Young Justice: Outsiders midseason finale: Teasers and traitors
Still from Young Justice: Outsiders episode 11. Image via Warner Bros. TV
Episode 11 – “Another Freak”
Young Justice uses a suspenseful sub-genre as the mode for Victor Stone’s official origin story as Cyborg on the series. Sure, we can all expect the fiasco with the misplace wiring, but it doesn’t discount the timing of the delivery. Seriously though, who puts a piece of tethering to a critical experiment that close to a door? It’s just a trip hazard.
The episode quickly takes macabre tone to Victor’s origin story as Cyborg — or at least begins to, seeing as he hasn’t officially taken on the Cyborg name yet. Though Vic’s backstory is complete with the comic book accuracy of his Fatherbox-based survival story.
Gruesome post-explosion scene aside, Victor’s narrative extends the theme of life, loss, and death, as his father uses a Fatherbox to save his life. Although compromised emotionally by the Fatherbox once he finally awakens from his Apokoliptian medical procedure, Victor’s underlying emotions of resentment and rage are real and reminiscent of Brion’s unrefined coping mechanisms.
However, “Another Freak” didn’t just introduce Cyborg as an implied freak and clear addition to the growing Outsiders family, it also added Harper Row (soon-to-be Bluebird) into the Young Justice: Outsiders character encyclopedia. Apart from introducing new characters and backstories, this episode fortifies Halo’s character development, as well as her abilities arsenal.
Given Halo’s power of resurrection, as Victor’s rebirth as a new version of himself begins, the episode plays on the theme of her Auras to give praise to Halo’s reincarnation — both with her reconstructed identity and her growing prowess over her abilities.
At the start of the series, she needed help from Artemis to escape the meta-teen traffickers. In this episode, she uses her powers to rescue a new meta-teen. The connection between her and Victor highlights her growth as a hero and shows how powerful she’s become.