Infiltrator

"Infiltrator" is the sixth episode of Young Justice. It premiered on February 11, 2011.

Logline
Artemis faces an uphill battle winning over her new teammates, as she tries to fill Red Arrow's boots on a mission he initiated: saving a brilliant young scientist from the League of Shadows.

Synopsis
Red Arrow (formerly known as Speedy) breaks into a facility and eludes surveillance and the guards. In a secured room, Dr. Serling Roquette is working on a project and is told to finish it soon or she will die. Red Arrow breaks in and dispatches the two guards standing watch. Roquette expresses disappointment about him being alone. The alarm sets off and Red Arrow blasts a hole through the wall. Roquette doesn't want to leave her project behind, but Red Arrow presses on, saying he can only take one of them. She reluctantly agrees to go with him. The two descend in a zip line and make their way to a boat. Red Arrow takes off under heavy fire and sets off explosives to cover their escape.

Back on the island, Professor Ojo informs Sensei that Roquette had finished her project. Sensei grins in delight.

Miss Martian, Dick, Kaldur and Superboy go to the beach, but not before taking a moment of silence for their absent comrade.

Wally attends his first day of sophomore year in despair. The Team's fun endeavors juxtapose with Wally's, whose day goes from bad to worse. After class, he heads off to the Cave, carrying all sorts of beach equipment, ready for his day at the beach, but falls on his face. He notices that Green Arrow, Batman and Red Tornado are there, and so is a new costumed girl—Artemis. She teases him for his clumsiness and introduces herself as his new teammate. Wally is quite blasé about her, never having heard of her, and Green Arrow readily introduces her as his new protégé.

No sooner than Wally asks what happened to his old partner, the Computer announces Speedy's arrival, who promptly declares that now he goes by "Red Arrow". He lashes out at Green Arrow for finding a new substitute so quickly, and both Artemis and Green Arrow state that she is his niece. Robin scoffs in disbelief and Aqualad assures Red Arrow that they still want him on the Team. Red Arrow tells them he saved Dr. Roquette from the League of Shadows, but not before she had completed the project they coerced her to do—The Fog, a nanotech weapon capable of disintegrating anything in its path all the while collecting valuable data.

At the Miami Beach University, Professor Ojo unleashes the Fog to infiltrate the MBU Robotics Laboratory, stealing raw data from the computer systems. After Ojo downloads the stolen information, he drives off and the building collapses behind him.

Back at the Cave, Red Arrow explains that with this weapon the League of Shadows will gain access to assorted tech and Intel, and Artemis states that the Shadows will use it for extortion, manipulation, and power broking, which is typical of them. Wally contests her knowledge of the League of Shadows, but Artemis simply replies with a silence grin, infuriating him.

Red Arrow tells them that Roquette is currently working on a virus to neutralize the Fog and has stationed her at a local computer lab to protect her from the League of Shadows. Green Arrow tries to convince him to work with him on this case, but Batman stops him with a knowing look. Green Arrow then tries to sway Red Arrow to work with the Team, which now includes Artemis. Red Arrow declines and teleports out, after updating the Computer with his new moniker. Wally and Artemis exchange displeased looks.

At Dr. Serling's hideout, Artemis, Aqualad, Robin and Kid Flash watch over her and Miss Martian establishes a telepathic link to prevent the Shadows from intercepting their communications. Artemis and Kid Flash start bickering, so she takes off to help Miss Martian outside. Robin suggests Kid Flash to go easy on Artemis, since she was the one who saved him from Amazo, but Wally is unyielding.

Roquette grumbles about her predicament and Aqualad asks if she can track the Fog so that they can use the virus on it. She says she is able to, but she needs to go on-line, which would expose their location. Aqualad assures that they'll protect her, so Serling goes on-line to track the Fog.

Professor Ojo is aboard a plane and detects Roquette on-line. He contacts Sensei and tracks her location. Sensei asks which agents they have in the vicinity of Happy Harbor.

There, Superboy is securing the perimeter and hears something, but disregards it. He leaps across the building and lands next to Miss Martian and Artemis, who mentally admires him, despite being fully aware that everyone can hear her telepathically. Aqualad informs them that Roquette has found the Fog and instructs Miss Martian to reconfigure the bio ship so that Robin and Superboy can go after it. As they take off, a masked figure lurks in the shadows.

She makes her way past Artemis and Miss Martian, who are too distracted arguing over Superboy. Miss Martian chides her for embarrassing Superboy and asks if she must challenge everyone. Artemis claims that where she comes from, that's how one survives. Inside, Kid Flash is standing guard on the door of the lab when he spots a shadow. He pursues the intruder into the pool, where he slips in a booby-trap, gets knocked out and dumped into the pool. The intruder—Cheshire—heads to the lab and hurls a poisoned shuriken at Serling, but Aqualad jumps over and takes it instead. She hits Aqualad with three more and points out that it had to hurt. Aqualad removes the shuriken from his arm without care, claiming that Atlantean skin is quite dense, and the two spar. He calls for Miss Martian and Artemis for help. On their way, Miss Martian is held back and turns back to the pool.

Amidst the brawl, Cheshire throws one of her sai at Roquette, but Aqualad deflects it just barely. Cheshire notes that the poison is hindering him, but Aqualad asserts he is largely immune to jelly-fish toxic. She knocks him down and raises her sai to execute him, but is stymied by Artemis, who has just arrived. Meanwhile, Miss Martian removes Kid Flash from the pool. Back at the lab, Cheshire remarks that her mission is getting interesting and draws a collapsible katana. Artemis shoots a barrage of arrows at her, which Cheshire deflects with ease. Noting that Miss Martian and Kid Flash have joined in, Cheshire realizes she's outnumbered and uses a flash-bang grenade to evade them.

Roquette scolds the Team for letting Cheshire get away, while Kid Flash blames Artemis for letting the assassin slip by her perimeter. Miss Martian stands up for Artemis, as she too was standing guard outside, and then comforts her. Robin and Superboy inform Aqualad that they have arrived too late to Philadelphia, because the Fog have already cleaned and destroyed its target—STAR Labs. Aqualad instructs him to ascertain the Fog's next target while they'll move Roquette.

At their new secluded location, Kid Flash and Artemis are watching over Roquette, and outside, Aqualad bellows to Miss Martian remain camouflaged and make a wide perimeter sweep. Suddenly, he is attacked by two other Shadows agents—Black Spider and Hook—and is knocked out. Cheshire joins in and instructs them to assassinate Roquette quickly, before Miss Martian interferes.

Black Spider breaks in and Kid Flash takes him on. Hook sneaks from behind Artemis and she wards him off with her arrow and tells Roquette to keep working. Cheshire sneaks up from the skylight and takes aim at Roquette. She shoots but her arrow is blocked by a table lifted telekinetically. Cheshire warns the other agents that Miss Martian is there and urges them to fulfill their mission. Roquette makes a run for it, but Cheshire knocks her down. As she prepares to do away with the doctor, Roquette morphs into Miss Martian, and Cheshire realizes they have been tricked.

Aqualad is standing watch inside the Sandbar Internet Café, when the real Roquette is close to completing the virus. Meanwhile, Robin is en route to a Wayne Tech facility, the Fog's next target. He starts postulating what its technology can be used for, but ceases before saying more than he should to Superboy. He declares that they don't have enough time to evacuate the building. Professor Ojo pulls over at Wayne Tech, and prepares to launch the Fog.

Back at the school lab, Cheshire tells Black Spider and Hook to keep the Team busy while she goes after Roquette. Artemis purses her, after telling Kid Flash to dispose of the other assassins. Kid asserts that he doesn't take orders from her and Artemis snaps at him. Outside, Cheshire tracks Roquette's trail with infrareds. Artemis engages and then subdues her with knockout gas. When Artemis comes closer, Cheshire foot sweeps her and says that her mask has built-in filter. Artemis tries to take her on, but Cheshire immobilizes and knocks her out with ease, wishing her better luck next time.

At the café, Roquette is transmitting the virus, when Cheshire distracts Aqualad and sneaks in from behind. She hits him with three poisoned darts, in order to test his immunity to jellyfish toxin. Aqualad still tackles her, but is clearly overwhelmed and Cheshire knocks him out with a single kick. She turns towards Roquette, without realizing that the virus is completed as is being transmitted.

Outside Wayne Tech, Robin is receiving the virus, when Superboy sees Professor Ojo. He lunges at him but is repelled and knocked out by Ojo's energy beam. Ojo unleashes the Fog and Robin follows it inside Wayne Tech, using override codes to bypass the security system.

Meanwhile, Miss Martian and Kid Flash are still fighting the assassins, and Miss Martian urges her teammate to end it quickly. Kid Flash knocks Black Spider out, while she dispatches Hook.

While the Fog ravages through Wayne Tech, Robin taps into the mainframe. Cheshire is about to kill Serling, but realizes that the virus had been completed. Given that her mission was to stop Roquette from accomplishing this, she has no reason to carry on. So, she spares Roquette, stating that the League of Shadow may one day find another use for her.

Robin successfully uploads Roquette's virus and destroys the Fog. Outside, Professor Ojo sees the Fog dissolving and Superboy closes in. Ojo hits him with another blast, but Superboy is able to withstand it, pushing his way to Ojo and knocks him out. As Cheshire is leaving the café, Artemis shoots four explosive arrows at her, knocking her mask off. Artemis is chocked at recognizing her. Cheshire banters with Artemis, saying that naturally she will be arrested and interrogated by her teammates, but wonders if Artemis's position is secure enough for them to learn everything she knows. After a moment of consideration, Artemis stands down, and Cheshire, rejoiced, disappears.

Aqualad steps outside, carried by Roquette, and asks Artemis where Cheshire is. She tells him with a guilty expression that she got away. Kid Flash arrives at that moment and scoffs her for failing her mission. Miss Martian arrives too, with Black Spider and Hook restrained together. Kid Flash picks Cheshire's mask and Aqualad asks Artemis if she saw her face, but Artemis lies. Aqualad comforts her, stating that the Fog is destroyed and Roquette is safe, also thanks to her. He welcomes Artemis to the Team and shakes her hand. Miss Martian claims that she always wanted a sister, despite having twelve on Mars, though it will be different. Artemis states that she wouldn't know. Miss Martian nudges Kid Flash to welcome Artemis as well, and the two shake hands.

Artemis teleports to a back alley phone box and is met by Red Arrow, who says that he knows she is not Green Arrow's niece. She reckons that both Green Arrow and Batman must have a reason for lying, so he won't expose her cover, but vehemently warns her not to hurt his friends.

Back on Infinity Island, Sensei informs the council of the Light that before his capture, Ojo transmitted the STAR Labs intel, but they failed to secure the data from Wayne Tech. L-2 points out the young heroes interfered again, but takes solace with the fact they have an operative on the inside.

Title
Various entities and individuals in this episode could be considered infiltrators. Red Arrow infiltrates the League of Shadows base on Infinity Island. The Fog is composed of microscopic robotic infiltrators that can hack any system and retain the information. Artemis is regarded as an infiltrator of the Team, particularly by Kid Flash, due to her sudden and unsought enrollment in the Team. The League of Shadows assassins (e.g. Cheshire) infiltrate the Happy Harbor High School in order to kill Serling Roquette. At the end of the episode, the Light indicate that they have an operative that has infiltrated the Team.

Cast and characters
! colspan="3"| Non-speaking roles
 * Stephanie Lemelin
 * Artemis
 * Jesse McCartney
 * colspan="2" | Robin
 * Danica McKellar
 * colspan="2" | Miss Martian
 * rowspan="2" | Nolan North
 * colspan="2" | Superboy
 * Professor Ojo
 * Khary Payton
 * colspan="2" | Aqualad
 * Jason Spisak
 * colspan="2" | Kid Flash
 * Oded Fehr
 * L-2
 * Crispin Freeman
 * colspan="2" | Red Arrow
 * Kelly Hu
 * Cheshire
 * Tara Strong
 * Serling Roquette
 * Alan Tudyk
 * colspan="2" | Green Arrow
 * Keone Young
 * Sensei
 * Crispin Freeman
 * colspan="2" | Red Arrow
 * Kelly Hu
 * Cheshire
 * Tara Strong
 * Serling Roquette
 * Alan Tudyk
 * colspan="2" | Green Arrow
 * Keone Young
 * Sensei
 * Serling Roquette
 * Alan Tudyk
 * colspan="2" | Green Arrow
 * Keone Young
 * Sensei
 * Keone Young
 * Sensei
 * Sensei
 * colspan="3" | Batman
 * colspan="2" | Black Spider
 * colspan="2" | Hook
 * colspan="3" | Other members of the Light
 * colspan="3" | Red Tornado
 * colspan="2" | Hook
 * colspan="3" | Other members of the Light
 * colspan="3" | Red Tornado
 * colspan="3" | Other members of the Light
 * colspan="3" | Red Tornado
 * colspan="3" | Red Tornado
 * colspan="3" | Red Tornado

Continuity

 * Aqualad reminds Red Arrow that they wanted him on the Team, referencing to "Welcome to Happy Harbor", where they invited him.
 * Robin states that it was Artemis's arrow that saved the Team from Amazo in "Schooled".
 * Miss Martian mentions to Artemis her substandard performance in battle in "Welcome to Happy Harbor".

Ratings
"Infiltrator" garnered an average of 2.1 million viewers among kids between 2 and 14.

Trivia

 * The guns used by the League of Shadows soldiers in the cold open are French made FAMAS assault rifles.
 * This episode reunites Tara Strong and Khary Payton who previously voiced Raven and Cyborg in Teen Titans.
 * When Cheshire is about to kill Dr. Serling Roquette at the end, she desists because the creation of the virus is completed. When this happens, Roquette's laptop emits a sound that's very similar to that of Ben's Omnitrix in Ben 10, another Cartoon Network show.

Goofs

 * In the scenes at Keystone High, Wally misses his freckles.
 * When Artemis sarcastically asks Wally what his powers were, she is depicted with full gloves rather than fingerless gloves.
 * Sensei's scarred eye changes coloration between shots.
 * When Cheshire enters through the window to attack Roquette, Artemis's eyes are blue.

Cultural references

 * Artemis calls Wally "Baywatch" when he comes into the Cave dressed in beachwear. Baywatch (1989-2001) was a TV series about a group of lifeguards and their misadventures.
 * Cheshire mentions her namesake, the Cheshire Cat, and his tendency to disappear. In Alice in Wonderland, the Cheshire Cat makes a habit of disappearing gradually.

Answered questions

 * What is Artemis's story? (Partial Answer #1, Partial Answer #2)
 * Why are Batman and Green Arrow apparently lying about Artemis's kinship to Green Arrow? (Answer)
 * How do Artemis and Cheshire know each other? (Answer)

Unanswered questions

 * Why does the Light want to steal Intel form STAR Labs and Wayne Tech?
 * Who is the operative L-2 claims to have infiltrated in the Team?