Batman: The Animated Series
Episode 33
Robin’s Reckoning Part 2
Another worthy two-parter. The emotion and action doesn’t tone down in the slightest. Robin is on a quest to find the man who killed his parents. The story is flashing back to when he was a kid trying to find him. A young Dick Grayson tracks Tony Zucco down to an abandoned building. Tony Zucco sees Grayson and plans to kill him since he’s the only witness to the Grayson murders. Batman shows up and Zuccoo uses the kid as a hostage. He throws him in the river, Batman saves Grayson and Zocco gets away. Dick Grayson is pissed at Batman for letting Zucco go.
The kill the witness trope is so tiresome in film/TV. There are actual laws in the USA which state if a witness dies then hearsay is admissible. It's better to have the witness live and be too scared to testify than kill the witness because their statement can be read in court. A 90s cartoon isn't going to tackle that complex law and the DCAU might not have such legal logic in a world filled with super villains.
Batman takes Dick to the Batcave and reveals his identity. Dick agrees to stay with Bruce Wayne and Alfred permanently and help Batman in his quest to fight crime.
In the present Robin and Batman separately track down Zucco. Batman gets their first and Zucco incapacitates him. As he’s about to kill Batman, Robin arrives and total beats the crap out of Zucco. He pushes himself to the point of almost killing Zucco but backs off. The police take Zucco away.
Robin tells Batman he was right, his emotions almost got the best of him. Batman explains his reasons weren’t about hurting Zucco. Batman was afraid Zucco would hurt Robin.
It’s two part episodes like this which make BtAS the best animated show ever. To tell a story with such depth, emotion, action was never seen in American children’s animation. It’s one of the best two-part episodes in the entire DCAU.
Written by
Joseph Ammendolea
Owner/President
“I Like To Play With Toys” Productions®
ILikeToPlayWithToysProductions@Yahoo.com