The DC Animated Universe Weekly Review - Batman: The Animated Series

 Batman: The Animated Series

Episode 83

Make ‘Em Laugh

 

This episode is all kinds of entertaining.  Comedians are flipping out and committing crimes.  Batman discovers this while fighting a villain calling himself the Condiment King.  Batman in a rare moment of full on mercy offers to let the guy go if he returns the loot and promises to never do it again.  Instead the guy doubles down tries to escape, falls off a building onto a police car, and is pretty messed up.  It turns out he’s comedian Buddy Standler.  He’s a rich celebrity that doesn’t need to be committing crimes.  

 

The next weird criminal is the Pack Rat who after he’s defeated by Batman and Robin is determined to be a comedian named Harry Loomis.  Batman and Robin discover a microchip on him and trace it back to the Mad Hatter.  

 

When visiting the Mad Hatter in Arkham it’s discovered he’s also been mind whammied with his own device.  So who’s the villain of this episode?  Another comedian Lisa Lorraine (a Roseanne Bar parody) is now missing.  They were all judges in a comedy contest.  Upon reviewing the tape of last year’s contest its discovered The Joker crashed the contest in disguise and was holding a grudge against the judges for not giving him the award of funniest man in Gotham.  

 

AWESOME PLOT TWIST! Joker is getting revenge by ruining their reputation and trying to claim the trophy for himself.  It’s a scheme so crazy; it’s the perfect Joker crime.  There’s no logic to it other than to massage his own ego.  Batman and Robin are able to track the joker down at the comedy contest where a fight ensues and he’s captured.  The comedy and action in this episode is spot on.  A solid way to close-out the Joker as the show is ending it’s initial run.

 

Written by
Joseph Ammendolea
Owner/President
“I Like To Play With Toys” Productions®
ILikeToPlayWithToysProductions@Yahoo.com

The DC Animated Universe Weekly Review - Batman: The Animated Series

 Batman: The Animated Series

Episode 82

Lock-Up

 

It’s episodes like this that make people think the writers were running out of ideas.  Lock-Up actually got worked into the comics after this episode but not really sure why.  He was created for the show as an extremist version of Batman.  

 

Lyle Bolton was the new security chief at Arkham Asylum but his methods were far too harsh for the inmates there.  He gets fired from Arkham for being abusive to the criminally insane and sets out on a revenge scheme on Gotham.  He doesn’t blame the inmates he blames the bureaucrats in Gotham who created them.

 

Calling himself Lock-Up he kidnaps reporter Summer Gleason, head of Arkham Asylum Doctor Bartholomew, Commissioner James Gordon, and Mayor Hamilton Hill.  He believes each represents a layer of ineptitude that created the monstrous villains in Gotham City.  

 

Batman and Robin are able to track Lock-Up down to an abandoned ship where everyone is being held.  A fight breaks out and Batman wins.  Lock-Up is then set to Arkham Asylum and he implies that’s what he wanted all along so he can forever keep an eye on the inmates there.  

 

He’s just not an interesting villain and his motivation seems weak.  Even the ending when he’s happy he can watch the inmates doesn’t make sense.  He’s a patient/prisoner at Arkham, he has no authority over them.  He can’t do any of the things he did to them as head of security.  He can’t take away their privileges, confine them to their rooms, strap them down in their beds at night.  What’s the point of watching them if he cannot stop them?  Taking his frustrations out on the ones he kidnapped has logic but how many times can Commissioner Gordon and Mayor Hill get kidnapped before it’s a tired trope?  Shows should really have a two kidnapping limit rule.  On the third kidnapping, the person must be killed or believability goes out the window.  Yes, it’s a children’s show so the death count is minimal which means, stop kidnapping people.  

 

It’s toward the end of the series run so we never see Lock-Up again in the BtAS or the DCAU and rightfully so.  He wasn’t a compelling villain.  This is the last bad episode of BtAS.  But as stated even previously, a bad episode of BtAS is far better than a good episode of many other shows.  

 

Written by
Joseph Ammendolea
Owner/President
“I Like To Play With Toys” Productions®
ILikeToPlayWithToysProductions@Yahoo.com

The DC Animated Universe Weekly Review - Batman: The Animated Series

Batman: The Animated Series

Episode 81

Harley’s Holiday

Another epic episode, one of the best.  Harley Quinn is declared sane and set free but on her first day out she gets into a little trouble and freaks out. In the process Bruce Wayne’s “casual girlfriend” Veronica Vreeland, gets kidnapped by Harley.  

 

Harley is just trying to get out of town and not commit any crimes.  Unfortunately no one gave her the social skills on how to dig out of trouble.  So she’s declared sane but no real oversight was presented on how to integrate her back into society.  It’s as if Arkham Asylum never freed a patient before.  She wasn’t remanded to anyone’s custody, she wasn’t placed in a group home.  She was just set free and shocker, everything goes wrong. 

 

In the process of trying to get out of town before things get worse she manages to get a diverse group of individuals hot on her trail.  Her pursuers are Batman and Robin, Detective Harvey Bullock, gangster Boxy Bennett, and General Vreeland (Veronica’s father) IN A TANK!  During the adventure Veronica Vreeland realizes Harley didn’t mean for all these things to go wrong, she just made a few mistakes.  Vreeland promises to not press charges if Harley can get her out of the situation safely.  Then Veronica’s father shows up in a tank shooting at the car.  

 

Plot wise, the tank itself isn’t the problem but he’s shooting at the car holding his daughter.  What does he expect would happen? If he hits the car, his daughter dies.  Also, Veronica’s dad is a general and she’s a rich Gotham City socialite.  She clearly didn’t marry into money since she occasionally hooks up with Bruce Wayne.  She calls him out for being a player and dumping her in Batman: Mask of the Phantasm.  US General’s as of 2023 make about anywhere between $90k - $530k a year.  The average is around $230k.  Even if he made $530k a year, which is doubtful, that’s not “socialite who can roll with Boy Billionaire Bruce Wayne” kind of money.  Where did the Vreeland’s get their money?  Is General Vreeland smuggling arms for extra cash?  The DCAU does have some shady military commanders we’ll meet years later but General Vreeland is only seen in this episode.  It’s likely his career was completely “tanked” after this incident.  He may have inherited his wealth from old money and was just a patriot who enlisted and worked his way up the ranks.  Lots of unanswered questions about his character and the Vreeland’s in general.  

 

So all the pursuers converge on Harley all at once but she’s able to escape and Veronica is released to Batman unharmed.  Batman captures Harley after a climactic fight and she’s returned to Arkham.  Batman shows compassion to Harley and understands why things got out of hand.  As a thank you Harley gives Batman a passionate kiss to the shock of everyone.   

 

This episode has drama, suspense, action, comedy and pulls it all off perfectly.  Harley Quinn proves how entertaining of a character she is and you find yourself rooting for her.  It’s an episode where you really want to see her pull it off and escape but Batman can’t let that happen.  He’s almost the villain in the story but his motivations are altruistic.  He doesn’t want her to get into deeper trouble and wants to keep her and anyone else in her path from getting hurt. Truly a can’t miss episode.

 

Written by
Joseph Ammendolea
Owner/President
“I Like To Play With Toys” Productions®
ILikeToPlayWithToysProductions@Yahoo.com

 

The DC Animated Universe Weekly Review - Batman: The Animated Series

 Batman: The Animated Series

Episode 80

Second Chance

 

When you know your characters the writing appears to be easy and this Two-Face centric story reflects that.  Two-Face is about to undergo surgery to fix the scars on his face and make himself Harvey Dent again.  His evil split personality has been suppressed and this is that last part in curing him.  Nothing goes according to plan in the world of Gotham and before the surgery starts Dent is kidnapped by some goons. 

 

During Batman and Robin’s investigation they speak with the usual Dent hating suspects but don’t turn up any results.  Batman is able to deduce the culprit is actually Two-Face himself.  Two-Face doesn’t want Harvey Dent’s kinder personality to remerge so he created a plan to stop it.  Batman is able to capture Two-Face but he’s sent back to Arkham for more mental health before they try the surgery again.  So ultimately Two-Face wins.  There’s a glimmer of hope he’ll recover but we know it only gets worse as the DCAU evolves.  

 

A plot twist can make or break many television episodes and in this case it works.  The idea that Two-Face is plotting against his other persona is brilliant.  Two-Face’s plans to sabotage Harvey Dent are within a realm much more grounded in reality than Scarface.  Scarface wouldn’t think twice of killing the Ventriloquist even though it would kill himself in the process.  That’s one of many reasons Scarface is a complete douche in Batman’s Rouges Gallery.  Two-Face on the other hand may hate Harvey Dent but knows he cannot kill him without killing himself.  A much smarter villain who knows his limitations and works with them.  

 

Written by
Joseph Ammendolea
Owner/President
“I Like To Play With Toys” Productions®
ILikeToPlayWithToysProductions@Yahoo.com

The DC Animated Universe Weekly Review - Batman: The Animated Series

 Batman: The Animated Series

Episode 79

Riddler’s Reform

 

Riddler’s third episode in the series and the last where he’s the featured villain.  Each episode with him lost some pizazz and this is his least exciting.  He’s allegedly reformed and made a new series of toys which are selling well.  Batman doesn’t believe he’s changed.  Riddler keeps dropping clues about his crimes and eventually traps Batman in an inescapable situation.  Batman survives though and the Riddler is taken off to Arkham unable to solve the riddle of how Batman beat his trap.  Batman tells Robin at the end of the episode he escapes the explosion by using the safe as protection.  There’s a great moment at the end when Riddler is in Arkham Asylum ranting over and over about Batman beating his trap.

 

This episode is par for the course at this point.  The Riddler comes off as redundant and desperate.  It’s a far cry from his first appearance where he’s calculating and clever.  In the first episode Batman beats him but Riddler still escapes. In this episode he’s captured and broken.  Certainly not a bad way to close out a character but the plot or how it was accomplished could have been better.  Granted our standard for episodes is far too high since there have so many amazing BtAS episodes at this point.  Even a bad BtAS episode far exceeds the best episodes of other series.  

 

Written by
Joseph Ammendolea
Owner/President
“I Like To Play With Toys” Productions®
ILikeToPlayWithToysProductions@Yahoo.com

The DC Animated Universe Weekly Review - Batman: The Animated Series

 Batman: The Animated Series

Episode 78 

Showdown

 

The best Ra’s al Ghul episode in the entire series, the entire DCAU.  Ra’s organization the Society of Shadows kidnaps a really old guy from a retirement home.  Ra’s leaves a tape for Batman and Robin to listen to as they drive to the airport to stop him.  On the tape is Ra’s telling a story dating back to 1883.

 

From there we flashback to a story about Jonah Hex!!!  Since Ra’s is really old thanks to the Lazarus Pits. He’s been causing trouble to the world for a really longtime.  This story has an older Jonah Hex tracking down a bad guy name Arkady Duvall for roughing up a woman and doing a bunch of other crimes.  He’s working for Ra’s and they are planning on invading America as it begins to expand via it’s railroad line.  

 

While Hex is tracking Duvall he discovers Ra’s plan and stops it.  He captures Duvall and turns him in.  Duvall offers him more than his bounty to go free but Jonah Hex will have none of that.  We’re back in the present as Batman catches up with Ra’s and fills in the rest of the blanks with Duvall after his capture.  

 

Duvall was sentenced to 50 years hard labor, no one expected him to survive it except Ra’s but he lost track of him during that time. It makes Duvall over 100 years old because he was exposed to Lazarus Pit as a child. Ra's reveals Arkady Duvall is his son.  Talia isn’t his only child. Ra’s admits that Arkady was too unstable to be his successor and at his advanced age is beyond the Lazarus. Batman lets Ra’s leave with his son since he’s not a bureaucrat who requires lots of paperwork proving paternity like the retirement home likely required.  

 

Such a great ending and it puts the villain in the right, in his own evil way.  All he’s doing is reclaiming his child to care for him.  Ra’s has many crimes to answer for. Taking his son out of a retirement home isn’t one of them.  The inclusion of Jonah Hex in the episode is outstanding.  His best TV appearance, it even tops many of his stories in the comics.  

 

Written by
Joseph Ammendolea
Owner/President
“I Like To Play With Toys” Productions®
ILikeToPlayWithToysProductions@Yahoo.com

The DC Animated Universe Weekly Review - Batman: The Animated Series

 Batman: The Animated Series

Episode 77  

The Lion and the Unicorn

 

Batman goes to England…international spy Red Claw is back and causing international problems.  She kidnaps Alfred trying to get a password to something that will basically destroy the world.  Alfred was apparently a former spy before he gave it all up to be a butler.  She gives him a truth serum to get the password to access a system which apparently never changed after he quit his job.  That’s poor company management and the agency he works for needs to up their security protocols.  Red Claw gets the password out of Alfred just as Batman and Robin show-up to stop her. 

 

We could make the claim Red Claw was an under utilized villain in the series but that’s not really true.  She just doesn’t fit in Batman’s world.  Batman protects Gotham and Red Claw is a scourge of the world so she doesn’t really fit in Gotham.  If every time she stations herself in Gotham to do international evil spy stuff and Batman stops her, her failures would be on her.  By kidnapping Alfred she’s forced back into the world of Batman and that’s even a stretch.  

 

Ra’s al Ghul works as an international evil villain for Batman because Talhia al Ghul is in love with him.  Ra’s would steal Wayne Enterprises tech or pop up on Batman’s radar because of how dangerous he is.  There’s a relationship there that works.  Red Claw isn’t as menacing as Ra’s because she’s an evil spy for hire.   Ra’s is a terrorist who wants to rule the world.  

 

Written by
Joseph Ammendolea
Owner/President
“I Like To Play With Toys” Productions®
ILikeToPlayWithToysProductions@Yahoo.com

The DC Animated Universe Weekly Review - Batman: The Animated Series

Batman: The Animated Series

Episode 76

Baby-Doll

 

One of the worst episodes and most annoying recurring rogue in BtAS.  Babydoll is just so annoying.  Her gimmick is she’s a fully-grown adult that looks like an eternal child.  She was a TV star that failed to achieve the same level of popularity after her show went off the air.  So she flips out and kidnaps her former co-stars and tries to kill everyone.  

 

Batman and Robin investigate the kidnappings and track her down.  They defeat her goons.  She is eventually captured by Batman after some dramatic crying scene.  The gimmick is annoying, her motivation for being a criminal is lame, her character isn’t fun.  It’s all creepy and the baby voice she puts on is nails on a chalkboard.  How this got passed the inception stage is baffling.  A rare miss in DCAU and rare miss in BtAS.  

 

Written by
Joseph Ammendolea
Owner/President
“I Like To Play With Toys” Productions®
ILikeToPlayWithToysProductions@Yahoo.com

The DC Animated Universe Weekly Review - Batman: The Animated Series

 Batman: The Animated Series

Episode 75

Bane

 

The man who broke the Bat! His appearance was quite a surprise since he only appeared in the comics a few years earlier.  There’s a lot of fear in the episode just based on his comic book reputation.  The show doesn’t go that dark and Batman eventually defeats him.  

 

They do a great job setting him up as a formidable foe for Batman and his origin is kept simple.  Bane escaped from a prison in South America after being given an experimental concoction called venom.   It’s basically a super steroid that makes him really strong.  Rupert Thorne hires him to kill Batman.  Bane shows up, beats up one of Batman’s physically stronger opponents Killer Croc to prove he’s tough.  Robin gets kidnaped; they don’t bother to unmask him for some reason.   Batman shows up, faces off against Bane, defeats him. 

 

There’s a moment during the epic battle you think Bane might win and Batman pulls off a miracle.  It was a nice twist for anyone who read the comic and saw Batman get his back broken.  This version Bane in the series fits and he gets tougher in later episodes.  He never truly reaches the terror scale of the comic but the audience is still left with a rather terrifying villain. 

 

Written by
Joseph Ammendolea
Owner/President
“I Like To Play With Toys” Productions®
ILikeToPlayWithToysProductions@Yahoo.com

The DC Animated Universe Weekly Review - Batman: The Animated Series

 Batman: The Animated Series

Episode 74

Catwalk

 

Not a particularly great episode.  It combos a few plot points which are becoming tropes for BtAS at this point. Catwoman is feeling angst because she can’t be a thief, has opinions about animal conservation, wants to live a more exciting life.  Scarface pops up and hires her to commit a crime.  She agrees but is actually used as a decoy while Scarface steals a bunch of other McGuffins.  She doesn’t like getting played and clears her name.  Batman obviously gets involved and helps save the day.

 

Catwoman was done fairly well as a character but her plots were becoming redundant.  They salvage her at the end of the series but this episode as an angsty Catwoman topped off with douchebag Scarface is more annoying than entertaining.  We stated in his introduction episode that Scarface isn’t a well-liked villain by us.  This episode rings true to that.  

 

One of the better things about Scarface is that he keeps the same lackeys.  The loyalty to his employees is commendable.  Two-Face, Joker, Penguin have new goons whenever they appear in an episode.  Scarface is consistent with his bad guy support team. 

 

Written by
Joseph Ammendolea
Owner/President
“I Like To Play With Toys” Productions®
ILikeToPlayWithToysProductions@Yahoo.com

The DC Animated Universe Weekly Review - Batman: The Animated Series

 Batman: The Animated Series

Episode 73

Time Out of Joint

 

The return of The Clock King, while not as exciting as his introduction episode, it’s not a horrible episode.  Clock King is still seeking revenge on Mayor Hamilton Hill.  This time he steals some tech from a scientist that made a device that slows down time for anyone wearing it.  Clock King is using it to steal some items for cash and blow up the mayor.  Batman and Robin are able to stop him “in-time” from succeeding.  

 

The gimmick of a device that can slowdown or even stop time isn’t new to television.  There’s a twilight zone episode that addresses it fairly well.  Giving this device to Clock King is the logical movie.  A man obsessed with time committing time based crimes fits perfectly.  What keeps the episode from being as epic as his introduction is it fails to use Clock Kings obsession with punctuality.  He was a formidable rogue for Batman due to his ability use schedules and timing to his advantage.  That’s not prevalent in his follow-up episode.

 

Written by
Joseph Ammendolea
Owner/President
“I Like To Play With Toys” Productions®
ILikeToPlayWithToysProductions@Yahoo.com

 

The DC Animated Universe Weekly Review - Batman: The Animated Series

 Batman: The Animated Series

Episode 72

Harlequinade

 

Another great episode featuring Harley Quinn, and the reason she’s become so beloved in DC comics.  The creators even manage to fit a song and dance number into the episode and it fits like a glove.  The Joker steals a nuclear bomb and holds the city hostage.  Harley Quinn is recruited by Batman and friends to help find him and stop the bomb from going off.  

 

Harley steals the show in this one.  It goes into her motivations as a villain, her backstory, her anti-hero persona starts to shine.  Batman is a little out of character in this episode by tolerating Harley’s hijinks but it works for the story.  

 

Harley eventually double-crosses the dynamic duo and joins up with the Joker but Batman and Robin use clever psychology and Harley takes down the joker.  Joker is at his funniest in this episode, his plan is truly evil and when it fails his reaction is unpredictable.  The twist of Joker keeping the mayor hostage and Harley seeing right through it is genius writing.

 

Written by
Joseph Ammendolea
Owner/President
“I Like To Play With Toys” Productions®
ILikeToPlayWithToysProductions@Yahoo.com

The DC Animated Universe Weekly Review - Batman: The Animated Series

 Batman: The Animated Series

Episode 71

The Terrible Trio

 

Not a very exciting episode.  The villains aren’t likable at all.  Their motivation for the crimes aren’t relatable.  Batman shouldn’t have the problems he does taking them down.  Three rich guys are bored and decide to do robberies.  The crimes get more and more reckless until Batman eventually stops them.  

 

It’s a nice twist from the standard crazy villain batman deals with but the episode truly lacks real excitement and fun.  Perhaps it’s because these aren’t the standard villains Batman faces off against that make the episode such a dud.  Every story choice made is the correct choice but the episode just doesn’t hold up.   Perhaps the problem is this story can be applied to any procedural crime show and still work. It is not uniquely Batman and feels more like a Magnum PI episode. 

 

Written by
Joseph Ammendolea
Owner/President
“I Like To Play With Toys” Productions®
ILikeToPlayWithToysProductions@Yahoo.com

The DC Animated Universe Weekly Review - Batman: The Animated Series

 Batman: The Animated Series

Episode 70

House & Garden

 

The ending of this episode is great. The build-up is a bit slow.  Poison Ivy has gone straight, meanwhile there are a bunch of crimes fitting her Modus Operandi.  Plants targeting rich people.  Batman investigates her and turns up nothing.  She’s married to her doctor Steven Carlyle who’s also a professor at Gotham University where Dick Grayson goes.  He has two sons Chris and Kelly.  Dick Grayson gets kidnapped and held for ransom.  

 

Some action and thrilling stuff happens, Batman saves Dick Grayson and he puts on his Robin suit to help solve the case.  Plot twist, Ivy is the villain.  Chris and Kelly are girls, not boys.  Ivy has been making plant clones of Steven Carlyle but could only make boys.  They have a limited lifecycle and eventually mutate into a giant green monster.  

 

Batman stops them by putting herbicide in the plant water.  Ivy made one last clone of herself, knowing Batman would likely stop her.  She bought enough time to escape.  The ending scene of her flying away crying is more poetic than anything.  Her fake happy life being married with two sons was the closest she’d ever get to normalcy.   

 

Written by
Joseph Ammendolea
Owner/President
“I Like To Play With Toys” Productions®
ILikeToPlayWithToysProductions@Yahoo.com

The DC Animated Universe Weekly Review - Batman: The Animated Series

 Batman: The Animated Series

Episode 69

Avatar

 

Ra’s al Ghul is back from the dead causing problems.  He’s trying to solidify his immortality completely unconcerned with the fact that in 30 billion years the sun will turn red and expand consuming the earth.  Which means all immortals on the planet will be extremely uncomfortable for trillions of years until the sun eventually goes supernova.  It’s a problem all immortal character tropes never address in their quest to live forever. 

 

Batman teams up with his daughter Talhia al Ghul to stop him.  During their escapades it turns out Ra’s al Ghul was tricked and the thing promising immortality is some type of Egyptian zombie.  It’s some of the scariest animation you’ll ever see.  Not for a children’s program, not for a TV show, its just some scary animation.  Some of the best animation in the series and entire DCAU.  It completely saves a somewhat weak plot for what’s supposed to be one of Batman’s more epic villains.  

 

Written by
Joseph Ammendolea
Owner/President
“I Like To Play With Toys” Productions®
ILikeToPlayWithToysProductions@Yahoo.com

The DC Animated Universe Weekly Review - Batman: The Animated Series

 Batman: The Animated Series

Episode 68

Trial

 

Almost Got ‘Im 2.0.  It’s a good episode and certainly funny to see how all the rogues interact with one another.  But somehow it lacks complexity for a “All of Batman’s rogues in the same episode.”  There’s a new District Attorney who hates Batman and wants him in jail with the nuts he fights. There is an uprising in Arkham, the DA and Batman end up captured and she’s forced to defend him in a mock trial about if Batman created them, if found guilty Batman and the DA will be killed.  They lightly go through the history of some of the rogues’ origins.  The DA comes to the realization that Batman is needed and these villains would have cropped up in some form or another even without Batman.  In a nice twist the rogues jury find Batman not guilty but decide to kill them anyway.  Enough time lapsed for Batman to escape his bounds and defeat all the bad guys.  The DA leaves with a new respect for Batman.   

 

It’s as if the writers were sitting around and said “Almost Got ‘Im was popular, let’s do that but up the stakes.”  The endearing part of this episode is how it’s determined Batman isn’t the cause of the villains, they are the ones who created him.  A nice point of view, especially when looking back at the origin of these villains.  Batman is the side character in most of their stories, he comes into play after they flip out and try to kill people.  

 

Written by
Joseph Ammendolea
Owner/President
“I Like To Play With Toys” Productions®
ILikeToPlayWithToysProductions@Yahoo.com

The DC Animated Universe Weekly Review - Batman: The Animated Series

 Batman: The Animated Series

Episode 67 

A Bullet for Bullock

 

Another underrated episode.  This episode explores the character Harvey Bullock.  He’s a cop who hates Batman that leaves fans wondering why Commissioner Gordon doesn’t just fire him, why is he part of the inner circle?  His episode sums up his character fairly well.  He’s a cop who’s very rough around the edges but ultimately a good person.  He’s not crooked, just a jerk.  Bullock wants to put an end to crime just as much as Batman does.  His dislike for the caped crusader while not thoroughly explained or justified in the episode, at least makes you understand what type of person he is.  It was based on the Detective Comics #651 and was as solid of an adaptation that anyone can ask for.  

 

Written by
Joseph Ammendolea
Owner/President
“I Like To Play With Toys” Productions®
ILikeToPlayWithToysProductions@Yahoo.com

The DC Animated Universe Weekly Review - Batman: The Animated Series

Batman: The Animated Series

Episode 66 

Sideshow

 

One of the best, also a rather underrated story.  Killer Croc is being transferred out of Arkham Asylum to an actual prison because it’s determined he’s sane.  While being transported he escapes.  Batman was on the train in disguise and starts tracking him.  During his escape Croc falls in with a bunch of former circus stars, sideshow attractions.  They took the money from their circus days and bought some land off the grid so they could live in peace.  Croc makes up a cover story and they take him into their home.  

 

During his time with them Croc’s attitude starts to change.  He plans to rip them off but changes his mind.  Batman then shows up and everything turns upside down.  Croc shows his evil ways.  A fight ensues, the circus folk realize Croc is a jerk.  Batman eventually stops him.  

 

What’s so tragic about this episode is if Batman didn’t show up Croc might have actually reformed.  His disfigurement is likely a huge part of why he’s so angry and in living a life of crime.  The circus freaks accepted him for who he was.  His second thoughts about robbing them implies he was looking to settle down and maybe live a peaceful life.  Batman’s appearance to apprehend Croc brought out his inner criminal.  It’s Croc’s best episode in the series and has you rooting for his reformation.  

 

Batman would argue his reformation was only temporary and he was always destined to revert back to his evil ways.  The beauty of how complex the writers made a character who is only supposed to be a dimwitted thug is why BtAS is such an amazing show. 

 

Written by
Joseph Ammendolea
Owner/President
“I Like To Play With Toys” Productions®
ILikeToPlayWithToysProductions@Yahoo.com

The DC Animated Universe Weekly Review - Batman: The Animated Series

 Batman: The Animated Series

Episode 65

The Worry Men

 

It’s episode 65 and the creators have fulfilled their initial order of episodes for the series.  This episode is okay but seems a little phoned in.  The Mad Hatter makes little men that hypnotically manipulates people to do stuff in their dreams.  He controls Veronica Vreeland into giving out these Worry Men to all the rich people in Gotham.  Bruce Wayne gets affected by the Worry Men and is robbed like a bunch of other rich folks in Gotham.  That puts Batman on the trail.  He traces it back to the Mad Hatter, stops him, saves the day. It’s a fine episode.  Nothing horrible, nothing exciting.  This same gimmick reappears in the Batman Beyond episode that introduces Spellbinder.  We’ll talk more about that when the episode comes up. 

 

Written by
Joseph Ammendolea
Owner/President
“I Like To Play With Toys” Productions®
ILikeToPlayWithToysProductions@Yahoo.com

The DC Animated Universe Weekly Review - Batman: The Animated Series

 Batman: The Animated Series

Episode 64

Read My Lips

 

This episode gets a lot of love from fans and the initial shock value of the episode is exciting.  Overall it really doesn’t hold-up in rewatches.  The creator’s take on Scarface is a great deviation from the comic book but his personality is so annoying.  Scarface in the comic is the product of the The Ventriloquist who’s actually really bad at throwing his voice.  It’s a silly gag in the comic.  

 

The show took a more serious approach.  Scarface has a great mind for crime.  He exists in the mind of the timid Ventriloquist who suffers from multiple personality disorder.  He’s an old-time 1940s mobster villain.  These are all awesome nuances that make the concept work.

 

What doesn’t work is the character’s personality is that of a huge jerk.  Yes, it’s deliberate, he’s a bad guy but there’s nothing entertaining about how cruel he is.  The Joker is a psychopathically evil criminal but he’s entertaining when he does it.  His lunacy is exhilarating.  Scarface is actually grounded and almost sane except for the multiple personalities.  Scarface just talks down to everyone all the time, he’s arrogant, he knows there’s a connection between him and The Ventriloquist but is willing to kill Ventriloquist and thus himself in the process.  It’s a nice plot twist for the episode but hard to really like the character after the gimmick plays out. 

 

Written by
Joseph Ammendolea
Owner/President
“I Like To Play With Toys” Productions®
ILikeToPlayWithToysProductions@Yahoo.com