Batman: The Animated Series
Episode 48
What is Reality
The Riddler’s second episode while not as iconic as his first appearance still has some layers. It does fall into the 90s trope of being trapped in a virtual reality (VR) machine that can kill you. Commissioner Gordon get’s stuck in one run by the Riddler and Batman has to go in to save him. Robin is coaching Batman via a headset in the real world. Batman uses his wits to destroy the VR world by having Riddler split his thoughts a bunch of times causing the hardware to crash.
It’s not clear how a computer system can be intricately connected to a person’s brain but the entire thing completely skips any semblance of reality even for a cartoon. Once you accept there is no logic to how the computer or VR works than the episode is very enjoyable. The emotion is spot on. The ending with Riddler being trapped in a catatonic state after failing to escape his collapsing program is a fate worse than death.
Written by
Joseph Ammendolea
Owner/President
“I Like To Play With Toys” Productions®
ILikeToPlayWithToysProductions@Yahoo.com