Fireworks

"Fireworks" is the second episode of Young Justice. It premiered on Cartoon Network as part of the one hour, two episode long pilot movie on November 26, 2010. The episodic version of the episode first aired on 14 January 2011.

Logline
Robin, Aqualad and Kid Flash have infiltrated Cadmus, where they find the sixteen year old clone of Superman, Superboy. They free the clone, and escape from Cadmus whilst battling Blockbuster. Once the building collapses, the Justice League appear, and the four boys demand to be recognized as a team. After agreeing to found the team on League terms, the niece of Martian Manhunter also joins.

Synopsis
Having infiltrated Cadmus and released Superboy, Robin, Aqualad and Kid Flash are captured by Cadmus' Chief Scientist, Mark Desmond, who turns Superboy against them using a mind control system. On the advice of Cadmus' Board of Directors, Desmond plans to clone the young sidekicks and use them to infiltrate the Justice League. However, the young heroes convince Superboy to resist his conditioning and rescue them. The four of them escape Cadmus and make their way to the surface level, aided by Dubbilex, who sees Superboy as a genomorph hero and a way to free the rest of the Genomorphs from Cadmus enslavement. In order to restore order, Desmond drinks his Blockbuster formula and transforms into a hulking monster, but he is defeated when the young heroes make him collapse the Cadmus roof on top of himself. Superboy is introduced to the Justice League and Superman, and the young heroes (along with Miss Martian) are formed into a covert ops team by Batman.

Title
The title is an extension of part I, still referring to the national holiday in which this episode takes place, usually associated with fireworks. (Indeed, fireworks can be seen being set off during the episode.) It may also refer to how Robin defeats Blockbuster using an array of bombs, reminiscent of a display of fireworks. The word fireworks can also be used metaphorically to refer to periods of excitement.

Cast and characters
! colspan="3"| Non-speaking roles
 * Jesse McCartney
 * colspan="2" | Robin
 * Danica McKellar
 * Miss Martian
 * rowspan="2" | Nolan North
 * colspan="2" | Superboy
 * colspan="2" | Superman
 * Khary Payton
 * colspan="2" | Aqualad
 * Jason Spisak
 * colspan="2" | Kid Flash
 * René Auberjonois
 * colspan="2" | Mark Desmond
 * George Eads
 * colspan="2" | Flash
 * Miguel Ferrer
 * L-1
 * Crispin Freeman
 * colspan="2" | Guardian
 * Bruce Greenwood
 * colspan="2" | Batman
 * rowspan="2" | Phil LaMarr
 * colspan="2" | Aquaman
 * colspan="2" | Dubbilex
 * Mark Rolston
 * L-3
 * L-1
 * Crispin Freeman
 * colspan="2" | Guardian
 * Bruce Greenwood
 * colspan="2" | Batman
 * rowspan="2" | Phil LaMarr
 * colspan="2" | Aquaman
 * colspan="2" | Dubbilex
 * Mark Rolston
 * L-3
 * colspan="2" | Aquaman
 * colspan="2" | Dubbilex
 * Mark Rolston
 * L-3
 * Mark Rolston
 * L-3
 * colspan="2" | Black Canary
 * colspan="2" | Captain Atom
 * colspan="2" | Captain Marvel
 * colspan="3" | Dr. Spence
 * colspan="2" | G-Gnomes
 * colspan="2" | Hal Jordan
 * colspan="2" | Hawkman
 * colspan="2" | Hawkwoman
 * colspan="2" | John Stewart
 * colspan="2" | L-2
 * colspan="2" | L-4
 * colspan="2" | L-5
 * colspan="2" | L-6
 * colspan="2" | L-7
 * colspan="3" | Red Tornado
 * colspan="2" | Wonder Woman
 * colspan="2" | Hawkman
 * colspan="2" | Hawkwoman
 * colspan="2" | John Stewart
 * colspan="2" | L-2
 * colspan="2" | L-4
 * colspan="2" | L-5
 * colspan="2" | L-6
 * colspan="2" | L-7
 * colspan="3" | Red Tornado
 * colspan="2" | Wonder Woman
 * colspan="2" | L-2
 * colspan="2" | L-4
 * colspan="2" | L-5
 * colspan="2" | L-6
 * colspan="2" | L-7
 * colspan="3" | Red Tornado
 * colspan="2" | Wonder Woman
 * colspan="2" | L-5
 * colspan="2" | L-6
 * colspan="2" | L-7
 * colspan="3" | Red Tornado
 * colspan="2" | Wonder Woman
 * colspan="2" | L-7
 * colspan="3" | Red Tornado
 * colspan="2" | Wonder Woman
 * colspan="3" | Red Tornado
 * colspan="2" | Wonder Woman
 * colspan="2" | Wonder Woman
 * colspan="2" | Wonder Woman

Continuity

 * The Team is formed by Batman.
 * Superboy joins the Team, but struggles to be accepted by Superman.
 * The Light makes its first appearance.
 * The three day gap by the end of the episode can be exploited in the tie-in issue Young Justice #0: "Stopover."

Ratings
"Fireworks" garnered an average of 1.8 million viewers among kids between 6 and 11 and boys between 2 and 11 and 9 and 14.

Answered questions

 * Where did the Justice League take Blockbuster? (Answer)
 * Who are the members of the Light? (First revelation, Final revelation)

Unanswered questions

 * Is Blockbuster's mutation irreversible?
 * What is "The Light"?
 * What's their agenda?
 * What are the "other subtler means of control" that L-3 refers to?
 * How can the Light turn the loss of Superboy into an advantage?