This is the big one, this is the one with the most perplexing moral dilemmas. This is the one where we talk about…Starcrossed.

Oh my gosh, this was the episode/movie that changed the whole series. For better or for worse is debatable, but it made Hawk Girl go from less-prominent-character and GL’s love interest, to one of the most important characters on the show.

All we know about Hawk Girl’s backstory comes from this episodes, since all she tells us before was apparently a lie. She is from the Planet Thanagar, she’s a soldier, her mission was to investigate Earth and its defenses.

Now, Shirara Hall (Hawk Girl) didn’t mean any harm by this, she thought it was in order to help Earth. That her people were going to defend it and themselves from their enemies the Gordanians.

All too soon she finds out she was wrong. Her people’s real intent was to use Earth to build a hyper-space bypass, that is a kind of force field, to protect themselves, in the process turning earth into a caramel apple of a planet. Which would destroy all life. They seem amazingly cool about this, never thinking of the fact that Earth is full of people, who are conscious like them and who have feelings.

The problem is, by the time Shirara discovers this plan, she’s already betrayed her friends’ weaknesses to her people. A thing she felt kind of bad about already and now realizes was a huge mistake.

So she takes the plans for the death star (sorry, bypass) to the Batcave, where she figured they’d be after they escaped, and gives it to them. They aren’t too happy to see her, even GL, who’s still sore from the fact that she had a fiancé she never told him about, and that she sucker punched him after an appeal to him for trust. But she gives him his ring back.

After which she gets caught and imprisoned.

To make a long story short, the Justice League does some majorly awesome battle with the Thanagarians, which really shows the best of everyone; Wonder Woman sets Shirara free, reluctantly; and Shirara and GL shut down the bypass. Then Shirara decides to resign from the League before they can vote her out (though we find out later that thanks to Superman, they voted her in.)

I think I’ve told this story before anyway, but I haven’t told how it affected the show and the League both.

Wonder Woman was the angriest about being betrayed. She and Shirara never got along all that well. Flash said it was because they were so much alike, and I have to agree. Wonder Woman also left her home in order to help Earth, the difference was it never came down to defending one or the other. This similarity never seems to occur to Diana, and even if it does, she must dismiss it because she never made the wrong choice. Though she never had to make such a terrible choice as Shirara either.

This really is Diana’s worst moment. And she brings it out in Shirara also, Hawk Girl never admits she did anything wrong. She tells GL (John) that she did what she thought was right when she betrayed them, and she did what she thought was right when she helped them. Perhaps, being a military man, John sort of understands this kind of thinking, but Diana doesn’t. And the others don’t either.

Hawk Girl’s betrayal acts as a crucible for the other members of the League. Each of them deals with it differently and shows they’re true colors. Superman says he doesn’t know if he could ever really trust her again, but he votes in her favor anyway. John stays out because he think he can’t judge fairly (Justice, remember.) The Martian, whom I haven’t got to yet, must have voted in her favor, and he always seemed to empathize with her more because his whole planet died too. Flash, whom everyone loves, is ready to put the whole thing behind him permanently. He never brings it up again, he never acts like Shirara did anything. We know he wanted her to stay.  Batman must have voted against her, which is no surprise, he barely trusts anyone anyways. We never really hear how he felt about what she did, but he acts angry…for him. Wonder Woman thinks she doesn’t deserve a second chance.

And that’s the moral dilemma we are left with at the close of this episode. Even if we all could figure out if Shirara made the right choice in turning on her own people, we still have to decide if she should be forgiven completely, and if she should stay.

Here’s my two cents:

Hawk Girl is the most complex character the show came up with. She had Batman beat for that. She is scary, many people say, but also compassionate and gentle at times. Fiercely loyal, yet she has divided loyalties. Committed to doing what’s right, but she does wrong thinking it was right. Should she have known better? Yes. But so should we all.

Basically, I side with her. I think the bitterness and unforgiving nature that a lot of the League displayed when she finally returned to it was a far worse crime than what she did. They were never the same. Superman became more controlling. GL became more emotionally confused. Flash stayed Flash.

But Wonder Woman surprisingly learned something in the end. She was the most unforgiving at first, and later she tells Shirara, in kind of a snooty way, that she forgave her a long time ago. Shirara replies “Did I ever ask fro your forgiveness?” Both of them are proud, but Shirara does remind Diana that not everyone caters to her opinion. At the end of the day, they learn to have mutual respect for each other, and Shirara realizes that Diana actually does care about her in her own we-don’t-get-along-but-I-love-you kind of way.

I think the writers handled the situation poorly, but notwithstanding, Shirara is an amazing character, who has to make tough choices, and gets little appreciation for them and little mercy.

And I never knew who Hawk Girl was before that show. She’s pretty unforgettable once you’ve seen it.

I think that sums it up. Until next time–Natasha.

Ever notice how obvious superhero names tend to be? Green Lantern is no exception.

I probably have the least to say about this JL member, simply because he’s not given a whole lot of focus in the show save for a few episodes. Plus, I don’t particularly like him, so hopefully this will be a short post.

However, GL (as his friends call him) is far from being an unimportant character or member of the League. One interesting thing about him was before he became a Green Lantern, he was a soldier. (Or was he a soldier as an undercover Green Lantern? Honestly it’s never fully explained.)

It’s pointed out in the show that this military background shapes his view points and how he handles problems. Sometimes too much.

For example, in the Justice Lords episode (the one where an alternate reality Justice League crosses dimension to help a. k. a. take over our Justice League,) the alternate GL shares how he used to be up nights wondering if some evil was happening somewhere that he couldn’t stop. And since they set up they’re totalitarian rule of the world, he sleeps better at night. Versus Hawk Girl, who normally is not the soft and gentle type but who seems to regret that the people are all afraid of them now instead of feeling reassured by them.

The fact that this GL could find a tyranny a comforting thing shows something about the way his mind works, even if our GL would not carry it that far. He likes order. But he’s very different form his alternate itself in that he has a lot of passion. He and the Flash are best buds, and the Flash looks up to him. He also has a soft spot for Old Yeller, and is so neat that he folds his socks. (My mom does that.)

But GL’s strong point is his sense of Justice. He keeps the League focused. And he wants to make sure they are maximizing their potential. When personal feelings get in the way of doing their job, he wants people to suck it up. Sometimes this is not good. He tends to forget that what makes the League work is that they are not just partners, but friends. Friends who trust each other, fight with each other, and at the end of the day would die for each other. Of course, he would do all those things too, but he tends to miss the motive behind the action. In one episode when he is accused of destroying an entire planet, Hawk Girl, Flash, and someone else (I forget which person it was) stick up for him, even when he thinks he is guilty. At the end of it he says “You believed in me even when I didn’t believe in myself.” Hawk Girl nonchalantly replies “That’s what friends are for.”

GL also loses his rationality when he is very distraught. Getting ready to attack even when attacking will do no good. But those occasions are rare.

I mostly have the GL from season one (which was labelled season two) in mind. Because sadly enough, he changes a lot after that. You would like him in one, but in two and three he starts doing some things that seem out of character. Presumably because of what happened between him and Hawk Girl.

That’s a long story. And it’s better to save it for the one about Hawk Girl.

GL is the most down to Earth out of all of them because he simply does his duty, even when he doesn’t like it. He tends to be too hard on himself. And Flash and the Joker both say he doesn’t watch enough movies. (An ongoing joke the writers have on themselves.) But he’s dependable.

He is the only African American character in the main League, which never comes up and in my opinion doesn’t matter, it works for him. They are all very different.

And that’s about it, as a side note, it’s said that GL is more powerful than Super Girl, but aside from beating her when under mind control, we never see any other evidence that he’s got more power when he’s under his normal restraints just like she was. I don’t know all the logistics of that.

Until next time–Natasha.

So, I’ve been thinking about my once-time favorite show a lot, and I thought why not take a closer look at it?

Because, as I’ve explained, I no longer watch it, but I think I was too harsh with it in some ways when I mentioned it before on this blog. It’s a sensitive subject you know.

There are some really bad episodes on it, and no mistake, but there was at least twenty or so that were worth watching and also thought provoking. (And there’s not that many episodes to begin with.)

With that introduction out of the way, Let’s get started.

The best thing about this show was the characters. I don’t think a single fan will argue with me on that point. Nomatter which ones you liked, you pretty much only watched the show because of the characters. (Though it has some of the best animated superhero action I know of.

These characters could nail corny one liners; awesome climatic dialogue; flirty romantic; serious romantic; fun; angry; under mind control; you name it. And all of it seemed to fit. That was how good the voice acting was. You believed you were really watching them.

So that’s why I’m going to dive into each member. But it was putting them all together that made the show freaking incredible. More on that later.

I’ll begin with my favorite: Wonder Woman.

Now, you have to throw out the Linda Carter version of her completely. She has no sister, she can’t sing, and she has no interest in someone in the military.

But Wonder Woman, generally called Diana on this show, makes up for all that by being totally awesome. And I don’t just say that as a crazy fan.

In a way, Wonder Woman balances out the League. She is one of the most powerful, but she is also the most simple in some ways. She’s straightforward but not overly blunt. Somehow she manages not to irritate the inferiority complex in other people that Superman tends to (more on that later.)

It’s not hard to see why. Diana has no trouble picking a fight, or winning one usually, but she doesn’t rub in her advantages. Unlike some of the other top super powered beings, she has warrior training, and she know what it’s like to work for her skills, instead of just to be born with them. She’ll pull her rank when she needs to, but it’s not often.

But more important than her power is her heart. As cheesy as that sounds. Diana always strikes me as the most motherly out of the female supers. She just has a way of caring about her friends and wanting to help them, but not too much. You get the feeling she’s the one they’d turn to for some serious mom-talk. We never see her really use this ability full on except in “Kid’s Stuff.” But it’s an underlying theme of her character, and you can sense it even when you can’t see it.

Without a doubt, the best episode with her in it is “Maid of Honor.” But that’s also the best episode for discussing the Wonder Woman/Batman dynamic, so I won’t give away too much.

But in that episode Diana meets the Princess of Kasnia (made up country) after she is nearly abducted in the middle of a party. The Princess, Audrey, is not much phased by this event, but in order to continue on her merry way, she needs Diana to escort her around. Diana agrees to this and ends up having a blast. She and Audrey become friends instantly, and she decides to keep and eye on her, which won’t be hard because Audrey is inviting her to all her events.

They way Diana and Audrey interact is flawless. Audrey brings out the hidden party girl in Diana, and Diana shows compassion and some tough love to her new friend. We get to see Diana at her best in both the fun friend role, and the friend who-loves-you-too-much-not-to-be-hard-on-you role. Diana also gets to play detective in a way, and we see how though she is a lot more instinctive than Batman, her instincts are right.

Pretty much is was impossible not to love her after this episode.

But Diana has her flaws. The major one we see most in “Starcrossed.” and “Hawk and Dove.” But many people refer to her as “stuck up.” What’s odd is that we never see her act stuck up except in the latter one, and that was a new development.

Diana does act like a Princess, I’ll grant you, but she is one. I’d call it confidence and a really refreshing unaffectedness. (By which I mean she’s never awkward, though sometimes she unconsciously makes other people feel so.)

Her real flaw is she is vindictive. She’d rather fight it out than talk it out. Which is a typical superhero problem, and Wonder Woman has it in a typical way. Slugging it out is simpler than trying to peaceably settle it, and she has a temper. She eventually becomes aware of this flaw and tries to control it, but she has a hard time forgiving.

To her credit, like Mr. Darcy, she seems to take great care in not letting herself be offended easily. WE almost never see her get angry at friends, and then not without great provocation. See’s easy going and spontaneous. Not often spending a lot of time thinking things over, but her decisions work out 80% of the time. Basically, you could sum up Wonder Woman by saying she’s rough around the edges, but her heart is in the right place, and she’s a lot of fun.

I wouldn’t say she’s the core of the League, or what holds them all together, like I said, I believe her effect is more to steady them. She provides back bone. She’s the midpoint between all-too-human and all–too-powerful.

Actually, Wonder Woman is kind of the most balanced superhero in my mind because her powers are definitely super, but she only has two actual powers. Flying and Strength. The rest of it is skill and her magic armor. It makes her easier to understand than the ones with so many powers one can’t even keep them all straight (not to mention the writer keep changing them as time passes.)

I’ll talk more about her in the Batman one, but for now:

Truth. Justice. And whatever Wonder Woman’s motto was.

–Natasha.