Tabula Rasa | Episode 29
Aired: October 4, 2003
Heroes: Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman, Green Lantern, The Flash, J'onn Jonzz and Hawkgirl
Supporting: Mercy Graves, Professor Ivo, and A.M.A.Z.O.
Villains: Lex Luthor
Objects: Battlesuit, Nth Metal, Kryptonite, Utility Belt (Communication Device and Wiretap), Justice League Communication Link, Lasso of Truth, Power Ring, and Batmobile
Places: Metropolis and LexCorp
Written By: Stan Berkowitz
Directed By: Dan Riba
Tabula Rasa | Episode 30
Aired: October 4, 2003
Heroes: Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman, Green Lantern, The Flash, J'onn Jonzz and Hawkgirl
Supporting: Mercy Graves, Professor Ivo, and A.M.A.Z.O.
Villains: Lex Luthor
Objects: Nth Metal, Power Ring, Utility Belt (Grappling Gun and Kryptonite), Battlesuit, Lasso of Truth, Justice League Communication Link, and Batmobile
Places: Metropolis and LexCorp
Written By: Stan Berkowitz
Directed By: Dan Riba
Review
Review written by MahoneyThis would have been a tough episode to like if the villain had just been a creature that could mimic the powers of the Justice League. We see those powers in every episode we watch; seeing them doubled would just be the same old stuff times two.
At first that's what I thought I was getting. True, the visual is very cool: the way AMAZO smoothly sprouts wings and a mace and alters his body language to reflect the hero he has copied comes off very nicely. And it's always fun to see how a hero will handle a villain when they're evenly matched. But again, same ol' x 2; it was a bit under whelming.
However, Dr. Ivo built AMAZO to evolve. Evolve AMAZO does: beyond becoming physically powerful, in personality he changes from a curious, naive, morally neutral AI, to an egocentric, jaded, restless sentient creature. Interestingly enough, AMAZO has the Justice League to thank for his new, lousy attitude.
AMAZO shows us the Justice League through a mirror darkly. After scanning and copying Hawkgirl, he doesn't just gain wings and a mace, his aggression also increases. When he nags Luthor later in the episode, his self-righteous over protectiveness sounds uncannily like something that might come from Green Lantern and Superman. He pulls an utterly tactless move on Mercy that came straight from Flash; he manages the feat of matching Batman for smugness; and when he leaves Earth at the end of the episode, the superior and reclusive tone of his dismissal of the Justice League and humanity in general could have come straight from Wonder Woman and J'onn.
That's a great way to deepen characterization just by itself, but then we get to see how these negatives contrast against the positives. Superheroes aren't superheroes because they're well-adjusted, humble personalities. They're superheroes because despite all of their ego and superior physical or mental abilities, they have the experience and the moral maturity to act as a positive force in the world.
If that wasn't clear just from the fact that despite their personality flaws and mistakes they still stood together and never walked away from the fight, we can look at J'onn's momentary crisis of conscience. This played out as a direct contrast to AMAZO's story: J'onn found himself overwhelmed by the negative aspects of a city full of people, and wondered why he bothered trying to help them. However, when he found a small pocket of selfless, good-hearted people, it was enough to remind him why. But when AMAZO found himself betrayed by only one person, he didn't stop to wonder why bother. Instead, he just wrapped himself up in his own superiority and left Earth completely. It's a great reminder to us why we admire our heroes.
Sure, there were some weaknesses to the episode. AMAZO's reflection of the Justice League's personalities was almost too subtle; and it was offset by the J'onn subplot that was in turn a bit too blindingly obvious. The story didn't move as quickly as it could have, and the overall look of the episode wasn't as sharp as some others. But the characterization was there, and it was wonderfully solid; there were some great lines ("Do you always carry Kryptonite around with you?" "You never know." "And they said I was scary."); and in the end we're left knowing that for once the Justice League might have met a fatal nemesis, if only he hadn' copped their superior attitude and decided they weren't worth squashing. Lex Luthor may not be the only one praying if AMAZO ever comes back.