Alright! After having a blast picking out my favorite Batman: The Animated Series episodes in July and then Batman Beyond in November, I thought it would be fun to once again make a ranking of a DCAU show. And I know. "Top 10" lists are lame and stupid. But I have fun making them and they're easy to mass-produce, so what are you gonna do?
10. A League of Their Own - Season 3, Episode 7
I have a long-standing love for the DCAU's Justice League, so imagine my excitement when my favorite young upbeat hero got to team up with them, especially after setting up his idol worship for Green Lantern so well. While I wasn't in love with the animation change to fit the style of Static Shock, A League of Their Own contained enough good moments to remind me why I love the Justice League so much.
9. Hard as Nails - Season 3, Episode 1
How many animated children's programming can claim to touch on a topic like kidnapping? Well, Static Shock can. Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn are luring Bang Babies to Gotham to sell them to the highest bidder and Batman and Static Shock team up to stop them. It's always nice to see Batman, even if him revealing his secret identity to a 14-year-old makes zero sense and only works when you remember the show needs a moral of the story and a cheeky ending it has to fulfill.
8. The Big Leagues - Season 2, Episode 1
Static's first step into a larger world came with the season two premiere, which sees Static taking on the Joker (With a little help from Gothams' very own Dark Knight). The episode is, for the most part, just coasting on the tails of seeing our upstart protagonist quip with the dreaded caped crusader. And it works as a half-decent Batman: The Animated Series episode as well!
7. Kidnapped - Season 4, Episode 11
The penultimate episode features the ever satisfying moment of seeing Static truly angry - after villains kidnap his father (The animated equivalent of Uncle Phil), Static is finally given the opportunity to just truly let loose. Action combined with emotional motivation is one of the greatest strengths a comic book series can have, and Kidnapped is the perfect example.
6. Future Shock - Season 4, Episode 1
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| Yes yes I know, yet another team up with Batman. I like Batman, okay? |
Future Shock has Virgil go to the future and team up with Terry McGinnis, the Batman of the 2050s. This episode was actually the reason I saw Static Shock at all - I just knew there was a Batman Beyond crossover in there somewhere, and one can never have too much Batman Beyond. But aside from seeing Terry again, this episode's seamless weaving of Batman Beyond lore (Splicers, for example) was astonishing. It was the tiny nonchalance of those references that made the episode great.
5. Frozen Out - Season 2, Episode 5
Frozen Out was quite the episode. I always love it when a show's Christmas-centric episode goes against the norm and does something that's not the Nativity or Santa, and here we have a Hannakuh party. But the actual plot of the episdoe is about a homeless child who gains freezing superpowers. One of Static Shock's greatest strengths was touching on topics rarely seen in media, animated or otherwise. This is no exception. The powerful parallels between luscious Christmas parties and the villain's stark reality are heartbreaking.
4. Flashback - Season 3, Episode 13
After Pop's Girlfriend (More on that later) explored Virgil's trauma over his mother's death, I was ready for yet another trip down our protagonist's surprisingly complex psyche. Flashback, for the most part, gives us that. It's about a time-traveling bang baby who goes back to the night his mother died, where Static makes an attempt to save her. And while the episode is very emotional and sweet, it could have been more. Pieces of media shouldn't be afraid to let their hero Interstellar cry. It's okay, man. Let it out.
3. Pop's Girlfriend - Season 2, Episode 7
A large part of Static's identity is defined by the tragedy of his mother, a nurse who died during gang riots. Pop's Girlfriend is probably the most powerful episode of the series - seeing his dad move on, start going out again hurts Virgil deeply. It lets the audience know that it's okay to cry, that it's okay to not be fully healed. It reminds us to be considerate. It's amazing.
2. Jimmy - Season 2, Episode 11
Static Shock made an episode where a child is bullied hard enough that he snaps, steals his father's gun, attempts to shoot his oppressor at a rec center, but then accidentally shoots our secondary protagonist. I mean, whoah. That's... a lot... I mean, I'm having a hard time thinking of any other media that so casually and deftly put a subject as sensitive as this into its narrative, but Static did it perfectly. It even includes a nice PSA at the end that makes the entire thing feel like a made-for-TV PBS special, but still. It's rare to see this subject matter done and it's even rarer to see it done so well.
1. Sons of the Fathers - Season 1, Episode 8
"I've seen your kind all my life. The fine outstanding bigot. His nose so close to the grindstone even he can't see anything else. Meanwhile, the world changes and grows, and he's blind to it! Ignorant! And proud of that, too! And you know the worst part? You've got a terrific son. One of the best and brightest around. And because of the way you are, you'll never really know him. Richie ran away from you a long time, Foley... and who can blame him?"
And everything said in the episode is just as true, just as relevant 20 years later. It's sad.
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