Greg Bishansky writes...

Insecurity

Another week, another episode of "Young Justice." The focus returns to Artemis, and considering she is my favorite character on The Team, that focus is always welcome. Out of all the characters on the main cast, Artemis feels the most like an original creation while not being an original creation. I'll admit to being ignorant of her key ingredients, I am aware of Artemis Crock and Arrowette, but I know nothing about them. But this Artemis has always felt like an original Weisman character, and is someone I could easily imagine in a "Gargoyles" spin-off, especially "Gargoyles: Bad Guys." I've always liked her design, and I really want to give a shout out to Stephanie Lemelin for always turning in a wonderful performance as Artemis.

While none of the revelations about Artemis' family relations came as a surprise to me, that did not make the episode any less engaging. Sportsmaster and Cheshire are both breakout villains on this show, at least for me. The choreography during the action scenes was terrific, and Kelly Hu's Cheshire relishes twisting the knife on her little sister, and even Red Arrow a little. Or a lot. But the meat is the denouement at the end between her and Sportsmaster. Surprising? Hardly. Engaging? You betcha.

Likewise, it was fun to see Wally's attitude mature. The lessons he learned in "Coldhearted" stuck, and he now knows how to prioritize. There has been chemistry between him and Artemis since moment one, but this is a relationship that is requiring both of them to grow up a little bit. A nice contrast to Superboy and Miss Martian's where they were pretty much a couple from the first moment, even if it took them a little while to kiss. This is not a critique of either relationship, just that I think Wally and Artemis will develop something with more substance. Superboy was born almost yesterday, and seems like a weird prop in M'Gann's sitcom fantasy world, and she is still lying to him. One of these relationships is slowly building a strong foundation, while the other is a house of cards. Well, to be fair, both Artemis and Miss Martian are lying to the entire team, but Artemis is hiding her family history, M'Gann is hiding who she actually is entirely. Both have their reasons, but... even with her secrets, Artemis feels a lot more honest than M'Gann does... the Justice League knows who she is, can they say as much about M'Gann?

The plotline of the mole has really kicked into high gear. What do we know? Well, at this point Miss Martian, Superboy, and Artemis all seem to have been compromised. Queen Bee is blackmailing Miss Martian. Lex Luthor can make Superboy do things. And Artemis doesn't want The Team to know who her family is. Now, I doubt any of these three are the mole. I have my own speculations, but without more information, I don't feel like tossing them out there in this review.

What are The Light doing? Well, whatever it is, it involves a combination of science and sorcery... a favorite combo of Demona's back during the days of "Gargoyles." And anyone familiar with that series knows just how dangerous that combination is. Klarion and the Brain seem like a fun odd couple of villains if I ever saw one.

On another note, we had Peter MacNicol as Professor Ivo, Lacey Chabert as Zatanna, Crispin Freeman as Red Arrow, Kelly Hu as Cheshire, Thom Adcox as Klarion, and... Josh Keaton as Black Spider. A "Spectacular Spider-Man" family reunion if I ever saw one. I loved it. Very, very much.

We're at the final stretch, three more episodes to go. I'm on the edge of my seat. Next week cannot come soon enough.