These last four episodes have finally instilled confidence in this series back in me. I can't wait to see where it goes from here.

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[The Skarzs]

So, I never finished Young Justice.
I did, however, see the first episode of Deathstroke: Knights and Dragons, and I gotta say, I'm interested to see where it goes. The animation is great, as well as the action. They seem to be painting Deathstroke as an anti-hero, but I'm pretty sure he's a straight up villain in the comics. Regardless of that, it was pretty good, even if the last bit seemed a bit rushed to get everything they wanted into the first episode.
Overall, I'm interested to see where it goes.

[Jetthebinturong]

I have no idea what that is.

But nah Deathstroke is pure mercenary. So whether he's a villain or an anti-hero depends entirely on who he's working for at the time and what they're paying him to do.

[The Skarzs]

Well, now you have an idea, and you should see it.