It’s our new favorite day of the week: Young Justice release day! With Comic Con this weekend, we’ve had so much news going on this week that it’s surreal we get to celebrate with a new episode. Luckily, we have quite a few more weeks of new episodes to get through, so the surrealness should die down soon. This week, ‘Early Warning’ focuses on the previously mentioned ‘Project Rutabaga’, run by Klarion. The Outsiders (minus Kid Flash and Blue Beetle), go down to stop him, but are faced with a harrowing flesh-monster made up of Meta Teens. Nightmare fuel, seriously. Meanwhile, Violet comes to terms with a gripping realization, and makes some questionable choices as a result. Intrigued? Read on!
- Whitmore Breaks it Down: The episode begins with Courtney Whitmore recapping the success of the Outsiders (girl, same) among their multiple missions. We also learn that the hashtag #WeAreAllOutsiders has been trending to two weeks, which is a huge feat.
- Outsiders, Away: After the broadcast, Beast Boy announces that they are going to Santiago de Cuba, as Miss Martian informed them of a Metahuman trafficking lab that needs to be ended. He and Geoforce leave, remarking that they will rendevouz with Static, Wonder Girl and Bioship in Happy Harbor. Author’s note: As the show has continued to use ‘she/her’ pronouns with Violet, we will reflect that going forward.
- A Shocking Truth: Forager, Tara and Violet prepare to go to school, herded by their ‘den mother’, Dr. Jace. She pulls Violet aside, telling her that she has some unfortunate news. As it turns out, Violet’s healing powers have come with a price: her own life. Every time Violet heals, her cells don’t regenerate as they should, and she ultimately hurts herself in the long-run. Understandably, Violet is shocked. Dr. Jace says she only has a few months to live, but is working on a solution with her mentor to help. Yeah, I have questions about this ‘mentor’. Still shady. Dr. Jace bids Violet not ‘worry the others’, which doesn’t help her rank on the shady scale either.
- Under the Radar: At the Watchtower, Zatanna is angry that Miss Martian and Aqualad allowed the Outsiders to handle a threat from Klarion without help from either her or Dr. Fate. They both insist the Outsiders can handle it, but Zatanna disagrees and goes to their rescue. Quietly, of course, given that the League is not allowed in Cuba without prior permission.
- Project Cucumbers: Klarion continues his work on ‘Project Rutabaga’. The project involves kidnapping teens with a metagene and using his magic to activate the gene. After he brands them with a magic seal, he determines their usefulness; if it’s not satisfactory, he turns the teens into a wisp of smoke that is absorbed by a flesh-monster with multiple eyeballs. It isn’t pretty.
- Gotcha Covered: The Outsiders arrive to the lab, sans Kid Flash and Blue Beetle. They are currently attending the funeral of Joan Garrick. The remainder of the Outsiders infiltrate the lab; Geoforce bars the Cuban police from getting involved, and Beast Boy, Wonder Girl, and Static head in to face the flesh monster. They are horrified to discover that the monster is made up of Meta Teens, which only escalates the challenge, as they must hold the monster off without hurting the teens inside. The Outsiders proceed, with Beast Boy immediately attacking Teekl, and Wonder Girl and Static handling the flesh monster. Zatanna arrives in the midst of this attack, explaining that she’s using a charm to hide her identity from the public. The charm, however, doesn’t work on Klarion, who knows of her presence immediately. Zatanna sets to freeing the teens from the flesh monster, but Wonder Girl is absorbed in the middle. While Beast Boy and Static handle Klarion, Zatanna is able to focus and uses an impressive spell to free the teens from the flesh monster. It works, and everyone is saved. While she’s unable to deactivate the teens’ metagene, she is able to free them from Klarion’s control. She’s truly the star of this episode, for after everyone is safe, she impressively uses one of Dr. Fate’s spells to trap Klarion in the Tower of Fate. It seems like though she isn’t able to free her father from Dr. Fate, she has gotten some training from him.
- Fallout: With Klarion handled and the teens saved, Geoforce allows the police through. The Outsiders talk with the Meta Teens, where they explain that they are the Outsiders. Beast Boy realizes that one of the girls is unable to breathe due to newly formed gills, and quickly gets her to a source of water.
- Missing Person: After school, Tara and Forager arrive back at the Outsiders’ Tower for training with Artemis. However, Violet is missing. Tara explains that Violet blew them off in order to hang out with Harper Row.
- Questionable Decisions: Over at Mount Justice, Harper Row and Violet hang out. Only with guns and booze. Harper makes a move and kisses Violet, and despite both of them claiming that they have boyfriends, they continue to kiss. After, Violet picks up the gun and shoots some glass bottles, but the two are soon caught by the police.
- We Are All Outsiders: Like the previous episode, local authorities aren’t too happy with the Outsiders’ involvement. Unsurprisingly, the Meta Teens don’t feel the same way. They chant of ‘We Are All Outsiders’, and one of the authorities happen to film it. Despite it, the Colonel still wants them out, so before reinforcements arrive, the Outsiders and Meta Teens leave.
- Daddy Issues: Back at the tower, Tara and Artemis train. Tara is good, but not perfect, and snaps at Artemis when she tries to help. In a truly touching moment, Artemis reaches out to her and connects with her over their mutual experiences with rough training. Is Tara going to be swayed over to the side of good? One can only hope.
- Silence: M’gann picks up Violet from the local police station. From the officer, we learn that Harper will remain in a holding cell until her father (a drunk) can pick her up. In the car, M’gann tries to reach out to Violet, but she won’t speak. Come on, Vi. Please open up to someone who isn’t Dr. Jace. I promise, they will help you far more than she will.
- A Huge Impact: The Outsiders deliver the Meta-Teens to the MHYC in Taos. Given that they have nowhere to put the aquatic girl, it looks like she might be taken somewhere else. Bart and Jaime receive condolences for the loss of Mrs. Garrick, and I especially appreciated the long hug between Bart and Virgil. In a positive turn of events, Ed decides to walk the walk and join the Outsiders, where he is accepted with open arms. Wendy tells everyone to check their phones, as Stargirl covers the Cuba mission. The Outsiders’ help has positively blown up, and their popularity has now gone global. She ven claims that the Outsiders have gotten bigger than the Justice League. I’m not sure if that’s entirely a positive thing. Only one way to find out!
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