02.06
Rather bold to name your episode after John Milton’s classic, huh? As such, it provides an interesting contrast between portrayals of the underworld. Where the epic poem shows Satan as a sympathetic being raging against an evil creator, this episode’s interpretation of Hades is more in line with Rita Repulsa in terms of character depth. There lies a brief moment of empathy for what seems to be genuine love for Hippolyta, but little else to make him more than yet another bi-weekly villain.
Nitpicks aside (like how a society of warriors with knowledge of Greek mythology couldn’t handle a single man with a Gorgon spell), the story just rubs me the wrong way. To the point, its plot basically consists of “Wonder Woman gets duped into committing ill deeds against her will, and eventually needs her ass saved by a bunch of guys”. Throughout the episodes, she just comes off as rather slow-witted, to such a degree that you could interpret her exile away from Themyscira as a way to make sure she wouldn’t accidentally cause the Apocalypse again.
Instead of trying to add some variety to her character, the writer just goes further into this unlikable characterization the previous episodes have established while giving her cutesy lines such as, “How could any female wear such ridiculous garments?” It serves to alienate her from the rest of the cast, rendering us unable to properly care about her as a character. With J’onn, we learned of his bloodstained past and feelings of loneliness. For Green Lantern, we were put into his situation of desperation while getting a few moments of how heroics have affected his personal life. But with Diana, we are introduced to a knucklehead who could make Xena down-to-earth.
And this isn’t just some dumbass that happened to gain superpowers; this is supposed to be the daughter of an almighty queen. What does it say when her spotlight episode ends up making her resemble an utter clod? Oh, but the episode doesn’t just devalue Wonder Woman. As stated above, it makes the entire island of Themyscira look like a place of easily-trumped fools for being all turned into stone by some magic-obsessed upstart. But not only does he manage to do this, but our bad guy of the week managed to trick all of the Justice League into following his will. The team that managed to stop planet-conquering aliens, tyrannical robots, a egomaniacal sea-ruler, his legion, and the Injustice League, bows to the inferred might of Felix Fucking Faust.
The show at this point does seem to know at least some basics in the Humanities, with Felix Faust sacrificing his liberties to a fallen god in search for knowledge. However, Faust just isn’t that interesting of a villain. He’s just the Renfield and nothing else. With Hades essentially being a bumbling voice in a portal for the main meat of the story, we only have this guy threatening an entire league of superheroes. A wise, bald man said that the Justice League should unite against foes of equal weight, like inter-dimensional conquerors or chaotic counterparts. But here, a simple man has managed to dupe five of the members, even the one that can read minds and should have known better, into helping open the gates of Tartarus. Yes, Faust did that whole “help me or Themyscira is frozen forever” gambit, but doesn’t Batman have a few friends with more magic ability than this guy like Jason Blood or Zatanna? Are you really going to believe the villain and do his bidding without even thinking there might be a way around it? Bravo for managing to make the titular characters look like braindead sheep.
Am I too harsh in this appraisal? Perhaps, but it goes to show that the writers at this point have no idea how to properly handle Wonder Woman. And as the succeeding episodes prove, they have a long game ahead of them before they’re ready to write a proper superhero.
Originally posted on December 14, 2011