Recap / Justice League Unlimited S 3 E 8 The Great Brain Robbery

Lex Luthor and The Flash accidentally have their minds switched to each other's body. The Justice League must now contain a super-speed powered Luthor on the Watchtower while Flash tries to hide the reversal from the Secret Society.

Tropes:

• All for Nothing: Despite all the brain switching shenanigans, the best the League got as a lead to the Society's whereabouts is that it's in a swamp. That's all they can get from the Flash, in spite of leading an operation that takes a team out of their headquarters.
• And I'm the Queen of Sheba: As Flash fails to pass himself off as Luthor, Grodd comments “And I’m Charlton Heston.”
• Anti-Climactic Unmasking: This scene currently provides the trope's page quote. As Lex is being chased through the Watchtower by the rest of the League, he stops in a bathroom and muses that at the very least, he has a rare opportunity to learn who the Flash really is. Unfortunately for Lex, Wally West is nowhere near as well known by the general public as Bruce Wayne or Clark Kent:
  Luthor (in Flash's body): If nothing else, I can at least learn the Flash's secret identity. [removes mask, looks in a mirror, then frowns] ...I have no idea who this is.
• Asskicking Leads to Leadership: Luthor is in charge of the Secret Society, and he demonstrates why to Doctor Polaris in the end. When he augmented everyone's powers, he made sure he could override them if need be.
• Badass Boast: After being swapped back into his body, Lex is unable to fully convince the others that he has returned to his original self. Dr. Polaris decides to stage a coup either way and kill him, but Lex immediately turns his powers against him and renders him helpless before escaping his restraints.
  Luthor: That is how you know I'm Luthor.
• Betrayal Insurance: Luthor has contingencies for each member of the Society should they turn on him.
• Big Bad Wannabe: Polaris so badly wants to take over the Secret Society from Luthor, getting to the point of playing The Starscream. It goes poorly.
• Call-Back:
  • Grodd taking control of Flash's mind is referenced. Mister Terrific and Doctor Fate explain that left a psychic trail they can use to find Grodd. Unfortunately, it leads to a change in minds since Lex is using a mind-probe device on Grodd at the same time!
  • Bizarro asks if the seeming Luthor is his mommy. In his own way, he's referencing how Luthor created him and testing the supposed Lex's knowledge of that.
  • Luthor is finally defeated by the exploitation of gravity ^note first by turning off the Watchtower's artificial gravity, then immediately turning it back on sending him plummeting to the floor hard like in "Starcrossed".
• Contrived Coincidence: The Justice League decides to have Doctor Fate probe Flash's mind to follow the psychic trace back to Grodd at the exact same time that Luthor attempts to to use a mind-probe device on him.
• Dangerous Forbidden Technique: One of Luthor's advantages is that he's willing to use Flash's powers to do things (like vibrate objects until they shatter) that Flash normally doesn't do because of the collateral damage risk.
• Dangerous Phlebotinum Interaction: The mental swap is caused by an interaction between Luthor's attempt to mind-probe Grodd and Doctor Fate's simultaneous attempt to trace Grodd via the psychic trace he left after mind-controlling Flash.
• Deadpan Snarker: During the meeting in which the other villains voice their disapproval of Grodd's "master plan" and question Luthor's stability.
  Sinestro: After Grodd tried to turn the world into apes, you can imagine how seriously we take something like that. What are you going to do, make everybody bald?
• Dumbass Has a Point: Bizarro; but only if you remember that he says everything in opposites.
  "Ever since you plug into monkey’s head, you act perfectly sane and rational^note Ever since you tried to read Grodd's mind, you've been acting crazy and irrational.. Am you Bizarro's mommy?"^note Lex is Bizarro's creator, and thus 'mommy', so "Are you really Lex Luthor?"
• Even Evil Has Standards: There's a few silly examples to be found:
  • This exchange:
  Polaris: [Flash-as-Lex about to leave the restroom] Ahem.
  Flash-as-Lex: What?
  Polaris: You gonna wash your hands?
  Flash-as-Lex: No! [Beat] Cause I'm evil. [surprised look on Polaris's face]
  • They may be villains, but Tala doesn't follow Flash-as-Lex into the men's room until Polaris storms in.
• Evil Is Petty: Flash thinks so, providing the current page quote as he actively avoids washing his hands in Lex's body.

Dr. Polaris: You gonna wash your hands?
Flash-as-Luthor: No! 'Cause I'm evil.

• Finger Gun: Luthor uses this on a transporter technician, threatening to vibrate his fingers into the man's skull if he doesn't comply.
• For the Evulz: The response of Flash in Luthor’s body, when Dr. Polaris calls him out on not washing his hands.
• "Freaky Friday" Flip: Between The Flash and Lex Luthor.
• Instant Expert: Luthor is immediately able to use Flash’s powers without difficulty. He also thinks of several new and destructive uses for Flash’s powers. Justified with the vibration/explosion attack given it’s the move Flash used to destroy Brainiac off of Luthor.
• It Amused Me: Grodd knows that the Flash and Luthor switched minds, but he decides to keep mum about it so he can watch Flash/Luthor sweat and see what happens when he finally gets found out.
• Killed Offscreen: The implied fate of Doctor Polaris. He does not appear again after this.
• Lightning Bruiser: Luthor in Flash’s body.
• Lousy Lovers Are Losers: After Lex Luthor and the Flash switch bodies, it is strongly implied that, as Luthor, the Flash has sex with Luthor's lover, the sorceress Tala. Tala is practically giddy afterwards, saying among other things, that Lex has never been more "enthusiastic," the implication being that Lex is a poor or at least selfish lover. When the Flash and Luthor switch back later, Tala is clearly disappointed.
• Most Definitely Not a Villain: The Flash is terrible at pretending to be a villain! This episode provides the page quote.
• Mythology Gag:
  • Luthor was a redhead when he first appeared in the comics, and he's in the body of another redhead in this episode.
  • Also, when Luthor-as-Flash is throwing all that food at Green Lantern, the item that makes it through (presumably pudding) is yellow.
  • While in Flash's body, Luthor is voiced by Michael Rosenbaum, Luthor on Smallville.
• Never Hurt an Innocent: Flash-as-Luthor manages to keep the other villains from seriously harming the guards at the heist, as long as they don't "try something". One reason why Flash is so bad at pretending to be a villain.
• No Gravity for You: When Luthor takes over Wally's body, Mr. Terrific turns off the Watchtower's gravity in an attempt to catch him. When he figures out how to fly in Zero-G, Terrific turns it back on and Luthor plows himself into the ground, knocking himself out.
• Noodle Incident: When Flash tries to prove he's back to normal:
  Flash: Until he went off into the Marines, GL's nickname was-
  Green Lantern: Stop! It's him. Man, you promised never to repeat that story!
• Not Quite Dead: When Luthor took over the organization, he shot Grodd and left him lying on the floor. This episode reveals Grodd's still alive, albeit imprisoned.
• Oh, Crap!:
  • Courtesy of Doctor Fate.
    "That's not Flash’s mind. It’s Lex Luthor!"
  • Flash waking up, surrounded by supervillains. Followed up when he learns that he's actually in Luthor's body.
  • Flash-in-Luthor starts sweating when Doctor Polaris asks the Trust Password.
  • Doctor Polaris when Luthor turns his own power against him.
• Sex God: It’s strongly implied that Tala finds Flash in Luthor's body to be a much more satisfying lover than Luthor's normal self. She is visibly disappointed when she realizes Luthor's actions weren't his own.
• Shout-Out: Given that it's Grodd saying it, an obvious joke on Planet of the Apes (1968)
  Flash (in Luthor's body): Me? The Flash? You've like, totally lost it, Grodd! I’m Lex Luthor!
  Gorilla Grodd: And I’m Charlton Heston.
• Spot the Imposter: Flash-in-Luthor acts consistently unusual and out of character. The various villains not noticing it, though, is justified because they already thought Luthor was acting strangely before all this happened (specifically citing how he keeps talking to himself).
• Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: Played for Laughs. While in the Flash's body, Lex Luthor decides he might as well use the opportunity to uncover Flash's secret identity. He stands in front of a mirror, removes the mask...and has no idea who he's looking at, because he's never met Wally West before.
• Taught by Experience: Luthor remembers from when he was fused with Brainiac that Flash can do very destructive things with his vibrations. When Luthor is controlling Flash's body, he uses this ability liberally, and is nearly impossible to stop as a result; the only reason he didn't just rip a gaping hole in the Watchtower to escape was because it was in space.
• Third-Person Person: Flash as Luthor, because of course supervillains talk like this. For example, after Sinestro outlines their planned heist:
  Flash: Wow...I mean, Lex Luthor is pleased!
• Trust Password: After Luthor-in-Flash outs the body swap to the Secret Society, Flash-in-Luthor tries to play coy and reject the claim. Doctor Polaris suggests asking something only the real Luthor would know.
  "What's my real name?"
• The Unfettered: Luthor as Flash isn't necessarily better at using Flash's powers; he just doesn't care about the damage he causes when doing it. As Green Lantern makes clear in one scene, Flash can do these things, but doesn't out of concern for others.
• Voices Are Not Mental: Michael Rosenbaum and Clancy Brown still voice the same bodies after the switch.
• Wrong Genre Savvy: In the final scene, some of the villains think Luthor is really J'onn in disguise.
• You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Discussed and averted. Grodd knows Luthor can't unlock the piece of Brainiac tech without him, so he's keeping his mouth shut.

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