Bear with me - this is going to be a long analysis.
Episode #45 & 46 - The Secret Society Part 1 & 2
Synopsis: While the strain of working so closely together begins to tear apart the Justice League, Gorilla Grodd returns and forms a tightly-knit group of villains – a Secret Society whose only goal is the destruction of the League.
I was excited going into this episode. After all, ‘Injustice for All’ was my favorite episode of the 1st season and I was curious to see if, as the creative team has done with the rest of the 2nd season thus far, has learned its lessons from the previous outing. The answer is a resounding yes and ‘The Secret Society’ proves to be superior to ‘I4A’
First, I’m going to reprint Cartoon Network’s original press release on the SS from Season 1: Founded by Darkseid to rid the Earth of any heroes capable of opposing him, [The Secret Society] includes Lex Luthor, Gorilla Grodd, Felix Faust, Sinestro, Poison Ivy, Ultra-Humanite, Chronos, Cheetah, and Star Sapphire.
Now, that was back during 2001 and there have certainly been changes. Of the above, only Grodd and Sinestro were part of the new team.
Now, like the Injustice Gang before it, The Secret Society has roots going back to the comics, in this case the Secret Society of Supervillains—a comic book in which Darkseid organized a team to aid in his conquest of Earth. However, the team rebelled when it realized that Darkseid would eventually betray them and tried to continue on without him - the animated version has dropped out the Apokolips connection, but don‘t rule out another appearance by Darkseid before the end of the season; the Glorious Godfrey connection may very well come true. Anyway, during its existence, the team’s roster bolstered thirty-six members at different times (and in different incarnations of the Society), meaning that the creative team had a bit of flexibility as to whomever they want to use. And used they did indeed:
Grodd: Great to have Grodd back, especially given his condition at the end of ‘The Brave and the Bold’. He obviously fills the role that Luthor had with the IG. But Grodd learned from the mistakes Luthor had made.
First, he didn’t immediately attack the League. He made reconnaissance, observed them, and discovered the key to driving a wedge between them, courtesy of his new mental powers (great continuity with his previous appearance, though I wish that could have been explored a little more) - unlike Luthor who, with the exception of his encounters with Superman and Batman, had no idea what he was getting into.
* Second, there was membership. What had brought down the first incarnation of the IG (I4A) was of course that everyone, save for Luthor and the Joker (the former trying to genuinely bring down the JL, the latter just there for kicks), was in it for the money and had no real interest in helping Lex and that was how Batman, just like with the Mirror Master during the ‘Rock of Ages‘ storyline in the comics, was able to get the Ultra-Humanite to backstab everyone (hence Shade’s line to Grodd, ‘Imagine what’ll happen when someone makes them a better offer’).
So, we can see Grodd learned from Luthor’s mistakes. In terms of membership, he was picky, but ultimately clever in his selection of the SS‘s members - unlike Luthor who simply went with power-houses (Solomon Grundy, Star Sapphire)
* He carefully selected members with vendettas against the League or certain Leaguers and would be willing to do anything to avenge themselves (Sinestro, Parasite).
* He selected those who knew he could help them attain their dreams/aspirations or simply wanted to do what they did best (Clayface, Shade, Killer Frost)
In short, he did everything that the IG of the 1st season DIDN’T do. Thus, if J’onn hadn’t masqueraded as Clayface, then the SS would have been succeeded with Luthor had failed. But obviously, the Good guys had to win, so it was fine in the end.
* Parasite: Great to have another STAS villain back. My one complaint with Parasite was that Brion James didn’t return to provide the voice.
* Sinestro: Glad to have Ted Levine perform as the GL’s mortal enemy again. Of course, we have ‘Hearts and Minds’ to thank for his appearance in the first place. Recall that in STAS’ ‘In Brightest Day’, Kyle Rayner was chosen by the dying GL Abin Sur to become a GL and actually took on Sinestro.
Now, we knew that having a GL on board for JL required a return of Sinestro and a rematch with Kyle Rayner. However, John Stewart’s selection dashed that - at least until the Kyle question was finally answered.
In any event, it was great to see Sinestro for 2 major reasons: (1) The only GL foes we’ve seen thus far have been the Manhunters and Star Sapphire; Sinestro is the best known. (2)
Would have loved to see a little more reaction between the former GL and the current GL, though.
Giganta: As with the Cheetah, Giganta is another traditional Wonder Woman foe and this was a great DCU animated debut. Greation size changing animation and her design really appealed to the male audience, I’m sure- especially with Jennifer Hale providing the voice.
My only real problems lay in that her origin could have been fleshed out a little more and that, though she’s totally devoted to Grodd, I would have liked to have known what happened to Dr. Sarah Corwin from ‘The Brave and the Bold’.
* Killer Frost: Great to have her here, especially considering that she was a member of the SS in the comics. As with Giganta, though, I wish her origin had been fleshed out a little more.
* Shade: Glad to have one of my favorite JL villains back - as with the IG (excluding the Joker for a moment) he is my favorite member of both teams.
His line, ‘You’re trying to set up another Injustice Gang’ was VERY important. During the first season, Luthor’s criminal consortium was never named on screen - fans called it the IG as well as the Legion of Doom; however, IG won out in the end.
His recruitment was symbolic and useful: (1) It served to tie the SS and the IG together - after all, Shade was a founding member of the previous 2 IG’s. (2) He had, unlike Grodd who had simply fought GL and Flash, had fought against all 7 and could help advise Grodd on what to expect that videos and real-time footage couldn‘t tell him.
The whole ‘master of the world’ could also tie in with his Starman origin.
* Clayafce: Tis the season for the BTAS villains to finally show their faces. Let’s look back for a moment at which episodes have featured ol’ Pointy Ear’s rogues thus far:
Injustice For All - Joker
Only a Dream - Joker, Firefly
A Better World - [Alternate] Joker, Two-Face, Poison Ivy, Ventriloquist and Scarface.
Wild Cards - [Upcoming] Joker, Harley Quinn.
It’s nice because while the majority of the Dark Knight’s foes are simply superstitious, cowardly criminals (who happen to be psychos with motifs), there are a handful that could be a conceivable threat to the JL based on two key attributes: Metahuman abilities (Clayface, Posion Ivy) and resourcefulness/intellect (Joker, Ra’s al Ghul).
Anyway, it was great to have Ron Perlman back in action as the former actor. Clayface’s apperance was also very important for BTAS and here’s why. The continuation of Hagen’s attempts to undo the effects of Roland Dagett’s drug continues the subplot that began in BTAS/TNBA subplot and as a result, helps link BTAS and JL in the same timeline (just as ‘Twilight’ did for STAS and JL by continuing the Darkseid/Brainiac arcs).
Now onto the JL and we’ll be done.
* The Training-Grounds: I liked a great deal for two reasons: (1) The standup cameos of Darkseid, Luthor, Brainiac, and Mr. Mxyzptlk. (2) The training robots bear a strong resemblance to Batman Beyond’s former android assassin Zeta.
* Batman: Nice characterization as to how he was opposed to the extra team work. Remember, while Batman knows that the JL is necessary for the security of the world and is willing to aid them, he still prefers working alone or with his personally-trained partners (Robin, Nightwing, & Batgirl - who had better show up this season, especially after we saw the alternate costume case in ‘A Better World’)
* J’onn & Flash: Loved the references from both towards the pilot episode. For once, I actually enjoyed Flash’s performance, especially with how he told Gl a piece of his mind. Also, J’onn’s speech is also making me gear up for the Shakespearean-esque soliloquy that he’ll be doing in ‘Hereafter’ next week.
Gl & Hawkgirl: Ooh, getting interesting - could their much-hinted at romanced be doomed? Probably not. I don’t have much to say
But Gl on the other hand…
GREAT characterization - its ties in with his time in the Marine corps and acknowledges the old phrase ‘They can take you out of the military, but they can’t take the military out of you”. I also found it interesting in that by treating the other Leaguers as interchangeable cogs rather than individuals, GL was very much like Luthor’s handling of the IG.
Wonder Woman & Superman: Nothing to say here - nothing really impressed me with either, save for Supes’ revelation about leaving wanting at times to leave the JL.
Overall a great episode - one of my top 3 for the 2nd seasons, alongside ‘Twilight’ and ‘A Better World’.
Justice League's 'The Secret Society' talkback (spoilers)
Moderator: Steve