Okay, I think I can see where the idea came from. "Beast Boy hates meat, right? And he eats tofu. So what if he found out all the meat these people were eating was tofu. And he had to eat (or otherwise destroy) all this meat/tofu in order to save the world." A clever idea, nice role reversal, pretty funny.
The problem was the "save the world" part. First off, exactly WHAT was the "power source" that was being drawn from the cows? The device that the cow was strapped to in the UFO clearly had a part that fit around her udder. Milk powered UFOs? Detroit would love to hear about this...
I could also make a "Got Milk?" joke, but that's too obvious.
And the whole plot sounded like it was lifted from a B-Movie. After taking all the cows, and getting humans hooked on the meat substitute, the tofu alien was just going to blow up the Earth because "it's what I do." And of course "Bob" was acting exactly like a 1950's TV dad. OTOH, a B-Movie plotline fit with Beast Boy, since he's such a geek for old movies. For a moment about halfway through, I though he might be dreaming the whole thing.
I liked the moped, and liked even more it getting destroyed at the end. I'm sure he had put it through more than the warranty allows. <G> The whole "chase scene" sequence was pretty funny, with the Titans battling the UFOs in the background, completely unaware that it was Beast Boy who was fighting the REAL threat. I thought it was a good episode, but "out there". WAY "out there".
And finally, I know the writers are Battle of the Planets fans, but Robin's new cape and helmet combination was just TOO close. The helmet isn't a permanent part of his costume, so I think it works better as just a standard helmet. It was just too obvious.
JLU was REALLY good, though. I liked the return of Doomsday, he wasn't so much of a pushover as before. Supes wasn't being a wimp, though, by the end of it, he showed that he's not a pushover either. And the whole storyline, about the fear that the JLU could become the Justice Lords "again", was a very deep one.
However, I have to wonder what the heck Batman's problem was, at the end. I though for a moment he was going to rail at Superman because he DIDN'T kill Doomsday. What else where they SUPPOSED to do with him? Giving him back to Cadmus would be a death sentence for him at best, and they certainly couldn't hold him at the Tower. Did Bats think he could be deprogrammed?
He had a point. He DID take a bullet for Superman. And he had to say it, and Bats was the one to say it. In the comics, Batman keeps a file on the Justice Leagues' weaknesses in case one of them goes bad. I just couldn't understand his thinking in getting from Doomsday to that. Bad writing, I guess.
I'm not worried, though. Batman (and Cadmus) forgets something very important about the Justice Lords taking over. They were never evil, and they thought they were doing the right thing. Their world was on the brink of Armageddon, there apparently had been a devistating war, and probably the world's troops were unable to fight back, or even welcomed the relief. It was only after they had control that they became reluctant to give it up.
And most important, their Batman was one of them. My first words after watching the pilot episode were, "The most powerful beings in the universe, each of them with almost god-like powers... saved by a man dressed as a giant bat." That's always been Batman's greatest strength, that he's the only one that DOESN'T have powers, and when their powers fail them, he's always there to bail them out. He did it again this time, with nothing but a Javelin, his piloting skills, and guts.
The Justice League aren't invincible, and he knows it. He brought Arrow onto the team, "To keep them honest". And he certainly wouldn't have saved them if he thought they were a threat. I think Superman and the others recognize that, too.
The problem was the "save the world" part. First off, exactly WHAT was the "power source" that was being drawn from the cows? The device that the cow was strapped to in the UFO clearly had a part that fit around her udder. Milk powered UFOs? Detroit would love to hear about this...
I could also make a "Got Milk?" joke, but that's too obvious.
And the whole plot sounded like it was lifted from a B-Movie. After taking all the cows, and getting humans hooked on the meat substitute, the tofu alien was just going to blow up the Earth because "it's what I do." And of course "Bob" was acting exactly like a 1950's TV dad. OTOH, a B-Movie plotline fit with Beast Boy, since he's such a geek for old movies. For a moment about halfway through, I though he might be dreaming the whole thing.
I liked the moped, and liked even more it getting destroyed at the end. I'm sure he had put it through more than the warranty allows. <G> The whole "chase scene" sequence was pretty funny, with the Titans battling the UFOs in the background, completely unaware that it was Beast Boy who was fighting the REAL threat. I thought it was a good episode, but "out there". WAY "out there".
And finally, I know the writers are Battle of the Planets fans, but Robin's new cape and helmet combination was just TOO close. The helmet isn't a permanent part of his costume, so I think it works better as just a standard helmet. It was just too obvious.
JLU was REALLY good, though. I liked the return of Doomsday, he wasn't so much of a pushover as before. Supes wasn't being a wimp, though, by the end of it, he showed that he's not a pushover either. And the whole storyline, about the fear that the JLU could become the Justice Lords "again", was a very deep one.
However, I have to wonder what the heck Batman's problem was, at the end. I though for a moment he was going to rail at Superman because he DIDN'T kill Doomsday. What else where they SUPPOSED to do with him? Giving him back to Cadmus would be a death sentence for him at best, and they certainly couldn't hold him at the Tower. Did Bats think he could be deprogrammed?
He had a point. He DID take a bullet for Superman. And he had to say it, and Bats was the one to say it. In the comics, Batman keeps a file on the Justice Leagues' weaknesses in case one of them goes bad. I just couldn't understand his thinking in getting from Doomsday to that. Bad writing, I guess.
I'm not worried, though. Batman (and Cadmus) forgets something very important about the Justice Lords taking over. They were never evil, and they thought they were doing the right thing. Their world was on the brink of Armageddon, there apparently had been a devistating war, and probably the world's troops were unable to fight back, or even welcomed the relief. It was only after they had control that they became reluctant to give it up.
And most important, their Batman was one of them. My first words after watching the pilot episode were, "The most powerful beings in the universe, each of them with almost god-like powers... saved by a man dressed as a giant bat." That's always been Batman's greatest strength, that he's the only one that DOESN'T have powers, and when their powers fail them, he's always there to bail them out. He did it again this time, with nothing but a Javelin, his piloting skills, and guts.
The Justice League aren't invincible, and he knows it. He brought Arrow onto the team, "To keep them honest". And he certainly wouldn't have saved them if he thought they were a threat. I think Superman and the others recognize that, too.
Richard Ryley - ryley@phan.org
For a melting ninja monkey, you sure drive a hard bargain...
For a melting ninja monkey, you sure drive a hard bargain...
