Superman on Television

Justice League: Episode Reviews

Season 1 - Episodes 22-23: "Metamorphosis"

Reviewed by: Barry Freiman

Arc Shows "Metamorphosis" of Guest Hero Role - Secret Origins Slow Down the Story

Once upon a time, Bruce Timm and his cracker jack staff thought it took 48 minutes to introduce a new character, explain his personality and powers, and distill the essence of that character to the satisfaction of long-time fans of the character and viewers meeting the character for the very first time.

Watching a show like "Metamorphosis" after having seen episodes of the retooled, super-sized "JLU", one gets a sense of what life must be like for Wally West, the Flash, for whom regular feels slow and clunky. This episode does everything right in introducing a new character. Ties him to an existing character's background by having a friendship between GL John Stewart and Metamorpho, the Element (not Elephant) Man. Introduces the new guy's back-story as the story. It's competent story-telling, but it's just not extraordinary and, with the League, nothing less will do.

On the Superman Fan Must Watch or Not Scale, this episode squeezes out one sad little speeding -- but not going fast as these things are measured -- bullet. Say it ain't so, Sapphire, but, if you were expecting a Stagg party, you're likely to be disappointed.

Peace out.



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