"Alive" Talkback/Discussion

[Warhammer]

This episode is going to be good.
I heard it's the best episode of the season.

The Legion is back.
Back to main-plot of the season.

Let's go!

 

[Angelus103]

is that clancy brown voice or someone else for lex

 

[Tamanon]

I love the character moments for Luthor and gang in this episode. Just good setup for next week's finale. Plus some of the surprises are quite fun.

 

[Tamanon]

is that clancy brown voice or someone else for lex

That's still Clancy.

 

[Tamanon]

Welcome back Big Guy!

 

[Kirk Langstrom]

Great episode!

"we have a little problem..."

I love it.

 

[Warhammer]

Holy crap.
There were advantages to not spoiling myself and waiting for this episode to come on.


**SPOILERS**
(If you haven't seen the episode and you read this, that's your fault).


That was a very, very good episode of JLU.
That was the best episode of the season, so far.
(I'll wait until I see Destroyer next week until I judge it as best for the season.)

Seeing the Legion of Doom fight each other was great.
I am glad that the top-tier memebers were with Luthor.
I am also glad to see Gorilla Grodd finally get axed.

Also, seeing the remaining Legion ask the Justice League for help was golden.
Seeing Darkseid with Brainiac's components was great to see.

I can't wait until Darkseid's forces attack Earth and the League on the finale.

I am glad I didn't spoil myself.

 

[WOLVERINE25TH]

Ooooh snap! Totally didn't see that end comin'! If this is THE end of th' series, they can't go out any better a way!

 

[Warhammer]

Ooooh snap! Totally didn't see that end comin'! If this is THE end of th' series, they can't go out any better a way!

Exactly.

I still want my Ra's Al Ghul against the JLU.

 

[celldog]

Ooooh snap! Totally didn't see that end comin'! If this is THE end of th' series, they can't go out any better a way!

DITTO!!! Metron showing up was sweet!!

 

[Pksoze]

I think this was the best episode of the season.

But its interesting how Lex is such a badass the whole episode but his eyes showed pure fear in the end.

 

[WOLVERINE25TH]

Well, you'll never get it so long as The Batman lives.

One thing; when did Darkseid die? Did I miss an episode?

 

[Warhammer]

Well, you'll never get it so long as The Batman lives.

One thing; when did Darkseid die? Did I miss an episode?

He died on Twilight. (Season 2 of Justice League)

Superman battled him, and then the meteor they were on exploded with him and Brainiac still in it.

Batman rescued Superman before the meteor exploded.
Later on, Batman said "Nobody could have survived that explosion."
Superman then says, "You know what Bruce, You're not always right"

 

[WOLVERINE25TH]

Sounds vaguely familiar. Gonna hafta start watchin' reruns.

 

[deathshead2]

Could someone tell me what happend between the parts when the guy in the chair started talking to luther unitl drakseid blew up the base. My tv started showing some dumb local thing for a min.

 

[Warhammer]

The guy in the chair told Luthor that what he was about to do was something that he would regret and that would be a threat to the Universe.
Luthor didn't care and decided to suck up Brainiac's pieces from the meteor pieces.

He put Tala in this machine that allowed them to suck up the Braniac components. He told Tala that he had her in his plan the whole time he met her. They suck up the pieces of meteor and Darkseid reforms.

The look of Lex's face is golden. Darkseid says that he will make Lex's death quick for bringing him back to life.

 

[deathshead2]

The guy in the chair told Luthor that what he was about to do was something that he would regret and that would be a threat to the Universe.
Luthor didn't care and decided to suck up Brainiac's pieces from the meteor pieces.

He put Tala in this machine that allowed them to suck up the Braniac components. He told Tala that he had her in his plan the whole time he met her. They suck up the pieces of meteor and Darkseid reforms.

The look of Lex's face is golden. Darkseid says that he will make Lex's death quick for bringing him back to life.

And that is why Darkseid is the most badass badguy ever.He should really be used more in the comics.

 

[Warhammer]

Yeah.
I think he is the best and most interesting "Threat to the DC Universe"

Way better than Imperiex and all the others.

 

[muscaremy]

so lemme get this straight no one even die hard jlu fans new darkseid was comin or did u and just didnt say anything

 

[deathshead2]

No I knew.

 

[Tamanon]

so lemme get this straight no one even die hard jlu fans new darkseid was comin or did u and just didnt say anything

Some of us watched the episodes early, they were shown over in the UK several months ago already Enjoy part 2 next Saturday!

 

[Pksoze]

so lemme get this straight no one even die hard jlu fans new darkseid was comin or did u and just didnt say anything

I knew...

 

[Dread]

I wasn't aware of Kid's WB's schedule so I missed today's rare new episode of THE BATMAN, but fortunately I caught the "preultimate" episode of JLU, and I think it was a fair trade. "Alive" begins the first part of not only the season finale of JLU, but, barring a last minute rescue or an inevitable DTV, the series finale of JLU (and also an episode that aired overseas about 3 months ago). Which spawned from JL, spawned from Batman/Superman Adventures and 12+ years of Timmverse DCUA entertainment. It surely has big shoes to fill and expectations higher than New Genesis itself. All shows come to an end, but how and when they finish is key. JLU's last season with the Camdus arc has agrueably been the peak of the show. This season hasn't been as dramatic a departure in quality as, say, the third season of THE BATMAN or TEEN TITANS, but it still was not as good as the last. Still, despite a few "misses", the show is still the best comic cartoon on the air.

This episode shows that while JLU has at times been accused of "fan-pandering" with all the cameos, that they're not afraid to try something new. This episode is the first and only episode of JLU to feature almost no heroes. Yes, Superman and a few caped faces show up, but that is only in the closing 30 seconds. The episode belongs to the villians, namedly Luthor, Grodd, and Tala (although Toyman all but steals the show). It felt a bit like an issue of VILLIANS UNITED, where there are no heroes to root for; instead you have a bad faction of baddies fighting an equal-to-more-bad faction of baddies. Not something the show has done too often, save for TASK FORCE X. Granted, even TASK FORCE X had some heroes having more airtime than in ALIVE, and the "villians" were a black ops team working for the government; they had legal justification for their mission. "Alive" is basically about the squabbling between members of Luthor's "Secret Society" and a bit of a turf war.

To those viewers who tune in for their favorite heroes, whoever they may be, they may have been disappointed, especially since there is still more that could be told with our wide cast of heroes (even if the well for GL and Shayera has run dry). But what we have here is some interesting character interaction, some notable performances voice-wise, and something JLU has become known for, a mass group fight. Still, I did get a sense of wanting to FF to DESTROYER and watch the heroes deal with the upcoming threat, but the episode kept me well entertained.

The episode begins with Luthor attempting once again to draw blood from a stone, or in this case, extract the "essence" of Brainiac from that enigmic stone he took from Grodd with his machines, as the vampish Tala seems to strut about wanting attention (and wishing the Flash was still inhabiting his body, I bet). The machines explode, and Luthor goes off on a rage, his voice all but cracking in frustration. Despite being a genius, and being in his physical prime again, he's become addicted to that "omnipotent" power he felt as "Lexiac", and it surely is understandable. Tala, in an attempt to help, tries using her magics on the stone, and finds out where it came from; the asteroid that Brainiac built way back in "Twilight", which was the premire of JUSTICE LEAGUE Season Two (and one of the best episodes of the show, ever, notably to returning Superman to being a great character, both emotionally and power-wise). No longer seeing magic as "pointless and unpredictable" compared to science, Luthor wants to embark on a space mission to harvest more "Brainiac rocks". The question, of course, is how did Grodd get it exactly?

However, the Secret Society is getting restless. About half of them are loyal to Luthor, while the rest are growing uneasy with simply playing pawns to his scheme for godlike power. While Luthor's not trying to turn everyone into gorillas, his scheme is rather selfish, and he's still very brash and authoritarian as a leader, seeming to rule with an iron fist rather than manipulation (like Grodd did). Luthor is challenged by Goldface, but uses his technology to mangle him; apparently since Luthor was involved in "enhancing" the powers of many of the Society, he has built-in safeguards to defeat them all (as he did with Dr. Polaris in "The Great Brain Robbery"). Granted, if the baddies REALLY wanted to get rid of Luthor, instead of openly challenging him and giving him ample time to hit a switch, they could just, well, gang up and jump him. I guess this seperates the leaders from the grunts. Luthor makes the mistake of spurning Tala, though, and she rushes into the open arms of the encaged Grodd. Batman's not the only pimp on the show, although Tala's probably the kinkiest female in the entire Timmverse to get horny over a gorilla. Still, one can understand her frustration; Grodd at least wanted to rule Earth, while Luthor is obsessed with a rock from space.

Luthor, meanwhile, has the Society work double-time to make their base space-worthy, and the thing rockets into the cosmos at warp-speed to get to "Asteroid B" (making fun of Magneto's Asteroid M here), or at least what is left of it. Amung those loyal to him are Atomic Skull, Sinestro, Bizarro (because Luthor's "his mommy") and Toyman, who manages to remain one of Superman's creepiest villians (and naturally was once believed to have actually KILLED the man of steel in "Hereafter"; that had to up his rep in the underworld). It's the voice, his lines, that weirdo mask with the unmoving mouth, all of it combined. Grodd is freed and bursts in as the thing goes to hyperspace, along with half of the Society at his back, ready for a showdown over power. Before you can say "Warr-iors, come out to PLAYYY-AAAYYY!", the factions of the super-villian team go at it. So much for honor amung thieves; who needs Batman when the baddies thin out themselves? Naturally, it is easy to get lost naming names of those engaged in battle. Once again, Bizarro went down faster than a ****e at a High School Prom (against Rampage), and it is almost embarrassing to watch him. Giganta has a crushing reunion with Grodd after he fried her brain and left her to the authorities, but Tala manages to take the big-gal down (and call her "thunder-thighs", ouch). Killer Frost, yet another resident "psycho", matches wits against Toyman, who takes her down rather efficiently with a "heated" yo-yo. Luthor manages to evade Grodd for a while and employ all of his tricks to stay alive (including having a hidden magical necklace to defeat Tala's magic; first Faust and now this), but it comes down to a solo showdown, with the gorilla man-handling Luthor until he uses his psychic-abilities, which was what Luthor was waiting for. Surprising even for JLU, Luthor essentially orders Grodd into an airlock and shoots him into space, which unless there is a lot of bull at play, is fairly lethal.

Frost then freezes the rest of Grodd's faction and the space mission continues, with Luthor strapping Tala to a large machine and planning to her her magical essence to extract Brainiac from the rock; something he'd seemingly been planning all along, even before her betrayal. Much like in "Injustice for All", Luthor has little sense of comradery save for what suits himself, and anyone to him is expendable (which makes it reasonable why he would have issues keeping the Society together). Just when he's about to pull the switch, time stops and one of those "omnipotent cosmic types warns against catastrophe but does nothing to actually help", the Metron (sort of like The Watcher, only without the big head). He is a "scientist of time" and claims that Luthor's actions will greatly muck things up, which seems to only please the arrogant Luthor. Metron vanishes, and it turns out that magic really is/was unpredictable after all; instead of Brainiac, DARKSEID emerges from the booth, clad in some new tech-ish armor and looking bigger and meaner than ever. He claims to give them a "quick death" before returning to Apokolips. Apparently, though, they all live and manage to get to the JLU Watchtower, so I guess Darkseid has crappy aim.

And what is Darkseid's first order of business after averting civil war on Apokolips? "The same thing he does every night, Pinky" -- try to take over Earth and kill Superman. Because searching for that "anti-life equation" is kind of boring.

Okay, I saw all of this coming a few weeks in advance, no thanks to Comics Continuum. Its still an interesting development. The problem is that unlike Lexiac, which was totally new, we've had quite a few brawls between Superman and Darkseid, and at least one "Apokolips invading Earth" story before, so it is really nothing new. But sometimes one doesn't have to be original to be satisfying. Some good action sequences can still end the show on a proper bang, which is what I am hoping for. Last season's finale belonged to Flash and Terry McGinnis, and this time it may belong to Superman. Of course, the downside to this is that fights become mundane after a while and thus they really have to be paced well to be effective. Still, it seems that JL is ending as it began; a bunch of heroes fighting off aliens. They seem to do that a lot. Only this time, there's 60 of them, and they are more of a well oiled machine. And they have the villians behind them.

Looking foward to next week.

 

[blind_fury]

HaHA! CN is going to cancel JLU so they can play SBTB (Saved by the Bell) episodes! lol!

 

[blind_fury]

oh and that episode was a classic! It should win a freakin emmy!