Jimmy and Tom have been at this for a while. But now they come to what was almost the end: the final few episodes of the Cadmus storyarc. Will these final episodes–“Flashpoint,” “Panic in the Sky,” “Divided We Fall,” and “Epilogue”–work as well for the guys as everything has so far?
Well, there’s only one way to find out.
“Flashpoint”
The League hits a low point in its battle with Cadmus.
jimmy: So, this show is just one continuous storyline at this point.
tomk: Perhaps.
jimmy: I’m not complaining, just a very obvious shift. Especially since they got away from even 2 part episodes with JLU.
tomk: But they were building a story.
jimmy: That’s your answer to everything.
tomk: It is when it’s true.
jimmy: That’s your answer to whenever I say that’s your answer to everything.
tomk: Ok, but how about the episode?
jimmy: It was good. And a good thing that Superman tends to fight in abandoned buildings since there is never a shortage of destruction.
tomk: People know to stay out of the way when he throws down with someone in his weight class.
jimmy: Well, more that they weren’t there in the first place. Of which I’m sure Supes is aware and lets it all hang out.
tomk: That’s what Huntress was there for: to take out the people Supes would have otherwise hurt too badly.
jimmy: Until Lex tried to take everybody out.
tomk: Yeah, that was…scary.
jimmy: Was pretty dark for a cartoon show…though not sure how many people actually died though.
tomk: Looks like nobody.
Just the League’s reputation.
jimmy: Which was already on, pun intended, shaky ground.
tomk: You and your destructive power of orbital weapons-based humor…
jimmy: You know, maybe they are going about it all wrong (especially Luthor), but like Green Arrow says directly, they have reason to be afraid of these guys ever going bad.
tomk: Green Arrow: conscience of the League.
jimmy: That’s why Bats recruited him.
tomk: Well, no one listened when Batman, Captain Marvel, or Lois Lane suggested Cadmus might have a point.
jimmy: They may now after almost destroying a city.
tomk: Well, I would have listened to you sooner.
jimmy: It’s an interesting angle though. How can you convince people that you won’t turn bad? The only thing you have to give them is your word. And Supes’s going bad and the previous use of their death ray is also fresh in people’s minds and not working in the JL’s favor.
tomk: Plus, the Justice Lords, the Thanagarian invasion, Lex Luthor’s propaganda, and Batman is just scary.
jimmy: Exactly. The only one that you’d really trust out of the gate would be Supes and his reputation is damaged and probably Wonder Woman.
tomk: Not the Flash? He saves kittens.
jimmy: Hmmm. Yeah. Maybe The Flash.
tomk: Unless he hits on your sister.
jimmy: That’s more a problem for my brother-in-law than for me.
tomk: It might become your problem later.
You know how awkward that conversation will make Canadian Thanksgiving.
jimmy: Or, as we call it, Thanksgiving.
tomk: Yes. Yes, you do.
jimmy: Anyways, the point stands. I’m sure the JL have their supporters, but there is mounting ill feelings towards them. Even if some of these events were manipulated against them.
tomk: Sure doesn’t look that way. Even the president with Robert Forster’s voice didn’t think so.
jimmy: It’s like the internet, mostly the vocal douches are the ones leaving the comments.
tomk: Is that a set-up for a Watson joke?
jimmy: It almost was a blatant Watson joke, but I restrained myself.
tomk: Restraint is good. Have a non-fat yogurt.
jimmy: Are you sure it’s non-fat?
tomk: Says so on the label. Strawberry flavor.
jimmy: Well, if you can’t trust a yogurt label, who can you trust?
tomk: Santa.
jimmy: God, I hate that show.
tomk: It hates you too for some reason.
But Superman said he believes in second chances, so he’ll take Captain Atom to the Watchtower for medical care anyway.
jimmy: Atom never really turned on Superman the way Hawkgirl did. He was just doing his job…even if potentially misguided.
tomk: And he really wasn’t cut out to stop the Man of Steel.
jimmy: Captain Atom seems like one of those characters like Firestorm who are probably a lot more powerful and dangerous than shows or comics can really portray them.
tomk: You mean the guy who inspired Doctor Manhattan might be more than he lets on?
jimmy: Something like that.
tomk: He wasn’t able to stop the Huntress and Question from getting away.
jimmy: He was a little busy with the guy who inspired Doctor Manhattan.
tomk: Sounds like a Doomsday Clock reference. I haven’t read that yet.
jimmy: No? I thought you had. Maybe that was Ryan.
tomk: It was Ryan.
I think I need to take a gold star back.
jimmy: It was only a matter of time.
tomk: Your humility earned you…another gold star!
jimmy: Wahoo!
tomk: You broke even this time.
jimmy: Sounds about right.
tomk: However, it looks like you weren’t the only one learning harsh lessons this time.
jimmy: Have the League learned anything? Outside of Green Arrow and J’onn their answer seemed to be to go in guns blazing.
tomk: But they didn’t. And Arrow finally got through to them. Flash also sees firsthand there are people who don’t trust them.
jimmy: I mean, if you don’t trust someone that saves a cat, who can you trust?
tomk: Santa?
jimmy: A guy who breaks into your house and eats your cookies?
tomk: Don’t make me pull the Adam West clip again.
jimmy: Fine. Santa. We trust Santa.
tomk: You’ve been taking candy egg payments from the Easter Bunny again, haven’t you?
jimmy: I do love Mini Eggs,
tomk: Well, all I know is Santa may enter people’s homes, but he leaves stuff behind instead of stealing.
jimmy: Did he leave behind the army for Power Girl to command?
tomk: That was Waller. With an assist from Hamilton.
jimmy: Waller is Santa?!?
tomk: No. Maybe the Tooth Fairy in that she will absolutely do something to leave you with less teeth than you started with if you piss her off.
jimmy: Haha, nice one.
tomk: But it does show Waller hasn’t been messing around as she geared up for war.
jimmy: She has to keep pace with Luthor.
tomk: Somehow I think Luthor might be a step ahead right now.
jimmy: He usually is.
tomk: He is a very, very, very bad man.
jimmy: We’ve known that since his cake-stealing days.
tomk: So what’s his angle this time?
jimmy: Take over the world. Take out Superman (with a side of taking out the Justice League). You know, the usual.
tomk: He doesn’t really seem to want to be president. That was more to get under Superman’s skin from the looks of things.
jimmy: Being the President is unrelated to taking over the world. But yes, you are right. I believe he says as much.
tomk: So, are you curious to see what he’s been up to?
jimmy: Luthor?
tomk: No. Wolverine.
jimmy: Multiverse!
tomk: Don’t tell Watson.
jimmy: Is the next episode entitled, “My Plans To Steal Cakes”?
tomk: Not quite.
jimmy: Does it have anything to do with cakes?
tomk: Um, no.
jimmy: Can I have some cake?
tomk: I think you earned some cake.
jimmy: Awesome! I’m starving.
tomk: Anything to add while you enjoy your cake?
jimmy: I am enjoying the straight up continuity of these episodes. And this cake. But you knew that for both.
tomk: There’s pizza in the break room, too.
jimmy: What a great night!
tomk: Well, you had a better night than the Question. Sure, he got a kiss, but look what it cost him!
jimmy: His not face!
tomk: He may or may not be the ugliest man around.
jimmy: As long as the hot female vigilante thinks you’re attractive, you’re good.
tomk: Is that what you tell yourself when you see women like Mockingbird and Black Canary show more interest in archers than you?
jimmy: Yes. Yes it is.
tomk: Well, at least no one accused you of being involved in a large crater outside of a large city.
jimmy: Yeah. We all know who’s responsible for that.
tomk: Watson?
jimmy: Someone almost as evil.
tomk: Well, I am sure someone will do something about it.
Unless this show is far darker than it looks…
jimmy: Which it likely isn’t.
tomk: Would you like to find out?
jimmy: I would.
tomk: Well, let’s see what Galatea is up to then.
“Panic in the Sky”
Galatea and the Ultimen attack the Watchtower while the founding members take drastic actions.
jimmy: Now that’s a cliffhanger!
tomk: You sound pleased.
jimmy: Answers a lot about Luthor’s super strength and disappearing cancer. But opens the question where the real Luthor is?
tomk: Luthor looked as surprised as you probably were.
jimmy: The ultimate showman.
tomk: What? You have a hard time believing Luthor wasn’t really there?
jimmy: I’m assuming that Brainiac is not Luthor, yes.
tomk: You have some questions that still need answering.
jimmy: Indeed I do!
tomk: You must have been surprised. Here you get a whole episode that seems to be mostly dedicated to letting the second stringers and Supergirl show off, and a bit of Batman’s Investigating on the side, and then BOOM you got Brainiac.
jimmy: I was surprised to be honest. Also funny that as the episode began I even thought, “for a show that is supposed to be unlimited, they still mostly focus on a handful of characters” and then, bam! Second stringers throwdown!
tomk: You got to see a lot of guys throw down. Even those guys in the purple jumpsuits…and you wanted to work there…
jimmy: Those guys stepped up!
tomk: Everybody stepped up.
Except for Galatea.
jimmy: Everyone knows that a clone, even aged up and with a boob window, can’t take out the original.
tomk: And somehow she can’t even kill Steel after dripping heavy objects on him when his armor was barely intact.
jimmy: That’s mostly because it is a kids show, but I was wondering the same thing myself.
tomk: Well, again, it was a prime time Saturday show, so maybe not so much for kids.
Safe for kids, but still good for adults.
jimmy: Fair enough. Either way, they weren’t killing Steel off.
tomk: They didn’t even kill Gallatea off. They came reallllllllly close, but not quite.
jimmy: Yeah, she was pretty messed up at the end and there was a split second where I did wonder if she was dead. I assume shortly afterwards the police showed up and put her in cuffs and she went quietly off to jail.
tomk: Yes. The space police.
jimmy: Heh, I was going to say space police too, but changed my mind at the last second.
tomk: There are all kinds of police you can call. You may even need to contact the Church Police sometime.
jimmy: If the Church Police existed, they would have came for me years ago.
tomk: That was from Monty Python’s “dead bishop on the landing” sketch where a family isn’t sure whether to call the police or the church when they find a dead bishop on their front porch. So, they call the Church Police by literally shouting “The Church Police” into the air and two guys show up immediately
jimmy: They won’t be much help in space.
tomk: No. Best call the Space Police.
jimmy: Which I guess are the Green Lanterns.
tomk: He surrendered with Superman.
jimmy: With Power Girl defeated, he’s back now. And isn’t there a Corp of them?
tomk: They tend to stay one per sector of space.
jimmy: Well, maybe Earth needs a few more around…
tomk: You’d think so. But the Guardians won’t free up money from the budget to recruit a second.
jimmy: Cheap bastards.
tomk: So, how did you like the Watchtower fight?
jimmy: Good. The second stringers held their own against the Super Friends. And the missiles with drills in their mouths and when they make contact they shoot drills at your were pretty intense.
tomk: And the Question took someone out with a bedpan.
jimmy: That stinks.
tomk: Good thing that Ultimam was a blank slate.
jimmy: Blank slates have no sense of smell.
tomk: Well, they don’t complain much.
jimmy: They do on the inside.
tomk: You spend much time with or as a blank slate?
jimmy: A little from column A, a little from column B.
tomk: Well, I hope your trip to the Watchtower was worth it when Hourman punched you in the face.
jimmy: Better than it being the Clock King.
tomk: True. You win a prize.
jimmy: Ohh…I hope it’s a mystery box. That could be anything! Even a boat!
tomk: It’s a visit from Batman.
He has some questions.
jimmy: Hopefully he waits until I’m out of the shower.
tomk: He’ll see you in the war room.
jimmy: That can’t be good. But at least I won’t have a plan dumber than turning ourselves in.
tomk: That was Watson’s plan.
jimmy: No wonder Batman hates him.
tomk: That and Watson tried hitting on Batgirl.
jimmy: So that’s how he ended up in that full body cast.
tomk: Yes, well, he got lucky. The Batmobile lost a wheel, and that joker Watson got away.
jimmy: Oh Flash, you devil.
tomk: Still, exciting episode, and Galatea might have gotten away with it, too, if it weren’t for that meddling kid and her power line.
jimmy: True. She really did seem to be having little trouble with Steel and Supergirl combined.
tomk: But the Atom? Nah!
jimmy: He didn’t even last long enough to be in the fight scene.
tomk: One of the Longshadows stepped on him.
jimmy: Happens when you’re three apples high.
tomk: Or less.
jimmy: I’m not super familiar with Ray Palmer. I know he can shrink down, can he giant size as well? I don’t remember him ever doing that.
tomk: Not normally.
jimmy: Would have been helpful here.
tomk: The Atom’s greatest power is his knowledge of physics anyway.
jimmy: It doesn’t take much to figure out the equal and opposite reaction when Power Girl is pummeling you.
tomk: Look at that Isaac Newton brain on you.
jimmy: I’m all about the apples.
tomk: Well, you may also be all about wondering what the heck is going on.
jimmy: It was Brainiac all along!
tomk: Are you ready to find out how? I dig this episode, but it is mostly one long brawl with a great reveal at the end. We haven’t seen Brainiac since he tried to team up with Darkseid.
jimmy: Agreed about digging it. Nice to spotlight the B-crowd too.
tomk: We learned a lot. A cowboy can shoot better than a superhuman. One Red Tornado is stronger than three Wind Dragons. The javelin jets can make legitimate real javelins in a large enough opponent’s hands. The Creeper has a hard skull.
jimmy: I was a bit surprised Creeper was in the League.
tomk: He wasn’t. He just showed up one day.
jimmy: That’s so like him.
tomk: That’s what I like about you, Jimmy. You understand things. You’re not a weapon. You’re a person.
jimmy: Unlike Lex.
tomk: Well, unless you have something else to add, would you like to find out what happened to Lex?
jimmy: Indeed I would!
tomk: Time for another epic throw-down then!
“Divided We Fall”
The seven founding members of the League take on their toughest foe yet!
jimmy: It was Brainiac all along!
tomk: Way back when, I told you that Superman episode was important.
Also, it was still Lex.
jimmy: Did I listen?
tomk: No.
jimmy: Sounds like me.
tomk: You were probably distracted because that was the episode that paid more attention to Mercy Graves and why she was so loyal to Lex.
jimmy: There’s someone we haven’t seen in a long time.
tomk: Well, she may have been in the Captain Marvel episode. Beyond that, she turned on Lex when he was trying to get Amazo to kill the League.
jimmy: I don’t remember or didn’t notice her in the CM one.
tomk: She was listed in the credits. Probably had like one line.
jimmy: Don’t recall. In either case, she’d be no match for Brianilex.
Lexiac?
tomk: Either works. Nice work they had getting both Clancy Brown and Corey Burton to record those overlapping lines.
jimmy: And by “nice” you mean “super creepy”.
tomk: Well, it was impressive work on behalf of Andrea Romano and the voice cast.
jimmy: No doubt.
tomk: And it is a nice way to show just how much Luthiac was two very different characters working towards one very bad common goal.
jimmy: So creepy though. Not just Brainiac taking over. Both of them were in there. Especially when they were conversing back and forth.
tomk: We should say this much for Lex Luthor: he adapts well to surprises.
And not in the Brainiac way of shrugging off multiple gunshot wounds to the face.
jimmy: Good point. Lex barely panicked. He just rolled with it and then embraced it.
tomk: And then he was making his own Justice Lords.
jimmy: I loved how Batman took care of his duplicate in like 2 seconds.
tomk: And J’onn off-screen.
jimmy: Supes and WW had to switch to take care of theirs. Flash took care of his pretty quick too…which looking back on it foreshadowed the ending. They really made up for Flash being a forgotten founding member the first season or so.
tomk: Oh hell yeah they did.
That scene where he starts circling the globe to hit Luthiac harder is the moment every Flash fan was probably waiting for.
jimmy: That was incredible. And then they lost him into the Speed Force. It reeked of Crisis. I was a little surprised he made it back in the end.
tomk: The fact they even mentioned the Speed Force was like the icing on the cake. Then again, yanking him out like a game of tug o’ war is a bit silly.
jimmy: That’s true. Especially Batman on the end. How much was he helping?
tomk: Batman never loses?
jimmy: Excellent point. Maybe he was all Wally needed. The others were just in the way.
tomk: The others provided the muscle needed. I mean, John Stewart tossed Amanda Waller off-screen during the initial fight so he’s clearly stronger than he looks. But then you put Batman on the end and you better come out of the Speed Force, or else..
jimmy: Waller attempted to be helpful at least, and did essentially clear the JL’s name.
tomk: And canceled the air strike.
jimmy: Exactly.
And then Superman canceled the Justice League…until Green Arrow saved it.
And Batman said, “here’s my number. Call me. Maybe.”
tomk: Before Batman made a vague Watchmen reference, right?
jimmy: I think that reference existed pre-Watchmen, but yes.
tomk: It did, but no self-respecting DC fan would think otherwise.
jimmy: Watchmen is the first thing you’d think of in that context though, you’re right.
tomk: But Green Arrow was the conscience of the League. Again.
jimmy: That’s why Batman hired him.
tomk: Or kidnapped him before showing off Black Canary in the locker room.
jimmy: Batman knows how to get the job down. By whatever means necessary.
tomk: He’s good at that.
jimmy: Surprisingly, this wasn’t the season (or potentially) series finale.
tomk: What? You got Lois Lane showing some acceptance to Clark and Batman nods his approval for keeping the League going. The latter is a nice touch since the League started with Bruce and Clark looking into an alien invasion together.
jimmy: If you get a nod from Batman, you know you are doing it right.
tomk: Well, this whole animated universe started with Batman.
jimmy: Which everyone not named Jenny is very thankful for.
tomk: Jennys are the worst.
jimmy: Except when they’re not. But in this case, they are.
tomk: Especially Jenny McCarthy.
jimmy: No argument there.
tomk: Did you enjoy the Cadmus story?
jimmy: I did. You know I’m a sucker for serial storytelling and continuity. And besides that, it was just a well done arc interwoven with a quasi-mystery.
tomk: I mean, all that’s left is an epilogue. Something to wrap up, well, everything.
jimmy: There’s your finale, I guess.
tomk: For a whole lot of things. Would you like to see it?
jimmy: No sense in stopping now.
tomk: We can stop if you aren’t interested in a Batman spotlight episode…
jimmy: It’s like you don’t even know me.
tomk: Or I know you very well and know how to entice you to go on.
jimmy: Tricky.
tomk: Ready?
jimmy: Set.
tomk: Go.
“Epilogue”
Years in the future, a final few mysteries are answered.
jimmy: Did we really need a retcon to make Terry into Bruce’s son?
tomk: That…was almost the plot of a second direct-to-video Batman Beyond movie, except it would have been Catwoman and not Waller being behind it all.
jimmy: That would make even less sense.
tomk: So…you aren’t happy?
jimmy: Maybe I should have stopped after the previous episode after all.
tomk: Let me see if I got this straight…
You got a whole episode dedicated the Batman, the first DCAU hero.
You got the return of the Phantasm.
You got a proper ending to Justice League AND Batman Beyond.
You had a final scene that was a mirror image of the first scene of the first BTAS episode, complete with Kevin Conroy voicing a blimp pilot asking the same question.
You had a downright sweet scene where Batman helped a dying girl not nuke reality by comforting her in her last moments.
And that was somehow not to your liking because of one small plot detail that set the whole thing in motion?
jimmy: Well, when you put it that way…
Correct.
tomk: Well, to each their own. Who’s up for pizza?
jimmy: I just thought it was dumb and unnecessary. Some JJ Abrams “Rey is a Palpatine” level crap. And maybe if there was some clues or hints leading up to it it might have helped, but it just came out of nowhere.
But pizza does sound good.
tomk: While I will admit I was not a fan of the whole “he’s really Bruce’s son” bit myself, I take a different approach.
Much of JLU up until this point was connecting a lot to Superman and Justice League. Yes, we saw Batman Beyond‘s future, but only briefly. This here was to connect everything back to the source. It reminds us why we love Batman because he wouldn’t murder a scared girl to save lives. That’s his one line in the sand: no murder. He’ll always give it his all. So, we get some direct references to Mask of the Phantasm and Return of the Joker. We get Terry sounding an awful lot like Dick in the cave talking about Bruce’s level of control. We get a nice conclusion to Terry’s story with the implied engagement to Dana (who stuck around for 15 years!) and the idea he’ll still be Batman. We even get a little redemption for Waller, someone who no longer sees the League as enemies but realizes there must always be a Batman because deep down, Batman is the heart and soul and origin point of the DCAU.
Heck, it says Bruce isn’t really alone in the end. He’ll still have some family.
jimmy: I get that. And you listed a lot of cool things there and above. Phantasm returning was awesome. And maybe I’m being too hard on it, but the whole clone/son bit really turned me off.
tomk: Well, the Catwoman thing suggests it was something they perhaps always planned to reveal but never quite got around to before. At the least, it’s mostly an excuse to get Terry to see Waller.
jimmy: And break some china.
tomk: Terry is a jerk sometimes.
jimmy: Are we sure he’s not a Superman clone?
tomk: No. Superman is a dick. Batman is sometimes a jerk.
Besides, Superman sat this episode out.
jimmy: So did pretty much everyone. And I think that bugged me a bit about it too. You know I love Batman, but this is Justice League Unlimited. I get that they were trying to tie up the entire DCAU here as you’ve mentioned. Giving Batman Beyond an ending, calling back to BTAS. Like the clone storyline, it just felt out of place.
They do acknowledge that to a degree by calling it “Epilogue” after what felt like the series finale. But again, it felt out of place. While it featured Waller and some references to Cadmus and the League, it only felt like an epilogue to Batman Beyond and by extension BTAS. It didn’t tie up or extend on any lingering JLU questions.
I think if this was the finale of BB I would have been more satisfied with it, though I still think the clone/son storyline was unnecessary.
tomk: What JLU questions do you still have?
jimmy: I don’t really, but to me, that would be the point of the epilogue.
Like, “what happened to Batman Beyond?” And, “was Terry Bruce’s son?” are not lingering JLU questions. The latter wasn’t a question, period.
tomk: The latter was probably what you shouted at a fifteen year old cartoon.
jimmy: More like, “Terry was Bruce’s son?!?? WTF?!?!”
tomk: You probably scared the Moose and the Ms.
jimmy: I would have.
And maybe they were trying to explain why Dick, Tim, Barbara, etc could never step up and be Batman.
(Besides now being too old)
tomk: Or appear on JLU.
jimmy: That crossed my mind too.
tomk: Bat-Embargo. They only had permission to use Batman. Other characters were appearing on other cartoons and movies.
jimmy: Yes, I know.
It’s an odd one for me because it is Batman heavy, deep in continuity with call backs to previous series and movies. All things I like. But it just rubbed me the wrong way.
tomk: There’s another embargo coming soon, but I won’t say who. Not one of the founders.
jimmy: Creeper.
tomk: That said, maybe you just hate finales that fall short for occasionally arbitrary reasons.
jimmy: Satisfying finales are hard to pull off. Unless you’re Ryan and you think the finales are always the best ones.
tomk: Ryan likes Krull.
jimmy: I mean, who thinks Return of the Jedi is the best film in the original trilogy? C’mon!
tomk: Warwick Davis since it started his acting career?
jimmy: So, two people.
tomk: Ryan also likes anything where people sing for one reason or another.
jimmy: Singing is the lowest form of communication.
tomk: I would have thought it was grabbing yourself at a bus station, but I could be wrong.
jimmy: They’re close.
tomk: Well, what did you like?
jimmy: I liked a lot of the stuff you listed. Seeing Terry again. Return of Phantasm. Some different characters spotlighted in the League. The new Royal Flush Gang. Bats sitting on the swing with no intent to murder anyone.
tomk: The scene between Batman and Ace is outright lovely. Must be why Bruce named a dog after her.
jimmy: Oh…that’s a good call back…or complete coincidence.
tomk: I vote coincidence.
jimmy: Me too. Good connection though on your part.
tomk: Besides, everyone knows Ace the Bathound is Terry’s real father.
jimmy: Heh. That’s quite the tech though. Nanites that only rewrite the DNA of sperm.
tomk: I know the current Batman Beyond comics bring up that makes Terry’s kid brother Bruce’s son too.
jimmy: I hadn’t thought of that, but you’re right. Assuming the nanites remained in his body and constantly rewrote DNA until his death.
tomk: It’s what the Joker did to Tim Drake.
jimmy: Makes you wonder why they didn’t just clone Batman to begin with. They cloned Supergirl. How hard could Batman be?
tomk: And that Supergirl clone worked out so well…
jimmy: That was their own fault.
tomk: They learned from old mistakes?
jimmy: In either case, there were no guarantees with Terry either.
tomk: Waller acknowledged that.
jimmy: And why she planned to have his parents killed to “set him on the path”.
tomk: Also something she was glad didn’t happen.
jimmy: Thanks to Phantasm.
tomk: Do not send one of Bruce’s exes to recreate Bruce’s origin.
jimmy: I can’t see how this storyline would have worked with Catwoman in place of Waller. She has the means, attitude and desire to get it done. Why would Selina want a Bruce son/clone?
tomk: Um…she thought Bruce needed an heir?
jimmy: Like Mr. Burns?
tomk: Sure. Why not?
jimmy: Regardless, it makes more sense with Waller…even if I hate it.
tomk: Yes, but there are things you hate more. Imagine if Phantasm showed up in the GoT finale.
jimmy: That might have made more sense than much of the finale.
tomk: Good to know you aren’t bitter.
jimmy: Maybe a little.
tomk: I guess your love of Batman trumps your hatred of screwy genetic science.
jimmy: Batman always trumps.
tomk: So…all those things you didn’t like…you’d like them more while probably still not liking them if Batman was in them?
jimmy: …sure?
tomk: Makes perfect sense to me.
jimmy: Me too. So…do we talk about how this wasn’t the end now or next season?
tomk: Well, this wasn’t the end because Cartoon Network unexpectedly ordered another 13 episode season.
jimmy: Great story.
tomk: There isn’t any greater mystery than that. It does give them a chance to redo the finale.
jimmy: Do you think the finale needs a redo?
tomk: Well…I like it more than you from the looks of things, but regardless, there is another finale.
jimmy: And another full season preceding it.
tomk: That is true. Are you saying you want more now that the Cadmus arc is done?
jimmy: If this had been the end, that would have been fine. But I won’t turn down more DCAU.
tomk: I mean, where do you go from here aside from…Doom?
jimmy: I smell multiverse!
tomk: Well, no.
But it may be time for you to see what happens when a team of heroes has to match wits with a team of villains.
You know, again.
jimmy: Let’s see.
NEXT TIME: Tom and Jimmy start the final 13 episodes of Justice League Unlimited with the episodes “I Am Legion,” “Shadow of the Hawk,” and “Chaos at the Earth’s Core”.
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