Justice League Unlimited, Season 1, Episode 6: Fearful Symmetry
"Does everything have a sinister motive in your world?"
"Yours too. You just don't know it."
For whatever reason, I missed nearly all of the Question's episodes back when I was watching Justice League Unlimited on Cartoon Network as a kid. I knew who Question was from the comics, and I watched the one where he co-stars with Huntress (which was far more comedic than this) but I didn't realize what a huge impact Question would have on the series. I definitely missed this one, and 'Fearful Symmetry' is one of the episodes that initially just feels like a standalone episode introducing a new character, but in reality is the first of many episodes that's going to build up to a larger plotline we'll see around, oh, half a season down the line.
The Question, during this rewatch session, is unquestionably (ha!) my favourite character among the expanded roster of the Justice League, for being such a bonkers character. Being voiced by voice-acting god Jeffrey Coombs helps out a lot in giving him such an expressively neurotic yet cocksure voice helps, of course (Coombs did Scarecrow in Batman: TAS, as well as Ratchet in Transformers: Prime and the Rat King in TMNT) but Question's dialogue and general personality is just absolutely wonderful. The Question is just your average vigilante in a trenchcoat and a fedora, with a mask that gives him the impression of a faceless man. JLU strips all of his ambiguous magical powers from the comics, and makes him a full-blown paranoid-conspiracy-theorist vigilante that is even more 'street' than Batman and even Green Arrow, so to speak.
Of course, while Question's crazy suspicions are initially played up for laughs ("Please. I go through everyone's trash." "Not conspira-cies. Conspira-cy. Singular.") it all takes a slightly dark turn as, y'know, some of Question's wild theories turn out to be very true, and the League may be up against a threat that is keeping its profile very low at the moment. Yes, the Question's big flowchart may involve (if Green Arrow's actually reading from the flowchart and not being sarcastic) the spread of coffee bars, germs outpacing antibiotics and boy bands, but the Question's obsession to all of this makes him very interesting and hilarious.
Of course, the Question isn't the sole focus of the show, as we bring back Supergirl and Green Arrow from the season's debut episode (fuck Captain Atom, I guess?). We start off with a very, very disturbing sequence of a man being hounded by Supergirl, out for blood, and very horrifyingly tearing her way through groups of armed men, buildings and robots in a way that, once more, should make the humans of the DC universe glad that Kal-El of Krypton was raised by a bunch of farmers with a moral code. This darker version of Supergirl is ready to heat vision execute the man, and our Supergirl wakes up from what appears to be a nightmare, having used her heat vision to make holes in the ceiling.
We get a very welcome bit role from J'onn J'onzz, and it is very logical that Supergirl would go to an actual telepathic friend for help. J'onn has no answers for he is not familiar with dreams, but he did note that Supergirl's dreams are more cohesive than what's normal. Supergirl has a talk with Green Arrow, who she seems to have adopted as a surrogate older brother. Very interesting that she doesn't go her actual cousin, but I guess Superman's just so busy saving the world -- and it's this detachment between Supergirl and Superman that frankly makes Supergirl grow as her own woman.
Oh, and we get a wet dream joke from Green Arrow. Oh, Ollie.
Question pops into the scene at this point in the cafeteria, noting that it's connected to a massive worldwide conspiracy, and he references a series of events from Superman: TAS -- which I haven't watched -- about how Supergirl has some missing memories when she was treated in STAR Labs. The three end up investigating together, despite Green Arrow's reservations. They meet up with Professor Hamilton, who shows Supergirl a smaller version of the robot she sees in her dreams and makes up a very believable story about how Supergirl, someone who is invulnerable for a huge chunk of her life, is making up dreams to compensate for the horrors of being hurt and being operated on.
Of course, this way-too-convenient answer does not satisfy the Question, and they are attacked by an army of robots that the Justice League use for training. It's a pretty cool action scene, and then they do some detective work to track down General Hardcastle, also from Superman: TAS. Hardcastle is living in forced retirement, and armed with a Kryptonite gun, but he ends up giving some information that collaborates the Question's crazy illuminati theories, that the government has been keeping tabs on the JLA and experimenting with metahumans... something foreshadowed all the way back in Justice League with Joker breaking the Royal Flush Gang from a military facility.
Of course, as with in all other forms of fiction, after the heroes leave, Hardcastle is immediately murdered. Without any ambiguity to it, even if it's off-screen, Hardcastle is murdered by someone who looks like Kara with a bob haircut and a costume with a questionable hole that shows off her boobs. It's Power Girl! Er, Galatea.
This murder ends up being translated to Supergirl's mind, who instinctively knows that Hardcastle is dead. J'onn shows up with information that he has found a disappearance report for a man matching the dude that got murdered in the cold open, confirming that, yeah, the seemingly innocent (if disturbing) dreams are actually part of this far-reaching conspiracy. Question goes to interrogate the reporter (jeez, dude) while Arrow and Supergirl go off to investigate the company that the dead man worked for, Nuvogen, realizing quickly that, yeah, Nuvogen cloned her. They find footage of Galatea doing lots of dirty work that match Supergirl's dreams.
They arrive at a training facility that's basically the X-Men's Danger Room, dolled up as Metropolis, where Galatea is waiting. Green Arrow is almost a non-factor in that fight as Supergirl and Galatea rumble. Galatea wants to get rid of Supergirl since their psychic link compromises Galatea, and Galatea notes how that she's artificially aged to be older, she's stronger than Supergirl. It's a bit of a hilarious rib at Power Girl's... assets, that Green Arrow also points out (oh, DCAU, you never miss a chance to get these double entrendes in), but Galatea being physically stronger than Supergirl proves a problem. (We also get some... fanservice-y clothing damage, but nothing overtly risque for the show's standards)
Question, meanwhile is going around singing as he frowns and acts all scientific-y around the facility's high-tech lock, before smashing the facility's glass doors open with a goddamned potted plant. That was the most hilarious scene ever.
Of course, Question showing up in the battlefield adds nothing to it, as he's even more outmatched against Galatea than Green Arrow is. Question does have a gamble, though, telling Supergirl that their psychic link goes both ways. Where Supergirl is having nightmares, Galatea has been having pangs of conscience, which makes her useless as an assassin. It's a bit of a cheesy thing to do, and I'd actually prefer something different to be the climax of the fight, but it does cause Galatea to hesitate at a critical moment, causing Supergirl to get the upper hand over the clone. One self-destruct sequence later, and the superheroes escape, with Galatea being left under the rubble and they never found her body.
Supergirl calls her good old friend Professor Hamilton, who confirms that STAR labs had nothing to do with. After Hamilton signs off, of course, he is met with the wounded Galatea, showing that the two are in cahoots all along. It's a very surprising plot twist, even to someone unfamiliar with the comics, because from what I've seen in Superman: TAS (which admittedly isn't all of it) Hamilton has been a very, very good supporting character, your average nice scientist friend, and the fact that this kind man -- nothing in his voice acting, dialogue or visual design screams out 'villain' -- is actually the monster that cloned someone who trusts him... well.
It's a very, very thrilling and chilling episode, all the way from the very street, CSI-style investigation with Hamilton and Hardcastle, to the horrors of Supergirl's nightmares, to the hilarity of Question's dialogue, to the final superhero beat-em-up between Supergirl and Galatea. It's a very different style of storytelling than what we're used to in Justice League. No, this isn't Luthor or Darkseid or Grodd or Joker or Brainiac with an army of supervillains that the Justice League can overpower. This is a clandestine government organization that, if not for the Question's paranoia, would only be brushed off as being part of Supergirl's nightmares. It's the start of the Cadmus plot, people, and it's done in ways that's far different than the live-action Supergirl or the cartoon Young Justice. We'll talk about Cadmus more when we learn more of it in future episodes, but it's definitely a different breed of villains that gives Justice League Unlimited a far different and more mature feel compared to Justice League's more fantastical 'punch aliens in space' storylines. Add the sheer amount of history -- that's still easy enough to follow even for someone who hasn't watched Superman: TAS -- behind these characters like Supergirl and Hamilton and the events referenced by the characters makes all of this so much more engaging. It's a very well-written story, and coming off the hilarious 'This Little Piggy', the juxtaposition between the silliest and most thrilling episodes of JLU's first season really shows the range of what the show can do.
Justice League Roll Call
- Speaking Roles: Supergirl, Martian Manhunter, Green Arrow, the Question, Emil Hamilton
- Non-Speaking Roles: Wildcat, Shining Knight, Hourman, Black Canary, Dr. Mid-Nite, Vigilante, Wonder Woman, Elongated Man, Flash
- Major Villains: Galatea
DC Easter Egg Corner:
- Galatea is based on comic book character Power Girl. Now Power Girl's origins is... a huge clusterfuck. She is a major character in the comics, but just what her origins are -- Superman's cousin? A grown-up Supergirl? An alternate-universe Supergirl that survived the destruction of the Multiverse? An Atlantanean goddess? There are so many conflicting origins and stories about Power Girl that it actually became a huge plot point in the comics featuring her. JLU elected to just ignore all of that, and reinvent Power Girl but still keep her 'alternate Supergirl' concept alive. The end result is a character that shares almost nothing with Power Girl beyond the costume (sans cape), complete with iconic boob window.
- There are several references to events that happened in Superman: The Animated Series, which apparently took place in the episode 'Legacy'? I haven't watched anything beyond the first season, so I can't say much.
- Professor Hamilton is a major recurring character in Superman: TAS, and General Hardcastle is a recurring character from the later episodes as well. Hamilton being an ally-turned-villain is also something shared with his comic book counterpart, though DCAU!Hamilton is a lot more subtle in his change of heart.
- Hardcastle refers to Volcana (debuting in Superman: TAS and having a short appearance in Justice League) and the Royal Flush Gang (from the Justice League episode "Wild Cards") as being part of the mysterious government facilities.
- The robots that Supergirl identifies as Z-8 robots are similar in make to the robots that Green Lantern used to train the League in the Justice League episode "Secret Society".
- Hourman, Black Canary and Dr. Mid-Nite are sitting together at the same table, enforcing their status as part of the comics' Justice Society of America roster when the series aired.
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