“Intervention” continues putting all the pieces in place for the big finale. This time, it’s Blue Beetle being controlled by the Reach and Miss Martian’s relationship with Lagoon Boy that are addressed and mostly resolved. Neither have really been among the most compelling storylines in this season, so wrapping them both up in the same episode doesn’t really make this one of the better of the season. Still, there is a need to address these things, and it does make for a solid episode.
The best stuff coming out of the Blue Beetle portion of “Intervention” is thanks to Jaime Reyes being regulated to the role of headvoice along with the Scarab. It’s always been fun watching Jaime argue with the Scarab’s voice in his head, but now with the Reach controlling him completely, he’s just a voice in his head too that only the Scarab and Reach ambassador can hear. His heckling of the ambassador is pretty great, but there’s some actual dramatic weight here too as Jaime’s able to bond with the Scarab almost as a peer, putting their partnership in a much better place by episode’s end.
The means by which the Team frees Blue Beetle from the Reach’s control definitely falls too far onto the plot convenience side of things. It reminds me of last season when they were able to whip up a countermeasure for the Light’s mind control between scenes. This isn’t quite as severe as that example, though. We do get some decent explanation for how they realized this would do the trick and why it hasn’t been brought up until now. But the sudden emergence of it as a quick fix for the Blue Beetle situation still isn’t a great way to go about it. Despite that, it does make for an awesome spectacle as Zatanna works her mystic mojo while violence erupts all around.
Action this time around is good but not great. This show really excels when it has more physical fighters going at it, but there are a lot of powers flying around this time against the Beetles. That’s certainly not bad or anything. It’s just not quite on the same level of entertainment. Also, the various fights tend to be short and sweet here, and that just doesn’t leave a lot of room for great action.
There’s a big drop of exposition toward the end too. It’s a little clunky as everyone just starts explaining the history of the Blue Beetle to Jaime. There are probably ways it could’ve been handled more naturall. But to be honest, it’s really kind of cool seeing the Dan Garrett and Ted Kord versions of Blue Beetle in the show and to get glimpses of what happened to them. I’ll forgive the poorly handled exposition.
Miss Martian and Lagoon Boy finally talk. And yeah, it’s that talk. Even La’gaan knows what’s up as soon as M’gann brings it up. I don’t think the relationship between these two was ever really developed that well, and La’gaan’s overuse of the “angelfish” nickname always tends to grate on the nerves. But I think their breakup is handled well. It avoids going to any overdramatic extremes. M’gann is at least honest about why it has to be this way, and La’gaan reacts in a way that’s emotional but definitely within the range his character should react. And you’ve got to love the little kick in the end when M’gann hears about Superboy and Wendy Harris.
The worst part of the episode is easily Queen Bee’s little scene, which is the latest one in which the Light reveal they are behind things yet again. This just goes a little too far and makes it pretty corny. I can understand the Light wanting to take some of the Beetles off the table as they get more aggressive against the Reach, but it’s too much to expect me to believe they orchestrated all of this too. Unless they had a plant inside the Justice League or Team, they really couldn’t have known all this was going to go down. I mean, I’ve enjoyed how smart and manipulative the Light have been so far, but this oversteps things. And it does so in a scene that is bit forced and clumsy to begin with.
Also, I’ve now given up hope of getting a satisfying return to action from Wally West. There are only two episodes left. So at this point, I hope he at least shows up for one of them. I really don’t get this. Even Red Arrow at least got some action this season, but Wally has only had a substantial role in one or two episodes. I honestly wonder now if DC pressured the showrunners to downplay the character. For those who don’t know, DC Comics has been working on forcing Wally West into character limbo for a few years now, since the return of Barry Allen as the Flash, and they’ve been doing this despite a steady stream of fans asking to see him. They worry about him overshadowing Barry due to his popularity as the Flash. Really, this series has been the only place fans could find the character for awhile. So that just makes it all the more frustrating that he’s been given a near nonexistent role this season.
“Intervention” does its job, sorting out some of the last remaining plot threads of the season. Blue Beetle is back on the heroes’ side, and Miss Martian has ended her doomed-from-the-start relationship with Lagoon Boy. Given that we only have two episodes left, I doubt we’ll see much more in the way of resolving the smaller character arcs. Then again, I’m not sure there are a ton left to handle. Red Arrow really needs to be checked in on. We won’t be getting the Robin-centric episode I’ve been hoping for all season to give us a look at Tim Drake and the deal with the dead Robin who came before. It’d also be nice to know who the hell Rocket is getting married to. Can the show fit these things into the big finale with all the major stuff it still has to do? I hope so but doubt it..
