12 Best Justice League Episodes

10. Patriot Act

Justice League Thumbnail
Warner Bros.

An episode featuring heroes largely considered the Justice League's B-Listers, Patriot Act is an excellent example of what made the DCAU's expanded universe so compelling, with characters fully fleshed out and interesting despite only showing up in a couple of episodes throughout the series, sometimes not even getting speaking lines.

In the episode, Cadmus' General Eiling uses some experimental drug to turn him into a powerful meta-human, in order to take down Superman and expose the League as a threat to global safety. Instead of Superman however, Eiling faces off against multiple non-powered members of the league, all of whom risk life and limb to protect civilians from Eiling's rampage.

It's a powerful episode that deals with the familiar, real-world military willingness of certain governments to kill civilians for "the greater good" in a post-9/11 USA, giving fans one of the episode's most memorable lines:

"How many of us do you have to kill to keep us safe?"

The title, referencing the real-life Patriot Act of the USA, makes this episode not only a memorable one, but one that emphasises the value of putting civilian welfare over violent patriotism and nationalism, elevating it and the show as a whole.

Contributor
Contributor

Writer, artist, professional animator. Indie comics and Hi Nay podcast creator. Queer Filipino storyteller || @MotzieD on Twitter || Originally from Quezon City, The Philippines. Currently based in Toronto, Canada || motziedapul.com || hinaypod.com