The writers of Young Justice sure love to have their parallels between the seasons. ‘Another Freak’ bears similarity to ‘Targets’ in Season one, for it’s Violet and Forager’s first day of school! However, unlike ‘Targets’, this first day has a crucial twist that may leave you hurting for what was lost and excited for what is to come. Let’s find out what happened:
- A Fiery Confrontation: Hot off his win, Victor’s anger has bubbled to the point where he finally decides to confront his father. Dr. Stone is not having it and dismisses his son’s rage, only infuriating Victor further. He makes to leave, but as he opens the door, he hits and removes one of the cords on the Reach device salvaged from ‘Triptych’. The resounding explosion knocks them both back, and for a few moments we wonder if there are any survivors.
- First Day of School: Forager and Violet are thrilled to attend their first day of school; I wonder if they’ll still be that excited when they find out about standardized testing. Forager is given a glamour charm, courtesy of Zatanna, so he can attend. His transformation is just as cute as he is, and soon he emerges as Fred Bugg (with two gs!). Brion warns Violet to look out for the boys, but she remains utterly clueless as she and Forager leave with M’gann and Lucas Carr.
- The Desperate Attempt: Dr. Stone is fine after the explosion; Victor, not so much. He was crushed by debris; literally. If you thought Halo’s corpse after being burnt alive was bad, you may want to close your eyes during this part. Dr. Stone, desperate to save his son, hooks him up to the fatherbox in an attempt to save his life. The other scientists warn him not to, but Dr. Stone is past the point of sanity and does so anyway. The fatherbox fuses with Victor and supplies the prosthetics he needs to stay alive, replacing the skin and bone he had lost from the explosion. However, the fatherbox’s evil nature takes over Victor’s mind and he sets to take revenge on his father for what he’d done to him.
- Freaks Like Us: It’s interesting to see the difference in Violet and Forager’s first day as opposed to M’gann and Conner’s. While M’gann quickly fit in with the crowd, Violet and Forager do not. Other students whisper that they are freaks. Harper Rowe makes herself known to Violet and Forager and encourages them to brush off the comments from the other students and instead accept that they are indeed freaks. However, something is off with Violet. Throughout the day, she keeps feeling worse and worse, which is all the more alarming.
- Patience is a Virtue: Just as predicted, Brion’s patience has run thin and he attempts to take matters into his own hands again. He is caught by Dick, and the two have a physical and emotional confrontation in which Dick accuses him of holding onto the past instead of looking forwards to the future. With this revelation in mind, Brion stops fighting Dick and actually considers his words.
- Indigo is the Warmest Color: Violet’s unease leads her to glow a different color; indigo. Before Forager can deduce what’s happening, she uses this power to open up a boom tube and enters it. The boom tube leads her to Dr. Stone’s lab, where he is in the middle of being attacked by Victor. Violet is unsure of what is going on, but insists she has to help Victor. She glows indigo again and speaks some powerful words in an unknown language. With an indigo glow, she is able to ‘cure’ Victor of the fatherbox’s influence. Victor is relieved, and despite his father’s insistence that he stay with him, Victor is still livid and wants to get away. He leaves with Violet, who takes him back to Happy Harbor, where M’gann and Forager are waiting. M’gann, utterly clueless, wants to know what happened and who Victor is, to which Violet responds ‘just another freak’.
- Owning Up: On the beach, Brion disconnects from his phone for the first time since arriving to Happy Harbor. As he stares pensively out into the ocean, Dick meets up with him again and asks if they’re okay. Brion says they are, and that moving forward, he thinks he’s going to be okay too. Brion is growing as a character, and I’m proud of him.
Let us know what you thought of the episode in the comments below and in the forum!
