Alpha Male

"Alpha Male" is the thirteenth episode of Young Justice and aired on October 7, 2011.

Logline
Already exhausted and rattled after a home turf invasion of The Cave, The Team learns that Aqualad – their friend and leader – withheld vital information that put them all at risk. When Batman sends the Team and new “den-mother” Captain Marvel to India to investigate bizarre reports of armed animals attacking human beings, can Aqualad pull his fractured Team together?

Synopsis
Gotham City Mayor Hamilton Hill is big game hunting in India. He spies a large tiger and prepares to shoot it when Hill and his party observe strange devices coming out of the ground that subdue the tiger. Hill decides to shoot the unconscious tiger anyway, but his party is attacked and chased off by Monsieur Mallah who shoots at them with a minigun.

The morning after Red Tornado and his "family" attacked the Team, various members of the Justice League are repairing the Mount Justice Headquarters. Superboy's super-hearing overhears Aqualad tell Batman that Sportsmaster had suggested that there was a traitor on the Team but that it now seemed likely that the traitor was Red Tornado. Superboy violently grabs Kaldur and yells to the Team that Aqualad knew there was a traitor and didn't tell the rest of the Team. Robin, Kid Flash, and Artemis all angrily question Kaldur until Batman intervenes. When Superboy says he's going to destroy Red Tornado, Batman replies that because he is a member of the League, the League will deal with Red Tornado and he has a different assignment for the Team. Despite their protests that it is a joke, Batman assigns the Team to investigate the strange gorilla in India that Mayor Hill had encountered.

Batman informs the Team that since Red Tornado is gone, different members of the League will fill in and that Captain Marvel had volunteered to take the first shift. Captain Marvel informs the Team that he is looking forward to "hanging" with them.

The Team arrives in Northern India. Due to the tensions surrounding Aqualad's withholding of information, the Team immediately split up. Kid-Flash and Robin go off on their own, Superboy- feeling a bit over-protective- tries to go with Miss Martian but instead she goes with Artemis, prompting Superboy to go alone, Marvel and Aqualad go together.

Almost immediately the divided Team is ambushed and attacked by mutated animals: Aqualad and Marvel contend with elephants, Artemis and Miss Martian are ambushed by crocodiles, Robin and Kid-Flash are swarmed by vultures, and Superboy is attacked by a pack of wolves. During the fight, Robin and Kid-Flash deduce that the animals are juiced on Kobra Venom and Aqualad and Miss Martian notices that they're all wearing inhibition collars similar to the ones used at Belle Reve Penitentiary.

Captain Marvel and Aqualad destroy the collars and the elephants to leave them alone. Leading to the conclusion that someone just made a co-ordinated attack on them. Marvel incites Aqualad to take charge of the situation for the good of the Team, before running after a tiger. Inadvertently, Marvel walks into a stun trap and is captured by Monsieur Mallah.

Aqualad picks up Marvel's trail and, manages to pull the Team together, reminding them that they elected him leader and if they want a new one he'll step aside, after the mission. In the meantime, Captain Marvel wakes up in a laboratory, and his captor—the Brain—he states that he plans to surgically remove his brain to see the effects the "wisdom of Solomon" has on it.

The Brain takes credit for the animal attacks, and experiments that enhanced them. The Team arrives outside the compound, Aqualad tears a hole into the forcefield using his electrical powers and Artemis shoots an arrow through the crevice and deactivates the force field.

The team is attacked by enhanced baboons and Monsieur Mallah, however, this does not prevent them from getting inside. Superboy arrives the wolf pack by his side and Aqualad frees Marvel, who in turn takes the collar off tiger. Overwhelmed, the Brain escapes into thin air. The Team leaves after removing all of the remaining collars.

Marvel christens the tiger Mr. Tawny and appoints him the leader of the animals. Superboy adopts the wolf as a pet and simply decides to stick with the generic Wolf as a name. Robin asks Aqualad why he kept the possible mole a secret. Aqualad states that he got the information from Sportsmaster whom he knew he couldn't trust but couldn't entirely rule out. The Team accepts that he made the right decision and moves on, Captain Marvel takes off alone.

Captain Marvel arrives at his Uncle's home. After telling him about his day, he changes back into the 10 year old form of Billy Batson and goes to bed.

Title
The term "Alpha Male" is used in social animals to refer to the leader of a pack, i.e. the individual in the community with the highest rank. The term alludes to the central plot of this episode, which revolves around the Team going to investigate a strange series of animal attacks. Figuratively speaking, it can also refer to Aqualad's status as team leader, which is put into question in this episode.

Cast and characters
! colspan="3"| Uncredited ! colspan="3"| Non-speaking roles
 * Stephanie Lemelin
 * colspan="2"| Artemis
 * Jesse McCartney
 * colspan="2"| Robin
 * Danica McKellar
 * colspan="2"| Miss Martian
 * Nolan North
 * colspan="2"| Superboy
 * Khary Payton
 * colspan="2"| Aqualad
 * Jason Spisak
 * colspan="2"| Kid Flash
 * rowspan="3" | Dee Bradley Baker
 * Monsieur Mallah
 * Wolf
 * Mr. Tawny
 * rowspan="3" | Corey Burton
 * Brain
 * Hamilton Hill
 * Dudley H. Dudley
 * Bruce Greenwood
 * colspan="2"| Batman
 * Rob Lowe
 * Captain Marvel
 * Mr. Tawny
 * rowspan="3" | Corey Burton
 * Brain
 * Hamilton Hill
 * Dudley H. Dudley
 * Bruce Greenwood
 * colspan="2"| Batman
 * Rob Lowe
 * Captain Marvel
 * Hamilton Hill
 * Dudley H. Dudley
 * Bruce Greenwood
 * colspan="2"| Batman
 * Rob Lowe
 * Captain Marvel
 * Bruce Greenwood
 * colspan="2"| Batman
 * Rob Lowe
 * Captain Marvel
 * Captain Marvel
 * colspan="2" | Billy Batson
 * colspan="2" | Billy Batson
 * colspan="3" | John Stewart
 * colspan="3" | Martian Manhunter
 * colspan="3" | Captain Atom
 * colspan="3" | Sphere
 * colspan="3" | Green Arrow
 * colspan="3" | Black Canary
 * colspan="3" | Sphere
 * colspan="3" | Green Arrow
 * colspan="3" | Black Canary
 * colspan="3" | Green Arrow
 * colspan="3" | Black Canary
 * colspan="3" | Black Canary

Continuity

 * The first timestamp places the opening sequence between the events of "Targets" and "Terrors."
 * This episode follows the aftermath of the event that happened in the previous episode, "Homefront".
 * Aqualad tells Batman about when Sportsmaster implied there was a mole on the Team in "Targets."
 * Robin reminds Aqualad that the impetus for their formation in "Independence Day" was the fact that the Justice League kept secrets from them, specifically the existence of a Watchtower.
 * Miss Martian recognizes the inhibitor collars from when she went undercover to Belle Reve Penitentiary in "Terrors."
 * The relationship between Miss Martian and Superboy (which began in "Terrors") is currently established.
 * The Brain apparently has been using Kobra Venom on fauna, after Sportsmaster had procured it for the Light in "Drop-Zone."
 * Superboy asserts he hates monkeys, a recurring claim also stated in "Schooled" and Young Justice #2.

Trivia

 * Captain Marvel names the tiger "Mr. Tawny." In the DC Comics, Tawky Tawny is a humanoid tiger and a close friend of the Marvel Family.
 * As in other media, Captain Marvel/Billy Batson resides in "Fawcett City" a reference to the fact that Captain Marvel was originally published by Fawcett Comics and DC purchased the characters later. (In the 1940's DC sued Fawcett and stopped publication of Captain Marvel claiming it was a violation of their copyright to the character Superman)
 * In the comics, Uncle Dudley is Uncle Marvel, a member of the Marvel Family.
 * When Superboy is allowed to keep Wolf, Kid Flash suggested to name the wolf "Krypto," Superman's pet dog in the comics.

Cultural references

 * When Kid Flash says "Parameters? We don't need no stinkin' parameters" he's paraphrasing the famous line "Badges? We don't need no stinkin' badges!" from The Treasure of Sierra Madre, a 1927 novel adapted to the movies in 1947. The line is, however, a misquote, as it actually goes "Badges? We ain't got no badges. We don't need no badges! I don't have to show you any stinkin' badges!" Its most recognized short version spawned from Blazing Saddles (1974).
 * When Kid Flash tells Monsieur Mallah "Get your paws off her, you darn dirty ape!" is paraphrase of the famous line "Take your stinki' paws off me you damn dirty ape!" from the 1968 movie Planet of the Apes. Much like in this episode, in the movie the main character was captured by intelligent gorillas.
 * Before retreating, the Brain tells Mallah that that fight won't be their "Waterloo." The Battle of Waterloo was a 1815 battle between the Imperial France and the Seventh Coalition in present-day Belgium. This loss of this battle by France marked the end of Napoleon's hegemony as emperor.

Unanswered questions

 * If the Brain was using Kobra Venom and the inhibitor collars from Belle Reve Penitentiary, is he working for the Light?
 * Is the Brain the French speaking member of the Light?
 * What happened to the Brain and Monsieur Mallah in the end?
 * Why is Artemis so vehement that Aqualad cannot trust Sportsmaster?