Young Justice: Outsiders episode 18 review: Conglomeration of disappointment

One of the Young Justice: Outsiders characters could be dying, and it leads them to do some questionable things that perpetuate a harmful stereotype.

If there’s anything the second half of Young Justice: Outsiders has done exceptionally well, it’s made us email Warner Bros. with impassioned essays demanding that the DC Universe develop several spinoff series just so we can get properly invested in the growing horde of characters — and you know, asking for an even longer season. Either or both will do.

Beyond our mild but persistent frustrations when it comes to the growing onslaught of characters, — most of whom take us out of the Outsiders-themed season — this week’s episode took some narrative risks, and they didn’t work out. As Halo’s mental health arc crescendos with some devastating news from an untrustworthy source, “Early Warning” struggles with transitions and tropes, and the episode seems out of character given the strong first half of the season.

Apparently, Young Justice season 3, part 2 accepted an unspoken challenge to attempt to fit in as many problem-riddled moments without any of their viewers noticing. Unfortunately, it didn’t work. We noticed. Using a traumatic life event to deteriorate Halo’s strong sense of self (even despite her rebirth-induced amnesia, it’s clear she knows who she is), this episode introduces Halo as bi+ … just with a negative stereotype, thanks to the cheating subplot.

Halo cheating on Brion is clearly a moral grey area given their fugue. Considering the episode reveals they left class and didn’t tell their Outsiders friends where they were going, it implies that they might not have known their date with Harper wasn’t exactly right. Or maybe Halo thought they’d judge.

Regardless, they are in an emotional crisis right now, and seeing as the writers crafted this scene, none of that really matters because it isn’t their fault. What does matter is that, regardless of the context, the series introduces a bi+ character, and in the same moment, depicted them as a cheater.

We love that Halo is exploring their sexuality. We wish that the circumstances were less grim. Nonetheless, in the official introduction to Halo’s bi+ identity, the show perpetuates a biphobia stigma in the same scene. Halo’s amnesia and where they stand with their morality are up to interpretation. But the implication of this “bi+ people are cheaters” stereotype still exists. Seeing that same stereotype visibly shown innately upholds the stereotype that bi+ people are cheaters.

More notably, the episode treats Halo’s bi+ identity as a big reveal purely for shock value. Harper and Halo have potential chemistry, but they had very little interaction with one another until this episode. Considering how the scene convolutes Halo’s identity discovery and the attached stereotype, it makes their identity seem like a ploy to surprise the audience. In itself, this just turned Halo’s sexuality into a plot twist, making it seem divisive.

We are still clinging to the dwindling hope that the series will segway into using their potentially budding relationship as a way for Halo to open up to someone about their PTSD, anxieties, and anticipatory grief. Perhaps this is why Halo clung to Harper, a character she’d only interacted with a couple of times prior. Establishing Harper as a cute, trusting member of Halo’s support group is a cute way to flesh out their potential coupledom. But given the aforementioned biphobic stereotype, we’re not looking forward to the predictable fallout when Brion finds out about all this.

However, this isn’t the only unfortunate turn in this episode…

Exploitation of Muslims

Since we’re on the theme of unsavory notes in episode 18, let’s talk about how Young Justice: Outsiders exploits Muslim identities. Halo said they’re “not Muslim” this episode. However, the early first half of the season implicitly depicted Halo as Muslim, especially when they said their hijab “just feels right.” It doesn’t make sense.

Explicitly denouncing their Muslim identity does more than just invalidate Muslim representation (that the series led us on to belief was actually present in Young Justice: Outsiders). It makes it seem like the series only uses Halo’s Muslim identity when it’s convenient. With Halo’s amnesia, their past life, and the uncertainty of their future, much of their characterization relies on ambiguity. However, the dismissal of their religion reminds us that there’s a big problem with a part of Halo’s canon obscurity.

From their seemingly endless and mysterious powers, their memories, and their current identity, much of Halo’s arc is filled with grey area. One of the greyest parts of their characterization is whether each of their deaths constitutes an actual death. Though they’re reborn and healed, are each of Halo’s death vulnerable to same tropes that typical, non-revived deaths are vulnerable to? In other words, would each of Halo’s deaths contribute to the overwhelming number of LGBTQ+ characters and people of color who are discriminately killed off onscreen?

Pondering these questions makes Halo’s treatment throughout this season gradually more and more uncomfortable. In a character arc that seems defined by so much subjectivity, the series can hide behind this same grey area to capitalize on a recurring image of a person of color dying.

Beyond the noncommittal stance to Halo’s Muslim beliefs, the person of color in perpetual pain trope, and everything else wrong with this situation, it’s just disappointing that Halo apparently isn’t Muslim. The series led its viewers to believe they were Muslim, then went back on it. It puts a nefarious spin on bait-and-switch because it uses real-life, marginalized religions and identities as a haphazard twist.

Underwhelming character arcs

While there are dozens of side characters in any given episode of Young Justice: Outsiders, the series doesn’t focus enough on the characters who really matter: The Outsiders and everyone on the Outsiders’ team.

Bringing back characters the series has long since forgotten, like Harper Row, just reminds us how many subsequently underwhelming character arcs rise from this overly ambitious cast of characters. Obviously, not every character needs to be a frontrunner throughout the season. However, even characters like Vic, who were built up to have steady arcs in the first half, have been shelved to the ambiguous background.

By adding even more new characters, the episode is trying to gradually introduce new Outsiders recruits. But now that the series has finally introduced the titular superhero team, pinning the spotlight on characters who aren’t Outsiders. This makes the Zatanna-focused episode seem out of place and pushes us farther away from the Outsiders theme.

We love Zatanna, and she kicked butt in this episode, but her beautifully scripted and choreographed fighting sequences would have made more sense in the first half of the Young Justice: Outsiders season — you know, back when and when the series devoted more time to her and her father.

Missteps and awkward storytelling might still the direction a bit, but there were some good and interesting things that happened in this episode:

• The introduction of Dolphin (the new aquatic metahuman). Or at least we think she’s Dolphin, considering Beast Boy’s shapeshifting into a dolphin. Apart from the potential clever foreshadowing, we hope she joins the Outsiders officially.
• Klarion’s Ruttabagga meta-monster creation vaguely reminds us of Envy’s soul-infested real form in Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. Whether or not homunculi inspired this pseudo-monster, it was still a creepy scene. And creepy is a good thing in this case because it almost made us take Klarion as a serious threat. Almost. He is still Klarion, after all.
• The meta promo for DC Universe’s upcoming Stargirl series. We love this advertising within a TV series, and we’re not ashamed to say it.
• The fact that Dr. Jace’s distressing side conversation with Halo about their dying body seems awkward, but it works in this moment’s favor. It reminds us that Jace is plotting something and that we shouldn’t trust any of her actions. That definitely includes this moment and the “fact” that Halo is dying.

Despite the harmful stereotypes about bi+ people, we do hope Young Justice: Outsiders will turn this arc around and give us (and Halo) some productive resolutions. There are still several episodes left in the season, which means there’s plenty of time for revelations, twists, and some cathartic but bittersweet heart-to-heart moments between characters.