Review: Young Justice: Outsiders “Unknown Factors”

Weirdest pregnancy ever!

The episode begins late night when Jefferson/Black Lightning and Dick/Nightwing decide to go on a recon mission to Granny Goode’s house in response to some vague Riddle Metron spouted to him in the previous episode where he was vague about whether or not the “Granny Goode” celebrity and the Granny Goodness who is one of Darkseid’s generals are one in the same. Of course we the audience can see this twist coming a mile away, especially when Dick uses a Motherbox to detect if her penthouse in Hollywood contains technology from the planet Apokolips. At first, things seem too easy when they proceed to infiltrate the place, but things begin to go tits-up when Nightwing’s signal is lost and the two are teleported away. Consequently, Barbara/Oracle tries to find someone within the League to go on a rescue mission and investigate what’s happened, but Kaldur answers the call due to the other Heroes having obligations of their own and says yes along with his boyfriend Wynnd tagging along since he’s also trained in both combat and Atlantian sorcery. (Since last episode it’s been revealed that Kaldur is also Gay/Bi, which was a twist I hoped people would see for themselves.)

When it cuts to Beast Boy’s west coast Outsiders headquarters, the team is running missions and gaining in popularity, but Brion and Violet still haven’t reconciled which seems understandable. And Cyborg has come to terms with his father which seems fine, but what made me laugh the most was Beast Boy talking about his battle with a tacky DC villain named “The Condiment King”. (And yes as humorous as it sounds, he’s a real DC character.) Intercut with this and Kaldur’s rescue mission, we also get a pregnancy sub-plot with the DC character Karen/Bumblebee (Basically DC’s answer to the Marvel Character Wasp) giving birth to her daughter which at first is a sweet moment, only for the doctor’s to express concern when they notice something off about her new daughter seconds after she gave birth, but this later leads to a hilariously symbolic moment when Karen proceeds to shrink herself inside her child’s body to combat a birth defect involving her heart but and has an extended scene where Karen comes to an ethical decision involving her daughter’s future you’d have to see for yourself.

Slowly, two of the sub-plots within this episode begin to converge as Aqualad and Wynnd face resistance after rescuing the now brainwashed Dick & Jefferson when Granny refuses to let them leave with their Motherbox and uses her supercomputer “Overlord” to attempt to destroy it, but given that Motherboxes are living computers, One that’s in pain telepathically gets the attention of Halo & Cyborg whom then proceed to rescue them by “Boom-Tubing” their way to Granny’s house saving the two and Halo using her powers to Heal the Motherbox. Afterward, Brion & Halo begin to resolve their differences, And we finally find out who Dr. Helga Jace has been contacting during the course of these episodes and let’s just say It’s somebody unpleasant… We also get a post-credits scene of Granny reporting to Darkseid on a discovery she made which is something very relevant to comic fans.

Our Take

With this season is gearing towards a finale, It makes sense that things can feel a little rushed. For example, Cyborg would’ve still had some begrudging feelings towards his Dad even after he attempted to save him when the Fatherbox almost messed with his body, but I don’t feel completely bothered by this sub-plot resolving itself in this way. I do at least like that a few twists that myself and the audience have suspected being confirmed such as Granny Goodness’s vile & malicious nature surfacing, and the twist ending of who Jace has been talking to this whole time who is a classic villain that’s easily recognized by DC fans.

The Bumblebee Sub-plot I think was also sweet but it tried to convey some sort of message about the ethics of improving a child’s life, even if it was taken to bizarre and epic proportions. I also loved the comical symbolism it provided during the proceedings but was also surprised at how much we are given the chance to get to know Kaldur’s boyfriend Wynnd as a character while the fish-woman from the previous episode now goes by the name “Dolphin”.

It’s only a matter of time before we see what happens next after the two twists at the end and whether or not Terra’s subplot will play out a similar way it did with the iconic DC story “The Judas Contract”.