When the heavy hitters of the League and the backup heavy hitters are all busy or too far away to help in the event of an attack on a nuclear power plant, Batman reluctantly takes the help of a new hero,
- Batman:... he's a teenager. And he talks to himself. A lot.
The teen hero turns out to be Firestorm, who is eager to get into action and to use his nascent Catchphrase.
- Firestorm: The heat is on!
The hero reminisces a moment since the plant is the same one in which he was created when plutonium thieves set off grenades near the power core, fusing Professor Martin Stein with high school junior Ronnie Raymond and forming Firestorm.
The threat turns out to be the Nuclear Family: a group of androids programmed to act like an idealized family unit from the 1950s. They were meant to illustrate the horrors nuclear power could visit on humans, but they survived the test and went on the run.
Dad introduces his wife Mom, the kids Biff, Sis and Brat, and Dog. As a result of the accident, they find comfort in fallout, so they plan to meltdown the plant so they can have a happy home... Even if that turns miles around them into a radioactive wasteland.
Firestorm allows them to go on for a bit, finding kinship in their shared nuclear backgrounds. When all is said and done, though, he comes up with a solution that allows the family to live in peace: he created their own tiny fallout zone under a dome, where they go back to acting mostly like regular people again.
The Trinity arrive and announce they watched Firestorm and were impressed, even Batman (who gives the so-so gesture to imply he wasn't that impressed). They offer him membership to the League, and Firestorm enthusiastically celebrates with his headspace companion.
This episode provides examples of the following tropes:
- A Dog Named "Dog": A literal case with the Nuclear Family's dog, Dog.
- Affably Evil: Dad and Mom of the Nuclear Family. Yes they want to create a radioactive wasteland for their kind, but they're nothing but civil to Firestorm even when he accidentally uses the term "robot" that the Nuclear Family finds offensive.
- A.I. Is a Crapshoot: The Nuclear Family is a loving family. That love extends pretty much to each other, and just the tiniest bit to Firestorm. They want their nuclear wasteland home, even if that means "things will get a little toasty" for the hapless humans exposed to the radiation.
- Catchphrase:
- Firestorm (and Professor Stein) use "The Heat is On!"
- Firestorm thinks it sounds lame when Biff uses it, though.
- Fantastic Slurs: The Nuclear Family treats the word "robot" as one.Mom: We prefer automated Americans.Brat: He said the 'R' word. Naughty.
- Flashback: Twice.
- On entering the plant, Firestorm recalls his origin.
- The other time, while Firestorm's body is unconscious, Stein recalls the test that created the Nuclear Family.
- The Nicknamer: Dad the android. He knows good and well Firestorm's moniker, but:Dad: Can I call ya Sparky?Firestorm: No.Dad: Ok. Well, ya see, Sparky...
- Rule of Funny: Crazy-Prepared Batman would have done his research and discovered there was more to Firestorm than just "teenager who talks to himself". It's funnier that he's been too busy watching over Gotham and on Watchtower duty to do so.
