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Justice League
"Paradise Lost" Parts I & II
Air Dates: January 21st and 28th, 2002
Written by Joseph Kuhr
Directed by Dan Riba
Guest Voices: Robert Englund(Felix Faust), John Rhys-Davies (Hades), and Susan Sullivan (Hippolyta).
Fire up the grill boys and girls, because this is to be my last review of Justice League. I know, I know. We've still got Smallville, and it's not like Justice League won't be covered any more. Not at all. There's a new guy out there, champing at the proverbial, or literal, bit to talk about this show.
The "Paradise Lost" arc follows the continuity-churning back story of Wonder Woman's people, the Amazons. Now, normally I'd say something like, 'Anyone who reads the comics knows the story," but that isn't the case here. Justice League takes a dramatic turn from the comic continuity once again.
Normally, as was the case for Green Lantern and Hawkgirl, this would be a good thing. This time, however, it sucks. Diana is forced to collect some mystical artifacts by a sorcerer named Felix Faust (Robert Englund). Mr. Obvious-Reference-For-A-Last-Name has turned Diana's Amazonian sisters into lovely stone statues. The kind of statues the Attorney General might cover up with a tarp, only not naked. Sigh. These artifacts, when put together, form a key that will unleash the evil god Hades from his imprisonment. Once the rest of the League figures out what's going on, they decide to pitch in and help. Needless to say, the day is won and catastrophe is averted. For her bravery and strength in battle, Diana gets the lovely parting gift of getting kicked off the island Survivor-style.
Apparently, by bringing the male Leaguers to Themyscera (the Amazon island), Diana broke one of the big laws. You know the kind. The ones that usually prevent public nudity and such. Her mother banishes her with a heavy heart, and Diana just accepts the verdict. This is where continuity is tossed out the window. In the comics, Diana is forced to become Themyscera's representative to the world. An emissary of peace. Not this time. Nope, now she's a refugee. This I can accept. It's not a horrible concept, but what really gets me is how they pretty much ignore Greek Mythology. Needless to say, the nice little lesson they teach you is %100 BS, and that's Barbecue Sauce. Also, since when is Hippolyta blonde? Were they trying to avoid any similarity between Diana and her mother so as not to confuse those viewers with limited gray matter? I have no idea.
These are minor gripes, and usually these wouldn't even detract from the solid storytelling and visuals this show delivers. Unfortunately, those factors were absent as well. Hades never came across as a serious threat even though he beat the crap out of the League, and the fact that killing Faust on sight would have actually saved the day in the end detracts from the overall story as well. These episodes were probably the lowest quality offerings we've gotten to date. That's not so bad. Every show has a stinker or two, and these weren't even that bad. I give "Paradise Lost":
Episode Rating: 6 out of 10
Steven “drenball” Dougherty likes cake. He especially likes the kind of cake that is, in fact, pie.
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