A Better World - Part 2
Justice Lord Batman has stayed behind to keep an eye on the prisoners, the Justice League. He says enough for Justice League Batman to figure out that the Justice Lord Flash is dead. Justice League Flash tries to escape but the restraints seem to inhibit his powers. He winds up using a trick to convince Justice Lord Batman that he is dead or near death. Justice Lord Batman releases one of his arms which is all the Flash needs.
Flash frees the others except Hawkgirl who, according to Justice Lord Batman, is at a hospital. Flash locks up Justice Lord Batman. Justice League Batman stays behind to search for the portal while the others head to Arkham Asylum in search of Hawkgirl. They are met by Joker at the front desk but he acts nothing like the Joker from their world. Everything is going well until he asks them for the password. Joker opens a door and five Superman robots come out and attack the Justice League.
Justice League Batman heads to the Batcave but he doesn't get a chance to investigate before Justice Lord Batman catches up to him. They fight and argue about the right way to deal with crime. Neither can seem to get the upper hand but eventually something the Justice Lord Batman says convinces Justice League Batman to stop fighting. They head to Arkham Asylum and meet up with the other members of the Justice League. They get there about the same time as a well armed police force does. Justice Lord Batman convinces the police to let him take them into custody.
Justice Lord Batman takes them back to the Batcave where he allows them to go through the portal back to their own world. The Justice League knows the Justice Lords aren't afraid to use lethal force. The League isn't ready to do that so instead they make a deal with Lex Luthor. The criminal mastermind helps them to take down the Justice Lords in return for a full pardon. The episode ends with a press conference where Luthor announces that he is considering a career in politics.
Commentary Track
There is a commentary track for this episode on the DVD. Bruce Timm (producer), James Tucker (producer), Dwayne McDuffie (story editor), and Stan Berkowitz (writer) talk about the episode. They originally planned to use the Crime Syndicate, instead of creating another alternate version of the Justice League. There is some talk about the designs of the costumes. The Authority is mentioned as inspiring this story in part. It is a decent commentary track but as always I wish that they didn't limit themselves to the length of the episode. I would prefer that they do a picture in picture with whomever is talking while the episode is playing and then maybe continue talking after the episode ends depending on how much more they have to say.
Thoughts
The Joker's voice sounded so different that I didn't think it was Mark Hamill but according to the credits it was. Poison Ivy shows up briefly in what I believe is her one and only appearance in Justice League or JLU.
My biggest quibble with this episode is the weapon that Luthor uses to deal with the Justice Lords, a power disruptor. It seems a little too convenient, the perfect weapon.
I loved the battles which pit the Justice Lords versus the Justice League in one-on-one combat. There is no battle between the two Hawkgirls because Justice League Hawkgirl doesn't recover before the end of the episode. There is no Justice Lord Flash. All the other members of the Justice League get to face off against their Justice Lord counterpart.
I especially liked the scenes where Justice League Batman is talking to Justice Lord Batman. They were so much alike and yet different at the same time. Their relationship is the lynchpin to this episode.
This is still a favorite for me. I wish I hadn't heard about it before I first saw it but it is still a lot of fun to watch. It feels like they really re-wrote the rule book when they put this one together.
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