Synopsis
Victor confronts his father about his football game. Halo and Forager go to high school.
Review
Wow, wow and wow. What an episode “Another Human Freak” turned out to be. Following some run-of-the-mill episodes this is absolutely a highlight for me.
In the previous episode (reviewed here) we were introduced to Victor Stone prior to the accident which turns him in to Cyborg. In this episode the writers put their foot on the gas and go full on origin for the character.
The episode wastes no time in bringing about the accident which gravely wounds Victor. It’s easily the goriest moment this series has ever show. Even by the standards of this latest season it’s incredibly graphic. Perhaps a touch too graphic but I appreciated that the animation team wanted to push the boundaries.
Gore aside there’s still a lot of character moments in this episode. The argument Victor has with his father, Silas, before the accident is excellently scripted and acted. Zeno Robinson brings so much emotion to Victor in this moment, you can hear the pain and disappointment in his voice.
It’s also a great nod to Teen Titans to have Khary Payton has the voice of Silas. He’s cold, almost robotic and completely unforgiving in the moments leading up to the accident. It makes for truly heartbreaking viewing.
But there’s a lot more going on in this episode. Halo and Forager start high school, a tough moment for any kid never mind an alien bug and a metahuman. There’s much less by way of laughs in this episode but the story of these two starting school does at least add some levity to proceedings.
I’m intrigued what the thought process behind including Harper Row (aka Bluebird) was. Alongside baby Damian, Jon Kent, Cisco Ramon and Jason Todd there are a lot of cameos to mine in future seasons.
Halo is also becoming an integral character to the season. Between her and Forager there are a lot of “awwwww!” moments. But here she instead gets to feature her powers some more. The strength she shows in fearlessly opening a boom tube and taking on the newly created Cyborg is a great step forwards for the character.
There’s also a sideline story around Dick and Brion. We’ve seen the two rubbing each other up the wrong way for a few episodes now. With Dick frustrated by Brion’s behaviour and Brion frustrated at the rest of the teams inability to rescue his sister.
Here it all comes to a head. It doesn’t quite explode with the emotion of the scenes between Victor and Silas but it still very much has its place in the episode. The scene instead showcases how far Dick has come over the years, here he is much more like Bruce in his mentorship of the young hero.
Easily the most cohesive episode of Outsiders this is absolutely Young Justice at its finest.
Verdict
“Another Human Freak” is a standout episode, its equal parts gory and compelling. It shows what the series is capable of in the best ways possible and is easily my highlight of the season so far.
8/10
Young Justice stars Jesse McCartney, Nolan North, Stephanie Lemelin, Khary Payton, Zehra Fazal, Troy Baker and Jason Spisak. The series is directed by Christopher Berkeley and Mel Zwyer and producers by Sam Register, Greg Weisman and Brandon Vietti.
The series premieres new episodes weekly via the DC Universe streaming service.
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