Review: Young Justice: Phantoms “Odnu!”

Overview (Spoilers Below):

Zatanna and her protégés find themselves on the brink of war.

Our Take:

It’s the beginning of the holiday season, and the young superheroes don’t have much time to celebrate. Another story arc came to a close last week with novel references galore and a suitable closure for the two estranged sisters. This week, the fourth season is now focusing on a third arc featuring another member of the Young Justice squad: Zatanna.

“Odnu!” centers on Zatanna (Lacey Chabert) training her students in the art of magic. When a mysterious red crystal from the universe arrives, it catches the attention of Zatanna and her proteges, along with The Light member Klarion the Witch Boy (Thom Adcox-Hernandez). Their investigation resulted in them crossing paths with one another. Meanwhile, the crystal, now in the form of a young girl, and its monstrous minion Flaw begin the first stage of its mysterious plot.

This episode puts Zatanna in a mentor role to the up-and-coming magicians while exploring the mystical side of the universe. Additionally, it represents more of Beast Boy’s traumatized state and Vandal Savage’s first encounter with Klarion via flashback. While those elements are pretty brief, especially Beast Boy, they provide more development into the characters from the earlier seasons. It took me a couple of weeks to grow attached to Beast Boy’s side plot that started with “Artemis Through the Looking Glass”. Fortunately, this episode did the trick in getting me interested in seeing where it goes from here.

As for the main plot involving Zatanna, it’s another suitable start that features another hero in a brand new role and a potentially dangerous threat. One of the reasons is Zatanna’s proteges: Mary, Tracy, and Haled. It’s too early to tell whether these supporting characters are worth caring about or not. But I would say that they’ve done enough to make a solid first impression.

I also want to point out that the episode is another example of the show pushing the boundaries of bloody violence regarding its TV-14 rating. The most notable scene, in particular, is when the crystal’s minion, Flaw, brutally murders a security guard and exposes his insides for Zatanna and her students to see. It’s a pretty gross scene that reflects how dangerous its minion could be later on and possibly traumatize young DC fans in the process.

Overall, “Odnu!” is three for three regarding its Phantoms story arc introductions. The plot involving Zatanna and the students provides enough interest and mystic action to get me excited for next week’s episode. It’s also backed up by two brief yet crucial side plots that could lead to something big in the future. The episode shows that the season still has some magic up its sleeve in its narrative. By the way, “Odnu” is “undo” spelled backward, which fits Zatanna’s magical abilities appropriately well.