The Story
While Blue Beetle continues to pose as a hero, the team mobilize to free him from Reach control. Impulse and Batgirl ambush Blue Beetle, but are easily taken out. Zatanna and Rockette are able to trap Beetle in a bubble made by mixing Rockette's powers and Zatanna's magic.
They take Beetle to an ancient Bialyan ruin, where a ritual to cleanse those infected by the scarabs is contained. During the ritual, Green Beetle attacks, but he is caught up in the ritual and cleansed.
In the meanwhile, Miss Martian and Lagoon Boy meet up and have a discussion about their relationship.
The Review
If this were a longer running show, the Blue Beetle as a traitor subplot would have been a LOT longer. As it is, these story lines need to wrapped up. And for what it's worth, the pacing is working out quite nicely. Rather than introduce excessive plot elements, everything is moving at a brisk pace towards the finale.
While I was a bit skeptical about Blue Beetle getting so much focus this season, when there were other characters from season one I was more interested in, I think out of all the new characters Beetle's story has been the most interesting, and his character development has been the best. I've enjoyed learning about him, and while it did seem at times that this was becoming his show, I didn't mind it. I only wish the other characters could have gotten that much focus.
I was emotionally invested in the outcome of this episode, and it was great to see Green Beetle freed from the control of his scarab. I kind of wish that Black Beetle had been freed as well, not so much because I think he would become a good guy—I get the feeling his actions are completely voluntary—but rather because I am interested to see what he was like before the scarab was implanted on him.
In my last review I mentioned that I would have loved to get more development for the Bat Family characters, and this episode was about as good as I think we are going to get. While Barbara didn't get any character development, it was enough that she was extensively involved in the episode. I wouldn't mind a bit more, but at this point I'll take what I can get. Now if only Tim could have gotten some more screen time.
In the end, I felt like this was a great episode to move on to the finale with. The Reach continues to take severe losses, and I imagine in the climax they will be left with little of what they started out with. The interaction between the Ambassador and the Scientist was great, as we had not seen the Ambassador lose his cool before. We got a better look at what their real relationship is, and I wouldn't mind to see where this is going.
The scene between Lagann and Megan was surprisingly more interesting than I thought it would be, and I even found myself feeling bad for Lagann, who until this point I had seen as nothing but an undeveloped character, and frankly pretty annoying. But, anyone that has had a significant other break up with them can at least empathize with him, and that one scene did more for his character than all his scenes from this season combined.
This was a really good episode, and I can only hope that the finale itself will be phenomenal.
The Grade
4/5
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