Legion of Superheroes "Chain of Command" Talkback (Spoilers)

[The Penguin]

We finally meet Cosmic Boy, the official leader of the Legion.

Episode #11: Chain of Command
Original Airdate - March 3rd, 2007
When disaster strikes Lightning Lad's home planet of Winath, the Legion is called to help. Lightning Lad's efforts to take charge are thwarted however when long-absent Legion leader Cosmic Boy arrives with an enigmatic new hero in tow.

Comments?

[Razor]

That was great! The expanded more on Lightning Lad, and the dynamic between him, Cosmic Boy, and Saturn Girl is interesting enough. But the real star of the episode was Bouncing Boy... he really came into his own in this episode, and it works considering how they've written him this past season.

And the foreshadowing is good too.

Ferro Lad seems interesting. They seem to be setting something up with him...

[CyberCubed]

Who was the guy who came at the end?

Spoiler boxes if necessary, I'm just wondering who he is from the comics.

[tb4000]

This may be the first time I've seen Lightning Lad take on a leadership role. Usually he's just a smart mouth hotshot in the show.

[Jack Frenzy]

Really good episode!

This felt like a true old-school Legion story -- natural disasters were always good for showcasing the entire Legion.

After all these decades, Bouncing Boy finally gets some respect!

Great to see Cosmic Boy and Ferro Lad in action! And Colossal Boy's close to becoming a regular.

Lightning Lad's photo-moment was heartbreaking.

And an interesting bit of foreshadowing at the end... Can't wait for the season finale!

Without a doubt, the best episode yet this season!

Who was the guy who came at the end?

Spoiler boxes if necessary, I'm just wondering who he is from the comics.

To be honest, it's not entirely clear. However:

Spoiler:

Based on his skin color, he could be one of the Controllers.

[StormBlue]

I'm finding myself to be a better fan of mission-based episodes, particularly those that eclipse the entire ep. While Lightning Lad has gotten A LOT of focus episodes this season, he still proves to be a very interesting character. He is a very dynamic individual who in this one episode worked off of Superman, Cosmic Boy, and Saturn Girl...all while relating to the crisis at-hand on his home planet.

I'm intrigued by Ferro Lad's intro and hope he comes into play later. I'd like to see what's behind that mask.

Bouncing Boy asserting himself was great. I needed an episode that could prove his worth to me. This did it. Making him leader though...eh. Right now, I don't see the LOSH crew as a team that needs a defined leader, but I'm cool with it.

In terms of characterization, my only problem so far with this season is the lack of it with Saturn Girl and Triplicate Girl. Each has only been explored a tad through their potential male counterpart, Lightning Lad and Bouncing Boy respectively. I know nothing of their motivations and nothing about their past. How are these girls as individuals, when they aren't around other Legion members? I'm looking forward to seeing them grow.

All in all, this was a cool ep and I liked it.

[CapdCrusader376]

This is by far the best episode this season, and hope the the season finale is up to par, and heres hoping that season 2 is full of episodes like this one, this ep was by far in a league of its own compared to the rest of the season.

[Mister Intensity]

It's nice to see a rescue mission episode of a superhero show. I liked how each hero was placed where his/her talents might be of the most use. It was also nice to see how each character bounced off each other (interesting choice of words). It was great seeing Colossal Boy for the entire episode and the introduction of Ferro Lad. Congratulations to Bouncing Boy. I'm surprised we haven't seen a focus episode on Saturn Girl, considering she is one of the founders.

Mister Intensity

[Ian]

I'm intrigued by Ferro Lad's intro and hope he comes into play later. I'd like to see what's behind that mask.

If the series feels like being traditional, you probably never will. Legion Lore spoilers ahead.

Spoiler:

In any case, it's never been a real secret in the comics; he's just supposed to be unbearably ugly, even by 31st century standards. It's one of those concepts that worked back in the sixties, when plastic surgery wasn't as common and the Legion mostly featured humanoid characters.

[Kagetsu]

When Bouncing Boy figured a pattern to the storm, I thought it was going to lead to some evil weather control, but no. Somehow I just never pictured him and exponential logarithms in Chaos Theory going together.

But, did anyone else notice all the twins on that world? I swear I saw at least five pairs running around.

And was that Arden in the voting viewscreens? i'm not even sure who she is except being on TeenTitans last season.

Tripy was the cute one in this episode, she's a one girl backup crew. [/lol]

Now I won't be able to think of Lightning Lad without thinking Booster Sinclair Munchaper [/lol]

[Jack Frenzy]

But, did anyone else notice all the twins on that world? I swear I saw at least five pairs running around.

The majority of Winath's population are twins.

Lightning Lad himself has a twin sister, Ayla (seen with him in the photo in this episode).

His older brother Mekt had no twin and grew up feeling like an outsider.

[Anwar]

The twins thing is common to Winathians, usually there everyone is born with a twin. It's why Lightning Lord was nutty, he didn't have a twin and was considered a mutant.

[kreuzritter]

that's another tip to legion lore Kagetsu, because Winath is a planet of twins. in Fact Mekt/Lightning Lord is one of the very few Winathians who doesn't have a twin brother or sister somewhere. not that this ever really comes up, but it makes decent flavor text.

i'd love to contribute more, but well, i haven't seen this one yet

[hobbyfan]

This was the 1st Legion ep I'd seen since the opener. Lightning Lad comes across as too arrogant, contrary to the comics. I don't think there was ever any heat between him & Cosmic Boy in the comics back in the day, but, hey, they needed a plot.

And it ends with Bouncing Boy as leader? Mind boggling!

[PeterFries]

Who was the guy who came at the end?

Spoiler boxes if necessary, I'm just wondering who he is from the comics.

It was the mysterious villain from the last two episodes of this season, which probably won't be airing until May sweeps.

That said, he looked to be

Spoiler:

a rogue Controller, in control of the Sun-Eater (following his ship)

In case anyone didn't know, that was Wil (Wesley Crusher, Aqualad) Wheaton as Cosmic Boy.

This episode probably had the best-handled exposition to date -- you don't need to have seen most of the previous episodes to get a sense of what was going on. Where was Timber Wolf? He didn't even get to vote at the end, did he?

[90'sCartoonMan]

I loved the natural disaster theme of this episode. They had a relatively large cast and made good use of everyone while at the same time introducing two new characters.

Cosmic Boy is going to stick around, right? He's not going to go back out there and continue his mission of diplomacy, is he? I'm sure there will be more tensions between him and Lightning Lad, even if Bouncing Boy is the new leader. There's unresolved stuff with Saturn Girl. She chose to follow Cosmic Boy, but it looked like she regretted it. I liked seeing Lightning Lad get more depth, and Superman's comment about him being a farm boy made me smile.

Kinda weird that Colossal Boy and Ferro Lad went with Lightning Lad, as they seemed loyal to Cosmic Boy. I'm left wondering who voted for who. Bouncing Boy was the best choice, but judging by Brainy's confusion, I don't think he voted for him. Hmm...can Triplicate Girl vote three times?

In terms of characterization, my only problem so far with this season is the lack of it with Saturn Girl and Triplicate Girl. Each has only been explored a tad through their potential male counterpart, Lightning Lad and Bouncing Boy respectively. I know nothing of their motivations and nothing about their past. How are these girls as individuals, when they aren't around other Legion members? I'm looking forward to seeing them grow.

I'd like to see more on Saturn Girl. I still think her fear of roller coasters is pretty weak, and sadly, that's one of the few things we know about her.

And was that Arden in the voting viewscreens? i'm not even sure who she is except being on TeenTitans last season.

Argent, you mean, and yeah, that did look like her. I think it was supposed to be Shrinking Violet, though.

[Mister Intensity]

It was the mysterious villain from the last two episodes of this season, which probably won't be airing until May sweeps.

That said, he looked to be

Spoiler:

a rogue Controller, in control of the Sun-Eater (following his ship)

In case anyone didn't know, that was Wil (Wesley Crusher, Aqualad) Wheaton as Cosmic Boy.

This episode probably had the best-handled exposition to date -- you don't need to have seen most of the previous episodes to get a sense of what was going on. Where was Timber Wolf? He didn't even get to vote at the end, did he?

Timber Wolf was one of the members shown voting remotely on the viewing screen.

Mister Intensity

[PeterFries]

Timber Wolf was one of the members shown voting remotely on the viewing screen.

Ah, okay, must have missed him -- I saw Tyroc, Blok, Dream Girl, Element Lad and Shrinking Violet on there. Not a big deal either way.

[adoptedBatpuppy]

This was a stronger episode. How coincidental that here we have tornadoes and in this episode we also dealt with tornadoes. We find out more about Lightning Lad. Looks like he has a twin brother/sister, since in his family photo there are three kids and one of them is huging him. We also get to see more legion members. Including two Cosmic Boys? Someone needs to update me on all these new characters thrown in this episode at the same time.
Why did one of them leave the team?
Lightining Lad seems like a jerk compared to Cosmic Boy. Who put him in charge? Both of them like Saturn Girl. I wonder what Cosmic boy meant when he said that she is vulnerable? Looks like there is a little romance between Bouncing Boy and Triplicate Girl?
It was nice to see Bouncing Boy and Triplicate Girl having a bit more of the screen time, and Bouncing Boy becomig the leader. I wonder who Brainy and Superman voted for? but I guess we will never know.
I missed Timber Wolf, where was he?
I'm looking forward to the seeing the new villan, new relationships between everybody, and better plots for this show!

[PeterFries]

We also get to see more legion members. Including two Cosmic Boys?

Cosmic Boy was jking with Colossal Boy, calling each other "C.B.1" and C.B.2"

Why did one of them leave the team?

Apparently, both have been on the team all along, like the other members mostly glimpsed on viewscreens so far, but have been away on various assignments. Cosmic Boy seems to have assigned himself a sort of PR role...

I wonder what Cosmic boy meant when he said that she is vulnerable?

I think that he just meant as a telepath, she wasn't as durable as some of the other Legion members out fighting the storm.

Looks like there is a little romance between Bouncing Boy and Triplicate Girl?

In the classic Legion comics, they were the first of many Legion couples to

Spoiler:

get married. LL and Saturn Girl also got married and had kids