Hi! Welcome to my episode-by-episode recap of, and reaction to Justice League. There will be no spoilers beyond the current episode. As is my custom with recaps, I will give you a short summary recap followed by a long and unnecessarily helpfully detailed version. My reaction will follow at the end if you just want to scroll past all of the recap.
If you want to see my prior Justice League episode reviews, click HERE:
THE QUICK AND CLEAN SUMMARY:
Small time crook John Dee volunteers for an experimental treatment while in prison. While the authorities are distracted by a mass prison break led by Volcana, Luminus, Copperhead, Solomon Grundy and Firefly, John Dee overdoses on the treatment and becomes the dream-controlling Doctor Destiny. Destiny takes telepathic control of most of the League in their sleep and puts them in nightmares where Flash can’t stop running, nobody knows Green Lantern due to his status as a member of the Justice League, Superman being unable to control his powers which led to the deaths of the people he knows, and Hawkgirl is buried alive. The League members become trapped in their dreams and unable to wake up. This leaves only Batman and Martian Manhunter left. Martian Manhunter tries to force them awake, while Batman, resisting sleep goes to confront Doctor Destiny.
THE EXTRA DUSTY RECAP:
[previously on Justice League…]
[Note: If I haven’t said so in a while…awesome intro music and animation… 1980s American football shoulder pads and all.]
Flash is having a fight with Grundy. We see that he’s watching this on television with a group of kids, who banter with him about how much he talks while fighting. He distracts them by going to the fridge. Inside he finds a frog. When he returns with no food, they ask about it.
Flash: Are you French?
Kid: No.
Flash: Then there’s no food.
One of the kids tells him that he’ll do and they all morph into monsters. He flees. WHen he stops, all of the people around him are frozen. Dr. Destiny – dressed in his skull face and cloak – then appear to him.
Dr. Destiny: You went too fast. And you’re never going to be able to slow down again.
[Flash looks around]
Flash: Now I get it. It’s a dream! The same one I’ve been having since I got my speed. Now here’s the part where the Swedish bikini team comes into keep me company.
Flash tries to wake up but realizes he cannot. Dr. Destiny disappears with Flash hearing the sound of a comms call, from inside his dream, but unable to wake up.
Batman tells MM that the other Justice League members are not answering their comms. MM tells Batman that he cannot get them out of it and that Dr. Destiny’s hold is too strong.
We see Superman sleeping and what he is dreaming about. He is at dinner with Lois Lane. In the dream, she accuses him of always hiding something, just before he reveals his heat vision accidentally. We then see Superman writing in his sleep with the sound of Lois screaming from inside his dreams.
GL is dreaming about being in his old neighborhood. They all run from him as Dr. Destiny appears to tell him that he is not one of them anymore. He looks around and accuses Destiny of being the one who did this.
Dr. Destiny: It wasn’t me. You’re the one who has changed.
GL moans in his sleep, shaking his head ‘no.’
Batman and MM gather the sleeping Justice League and fly them to the Watchtower. MM says he will try the bio regenerators on the sick bay and Batman wishes him good luck.
Batman: In the meantime, I’m going to find this guy.
MM: How?
Batman: While he’s using his mental powers, his body has got to be vulnerable. He’s got to be in a place he thinks is safe. Somewhere familiar.
MM asks how he’ll stop him once he finds him, and Batman says he’ll have to improvise. MM warns him against nodding off, even for a second, and Batman answers that he’s used to late hours.
In Hawkgirls’s dreams, she is aware that her mind is being attacked. We see MM appear on the Watchtower, and she seems to be awake, but a moment later MM morphs into Dr. Destiny. He throws her from the Watchtower and then she lands inside a casket, which he then closes and covers with dirt. We see her sleeping, pounding her fists against the lid of her dream’s casket, trying to free herself.
We see most of the Justice League now in the Watchtower infirmary, being attended to by MM. He communicates to Batman about a news report, regarding Dee’s wife. MM tells Batman that she died. This he feels necessitates that he attempt to enter their dreams again to save them from within their minds.
Batman: Then do what you have to.
Inside Superman’s dreams, his strength accidentally kills Jimmy Olsen when he attempts to hug him. We hear MM intone to him, in the dream, that none of it is real. Superman is grotesquely large, and strong. He asks MM how he will handle it if his power never stops increasing. MM encourages him that he will handle it, but dream Superman replies those are just words and he flies away. MM flies after him.
From within the dream, MM grabs Superman’s head and tries to help him again. He tells Clark that he has to believe in him. As he seems to be making progress, we hear Dr. Destiny telling MM that he can’t help him. However, Superman seems now to be free.
Batman is searching for Dr. Destiny and is growing more visibly tired. He almost nods off, and as he does, he sees Dr. Destiny in the road ahead of him. He crashes the car and then does a U-turn.
We next see GL’s nightmare continuing. Destiny encourages GL to go through a door that is glowing green, telling him that he has nowhere else to go and that it is his destiny. As GL is complying, MM appears to stop him.
MM: You are not an extension of this, you are its master. The guardians chose you for this because they had faith in you, not in the ring but in John Stewart. Destiny then attacks MM, acknowledging while doing so that MM is good, but he tells him that he is better. MM says that this is why he brought a friend. Superman then appears to attack Dr. Destiny. The evil dream master gets the better of MM and Superman, but the distraction gives GL a chance to fight free. He joins them against Destiny, who now flees.
GL: Can I wake up now?
MM: There’s still Flash and Hawkgirl.
A driving Batman begins to hear Destiny’s voice in his head, telling him that he has to sleep sometime. Batman almost nods off again, and crashes the car again. We next see Batman in a coffee shop demanding a triple.
In Flash’s dream, everyone is still frozen.
Flash: I was always afraid of this. I’m going to live out my entire life in the time that it will take you to tie your shoes. Come on, say something!
MM and the other freed Justice Leaguers appear, however, they begin to slow down, too. MM is able to tell him that he needs to look inside himself before he freezes entirely.
Hawkgirl is still buried alive in her dream and is crying out for help.
Batman’s coffee rush is wearing off, so he punches a hole through the glass of the Batmobile and begins to play nursery rhymes on the radio at a loud volume.
Alone, Flash contemplates MM’s message. He starts listening to his heartbeat. We hear it slow down. Destiny appears to mock him, but Desiny slows down, too. Then Flash is free. An enormous version of Dr. Destiny appears in their midst, fighting GL, Flash, Superman, and MM.
In the waking world, Batman finds Dr. Destiny. Inside the room, Destiny looks at him and their surroundings change.
Dr. Destiny: Coming here was the mistake of your life. You see, the closer I am to someone, the stronger I get. I’ll be able to go into your brain, even if you’re wide awake.
Batman: My brain is not a nice place to be.
Batman has been humming a song, and an annoyed Destiny asks him what it is. Batman replies that it is what is keeping him out. We see a waking world Dee injecting himself with more of the drug that gave him his powers.
In Flash’s dream, MM is now also gigantic size and orders Destiny to let the others go. He fights and begins to overwhelm Destiny, until the latter disappears, warning them as he goes that this is far from over. With him gone, the dream-bound Justice Leagues can now hear Hawkgirl calling for help. They find the place where she is buried, but they cannot get to her.
MM: The barrier around her mind…
As she screams, they attack the barrier.
Batman is still fighting with Destiny. The latter tells him that he is a distraction now and that the others are the real problem. He tries to turn Batman against them, noting that he and Batman are like insects to them. He adds that Batman has no special powers.
Batman: Oh, I have one, Johnny. I never give up.
Batman starts humming the song more loudly. The room comes back into focus and Batman walks closer to him. However, as he gets there, Dr. Destiny is projected out from John Dee and attacks Batman, but he is thrown backward. As Batman punches him, he flashes back and forth between his human form and his dream persona. Finally, Batman knocks him out.
Batman: Sweet dreams.
Later, the Justice League greets Hawkgirl as she wakes up. Batman is in a chair, finally sleeping.
The episode ends as we see Dee confined and humming a nursery rhyme (“Are You Sleeping Brother John”) to himself. It’s teh same one Batman hummed to beat him.
REACTION:
If you’re a Batman fan, this is a fun part 2. He’s got several great one-liners and he gets a chance to demonstrate his unique skill set in a fairly plausible way (as plausible as anything in a superhero universe can be.)
This is also two story arcs in a row where MM’s psychic powers are the tool that is essential to victory. I liked that ultimately he proved more powerful than Dr. Destiny. I don’t think it’s easy to set up a psychic powers vs. psychic powers fight, but when that’s a primary thing you bring to the table, you should usually win when that fight comes up.
Wonder Woman is MIA in this story arc. Does that make sense? Did Dr. Destiny just forget about her? I guess we shouldn’t make it that deep.
My only critique with this episode is that I don’t think they set up clearly enough that all of the JL needs to be freed from their dream trap before any of them can wake up. Otherwise, it would have made a lot sense for MM to send Superman or Flash down to help Batman out. Just saying.
The dreams of the JL were pretty interesting. Superman’s biggest fear is being so powerful that he isn’t safe. That makes total sense. He’s had to be careful at every moment of his life, for probably his whole life. Flash’s fear is not being able to slow down? GL is afraid of his ring in the sense that it is his master, rather than the other way around. I guess that kind of makes sense. In all of those cases, they fear their power. That’s admirable.
The episode ends with a bit of a mystery. What was up with Hawkgirl’s dream? Why couldn’t they get to her? Is there something unique about Thanagarian brains? How did Dr. Destiny overpower her? I guess we’ll either never know, or we won’t know any time soon. Also, if you read between the lines, really closely, you also pick up on some Green Lantern / Hawkgirl romantic tension this season and particularly in this episode.
Overall, pretty good story, though I don’t think Dr. Destiny would make for a very interesting recurring character.