The Great Brain Robbery
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| Justice League Unlimited episode | |
|---|---|
| "The Great Brain Robbery" | |
| Airdate: | March 4, 2006 |
| Production Number: | 34 |
| Airdate Order: | 34 |
| Animation Services by: | Dong Woo Animation Co., LTD. |
| Teleplay by: | Matt Wayne |
| Story by: | Dwayne McDuffie |
| Directed by: | Dan Riba |
| Episode images (9) | |
"The Great Brain Robbery" is the eighth episode of the third season of Justice League Unlimited.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
Lex Luthor, after trying repeatedly to resurrect Brainiac from his remaining fragment, realizes that Grodd must be blocking his access in some way. When Grodd refuses to talk, Luthor determines to force his way into Grodd’s mind. Other members of the Legion, however, are dissatisfied with Luthor's leadership, fearing that he's unbalanced, but Luthor offers them a plan that will make them all rich.
At the same time, Dr. Fate proposes that he try to locate Grodd by tracing the psychic residue left when Flash was under his mind control.[1] The two processes are started at the same time, and Luthor and Flash’s brains are accidentally switched.
Luthor (as Flash) immediately runs amok in the Watchtower, looking for a way to escape, and thinking of several new and destructive uses for Flash’s powers.
Flash (as Luthor) has to bluff his way through leadership of the Legion of Doom, especially while other members are becoming suspicious. He confronts Grodd, who has figured out what happened, but says he’s not going to tell — instead, he’s going to enjoy waiting until Flash gives himself away.
Luckily, Luthor had already explained his latest plan to “the crew,” so Flash doesn’t have to reveal his ignorance. The plan is to steal a shipment of Euros from Kasnia (which has recently switched to Eurozone currency). Flash goes along on the heist, but Luthor, in the Watchtower, telephones the Legion and reveals the truth.
The Legion seizes Flash, while Luthor diverts the pursuing League members to another part of the Watchtower, then speeds onto the teleport pad.
Mr. Terrific shuts off the artificial gravity. Luthor floats off the pad, but uses Flash’s speed to propel himself down — at which Mr. Terrific turns the gravity back on, and Luthor hurtles into the floor, knocking himself out. Dr. Fate reverses the mind switch, and Flash returns to his body.
At the Legion’s headquarters, Luthor is being held prisoner. Some of them aren’t sure he’s really been changed back, while Dr. Polaris announces that he doesn’t care, he’s taking over the Legion anyway. He prepares to kill Luthor, but Luthor merely touches a control on his belt, turning Polaris’s power back on himself, and also releasing Luthor from his bonds.
He explains that, in augmenting the abilities of all Legion members, he’s also given himself the power to override them. He’s still in charge. Tala, who was getting to like the “new” Luthor, is disappointed.
[edit] Continuity
- Sinestro mentions the time Grodd tried to turn the world into apes in "Dead Reckoning".
- Mr. Terrific says that when Grodd took control of Flash's mind in "The Brave and the Bold, Part I", the connection left a psychic resonance between them.
- Grodd's outspoken hatred towards the Flash is presumably due to the hero's foiling of his plans in "The Brave and the Bold, Part II". It is also to be noted that, in the comics' continuity, Grodd is one of Flash's most well-known enemies.
[edit] Background Information
[edit] Production Notes
- In the DVD commentary to "This Little Piggy," the producers commented that exchanging brains is a common trope in television shows. Another, changing the main characters into children, was used in "Kid Stuff."
[edit] Production Inconsistencies
- Ice is shown to be one of the several superheroes knocked unconscious by Luthor-as-Flash on the Watchtower. However, she is later seen alongside Steel and Dr. Light when they transport from the Metro Tower to the site of the train robbery.
[edit] Trivia
- The title is a pun on "The Great Train Robbery," which could refer either to:
- The 1975 novel of the same name by Michael Crichton, loosely based on the Great Gold Robbery of 1855
- The Great Train Robbery of 1963
- As a tribute, the episode also features a train robbery, as the Legion of Doom hijacks the train carrying the money.
- Michael Rosenbaum, who voices The Flash, plays the young Lex Luthor on Smallville. On the episode's special feature, Bruce Timm and Dwayne McDuffie said that they planned for the episode to showcase Rosenbaum's "villainous" voice, but ended up giving Flash-in-Lex more screen time than Lex-in-Flash, because Clancy Brown stole the show with his comic performance.
- This episode features one of the DCAU's very few suggestions of sexual activity, when Tala tells Flash (as Luthor) that he needs to relax, then pulls him behind a closed door, and he is heard remarking "Hey... that's not restful."
- Grodd makes a joking reference to actor Charlton Heston, who starred in Planet of the Apes.
- The coordinates in Kaznia that Mr. Terrific sends to Doctor Light are actually in the former Yugoslavia.
[edit] Powers
Luthor-as-Flash seems very comfortable with Flash's powers. He displays several abilities deriving from speed that Flash had never used. Among them:
- Brandishing his fingers as a gun and threatening to vibrate them through someone's head
- Using vibrations to set up an unstable resonance in a bay door, causing it to collapse
- Using his fists to create an uncomfortable resonance in Dr. Fate's helmet
These abilities are not often exhibited for several reasons. As remarked by Green Lantern, setting up the resonance in the door was very dangerous, hence why Flash never performed it. Threatening to scramble someone's brains with your fingers is simply not superhero-esque, and overall, Flash seems to prefer non-violent methods of disabling his enemies as opposed to hitting them really, really fast.
Green Lantern power rings traditionally cannot affect things that are colored yellow directly. In one scene, Luthor-as-Flash is in the cafeteria tossing objects at Red Tornado and Green Lantern. Lantern is well-protected by his power ring, until Flash tosses a bowl of yellow jello at him. The jello easily penetrates the shield and smacks Lantern in the face, humorously.
At one point while Luthor is trapped in a bathroom, he remarks that at the very least he can finally know the Flash's secret identity. However, after removing the mask, he realizes that he has no idea whose face he's looking at in the bathroom mirror.
[edit] Cast
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Clancy Brown | Lex Luthor |
| Powers Boothe | Grodd Red Tornado (uncredited) |
| Phil LaMarr | John Stewart Steel (uncredited) Angle Man (uncredited) |
| Michael Rosenbaum | The Flash Dr. Polaris (uncredited) |
| Juliet Landau | Tala |
| Michael Beach | Mr. Terrific |
| Oded Fehr | Dr. Fate |
| Ted Levine | Sinestro |
| George Newbern | Bizarro |
| Lauren Tom | Dr. Light |
[edit] Uncredited Appearances
[edit] Quotes
Flash: Just be careful with my head — it's where I keep all my one-liners. |
Lex-in-Flash: Beam me out of here, or I'm going to vibrate these fingers and scramble your brains. |
Flash-in-Lex: (looks in a mirror) Aaah, that is just wrong! |
Dr. Polaris: Are you gonna wash your hands? |
Flash-in-Lex: My fellow bad guys, I, Lex Luthor, your leader, will speak now about my, Lex Luthor's plan. My... villainous, villainous plan. Question the plan at your peril. Uh... Any questions? |
Bizarro: Me got answer. |
Luthor-in-Flash: If nothing else, I can at least learn the Flash's secret identity. (unmasks) I have no idea who this is. |
Flash-in-Lex: Me, the Flash? You've, like, totally lost it, Grodd. I'm Lex Luthor! |
Grodd: Ah, Tala, my old groupie. I so miss bending you to my will. |
Mr. Terrific: Dr. Fate, your patient just anesthetized himself. |
Mr. Terrific: Can you tell us anything about Grodd's secret society? Where's their Head Quarters? |
Tala: Lex, is that really you? |
[edit] Footnotes
| Previously produced episode: "Patriot Act" | Episodes of Justice League Unlimited | Next produced episode: "Grudge Match" |
| Previously aired episode: "Patriot Act" | Next aired episode: "Grudge Match" |
