Happy Whelmed Wednesday, everyone! With a couple of serious pieces under my belt, I’m ready to dive back into something a little more fun. Before I start digging into the romance, I wanted to share that today’s article is our hundredth article on YJTV! I cannot believe we’ve reached a hundred articles already. Between Young Justice news and fun little pieces, each article has truly been a delight to create for our lovely readers. Thank you for all your support! To celebrate, I’ve decided that this post warrants something a little special.
It’s no secret that we love the Whelmed: The Young Justice Files podcast and their amazing team at YJTV. They consistently post amazing, in-depth podcasts where they analyze episodes, share stories with the cast and crew and so much more that I could not even begin to cover in a single sentence. Today, it’s my absolute pleasure to partner with Emily Buza from the Whelmed podcast team to discuss our favorite romantic moments from Young Justice: Outsiders. In case you haven’t yet listened to this amazing podcast, Emily is their relationship guru and makes sure to cover every romantic moment in top detail. I knew she would be the perfect person to collaborate with for this list.
With every season, Young Justice consistently delivers new characters, thrilling plotlines and a variety of creative storytelling twists. In addition to those, the show also strives to portray the full teenage experiences, often focusing on the teen heroes’ romantic aspirations in addition to the action. Every season we see couples get together and go through the ringer, providing a unique downtime to the characters and giving the audience a chance to explore the person behind the mask. While not every relationship lasts, each interpretation is unique to the show, despite previous comic history. Today, Emily and I break down our top five romantic moments from Young Justice: Outsiders and our thoughts behind them. In no particular order, let’s get started!
#5:Supermartian’s proposal and the arc that follows
As a couple, Supermartian has probably had the most development throughout the show and tie-in comics. We’ve witnessed their inception, several of their major-milestones, and even their path to reconciliation after a messy break-up. After everything Conner and M’gann had been through, the proposal in “Princes All” felt almost cathartic. Throughout the rest of the season, the two continue to be there for each other, while making clear where their priorities lie. Despite their dispute later in the season, the couple feels mature enough that we’re confident in their survival. Now, if only we can get to see the wedding!
Ariel’s thoughts: I’m not going to lie, the moment I saw this proposal, I grew concerned. It’s not like superheroes have a track record for happily ever afters. Worry aside, I loved seeing how much these two have grown. ‘You’re my anchor?’ ‘Always’: such a poignant and important moment that sums up their relationship. It’s sappy, but in a way that completely fits Supermartian and doesn’t feel overly cheesy. The moment feels sincere, which is exactly the type of love I think the two have for each other. Even though they faced some additional problems this season, they handled it in a very mature way that leaves me hopeful for their future. I hope the two divert traditional hero-tropes and end up getting married with little disaster, but only time will tell whether that will actually be the case.
Emily’s thoughts: It’s no secret that SuperMartian has always been my YJ OTP, so I was overjoyed to see them back together this season. When that proposal happened in episode one, I shrieked so loud something actually fell off my bookcase and I had to pause and happy-cry before I could continue watching the episode. It’s a moment that just shows how far they’ve come and how much they’ve done to make this work after their season two breakup. And the rest of the season backs that proposal up in the best way possible. We get casual flirting and introspective conversations and I could honestly write pages about that “You’re my anchor.” / “Always.” moment. SuperMartian’s all grown up and I couldn’t be more excited to see what comes next!
#4:Garfield and Perdita’s budding relationship
One of the new couples introduced this season, Gardita quickly stole our hearts with their genuine respect and adoration for one another. While this couple came together under unfortunate circumstances (they met at Wally’s funeral), their relationship has been anything but. Throughout the season, they remain sweet on each other while still prioritizing other aspects of their life; an excellent example of a healthy relationship. It’ll be interesting to see how their relationship develops after Outsiders, and how the weight of their public personas may influence it.
Ariel’s thoughts: At first, I wasn’t totally sold on these two, but only because I would have loved to see more relationship exploration on previously-established couples. However, by the Harvest Festival, I was completely smitten with their relationship. Perdita, who I have chosen to love forever, brings the calm maturity to the table, while Garfield provides the fun spontaneity. The two blend incredibly well together, and it’s clear that they both care deeply for one another. I also really like how there’s no unhealthy power dynamic between them, despite Perdita’s title. With Garfield, she’s very much a ‘normal’ girl, and insists he treat her as such. One thing’s for sure, whenever these two come up on screen, I feel a cavity coming on; they’re far too sweet to watch!
Emily’s thoughts: These two were very much a dark horse ship for me this season. I wasn’t expecting this relationship to happen or for it to work as well as it did, but the writers packed so much cuteness into what little screen time Garfield and Perdita shared that I couldn’t help but ship it. Despite having a lot in common, Gar and Perdita always seemed like very separate elements within the YJ world. Bringing them together like this makes perfect sense to me. They act as these wonderful foils to each other, balancing each other out while also creating such an interesting parallel: they’re both just kids who had to grow up too fast and take on huge responsibilities. I love that they’re allowed to be normal teenagers with each other, despite those larger than life responsibilities, but I think my favorite aspect of this romantic dynamic might just be how unconditionally supportive these two are of each other. Whether it’s Perdita encouraging Garfield’s work with the Outsiders or Gar’s understanding and admiration of Perdita’s political career, these supportive cuties are just too adorable.
#3:Wally and Artemis’ reunion
Ah, the infamous moment that was specifically crafted to break the hearts of fans everywhere. While the jury’s still out on whether it was true closure on Wally’s death or a clever ruse to ward us off the ‘Wally is alive’ train, one thing’s for sure: this scene hurt in all the best ways. Though we’d like for Wally to be alive and for Spitfire to get back together, this was a pretty good way for Artemis to get closure. It will be good to see Artemis truly move on (with someone who isn’t her brother-in-law) and start living her life without the constant thoughts of ‘what if’ plaguing her. We’re very excited to see how Artemis’ character will continue to develop after Outsiders, now that she’s had her Wally closure and is able to move on.
Ariel’s thoughts: You know that moment right after the final Spitfire kiss, where Artemis walks away and opens the door and the music swells? Yeah, that moment gets me in the feelings every single time. I remember first watching this scene and being genuinely concerned that the fandom would break. Now that I know this was the intention, I can laugh about it. You know, through the tears. I really enjoyed this scene because of how simple it was. It took all of Artemis’ ‘what if’ moments and thrust them into the spotlight, only for her to eventually realize that she can’t keep living for them. I think what made this scene especially heartbreaking was finally getting to see Artemis’ desperation and grief over Wally. Prior to “Overwhelmed”, we only saw quick glimpses of her grief, but putting it into the forefront of her ‘reunion’ with Wally was especially hard, yet relieving, to watch.
Emily’s thoughts: The entire subplot surrounding Wally and Artemis’s “reunion” made me cry. And while it wasn’t technically Wally, and we all know Artemis was just having a conversation with parts her own psyche as a magical manifestation of her working through her own issues, it doesn’t stop those scenes from being beautifully heartbreaking. Even just getting to see Spitfire together again on-screen was an absolute joy that brought back a lot of nostalgia for previous seasons. And while I may still be holding out hope for Wally’s true return in a future season, those scenes in “Overwhelmed” provided some much needed emotional catharsis and closure.
#2:Will and Jade’s goodbye
Though they only shared one scene this season, Will and Jade’s goodbye packed in quite a gut-wrenching punch. Their relationship has always been one of the quietest on the show, with most of it taking place in the five year gap before Invasion. Despite the minimal screen time, every scene they share they completely steal. Their chemistry is off the charts, and the constant mystery of their relationship makes it incredibly interesting. Prior to this scene, it was understood that Jade left Will and their daughter Lian as she believed they were better off without her in their lives. The confrontation between her and Will remains one of the strongest moments this season, being incredibly painful to watch and bringing on an even bigger slew of questions.
Ariel’s thoughts: One day, I’ll probably be banned from talking about this scene on YJTV. Since today is not that day, I’m winding up my broken record and putting on my dancing shoes. I’ve talked so much about this scene that I won’t get into my reactions on it (again), but rather the mechanics as to why I love it so much. Essentially, I adore this scene because it gives us a strong glimpse on Jade and Will’s relationship, how well they know each other, and how well they work together. There’s little things in this scene that point out just how close they are. Will immediately notices that his wife is outside. The way he talks to her, it’s gentle. He’s not mad at her, because he understands why she left. He says she hasn’t lost anything that matters, giving her an open opportunity to come back to the family he knows she wants. Despite her words initially saying the opposite, Jade’s expression when he talks to her betrays the truth. The way Will lifts her chin when Jade tries to hide her expression is the final nail in my coffin, because he knows his wife. He knows her tendencies. He tries to break her out of her reasoning but Jade is in too deep. Jade has to back away from him and turn around because she knows that if she stays any longer, she is going to succumb. In the end, she literally runs away in tears, and that’s not the Jade we’ve come to know. This scene was made all the more painful as it’s the last time we see Jade this season. As much as it pains me to be patient and wait for season four, I know her (and hopefully, their) story will be worth it.
Emily’s thoughts: My co-host Rich and our podcast producer Neal got to watch “Exceptional Human Beings” together a few days before it officially premiered because they were recording a segment with DC Daily. And, apparently, when they got to this particular scene, they both just looked over at each other and said, “Oh no, they just broke Emily.” And, honestly, that’s a pretty fair assessment of this particular scene. This moment is so tender and it gives us such a wonderful bit of insight into what Will and Jade’s relationship must have actually been like off-screen, especially post-Invasion. This isn’t the flirty antagonism we saw in season one or even the rekindled partnership we got a glimpse of in season two. There’s no anger or hostility here, like you might expect from Will after Jade ran away from her family. Instead, there’s just this bittersweet understanding and gentle care on both their parts. As a side note, I would also like to thank whichever member of the crew—writer, storyboarder, animator, or otherwise—was responsible for coming up with that little hand under the chin, head tilt thing that Will does to Jade in this scene because it absolutely wrecked me. Even after all that heartbreak, I can’t wait to see what season four has in store for these two.
#1:Kaldur and Wyynde
One of the most unexpected couples this season, the two quickly became one of the most celebrated and cherished. Kaldur’s sexuality had been hinted at outside the show, and we’re so glad that Outsiders finally provided the opportunity to fulfill it. We loved seeing Kaldur finally happy in a relationship, especially with such an intriguing character as Wyynde. The two are beyond adorable in every scene they’re together, whether it’s just spending time in Atlantis or sharing a coffee at Bibbo’s diner. Other than the cute moments, the two share some amazing fighting chemistry and seem to balance each other well when on official duty. One thing’s for sure, we need more of them in Season 4!
Ariel’s thoughts: Look, I didn’t think I would love another couple as much as I love Will and Jade. However, the moment Kaldur and Wyynde interacted, I was immediately invested. Kaldur’s been through so much the past few seasons, he’s never truly had the chance to just relax and focus on something so trivial as dating. Seeing him finally happy with Wyynde was just icing atop a beautiful and delectable cake. After “Quiet Conversations”, I was dying to know more about this mysterious boyfriend, so imagine my delight when “Unknown Factors” featured just that. I love everything about these two, especially their relationship dynamic where Wyynde serves as this little light of reason for Kaldur’s darker thoughts. You can tell that the writers took incredible care when writing their scenes together, and the love the two share for each other comes off strong and true. There’s a clean, no-fuss method to their interactions, not overly gushy but not unemotional either. It’s the perfect amount of endearment that I happily eat up with a spoon. I need more of these two interacting, and I really hope we get to see more of their interactions in season 4.
Emily’s thoughts: Kaldur and Wyynde were the other surprise ship for me this season. Kaldur’s been through a lot over the past two seasons—responsibilities, betrayals, heartbreak, revelations, tragic losses, trauma, near death experiences, and more. After all that, I think he’s more than earned a bit of happiness in his life. Kaldur and Wyynde’s first on-screen kiss at the end of “Quiet Conversations” was so unexpected for me, but it was exactly the kind of joyful sweetness I needed after a string of darker episodes. And the writers smartly followed up that adorable moment with more screen time for the couple in “Unknown Factors,” an episode which not only gives us a better sense of their relationship dynamic but features them being a truly awesome battle couple, a hallmark of superhero romance. We didn’t get to see much of these two this season, but each of their interactions really was a stand-out moment.
Honorable mention: Dick and Barbara’s first appearance as a couple
Ariel’s thoughts: I knew these two shared some history in the tie-in comics, but even so I was definitely surprised by the cute scene in “Rescue Op.” I love how simple the scene is, how the two remain friends above all, close and still bantering despite being in a relationship. More than that, I love how Barbara can still kick Dick’s ass despite now being in a wheelchair. In retrospect, I wish we’d gotten some more build up to their relationship outside of the tie-in comics and regular comics history, but I still find their relationship pretty darn cute. Now if only Dick could work on his pet names…
Emily’s thoughts: I just really love that our first explicitly romantic interaction between Dick and Barbara on this show is so casual. It’s not a formal date or a big romantic declaration, it’s just some cute, easy banter and a kiss in her kitchen that shows us how comfortable they are with each other. It’s a moment that speaks volumes to their long history of shared affection, one that was only barely hinted at on the show before now but was explored quite a bit in the last few issues of the Young Justice tie-in comic. We don’t get to see the entirety of Nightwing and Oracle’s romance this season, but the little bits and pieces we do get provide a wonderful sense of the larger story that exists between them.
And there’s our list! Agree with us? Disagree? We’d love to hear more of your thoughts! Let us know what you think in the comments, on our forum, or on Twitter.
