When the Guardians of the Universe summon Jessica for a disciplinary hearing, Hal appoints himself to be her Peer Advocate.
Tropes
- "Could Have Avoided This!" Plot: If Jessica had simply summarized the report, the trial may not have been needed. And if Kongulon had remembered to bring her translator, it definitely wouldn't have been needed since she could have clearly explained the situation from the start.
- Courtroom Antics: Hal serves as Jessica's defense attorney, citing his experience with disciplinary hearings. All he really does is make a nuisance of himself, until he provides a Surprise Witness at the last minute.
- Courtroom Episode: Jessica is put on trial for seemingly impeding attempts to stop Kongulon's rampage.
- Deadly Prank: The bomb ready to go off is described as similar to a firecracker stuffed in someone's mailbox, but on a much longer time scale. Thanks to experiencing time differently than humans, Earth had no sentient life on it when the bomb was planted.
- Door Stopper: Jessica's report of the incident she's on trial for, which everyone including the Guardians can only call "wordful" to avoided admitting they didn't read it. It's needlessly thorough when the whole situation gets easily summed up by the last page.
- Freeze-Frame Bonus / Info Dump: As Kongulon is testifying, Jessica demonstrates the use of her ring to translate the alien's language, both in the courtroom and during a flashback to the event. It projects a screen with a quickly scrolling explanation of the whole mess, fully written out in proper English and very small print. The complete message:"The explosive device was buried millennia ago by a juvenile Giddalorpian roustabout. My scanners indicate that the device is presently located beneath the structure known as the Metrobolisque. If we have any hope to defuse this device, we must remove the Metrobolisque and recover it at once. Once removed, I should be able to dispose of it with minimal damage."
- Made Out to Be a Jerkass: Supergirl and Hawkman only attacked Kongulon because her screams were damaging the city, not realizing that she'd left her translator at home.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Despite being her prosecutor, Kilowog begs Jessica to take the plea deal and not risk losing her ring.
- Something We Forgot: At the end of the episode, it's revealed that Garth never got sent home.
- Strange Minds Think Alike: Jessica writes a detailed report on the incident, but Hal, Kilowog, and the Guardians all think it's too long and don't bother to read it. At least Hal skimmed the last page, where he found the explanation for Jessica's actions. Kongulon, on the other hand, did read the whole thing and found it fascinating.
- Super-Scream: Without her translator, Kongulon's screams cause massive structural damage to anything in her way..
- Time Dissonance: Kongulon's species has a different perception of time than most other races. A juvenile setting off a bomb to go off millennia after it was planted is on the same level as an Earth teenager putting a lit firecracker in a mailbox.
