Young Justice S01E20 Review: Wally vs the Light

Young Justice, Season 1, Episode 20: Coldhearted

It's a bit of a filler episode, sure, but it's an episode with a significant focus on Kid Flash, and I've argued multiple times that Wally is the member of the main cast that was developed the least. After wearing a cast for the past... five or six episodes (it's an amazing feat of continuity that they did it, too!) Kid Flash finally breaks the cast, gets a birthday surprise from both his family and teammates. There's a silly bit where apparently Wally didn't realize Conner and Megan are a thing (despite the show being relatively frontal with their relationship). We get a neat bit of continuity nod as we are reminded of Zatanna's loss from the previous episode... and then quickly the fact that it's snowing and schools are closed turns out to be the work of ice fortresses run by the ice villain quartet... but Batman tells Kid Flash that he has another mission -- deliver a donor heart across the country because someone needs it for a heart surgery. It's a creative usage of superpowers, for sure, and allows Kid Flash some alone time.

See, let's take a step back and analyze what we know about Wally West, the Kid Flash. Moreso than any member of the team, Kid Flash is the one that acts the most like a kid. He's immature, he's a goober, he's arrogant, he likes to flirt and make bad jokes, and... that's about it. The other heroes might not be necessarily super-complex characters, but they have more depth than a couple of words, and this episode seeks to remedy that. Kid Flash's impetuousness isn't just him being an air-headed tit, because when push comes to shove, he's a pretty serious superhero. He's gotta save the girl, he has to run to the hospital in the limited amount of time he's offered, and that's all he knows. There are some more juvenile temptations along the way -- lots and lots of food, and the promise of fun, glorious action by teaming up with the League, looking in jealousy as other members of the Team hang out with the Flash. Of course, though, he soldiers on.

And, rather unexpectedly, Kid Flash finds his pathway barred by none other than Vandal Savage, the villain that the series builds up to be THE big bad. Vandal Savage isn't there to stop Kid Flash, merely slow him down, but Wally sees the clock and decides he has time to fight Savage. And while Kid Flash decides that he's going to give enough time to get to the hospital, and abandons the fight when there are only two hours left... Vandal Savage apparently slows Kid Flash down that when he arrives, the doctors tell him that, well, tough break, despite there still being a bit of time on Kid Flash's clock, the girl died anyway.

Of course, it turns out to be a phoney doctor, but the lesson was delivered to Kid Flash. Just because he has the ability to run fast, doesn't mean that he's going to reach the finish line in time every single time, and just because he reaches the finish line "just in time" doesn't guarantee actual victory. The sight of Kid Flash slumped in resignation on the hospital waiting room is amazingly melancholic, and, again, despite the happy ending the episode eventually provides us, it's still a very effective moment. Does it quite work in making Kid Flash as three-dimensional a character as the others? It's a start, certainly.

Kid Flash fights with Count Vertigo, the true orchestrator of the mess, using Light resources to attempt and delay the donor heart going to his niece (!) so he could be crowned rightful ruler of Vlatava. (It's actually a plan that makes sense... the Light certainly would love to control an entire country for little effort)

Kid Flash and Queen Perdita decide to the play up a little game of deception, faking Perdita's death so Vertigo would gloat in front of Kid Flash. It's a moment that falls somewhat flat, considering that Queen Perdita was literally in that room behind a curtain and Vertigo apparently just didn't notice, but considering how Kid Flash takes Vertigo with his own IV pole, it's such an unexpected take down that I can't not like it. Kid Flash saves the girl and gains a Vlatavan sword as his trophy for the episode, but I did like the really neat moment at the end when Kid Flash decides to put the heart backpack as the mission trophy instead of the sword, knowing that it's something that truly means more. Kid Flash's obsession over trophies has been, other than a neat visual narrative way to call-back to previous episodes, a sign of his juvenility, but here Kid Flash is shown to have grown a little, and it's a nice little adventure for Wally.

We also get some of the better, less ludicrous inter-episode tie-ins. Whereas last episode's crazy Klarion/Riddler/Starro plan seemed insanely far-fetched, here, Batman and Flash interrogating warden Hugo Strange (who isn't a villain yet in the eyes of the League!) about the four ice fortresses, but Strange shows them that, nope, the Icicles, Freeze, Cold and Frost are all in their cells during the day of the attack. It's a neat, believable bit of villain organizing in order to finance a takeover of a country. Overall, an episode that's slightly underrated, I think, but one I enjoyed immensely.


Roll Call:

• Heroes: Kid Flash, Red Tornado, the Flash, Robin, Artemis, Zatanna, Miss Martian, Superboy, Aqualad, Batman, the Sphere, Aquaman, Black Canary, Green Arrow, Martian Manhunter, 
• Villains: Vandal Savage, Count Vertigo, Brick, Hugo Strange, Mr. Freeze, Icicle Senior, Killer Frost, Icicle Junior, Captain Cold
• Others: Mary West, Rudolph West, Iris West-Allen, Dr. Pieter Cross, Mattie Harcourt, Queen Perdita

DC Easter Eggs Corner: 

• Queen Perdita, rightful ruler of Vlatava, is created for the direct-to-DVD short 'DC Showcase: Green Arrow', where there she was also the target of assassination by Count Vertigo. Ariel Winter, who voiced her in DC Showcase, reprises her role here.
• Dr. Pieter Cross and Mattie Harcourt are the names of the doctors waiting for the heart. Pieter Cross is far better known as the second Dr. Mid-Nite, a member of the Justice Society, whereas Mattie Harcourt is a supporting character to Supergirl. 
• The plotline of this episode is a homage to the first issue of the 1980's Flash comics, where Wally, as Flash, had to deliver a heart across the country on his 20th birthday, and had to fight Vandal Savage on the way, although in that comic, it was a coincidence.
• Two of the schools mentioned, Spisak Junior High and Dubuc Elementary, homages Jason Spisak (Kid Flash's voice actor) and Nicole Dubuc (Iris West's voice actor and writers for various episodes).