Changes: A League of Their Own

"A League of Their Own" is the sixth and seventh episodes of the third season of Static Shock. In this episode, the Justice League Watchtower is struck by a cosmic anomaly that drains most of its energy. With the out-of-orbit station threatening to crash into Earth, the Justice League turns to Static to recharge it. However, the plot thickens when Brainiac manages to escape confinement and take control of the Watchtower. And since the League is investigating a false distress signal, Static and Gear are the only ones there to stop him.

Plot

Part I

Aboard the Watchtower, Batman is checking the stasis field shielding a left-over module from Brainiac from its environs. As Batman explains to Hawkgirl Brainiac's nature as a regenerative program, "a virus that won't die", an alarm goes off and Flash calls everyone to the control room. As it turns out, the Watchtower is in the path of a cosmic super string, and even with the shield up, most of the power is drained from the station's generator. Brainiac manages to take advantage of this, escaping from his drained stasis field and avoiding Flash's detection when he has a run-around to check all systems. To make the situation worse, the impact from the energy string has accidentally knocked the Watchtower out of orbit, and without power the station's thrusters cannot be utilized to remedy the situation. With no other options to recharge the core available, Batman suggests to turn to Static.

While this is happening, Static and Gear have fallen into an ambush by Puff and her team of metahumans dubbed the "Meta-Men", consisting of Onyx, Hotstreak, and Carmen Dillo. Fortunately, the Meta-Men are quickly subdued when the Justice League arrives, and Static and Gear soon on their way to the Watchtower. Upon arriving, Static isn't too thrilled about what he'd been called up to do until reminded that the Watchtower is on a collision course with Earth, "quite possibly Dakota", and he begins recharging the Watchtower until Green Lantern arrives to finish the job.

The moment is interrupted by a distress signal from space. Since the job requires all the League members, they have no choice but to leave Static and Gear alone in the station. The two young heroes quickly take advantage of the situation and enjoy a pizza meal in the station's kitchen. Unfortunately, Brainiac takes this as an opportunity to flush the two into space. They barely make it out of the kitchen before Gear manages to override the kitchen door and shut it. Realizing something is wrong, the duo check the Watchtower's computer and find Brainiac taking over. As he explains to the heroes how he works (he collects a planet's knowledge and then destroys it), he begins to attack the two.

Once they manage to evade Brainiac and the robots he has assimilated, Gear sends a call to the Javelin to warn the League of Brainiac's escape, and they immediately make a U-turn. Jamming their frequency so Brainiac can't listen in, Batman tells Static to re-drain the Watchtower to subdue the virus. This plan proves easier said than done, as Brainiac catches them anyway. Gear plugs Backpack into the Watchtower's systems and downloads a song repeatedly, causing Brainiac to crash and allowing Static to complete the drainage.

The Justice League returns Static and Gear home, congratulating them on saving the world. When all is said and done, Richie stays behind at the gas station to close down but is attacked by Backpack. His personal robot has been invaded by Brainiac, who is still intent on pursuing his destructive plans and now decides to use Richie as his means to achieve his goal ...

Part II

In the days that follow, Virgil notices that Richie is acting rather strange. Meanwhile, back at the Watchtower, the Justice League has everything back online, but there has been an enormous and suspicious download that has taken place. Flash volunteers to go down and check with Richie, but he discovers that the boy has been assimilated by Brainiac and is captured. With both Richie and Flash missing, Static teams up with the rest of the League to find them. When they do, Flash ― already in Brainiac's control ― places circuitry boards onto everyone on the search party to assimilate them as well. When Static's falls off due to his electric aura shorting it out, Brainiac orders the League to take him out.

After Static evades the League and frees them from Brainiac's control, J'onn J'onzz reveals that he has tried to make contact with Richie while they were assimilated; Richie kept saying the same word: "control". When Static realizes Richie's referring to Backpack's remote control, he tells the League to hold Brainiac off just long enough for him to retrieve the remote. As they're preparing for this, Brainiac-Richie launches his new ship with which he plans to assimilate the Earth. When Static makes it into the ship, Brainiac captures the remote. But Static manages to short it out from a distance, shutting Backpack down and foiling Brainiac once again.

After the mess is cleaned up, the League clears Brainiac from Backpack and J'onn telepathically checks Richie to be sure Brainiac is no longer in him. John Stewart tells Static he'll be quite a handful when he joins the League.

Continuity

Batman expressed to Hawkgirl a rare personal dislike towards Brainiac, likely remembering the events of the Superman: The Animated Series episode "Knight Time".
Batman knows of Static's value after their previous encounters in "The Big Leagues" and "Hard as Nails".
This episode likely follows the events of the Justice League episode "Twilight", and the small piece of Brainiac seen at the beginning may be from the explosion that supposedly killed Brainiac and Darkseid.

Background information

Home video releases

Static Shock: The Complete Third Season (DVD)

Production notes

When Batman hurls an explosive batarang at the Watchtower, it causes an explosion that is reused footage from the scene of the Superman: The Animated Series episode "My Girl", in which Mr. Eelan blows a vat of hot lead off its support.
When Brainiac's craft blows up, the resulting explosion is reused footage from "Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker", when the console that the Jokerz tried to steal blows up.
Though aired after each other, the events of "Blast From the Past" take place between these two episodes production-wise. That episode does not feature Gear who is possessed by Brainiac at the time.
Batman's character model in "Hard as Nails" and "The Big Leagues" was derived from The New Batman Adventures, but his design in this episode uses his Justice League model.

Production inconsistencies

No director is credited for both parts.
The Flash's circuitry board is placed on his back; however, when he is chasing Static, the board cannot be seen.
When Backpack takes a picture at the end of the first part, Richie is shown with straps on his torso, which are actually Backpack's legs and shouldn't be there.
Flash reacts as if he didn't know about the gas station in part II, yet the League dropped Static and Gear off there at the end of part l.
In the space fight, J'onn is wearing a jet pack even though he has the ability to fly.
J'onn asks Green Lantern and Hawkgirl to provide him cover for when he phases in, yet after he says that, Green Lantern and Hawkgirl just stay in the exact same spot and watch J'onn phase in.
As J'onn is about to phase into the Watchtower from space, he's wearing a spacesuit. Yet, when he phases himself inside, the spacesuit is gone.

Trivia

Wonder Woman and Superman don't appear in this episode (despite the fact that Brainiac is Superman's enemy).
This is the first time Phil LaMarr pulled double superhero duty as his main DCAU roles, Green Lantern and Static. The second is on "Fallen Hero" where Static and Green Lantern spend a great deal more time talking to each other.
Brainiac is voiced by Corey Burton, but his characteristic voice is pitched down to the point of nonrecognition.
When he takes over the Watchtower, Brainiac tells Static and Gear that "all of this base will soon belong to me", a variation of the popular meme "All your base are belong to us".
When being attacked by John Stewart, Static refers to him as "Lord of the Ring", a reference to J.R.R. Tolkien's book series The Lord of the Rings.
For some reason, Brainiac somehow already knows Static and Gear's civilian identities (even though they never told him).

Cast

Actor	Role
Phil LaMarr	Static/Virgil Hawkins Green Lantern/John Stewart
Jason Marsden	Gear/Richie Foley Carmen Dillo
Kevin Conroy	Batman
Michael Rosenbaum	Flash
Carl Lumbly	Martian Manhunter/J'onn J'onzz
Maria Canals	Hawkgirl
Corey Burton	Brainiac
Kimberly Brooks	Puff
Jean Smart	Maggie Foley
Danny Cooksey	Hotstreak

Uncredited appearances

Onyx

Quotes

(Static and Gear are ambushed by the Meta-Men)
Gear: Uh, bro? Who do we go after first?
Static: The police!

Flash: You know something, sweetie, you've got an odor problem.

Carmen Dillo: If I knew Static was friends with the Justice League, I wouldn't have joined you boneheads. Not even to do laundry.

Static: Yo, Batman, thanks for the help. But, don't you guys have a galaxy to save or somethin'?
Batman: We need your help, Static.
Static: Say what?
Batman: We need you to come to the Watchtower.

Hawkgirl: Hey, remember your promise to stay in the corner.
Gear: But...
Hawkgirl: (points) In. The. Corner.

Brainiac: You are only delaying the inevitable.
Static: You keep saying that like it's a bad thing.

Static: (after shorting out Batman's control disk) Hope he's not mad when he wakes up.

Static: Hawkgirl, Batman, Flash, J'onn... Who am I missing?
(gets shot in the back with a Power Ring blast)
Oh yeah, the Lord of the Ring.

@@ Line 13: / Line 13: @@
 | story      =
 | director   =
+| prevprod1  = "[[Showtime]]"
+| prevaired1 = "[[The Usual Suspect]]"
+| nextprod1  = "[[Blast From the Past]]"
+| nextaired1 = [[#Part II|Part II]]
+| prevprod2  = "[[Blast From the Past]]"
+| prevaired2 = [[#Part I|Part I]]
+| nextprod2  = "[[Toys in the Hood]]"
+| nextaired2 = "[[Showtime]]"
 }}
 "'''A League of Their Own'''" is the sixth and seventh episodes of the third season of {{ss}}. In this episode, the [[Justice League]] [[Watchtower I|Watchtower]] is struck by a cosmic anomaly that drains most of its energy. With the out-of-orbit station threatening to crash into Earth, the Justice League turns to [[Static]] to recharge it. However, the plot thickens when [[Brainiac]] manages to escape confinement and take control of the Watchtower. And since the League is investigating a false distress signal, Static and [[Gear]] are the only ones there to stop him.
@@ Line 45: / Line 52: @@
 == Background information ==
+=== Home video releases ===
+* [[Static Shock: The Complete Third Season (DVD)]]
 === Production notes ===
 * When Batman hurls an explosive [[batarang]] at the Watchtower, it causes an explosion that is reused footage from the scene of the {{stas}} episode "[[My Girl]]", in which [[Mr. Eelan]] blows a vat of hot lead off its support.
 * When Brainiac's craft blows up, the resulting explosion is reused footage from "''[[Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker]]"'', when the console that the [[Jokerz]] tried to steal blows up.
 * Though aired after each other, the events of "[[Blast From the Past]]" take place between these two episodes production-wise. That episode does not feature Gear who is possessed by Brainiac at the time.
+* Batman's character model in "[[Hard as Nails]]" and "[[The Big Leagues]]" was derived from {{tnba}}, but his design in this episode uses his {{jl}} model.
 === Production inconsistencies ===
@@ Line 54: / Line 66: @@
 * The [[Flash]]'s circuitry board is placed on his back; however, when he is chasing Static, the board cannot be seen.
 * When Backpack takes a picture at the end of the first part, Richie is shown with straps on his torso, which are actually Backpack's legs and shouldn't be there.
-* Flash reacts as if he didn't know about the gas station in part II, yet the League dropped Static and Gear off there at the end of part I.
+* Flash reacts as if he didn't know about the gas station in part II, yet the League dropped Static and Gear off there at the end of part l.
+* In the space fight, J'onn is wearing a jet pack even though he has the ability to fly.
+* J'onn asks Green Lantern and Hawkgirl to provide him cover for when he phases in, yet after he says that, Green Lantern and Hawkgirl just stay in the exact same spot and watch J'onn phase in.
+* As J'onn is about to phase into the Watchtower from space, he's wearing a spacesuit. Yet, when he phases himself inside, the spacesuit is gone.
 === Trivia ===
@@ Line 62: / Line 77: @@
 * When he takes over the Watchtower, Brainiac tells Static and Gear that "all of this base will soon belong to me", a variation of the popular meme "[[wikipedia:All your base are belong to us|All your base are belong to us]]".
 * When being attacked by John Stewart, Static refers to him as "Lord of the Ring", a reference to J.R.R. Tolkien's book series ''[[wikipedia:The Lord of the Rings|The Lord of the Rings]]''.
-* For some reasons, Braniac somehow already knows Static and Gear's civilian identity.
+* For some reason, Brainiac somehow already knows Static and Gear's civilian identities (even though they never told him).
 == Cast ==
@@ Line 68: / Line 83: @@
 |- bgcolor="#CCCCCC"
 ! Actor !! Role
 |-
 |[[Phil LaMarr]] || [[Static|Static/Virgil Hawkins]]<br />[[John Stewart|Green Lantern/John Stewart]]
 |-
 |[[Jason Marsden]] || [[Gear|Gear/Richie Foley]]<br />[[Carmen Dillo]]
 |-
 |[[Kevin Conroy]] || [[Batman]]
 |-
 |[[Michael Rosenbaum]] || [[Flash]]
 |-
 |[[Carl Lumbly]] || [[J'onn J'onzz|Martian Manhunter/J'onn J'onzz]]
 |-
 |[[Maria Canals]] || [[Hawkgirl]]
 |-
 |[[Corey Burton]] || [[Brainiac]]
 |-
 |[[Kimberly Brooks]] || [[Puff]]
 |-
 |[[Jean Smart]] || [[Maggie Foley]]
 |-
 |[[Danny Cooksey]] || [[Hotstreak]]
 |}
@@ Line 103: / Line 118: @@
 '''[[Carmen Dillo]]:''' If I knew Static was friends with the [[Justice League]], I wouldn't have joined you boneheads. Not even to do laundry.
 |
-'''Gear:''' Yo! How come you never told me you were down with [[Justice League|these big dogs]]?<br />
+'''Static:''' Yo, Batman, thanks for the help. But, don't you guys have a galaxy to save or somethin'?<br />
+'''Batman:''' We need '''your''' help, Static.<br />
-'''Static:''' 'Cause it's a secret. So secret that I didn't even know. (to Batman) Yo, Batman, thanks for the help. But, don't you guys have a galaxy to save or somethin'?<br />
-'''[[Batman]]:''' We need ''your'' help, Static.<br />
 '''Static:''' Say what?<br />
-'''Batman:''' We need you to come to the Watchtower.<br />
+'''Batman:''' We need you to come to the Watchtower.
-'''Static:''' Up there? That one?
 |
 '''[[Hawkgirl]]:''' Hey, remember your promise to stay in the corner.<br />
@@ Line 117: / Line 130: @@
 '''Static:''' You keep saying that like it's a bad thing.
 |
-'''Gear:''' ''(while being pinched by Brainiac's robot)'' Now I know how my pimples feel!
+'''Static:''' ''(after shorting out Batman's control disk)'' Hope he's not mad when he wakes up.
-|
-'''Static''': ''(after shorting out Batman's control disk)'' Hope he's not mad when he wakes up.
 |
 '''Static:''' Hawkgirl, Batman, Flash, J'onn... Who am I missing?<br />
 ''(gets shot in the back with a Power Ring blast)''<br />
 Oh yeah, [[John Stewart|the Lord of the Ring]].
-|
-''(Hawkgirl knocks out Green Lantern before he can attack Static)''<br />
-'''[[Hawkgirl]]:''' You can remove the circuitry now, kid.<br />
-''(Static shorts out Green Lantern's control disk)''<br />
-'''Static:''' Is he okay?<br />
-'''Hawkgirl:''' ''(as Green Lantern comes to)'' Yeah, that was just a tap.
 }}
-* '''Part 1'''
-{{Epbrowser
-| series    = ss
-| prevprod  = [[Showtime]]
-| prevaired = [[The Usual Suspect]]
-| nextprod  = [[Blast From the Past]]
-| nextaired = A League of Their Own, Part II
-}}
-* '''Part 2'''
-{{Epbrowser
-| series    = ss
-| prevprod  = [[Blast From the Past]]
-| prevaired = A League of Their Own, Part I
-| nextprod  = [[Toys in the Hood]]
-| nextaired = [[Showtime]]
-}}
 {{DEFAULTSORT:League of Their Own, A}}
 [[Category:A to Z]]
@@ Line 154: / Line 142: @@
 [[Category:Static Shock episodes]]
 [[Category:Episodes written by Dwayne McDuffie]]
-[[Category:Articles lacking images]]
+[[Category:Articles needing some clean up]]