Follow TV Tropes

Following

Recap / Justice League Action S 1 E 39 Brain Buster

Go To

Luthor, Calculator and The Brain are all kidnapped by a mysterious entity. As Batman and Mr. Terrific watch and try to work out who could be behind it, they are also kidnapped by the same unidentified villain.

It turns out the villain wants to pit the most brilliant minds on earth against one another in games of strategy and mental acuity. The winner will be destroyed and the losers of each event imprisoned until the finale.

The smart villains play dirty. The heroes play smart. But eventually the numbers are pared down. The Brain is knocked out. Then the Calculator. Then Mr. Terrific, and finally Batman. Luthor is left as the last man standing.

Only then does their captor reveal himself: it is the genius worm Mr. Mind. The worm reveals his plot: to Body Swap with the winner so as to add their genius brain to his own.

But Batman, suddenly free, stops the plan in its tracks. Mind, reeling, wonders how he escaped.

Mr. Terrific: When I hacked your prison cubes, I did what anyone would do. I freed Batman.

Mind grumbles that he has been outsmarted by Terrific, who is listed as only the third smartest man on earth.

Mr, Terrific: I don't like to call too much attention to myself. Besides, who do you think wrote that list?

Tropes:

  • Batman Gambit: Batman knew Mr. Terrific had a plan, but didn't know what it was. That meant he was relying on Terrific going "under the radar" to pull it off.
  • Do Well, But Not Perfect: Mr. Terrific downplayed his rank on the "smartest people" list to avoid drawing too much attention.
  • Failure Gambit: Mr. Terrific purposefully gets himself disqualified so that he gets imprisoned, which also means the mastermind won't be paying attention to him. This give him time to him figure out how to counter the mastermind.
  • Loophole Abuse: Batman realizes that the rules of the race don't state that you need to be in your vehicle when passing the finish line, so he catches a ride with Mr. Terrific to place second.
  • Not Cheating Unless You Get Caught: The mastermind doesn't mind the competitors cheating among themselves...but when you try to attack HIM, then he's got to put his foot down (as Mr. Terrific finds out).
  • Rule of Three: There are three challenges: a car race where solving a puzzle gives your vehicle fuel and speed, a disk game where getting to two red disks means you have a place in the two-player final, and a game of chess with giant pieces.
  • Smart People Play Chess: The final challenge for the contest is a game of chess.


Top