Insecurity

"Insecurity" is the 23rd episode of the first season of Young Justice, and the 23rd of the overall series. It aired on March 31, 2012.

Logline
Red Arrow's return undercuts Artemis' confidence, while the team's mission to track down Sportsmaster threatens to expose her darkest secrets.

Synopsis
Green Arrow and Artemis apprehends an assassination attempt made by Black Spider. Artemis takes charge when Green Arrow is pushed down, and defeats the assassin soundly. Green Arrow escorts Artemis to a Zeta tube, whlist the girl is surprisingly cheerful of their work. After Artemis is teleported to Gotham, Red Arrow emerges from the shadows of the alley, he has been observing them for quite some time. The two in sake of old times joined forces to stop a local robbery. Sportsmaster smuggles Ivo, due to T.O. Morrow being in coma out of Belle Reve.

Title
In this episode, Artemis is riddled with "insecurity". At first, she feels insecure about whether she is worthy of her place on the Team or not. After Red Arrow joins the Team, she feels insecure about her position in the group, especially since he has it in for her. Finally, at the end of the episode, she feels insecure about what to do when her father tells her she can't go against her nature and tries to subvert her loyalties. The title could also refer to Sportsmaster, who bypasses Belle Reve Penitentiary's security to break in.

Cast and characters

 * The following credits are tentative and pending on official release.

! colspan="3" | Uncredited ! colspan="3" | Non-speaking roles
 * Lacey Chabert
 * colspan="2" | Zatanna Zatara
 * Stephanie Lemelin
 * colspan="2" | Artemis
 * Danica McKellar
 * colspan="2" | M'gann M'orzz
 * Nolan North
 * colspan="2" | Conner Kent
 * Khary Payton
 * colspan="2" | Aqualad
 * Jason Spisak
 * colspan="2" | Kid Flash
 * Thom Adcox
 * colspan="2" | Klarion
 * rowspan="3" | Dee Bradley Baker
 * colspan="2" | Monsieur Mallah
 * colspan="2" | Teekl
 * colspan="2" | Wolf
 * Crispin Freeman
 * colspan="2" | Red Arrow
 * rowspan="2" | Kelly Hu
 * colspan="2" | Cheshire
 * colspan="2" | Paula Crock
 * Nick Chinlund
 * colspan="2" | Sportsmaster
 * rowspan="2" | Peter MacNicol
 * colspan="2" | Professor Ivo
 * colspan="2" | MONQI
 * Jeff Bennett
 * colspan="2"| Red Tornado
 * Josh Keaton
 * Black Spider
 * Alan Tudyk
 * colspan="2" | Green Arrow
 * colspan="2" | Paula Crock
 * Nick Chinlund
 * colspan="2" | Sportsmaster
 * rowspan="2" | Peter MacNicol
 * colspan="2" | Professor Ivo
 * colspan="2" | MONQI
 * Jeff Bennett
 * colspan="2"| Red Tornado
 * Josh Keaton
 * Black Spider
 * Alan Tudyk
 * colspan="2" | Green Arrow
 * colspan="2"| Red Tornado
 * Josh Keaton
 * Black Spider
 * Alan Tudyk
 * colspan="2" | Green Arrow
 * Alan Tudyk
 * colspan="2" | Green Arrow
 * colspan="2" | Green Arrow
 * colspan="3" | Cooper
 * colspan="2" | Mr. Jones
 * colspan="2" | Mr. Jones
 * colspan="2" | Mr. Jones
 * colspan="3" | Biggitz
 * colspan="3" | Brain
 * colspan="3" | Hauser
 * colspan="3" | Hugo Strange
 * colspan="3" | Riker
 * colspan="3" | T.O. Morrow
 * colspan="3" | Wilcox
 * colspan="3" | Hugo Strange
 * colspan="3" | Riker
 * colspan="3" | T.O. Morrow
 * colspan="3" | Wilcox
 * colspan="3" | T.O. Morrow
 * colspan="3" | Wilcox
 * colspan="3" | Wilcox

Continuity

 * Red Arrow remarks Artemis's improvement since their last meeting in "Infiltrator".
 * Green Arrow tells Red Arrow the result of the vote the Justice League took in "Agendas".
 * Paula Crock tells Artemis of how Batman and Green Arrow visited her before confronting Artemis, which happened in issue #8.
 * Artemis mentions saving Kid Flash's life, which happened in #8 and "Schooled".
 * Paula again mentions losing a daughter (as she had done in issue #7); this was shown in "Homefront".
 * Red Arrow's search for the mole started in "Targets".
 * Red Arrow mentions Sportsmaster was adept at recognizing Martian camouflage; he easily spotted Miss Martian in "Drop-Zone".
 * Cheshire refers to her last meeting with her sister Artemis, in "Infiltrator".
 * Cheshire also refers to her last meeting with Red Arrow, and the advances she made on him, in "Targets".
 * The Light uses nanotech similar to the Fog to alter the echinoderm. The Fog was created by Dr. Serling Roquette in "Infiltrator" and the piece of the echinoderm was procured in "Misplaced".
 * The warehouse where Artemis and Red Arrow confront Cheshire and Sportsmaster is the same one where the Terror Twins were apprehended in "Terrors".
 * Aqualad still refers to the collective of villains opposing them as the Injustice League, who took the fall for the Light in "Revelation".

Trivia

 * Josh Keaton voices Black Spider. Keaton also voice another, more prominent web-slinger on The Spectacular Spider-Man, another show produced by Greg Weisman.
 * Green Arrow and Red Arrow stop a robbery at Save-Big. This is a reference to the Justice League Unlimited episode "Initiation", Green Arrow's debut in the DCAU, in which he stopped an armed robbery with a variety of trick arrows. Afterwards, John Stewart inducted him into the League, which mirrors Green Arrow telling Red Arrow that he has been accepted into the League.
 * This episode aired in Brazil on March 14.

Cultural references

 * In their opening shot, Green Arrow and Artemis stand in front of a crescent moon. This lunar phase is traditionally connected to the Greek goddess Artemis. A similar reference was made on the cover of #7 of the tie-in comic.
 * Artemis uses a Zeta-Beam portal in Star City which is in the shape of a police box. This is almost certainly a nod to Doctor Who.  However, it is unclear whether the image is being used legally, since the British Broadcasting Corporation owns copyright to the basic design of all police boxes, not just the one used in Doctor Who as the Doctor's TARDIS. After she transports, Green Arrow turns his attention to Speedy.  At this point, the soundtrack includes — low in the mix — a subtle but clearly identifiable use of "the Doctor Who sting", a "howling" sound effect that indicates the end of the episode.


 * The Save-Big is said to be on the corner of "Weisinger and Papp". Mort Weisinger and George Papp are the creators of Green Arrow.
 * Under the Christmas tree in Red Tornado's room are a Kinara, a Menorah, a nutcracker and a snowman, along with several presents and fruits.

Unanswered questions

 * Why did Black Spider want to kill Mr. Jones?
 * What did the Klarion, Professor Ivo and the Brain do to the piece of the echinoderm?
 * They turned that piece into something called Starro-Tech and what it does will be explained in future episodes
 * Does Artemis accept her father's proposition?