YOUNG JUSTICE: INVASION “Complications” Review

I must say, I like the title of this week’s Young Justice: Invasion episode. Complications. That describes the situation perfectly in this episode. Spoiler warning.

In this episode, we go back to the Aqualad (Khary Payton) sub-plot, as Miss Martian (Danica McKellar) and Artemis (Stephanie Lemelin) (who is still undercover as Tigress) buy for time. You see, Miss Martian has already healed Aqualad, but if Black Manta (also Khary Payton) finds out, he’ll have Miss Martian killed, and if Artemis and Aqualad try to help her, their undercover mission will be compromised. Plus, Deathstroke (Fred Tatasciore) has the controller to a bomb that is attached to Miss Martian’s neck.

Just when the situation seems hopeless, Black Manta makes it worse by announcing that the Martian girl only has 24 hours to live before he kills her. To add to the….complications, Sportsmaster (Nick Chinlund) and Cheshire (Kelly Hu) break in Black Manta’s base, intent on murdering Manta and his son, not knowing that Artemis is actually alive. In this tangled web, just what will happen?

And that is one reason why I love this show. The plots are multi-layered, unlike many other modern cartoons that talk down to the audience. Not this show. And the script compliments the plot; some of the final scenes in the episode are amazing because it manages to mix comedy and tension. The voice acting continues to shine of course.

But enough about the plot, the action scenes also deliver. The highlight would have to be Sportsmaster’s showdown against Black Manta. I’ll be frank; before now, Sportsmaster has always seemed to be, IMO, a lame C-rank villain. This episode made me change my opinion.

There is also a sub-plot revolving around Blue Beetle (Eric Lopez) and Nightwing (Jesse McCartney), but I wasn’t that crazy about it. It just took screentime away from the superior main plot. Aside from that, another near-perfect episode. Young Justice is the most high-quality show I have watched in years.