Beast Boy proposes the formation of a new, overt team to counter the Light's scheming, just in time to fight Intergang, who are using stolen Reach tech.
Tropes in this episode:
- Adults Are Useless: Mayor Tompkins doesn't want the help of the Outsiders or the Newsgirl Legion against the Reach and insists on having the Army handle it. When it seems like they've solved it, he tries to get them arrested for property damage, but is forced to let them go due to Good Samaritan laws.
- Angrish: Mayor Tompkins walks away muttering angry gibberish when Sheriff Maguire refuses to arrest the Outsiders on the basis of Good Samaritan laws.
- Appropriated Appellation: Mayor Tompkins insultingly calls the teen investigators the "Newsgirl Legion".
- Big Applesauce: Averted. While the comics version of the Newsboy Legion lived in Brooklyn-the-borough-of-New-York-City, the Newsgirl Legion comes from Brooklyn-the-extremely-small-(but real) town-in-Maine.note
- The Bus Came Back: La'gaan, after having left the Team during the time skip and being absent all season, returns with a non-speaking cameo during a flashback to the events just prior to the attack on Brooklyn, as explained by Kaldur.
- Call-Back: Beast Boy has the motto of the Outsiders be "Get on board or get out of the way." Superboy sheepishly glances away when Gar first proposes it.
- Composite Character: The episode's cast are a combination between the Newsboy Legion cast and the Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated cast. Tommi is based on Tommy and Fred, Gaby is based on Gabby/Johnny and Daphne, Big Words is based on Big Words and Velma, Sheriff Maguire is based on Scrapper and Sheriff Stone, and Mayor Tompkins is based on Tommy also and Mayor Jones.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: The Army's drones don't make a scratch on the Reach ship and are quickly blown up by its laser cannons. Mayor Tompkins facepalms in response to this. The actual manned jets, presumably carrying heavier payloads, may have succeeded if Blue Beetle was not forced to divert and crash the ship to prevent the probable wreckage from plummeting into the town below.
- Dark Reprise: A subtle example, since the ending credits have the same type of peaceful/cute scene (Artemis' dog sleeping with a doll) and relaxing music as the rest of the season...overlaid with the sounds of the traitorous Terra texting with Deathstroke.
- Decomposite Character: The Newsboy Legion member Tommy Tompkins is split up between Newsgirl Legion member Tommi Tompkins and Mayor Thomas "Tommy" Tompkins, although Tommi appears to have more in common with the original Tommy while her father seems to be In Name Only.
- Fear of Thunder: Lian, as she's a little kid, and Violet, as she's never experienced a thunderstorm before. Tara's flashback when she holds Lian implies that she was too as a kid.
- Hero Insurance: Mayor Tompkins complains that the Team and the Newsgirl Legion have caused significant property damage and tries to get them arrested for it until a Reach ship shows up.
- Lame Pun Reaction: When Beast Boy explains that he's funding the team's new headquarters through the salary Granny Goodness pays him, Wonder Girl calls it "payback" and looks to Static for a fistbump. He only returns it out of pity.
- Locked Out of the Loop: Garfield and the Outsiders are unaware that the League knew where the bugs would attack and had Aquaman throw the fight to garner good publicity for the Outsiders. Kaldur is uneasy with this and wants to bring him into their secret circle, but M'gann refuses because she doesn't think he's ready for it.
- "London, England" Syndrome: The Newsgirl Legion are based in the small town of Brooklyn, Maine, rather than the borough in New York City like in the source material.
- Mythology Gag: Tommi, Gaby, and Big Words are a genderflipped Newsboy Legion (plus Sheriff Maguire), now derisively titled the "Newsgirl Legion".
- No Endor Holocaust: Averted. Gar acknowledges that the army could eventually bring down the Reach ship, but if it did, the Reach ship would crash right into the town and flatten it, so it's better to have Blue Beetle take it over and move it to a safe place.
- Pet the Dog: Tara seems fond of Lian, and has her first genuine smile while holding her.
- Politically Incorrect Villain: Mayor Tompkins tries to arrest a bunch of superheroes, partially fueled by his belief that the teens are reckless and metahumans aren't to be trusted.
- Pragmatic Villainy: Even Whisper A'Daire starts to badger into Mayor Tompkins letting the Justice League get involved to stop the out-of-control Reach ship. Despite being responsible for the situation and just arrested, even she seems to realize that they're going to get killed without the intervention of superheroes.
- Punch-Clock Villain: Sheriff Maguire only arrests the Outsiders the first time because Mayor Tompkins threatens to get him fired. After the Reach mothership shows up and the Outsiders bring it down, Maguire cites Good Samaritan laws to avoid arresting them a second time.
- Sadistic Choice: Blue Beetle says he can power down the mothership to save the incoming jets, but in doing so will shut down the engines and send it crashing down on the town. Beast Boy has him Take a Third Option by piloting it over a nearby frozen lake then cutting the power, so there won't be any collateral damage
- Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness: Big Words lives up to her nickname by using... big words.
- Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: The Outsiders break out of their cuffs to stop the Reach ship.
- Self-Restraint: The Mayor has the team arrested for vigilante actions, and the team goes along with it as a show of good faith, saying that if getting arrested is a consequence for heroism, so be it. When the Reach arrives, they break out easily, deal with it, and then come back to be handcuffed again. Luckily, the Sheriff lets them off.
- Shout-Out:
- The episode is one heavy reference to Scooby-Doo, particularly Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated.
- Tommi, Gaby, and Big Words are based on Fred, Daphne, and Velma respectively.
- Gaby is voiced by Grey Griffin, the voice of Daphne.
- Big Words has a brief gag where she loses her "spectacles" and can't see without them.
- The setting is a small town, although it makes references to its surroundings as opposed to being a generic Everytown, America. Crystal Cove, being set in California, has Spanish colonial architecture and has references to . Meanwhile, Brooklyn, taking place in Maine, is a snowy locale (especially in December, which is when this episode takes place) and references to its proximity to the Canadian border as well as other Northeastern features (ex. "Wake up and smell the maple syrup!") are made.
- Mayor Thomas "Tommy" Tompkins is the father of Tommi Tompkins, just as Mayor Frederick "Fred" Jones Sr. and Frederick "Fred" Jones Jr. share their names. Mayor Tompkins and Tommi also share little resemblance to each other and it's implied that a Mrs. Tompkins is not in the picture.
- Mayor Tompkins and Sheriff Patrick Maguire greatly resemble Mayor Jones and Sheriff Stone in terms of physical appearance and mannerisms. Like their Mystery Incorporated counterparts, they don't like having the kids (and superheroes) conducting investigations in their town to the point of being ungrateful when the mystery is solved and arresting them.
- Troy Baker, the voice of Sheriff Maguire, does an impersonation of Patrick Warburton's performance as Sheriff Stone. Sheriff Patrick Maguire's name also seems to be a reference to Patrick Warburton, although as a pre-existing character, this is a coincidence.
- The apparent Reach invasion turns out to be a fake when Blue Beetle realizes the leader is actually... Whisper A'Daire, referencing the monster unmaskings. And as she's being arrested, she curses that she would've gotten away with it if it wasn't for Those Meddling Kids.
- Gaby is a social media user and makes the Outsiders known on her Flitter-International account. Daphne had a webcam blog in Scooby-Doo! Frankencreepy, although Velma also ran a blog about the gang's adventures in Mystery Incorporated.
- Given Mystery Incorporated's fondness for such homages, Brooklyn being set in Maine may be a Stephen King reference, where some of his supernatural and horror stories took place in a small town (such as Derry) in Maine.
- Big Words: "I'll be superamalgamated!" This was the catchphrase of Professor Littlejohn from Doc Savage, who was also known for his Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness. (It was also borrowed by Jack Kirby for the original Big Words, making it a Shout Out and a Mythology Gag.)
- The episode is one heavy reference to Scooby-Doo, particularly Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated.
- The Smurfette Principle: Lampshaded by Wonder Girl, who mainly joined so the Outsiders wouldn't be an all-boys squad since every other woman on the team is staying covert.
- Social Media Before Reason: Played with. The Newsgirl Legion livestreams the entire battle, but only Tommi actively endangers herself to try and call for help, while Gaby and Big Words stay on the sidelines and out of danger while recording.
- Throwing the Fight: Aquaman shows up to fight the three Reach Warbugs and is quickly defeated, which he did on purpose to motivate the Outsiders into showing up and getting themselves noticed.
- Token Minority: Virgil and Jaime joke about this, with Virgil saying only he counts because people can't see Jaime's face.
