With the Ultra Humanite threat looming, the team are shocked by the revelation of another old enemy emerging from the shadows, though not as shocked as they are when that enemy confronts them with an unexpected offer.

So, Icicle is back. Kinda hard to credit given how he was killed in the season 1 finale but then this is a superhero show after all. But what will the return of the former leader of the ISA mean for the heroes and residents of Blue Valley? Certainly not what any of them might expect.

First, any notion that Jordan Mahkent might slink back into the shadows having coldly murdered the Crocks is dispelled as he not only goes off to meet his family but also casually pops into his old workplace to announce he’s back, with what has to be the flimsiest gesture in the direction of a cover story ever.

But Jordan’s oddly overt return isn’t the strangest element to his behaviour. The gang expect him to be back to exact revenge, and yet that seems not to be his agenda. His explanation for this about face is tied into the very particular strengths of Courtney as a person and a leader, but it’s not a story that everyone is buying.

Sylvester for example wants to simply kill the man who was responsible not only for his own death but also the deaths of many members of the original JSA. Mike and Jakeem don’t trust the man either, and with good reason, given it was Mike who actually killed him and who is concerned that he might be the very specific target of any revenge plans he might have.

As for Artemis, understandably she is distraught at the death of her beloved parents, and so it’s fair to say she too is unlikely to have any sympathy for the notion that Jordan might have mended his ways.

The main issue here is that what we are left with is an awful lot of talking which is aimed in the direction of the nuance and possibility for change that the show likes to deliver on so well usually, which is undermined by what feels like a pretty obvious agenda on the part of the character central to that theme this time out. It also feels somewhat lame to have an arch villain from season 1 suddenly resurrect at the tail end of the third and final season, whatever his intentions might be.

Verdict: Perhaps the show will pull this all off, but right now it’s very up in the air. 6/10

Greg D. Smith