Review: Young Justice: Outsiders “Quiet Conversations”

So many questions answered and yet not every secret revealed.

Taking place the day after new years, Victor Stone (Cyborg) is less than thrilled to hear from his estranged father Silas who wasn’t much of a Dad in his life but want’s to reconnect with his son, Of course,  Victor simply thinks that he’s only taken an interest in him after his body was changed into the technological hero that he is today, but given that this is a different interpretation, this rendition of Cyborg is fused with a “Father Box” which is alien technology that seems to be taking a toll on his well being. After Forager brings him back to HQ for help and examination with Superboy bringing along someone from “New Genesis” who offers a solution involving the New God character “Metron” which makes sense given that he’s the inventor of Mother & Father boxes which characters like Darkseid and his forces use as a means of travel. Around this time, they also discover a letter from Violet/Halo that she ran away due to the events of the previous episode when she came clean to Brion & Terra about Gabrielle’s indirect role in killing Brion & Terra’s parents. While this is going on, Superboy and Black Lightning come across the New God Metron but out of happenstance, also encounter Superman Kicking some Parademon ass and in a comedically awkward moment, Connor/Superboy asks Kal-El if he’d like to be his best man for his wedding. (I know I haven’t touched upon this, but Since Season 3, Superboy and Miss Martian are supposedly engaged, but because of how this specific sub-plot has dragged for so long, we’re unsure if the wedding will even happen at all.)

Intercutting with Halo/Violet’s sub-plot, it turns out she went to the home of Gabrielle’s family in some middle-eastern part of the world to help give them closure on what’s going on, at first stating that she’s dying from an incurable disease despite her best efforts to give a proper farewell which doesn’t exactly work out, when she eventually comes clean about what’s become of their daughter now. while M’Gann/Miss Martian confronts Harper (the delinquent who kissed Violet) about her troubled home life. It’s a decent scene that shows the true compassion of M’Gann’s character, but the scenes with Violet interacting with Gabrielle’s family are easily the strongest in terms of drama. In another sub-plot that was briefly touched upon during the “Klarion incident”, Kaldur/Aquaman takes a Metahuman to Atlantis due to her powers making her a fish-person, but we also learn what’s become of the Original Aquaman Arthur Curry which given the context of Arthur as a character and all the obligations he has to face as a King, it makes sense that he’d pass down the Aquaman Mantle to his protege, but despite an off-the-cuff remark about a lie he was indirectly part of in the last episode’s twist ending, it seemed to be the only thing that internally Irked Kaldur the most. While giving the Metahuman fish woman a proper place to stay, she reminds Kaldir that while she does suspect that he lied about something, he’s still a good person since he feels bad for the lie he conspired to tell and to not beat himself up over it. You’d think they’d be some romantic tension between the two but let’s just say, later on, a reveal about Kaldur will subvert your expectations in a very surprising way.

When it finally cuts back to the Cyborg Sub-plot, Metron easily agrees to tag along with them which at first sounds all fine & dandy, but instead out of sheer curiosity, almost lets Victor die as he’s never seen a Fatherbox fuse with an organic lifeform before. Of course, Superboy isn’t having it and they proceed to fix Victor through necessary force after throwing Metron’s ass off his chair and putting Vic on it saving him. Before Metron leaves, he does say something strangely cryptic about Granny Goodness that sounds confusing as hell, but at least Cyborg seems to be on better terms with his Dad for his efforts. It then leads to a montage tying up various loose ends within the episode where characters in some form or another, all get the help they need and in some cases find closure. It’s really touching to see their friends and family help them through each of their struggles, before ending with Terra receiving a very specific phone call letting Slade know that there’s “nothing to report” before the episode ends with a Domestic Abuse PSA.

Our Take

As the title implies, many of the characters in this episode are dealing with inter-personal and strained relationships and are seeking some peace of mind or a measure of happiness out of it. Most notably both sub-plots involving Harper & Halo which had some of the strongest writing in terms of drama, along with Victor/Cyborg and his love/hate relationship with his father Silas which in the comics was always one of the chief sources of conflict for Cyborg’s character. We do manage to learn why Halo was even arrested as a minor carrying a gun seems like a plausible enough crime, but I’m also glad Terra seems well adjusted enough not to be as predictable a spy for Slade by leaving out everything of what’s recently happened.

Overall, even if parts of the story felt almost all over the place, it still managed to be easy to follow With characters finding closure or ways to escape from their troubled lives, where does that leave Brion’s attitude towards Halo now? Also we still don’t know who the hell Dr. Jace is calling on her phone but it feels kinda shady that she would hide the person’s name when her phone went off, And while the episode also tried to delve into the particularly touchy subject of domestic abuse with that PSA at the end, It almost felt out of place since Harper’s sub-plot was quite small compared to every other sub-plot that was going on. If the Domestic Abuse stuff was the central focus of the episode, the PSA would’ve been more thematically relevant. But regardless, it’s still a valiant effort on DC’s end to delve in a topic like this without being overly preachy.