Cry Wolf
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Contents
Story Synopsis
TV listing
After being convicted for a deadly attack on his father, Timber Wolf must escape Legion custody and track down the real assassin, while being both hunted and aided by various teammates. It¹s up to Chameleon Boy and Phantom Girl to help Timber Wolf clear his name and discover the truth.
Expanded synopsis
In a raucous meeting of the Interplanetary Federation of Scientists on Heisenberg-7, they have gathered to share their research. Some argue that Dr. Mar Londo doesn't belong there, but he shows them his project: bio-golems, grown from synthetic tissue he recently developed. Each has been imprinted with nanites keyed to his brainwaves. In the audience, in disguise, Timber Wolf confronts his father, asking if it's not true that he usually works with living subjects. He jumps onstage, but suddenly turns feral with a corresponding increase in size and bulk. Timber Wolf easily dispatches the bio-golems and howls at the moon. He leaps and apparently attacks his father, but the image freezes: it has been evidence at a hearing. Cosmic Boy says that now that all the evidence has been presented, he asks if Timber Wolf has anything to say before the tribunal presents its verdict. After declining, Cosmic Boy declares him guilty, and invokes the clause against the taking of a life to order him sent to Takron-Galtos for the rest of his life.
A Legion Cruiser cruises. The Legion is on board, which is where the trial is. Chameleon Boy argues in Timber Wolf's defense, that the Legionnaires have fought alongside him and that they know he's not capable of actions like that. Cosmic Boy rebuts that they have DNA samples from the scene, over 100 witnesses, and holographic evidence of the crime. Cham says that they should hear from those who know him best, people like Lightning Lad, Brainiac 5, and Bouncing Boy, but they are across the galaxy battling the Dominators. Cosmic Boy declares that the prisoner is to be transferred, but before he can do that, Timber Wolf breaks out of his shackles and (with the implicit approval of Phantom Girl) busts through a doorway to escape. Several of the Legionnaires give chase, and Timber Wolf fights them. He is surprised that Kell-El believed the evidence, which he says was rigged. Cosmic Boy finally takes him down, but he disappears through the floor when Phantom Girl dematerializes part of it. Kell-El uses his heat vision to cause the ceiling to collapse on top of Timber Wolf. They go to retrieve the fallen fugitive, but it turns out to be Chameleon Boy in disguise, having let Timber Wolf escape. Brin runs across the rooftops of New Metropolis in the rain. In an internal narrative, Timber Wolf explains that his headaches are getting worse and sometimes he blacks out. Ever since his father turned him into his current wolf-like form, he's feared losing control, and wonders if he really could have done it. He wanders into an apartment with a computer. Meanwhile, aboard the Legion Cruiser, Cosmic Boy tells Phantom Girl and Chameleon Boy that according to Legion procedures, they have to hunt down Timber Wolf. She takes Cham to his quarters to rest. Cosmic Boy notes that Timber Wolf teleported to New Metropolis, and Kell-El remarks that his powers might make it hard to find him, to which Cosmic Boy accuses him of not wanting to find Timber Wolf. Back in the city, above teh Dark Side bar, Timber Wolf is in the apartment of Dr. Yin Des Neerg, who used to "procure" subjects for his father's experiments. He starts to ransack the apartment, looking for clues to who's behind it all. Then he sees the computer and logs in, finding some of his father's notes. In a hologram, Mar Londo reports that he's concerned that Brin went off to join the Legion instead of staying, where perhaps the father could have helped the son find more of a balance between his human and animal sides. But without that extra training, it's only a matter of time until the beast takes control. Frustrated, he smashes the computer, just as Neerg walks in. Timber Wolf confronts him, asking how he ended up with his father's personal files. Neerg replies that when he heard of Mar Londo's death, he hacked into the database and stole a copy of the files, which contain a lot of incriminating information. Neerg says that his father had lots of enemies, but he was not one of them. Brin agrees that Neerg isn't smart enough to pull off the whole frame job, but wants him to get a ship that will take him to Heisenberg-7 to look for more clues. He suddenly is aware that Cosmic Boy and Kell-El are there. He pre-emptively attacks Cosmic Boy, and Kell-El uses his heat vision to burn a hole in the floor. Timber Wolf falls through to the Dark Side Bar below. Sun Boy and Colossal Boy enter the bar, but Timber Wolf rallies the tough guys at the bar to his defense to create a diversion. He almost escapes, but Cosmic Boy uses his magnetic powers to stop him. He turns into his feral self, howls, throws Cosmic Boy across the room, and flees. Neerg picks him up in a small ship, and they fly off.
Timber Wolf paces the bridge of the ship he shares with Neerg. He turns down the offer of food, then tells Neerg that he can stop: it's really Chameleon Boy in disguise. Neerg was in the apartment, but it was Cham in the alley with the ship. He wasn't as badly hurt as he let on, and he disguised himself to follow the Legionnaires on Timber Wolf's trail. Brin is surprised that Cham is doing so much for him, and Cham replies it's because they're friends. Phantom Girl then appears, chiding him for being self-pitying and melodramatic. When she tells him that he's stuck with them, he says that they can come with him as far as the planet, then they part company. On Heisenberg-7, the Science Police guard the crime scene. Disguising himself as a bug, Chameleon Boy makes it inside the chamber where Londo was said to have been killed. Phantom Girl brings Timber Wolf into the chamber from below, materializing on stage. Using his sense of smell, he can sort through all of the scents in the room and figure out what happened: it was really him that attacked and killed his father, it's his own scent. He says he remembers being there, but then he turns feral again and growls at them. Phantom Girl thinks that his physical changes are related to his emotional state, and they try to calm him down. She and Cham use their powers to get away, but she tries to calm him down and tell him that he's no monster. He does calm down, but the commotion attracted the Science Police. Timber Wolf scatters them in his escape. grabbing the ship and heading off. Cham and Phantom Girl also escape, only to find Cosmic Boy and the other Legionnaires there. They are tracking the ship, and he says when it lands, Timber Wolf will be greeted by more Science Police than he can handle. She's worried, saying that in the state he's in they'll tear him apart. Cosmic Boy wants to handle things by the book, but Kell-El wants to follow him without the SPs, that way they might be able to bring him in safely. They have to break with procedure, and if Cosmic Boy has a problem with that, then Kell-El will find something to break. On the ship, Timber Wolf thinks that his father was right all along, he can't be around other people. There's only one place for him now, as he heads towards Rawl, the planet where he was turned into the creature he is now. He leaves the craft and runs into the jungle, towards the lab building where he can't hurt anyone. He gets inside and notices a familiar scent - it's his father, alive.
Suddenly, his father dissolves into a pile of green goo. His voice continues that this was just a clone, a combination of his own DNA, synthetic tissue, and nanites - just like the one he used to fool the scientists and the Science Police. Timber Wolf realizes that he's been set up. Mar says that his nanites, the most advanced miniature robotic implants ever created, were sent through space from Rawl to Earth, where they infected the limbic system in Brin's brain, specifically in the amygdala which controls agression and fear. Then he called his son to Heisenberg-7. Brin is angry, now that he knows the source of the headaches and blackouts, but also because he sees how his father turned him into a criminal. Mar explains that he just wanted Brin back, their work isn't complete yet. He can help Brin control the powers and make him more than he ever dreamed. He recently formed an alliance with other men who share his vision of what the galaxy can be, but they needed armies (the bio-golems) and generals (men like Brin). It's what he's wanted for Brin all along. Timber Wolf refuses, and battles the bio-golems. Mar tells him that he should embrace his inner beast and not deny what he is. As Timber Wolf goes feral, the Legion shows up. The feral beast attacks the Legion, and the bio-golems are commanded to attack as well. The Legionnaires try to help Timber Wolf, telling him that he has to choose how to live, but he knocks out Kell-El and knocks down Phantom Girl. He sees her unconscious body and it snaps him back to reality. He chooses to be in control. He shrugs off the commands from his father and breaks the controller. He lets his father live, dropping him to the floor. But then Mar turns into slime, it was another clone all along. A projector comes on, and the real Mar Londo is disappointed that his son didn't choose to kill him of his own free will. He says he's got new sons now, and new plans. Then the projector explodes, as the bio-clones disintegrate. Back on the Legion Cruiser, Timber Wolf reveals that he's getting better at his feral transformations, which may come in handy. Cosmic Boy says that he regrets that the evidence pointed to Timber Wolf being guilty, as even Kell-El shakes his head. Timber Wolf says that the apology is accepted. Cham points out that he battled the beast within and won, but Timber Wolf says what happens when he feels himself losing control again? He's not sure he can go through it alone, but with the Legion, he won't have to.
Cast
Legionnaires
The following appear in the episode:
- Blok
- Chameleon Boy
- Colossal Boy
- Cosmic Boy
- Dream Girl
- Duo Damsel
- Phantom Girl
- Shrinking Violet
- Star Boy
- Sun Boy
- Superman-X (Kell-El)
- Timber Wolf
- Tyroc
Villains
- Dr. Mar Londo
- Dominators (mentioned but not seen)
- Londo's bio-golems
- unnamed group of men who share Londo's vision of the galaxy (behind the scenes)
Other Characters
- members of the Interplanetary Federation of Scientists
- citizens of New Metropolis
- patrons of the Dark Side Bar
- Dr. Yin Des Neerg
- Science Police officers
Miscellaneous
- Legion Cruiser
- Chameleon Boy's cruiser
Locations
- Heisenberg-7
- Takron-Galtos (mentioned but not seen)
- Legion HQ
- New Metropolis, including the Dark Side Bar
- Rawl
Trivia about the episode
- Brainiac 5, Bouncing Boy, and Lightning Lad are said to be halfway across the galaxy fighting the Dominators.
- Timber Wolf mentions that he didn't expect Kell-El to vote against him, which indicates that he was convicted on a popular vote.
- When Chameleon Boy morphs, he doesn't just change his shape, he also alters his body chemistry.
- The scrolling police tape at the scene of the crime on Heisenberg-7 reads "CRIME SCENE DO NOT CROSS" in Interlac.
- "Yin Des Neerg" backwards is "Sidney Green", a tribute to character actor Sydney Greenstreet[1], who played similar characters in his movies
- Dr. Mar Londo has a different voice actor than in his first appearance.
Quotes
- Timber Wolf: "People have always underestimated me. And they've been wrong."
- Cosmic Boy: "I don't want to hurt you, Timber Wolf." Timber Wolf: "Well, that makes one of us."
- Timber Wolf: "I don't have any friends." Phantom Girl: "Melodrama and self-pity. A toxic combination."
- Timber Wolf: "My head was pounding like a drum, and with each beat it was as if something was rising up from the bottom of my soul, something dark and angry... and hungry. A part of myself that I was starting to like."
- Mar Londo: "My son has outgrown your childish Legion. He's above your insipid laws and worthless morality. Aren't you, Brin?"
Adaptations
- Star Boy was similarly expelled from the Legion for killing, with the verdict coming from a vote of the Legionnaires. However, Star Boy was not sent to Takron-Galtos.
- In the original Timber Wolf story, he held himself apart from humanity because he thought he was an android. Similarly, in this episode he holds himself apart because he's too bestial.
