Overview (Spoilers Below):
Rocket gets a reality check… and reality’s ready to collect.
Our Take:
The episode marks the beginning of a new story arc for “Phantoms”, centering on another hero. This time, it’s Raquel Ervin (Denise Boutte), also known as Rocket, a member of the Justice League capable of manipulating kinetic energy. Rocket is another DC character shown in Young Justice that I do not know about outside of the show. This is because I had not watched the series in ages. So it would be interesting to see if her latest adventure can get me invested in the energy-generating hero.
One of the elements that immediately grabbed my attention was at the beginning of the episode. Here, we see that Rocket’s son Amistad (Kurtis Mansfield), introduced in season three, is diagnosed with autism. As someone who’s also diagnosed with autism, I appreciate the series for shedding light on this subject, even though it’s very brief.
Afterwards, the plot shifts to Rocket visiting New Genesis with Forager (Jason Spisak) and Jay Garrick (Geoff Pierson). Once there, they join forces with Solis (Nolan North) and Orion (Benjamin Diskin) to retrieve the rupture cell that the Bugs of New Genesis stole. The episode features another formula in which the characters visit a planet to deal with a specific galactic conflict. It does run the risk of running its course, but it’s still another compelling episode that plants the necessary seeds for Rocket’s story arc and the overall season. Plus, it offers a suitable dedication to the late René Auberjonois, who voiced Blockbuster in the show’s first season.
Aside from Rocket’s mission, which is a typical retrieval mission, the episode features two intriguing side-plots that introduce new characters and delve deep into a couple of series regulars. One of them sees the return of Miss Martian’s brother Ma’alefa’ak, who’s working for Darkseid to bait potential rebels to be captured in Apokolips. He, along with Mantis, is assigned by the Gods of Apokolips to serve Lor-Zod (Phil Morris), the time traveler who interfered with Ma’alefa’ak’s gene bomb at the beginning of “Phantoms” and the son of General Zod. Another side-plot involves Superboy being manipulated by the hallucination of Lex Luthor until he encounters Lor-Zod’s father, General Dru-Zod (Morris), who’s also trapped in the dimension, later revealed to be the Phantom Zone.
Overall, “Beyond the Grip of the Gods!” marks another enjoyable start to the season’s new story arc. Rocket’s main plot may not do much to get me invested in her adventure yet, aside from her son being autistic. However, it continues the series’ tradition of providing more exciting teases for the season’s future, including the arrival of Zod’s family members. It looks like we’ll be exploring more of Zod’s family tree soon amid Rocket’s god-like adventure.