This episode has got to be the complete opposite of last week's episode. "Bloodlines" was for the most part comedic and only focused on one character. "Depths" on the other hand was incredibly dramatic and gave a fair share of development to many characters. It was just as good an episode though.
The main focus of this episode was Artemis and was nice to see her back after giving and episode to Aqualad and Kid Flash. She' still awesome as ever and seeing her in action was fun. The big thing about the episode was that she "died." However, this wasn't a surprise ending; they revealed it right at the start, which was the first clue that it would be subverted somehow. The early reveal and then working back to how it happened was an interesting idea, but they really abused it to death. Every time Artemis or Dick said anything it would someone hint to her upcoming "death," which got a little annoying after the first couple of times.
And of course the ending reveals that she's still alive. However, they did pull this off pretty well. Instead of just having Artemis burst back into life at the last minute, they actual made it seem like she was truly gone. The next scene was a funeral, again giving the impression that she really had died. So when she showed up at the final scene, it was quite a relief. I feel that it would have been better if they hadn't had the "She's dead" line right at the start, though. Like I said, that was a big tip off that all wasn't as it seemed and meant that I still figured that she might be alive.
Speaking of the ending, another twist that wasn't expecting as much though was that Aqualad is still good. I thought this at first, but after "Alienated" it made it quite clear that he had many reasons to turn to the bad side. So I really couldn't help but smile when we learn that he's just been acting undercover all this time and having to make tough decisions. Like season the search for the mole created a lot of tension between characters, I think we might heading in that direction again with this plot now.
While that was the major source of drama, there was quite a lot going on between Miss Martian, Superboy, and Lagoon Boy. In a dark scene we learn the true reason behind Miss Martian and Superboy breaking up. It seems like Megan still sees things as black and white and thinks it's okay to mind rape as long as it's on "the bad guys." That might not seem like enough to break up the two, but they we learn that she tried to change Connor's mind about it mentally. It's so easy to feel the pain between the two of them. You may recall Connor exploding at Megan earlier when she tried to talk to him mentally because it reminded him of his time at Cadmus. And then you'll remember that Megan was terrified that she might make a mistake and lose Connor. Well the worst has come true for the both of them. If the pain in their voices isn't enough to make you feel for them, than Megan starting to cry would do it.
And then there's the character who has been waiting for a breakout episode since season 2 started, Lagoon Boy. He's always around, and sometimes goes out on missions, yet we haven't really seen too much of him yet. Today we really got to learn what kind of person he is. He has probably got to be one of the most obnoxious characters yet. He purposefully taunts Connor with his relationship with Megan, and then in action he ignores orders from Nightwing. We haven't really seen a character like this yet. Cassie was shown to be a little careless, but Lagoon Boy is much, much worse. I quite like him for it. He should keep things interesting by not being as perfect as the other heroes. Currently he's been captured by Black Manta which in itself should lead to an interesting plot.
Nightwing finally got into the action, but I still don't think it was his breakout yet. He still hasn't done anything particularly big, aside from being in control of the team's actions. I'm still hoping he'll get an episode to himself soon. Since the so-called retired heroes are starting to get back in the spotlight, I'm also hoping we'll be seeing Zatanna and Rocket soon too. They were two of my favorites from season 1 and I was disappointed to learn that they would be leaving the team, especially since they didn't get much development. But I've got my fingers crossed.
The main problem with this episode was plot holes. Megan says that they can't let the villains know that the main heroes are gone, but earlier Psimon seemed to know that Batman was out of the picture. If The Light already know then it's not likely keeping it a secret will help. And then there's the reasoning behind Artemis returning to the team. In hindsight it was likely that they just wanted an excuse to "kill" her, but the reasoning they gave to everyone else seemed pretty weak. She just told Megan that she was there because "not everyone thinks the Martians are bad." So, what exactly does that mean? And lastly, why did Black Manta want to destroy the rocket? I'm sure it benefited The Light's plan somehow, but they didn't really explain that.
Last week's plots were shoved to the side for now. Bart and the real Speedy are probably going to be stored for another plot later. It's a shame because I was interested in both of them, but I guess that it's for the best that we take it one plotline at a time.
The plot is definitely getting deeper and I think things are really going to start taking shape soon. As always, I'll be looking forward to the next episode.
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