REVIEW: Young Justice Season 4: Phantoms Episode 20, “Forbidden Secrets of Civilizations Past!”

Television Reviews

*SPOILERS*

“Forbidden Secrets of Civilizations Past!” opens in Supertown as Rocket and Orion agree to start over after their poor first impressions. M’comm tells Lor-Zod that he has the information they need. It turns out it was really M’comm disguised as Orion that Rocket talked to, inadvertently opening her mind to him and letting him find out where the ruction cell is. The villains go back in time and find the cell. Garfield attends a therapy session with Black Canary and says he’s ready to face his problems and rejoin the Outsiders. Back on New Genesis, after hearing Rocket’s impassioned plea, Orion shocks everyone by retracting the request for the New Gods to take custody of Halo and Cyborg. Bear barges in on the crucial meeting to greet his old friends Rocket and Forager. He also offers condolences for Conner. Tomar-Re reveals that Krypton was in his sector, and he feels responsible for its destruction and what happened to the house of El.

Meanwhile, in the Phantom Zone, Zod brings Conner home to a big group of prisoners. In Metron’s vault, Lor and M’comm search for the Phantom Zone projector. Garfield’s psych eval starts going south when Canary asks him about Perdita and the death of Conner. Back on New Genesis, tensions run high as Forager says he’s considering staying here with the female Forager, and Orion snaps, angered by the trivial topics and wasted time. General and Ursa Zod play along with Conner, asking questions about Phantom Girl. On Earth, Canary finally breaks down Garfield’s walls, and he admits that he needs help. On New Genesis, the trio of villains attacks Metron after he’s sent back into his vault by Razer’s strikes. In the Phantom Zone, Conner decides, in his weakened, confused state, to follow Zod. Metron gives Lor a piece of Kryptonite instead of the projector, bringing him to the floor. Metron busts into the meeting between the Justice League and New Gods and tells them to come with him.

I think the transition from the scene with Rocket and fake Orion to the one where M’comm reveals himself is a tad rushed. In my first viewing of “Forbidden Secrets of Civilizations Past!” I couldn’t even tell Orion was M’comm in this scene until he verbally said as much. This isn’t a huge deal and by no means ruins the episode, but having M’comm transform more slowly or showing his trip from one place to another would have made the visual storytelling clearer.

I was surprised to find out Forager is seriously considering staying on New Genesis. I guess I should have seen this coming, but he’s so well-adjusted and accepted back on Earth now. I don’t see why the female Forager can’t go back with him. Maybe interacting with her and other bugs made our Forager homesick? Maybe he wants to reconnect with his own people and heritage after his time with the Outsiders? It was funny and endearing when Forager asked Tomar-Re about the “El hive.”

I’m most intrigued by Conner and General Zod seemingly bonding in the Phantom Zone. It’s obviously a ploy for him, Ursa, and their allies to use him in some way. As I mentioned last week, though, Zod has no idea he has a son during this time. What’s his play, I wonder? If he’s been trapped in the Zone all this time, he shouldn’t know about Superman either. It’s genuinely interesting how Conner’s time in the Zone has eroded his identity and sense of self. In his visions earlier in the season, Lex Luthor (whom I wrongly thought was really there and using Conner himself) was manipulating and using him. I wonder what caused these specific visions of Luthor telling Conner he was proud and to abandon M’gann; General Zod explained the concept of Zone sickness, but the hallucinations were very specific and showed Luthor saying things Conner couldn’t know. I’ve suspected all along that Conner wasn’t really dead and wanted him returned and reunited with M’gann and Garfield. I’m really enjoying the Phantom Zone escapades, and I can’t wait to see where they lead. I’m most interested in seeing what happens once Conner is free – both his self-actualization following this mental breakdown and the reactions of people like M’gann and his other teammates.

It’s here in “Forbidden Secrets of Civilizations Past!” that we get the scene of Metron telling the heroes to follow him. I was very excited to see the context of this portion of the midseason trailer. I must admit, I’m somewhat disappointed; the big threat facing him and everyone else consists of Lor and M’comm, two characters I don’t feel strongly about. I think Lor is particularly well designed and acted, but we’ve only known this character for a couple of episodes. And across all of M’comm’s screentime thus far, I still don’t feel we know him that well. This would all feel more powerful and satisfying if someone like Vandal Savage or R’as Al Ghul were involved. Furthermore, the trailer framing Metron like a hero or ally was a cheap shot taking something way less cool out of context. This was just a short scene in the episode, but it feels like multiple missed opportunities to strengthen the season’s narrative and develop some of the show’s less famous characters.

Far more importantly, though, Rocket’s character arc doesn’t progress at all this week! This is presumably the second-to-last episode of her arc, and I expected some growth here. She does reach a hand out to “Orion,” but there isn’t time to see how she feels about this. M’comm says he read her mind, and she was only doing it out of a sense of duty rather than to actually give Orion another chance. She even says she’s doing it because Vykin trusts Orion, and she trusts him. How are we this far into an arc focusing on Rocket with so little in the way of development for her character? I’m not mad, but a little disappointed. They set up something great for her, and I thought they would have taken a big step towards it in “Forbidden Secrets of Civilizations Past!”

Overall, “Forbidden Secrets of Civilizations Past!” is okay. The technical aspects and acting are about as good as usual, but the plot isn’t as tightly woven as in the previous two episodes, and the character development leaves much to be desired.