25-1...
25. House & Garden
As anyone familiar with writing/storytelling knows,
the thing that separates the good stories from the bad largely depends on
character wants. The more your character wants something, the better your story
is going to turn out. And if that want is tied into something universal and
relatable, then the audience will respond just as deeply. Such is the case with
“House & Garden,” a Poison Ivy-centric episode in which the Bat-villain has
seemingly reformed and married a college professor, living in domestic bliss
with him and his two sons. Of course, all is not quite as ordinary as it seems
on the surface, and the ending delves into some freaky, sci-fi Body Snatchers territory when it’s
revealed what Poison Ivy’s really been up to. But what makes the episode
special is the central “want” of Ivy herself--she’s not out to terrorize the city
or anything like that, but legitimately wants a family of her own, and sets
about getting one in the only way she knows how.
24. Trial
This episode tackles some of the uneasy questions
Batman’s night-time activities create, all voiced by new Gotham City D.A. Janet
Van Dorn. Van Dorn is not keen on the idea of an independent vigilante taking
the law into their own hands, and sees Batman as responsible for drawing crazed
personalities like the Joker and the Mad Hatter to the city itself. Ironic,
then, that Van Dorn and Batman are soon captured and held hostage within Arkham
Asylum, and the new D.A. finds herself in the unenviable position of defending
Batman in a mock trial held by his greatest villains. It’s a clever conceit,
and--to the show’s credit--doesn’t shy away from asking difficult questions
about the more negative aspects of Batman’s modus
operandi.
23. Appointment in Crime Alley
Comic book writer Denny O’Neil created Leslie
Thompkins in an attempt to widen out Batman’s worldview, wishing to tell a
story that didn’t have Batman save the day by punching out criminals. The
character has since gone on to become a fixture in the Bat-mythos, and made her
first appearance outside of a comic book with this episode. Batman has a very
important appointment to keep with Leslie, but keeps being interrupted by a
chaotic night in Gotham City. It all culminates with a plot to blow up Crime
Alley by corrupt businessman Roland Daggett as a part of urban redevelopment,
with Leslie getting drawn into the conflict as a bystander. The overall plot
tying everything together feels a bit like a cheap way to tie everything
together in the end, but the episode still works as a testament to the Leslie
Thompkins character and the alternate viewpoint she brings to Batman’s world.
22. Second Chance
This episode is an excellent example of how the
show’s creators could utilize the singular world they set up around their title
character to maximum effect. Two-Face is set to have radical plastic surgery to
fix his scars, but someone plots to stop it before it begins, leading Batman to
tear a swath across Gotham City’s underworld and uncover which of Two-Face’s
many enemies could be responsible for the sabotage. Characters like Rupert
Thorne and the Penguin weave in and out of the story, elements the show could
draw upon to help sell the idea that this was a living, breathing world all its
own. And the ultimate twist of who’s responsible for stopping Two-Face’s
surgery is the type of beautiful character reveal the show excelled at when it
was firing on all cylinders.
21. Read My Lips
One of the better Bat-villains to come along in the
modern age was the Ventriloquist, a split personality who manifests his darker
half via his dummy, Scarface. This episode mines all the possibilities that
this twisted character provides, playing like a cross between old hardboiled
pulp paperbacks and that one episode of Alfred
Hitchcock Presents that featured a killer puppet. George Dzundza gives a
brilliant dual performance as both the Ventriloquist and Scarface, and the
episode has a nice, jazzy score to go along with the film noir visuals.
20. Almost Got ’Im
“Almost Got ’Im” is another classic episode, a Paul
Dini-pinned tale that features five of Batman’s major rogues gathering together
for a poker game and each trading stories of the times where they came closest
to defeating Batman once and for all. Each little vignette is wafer-thin on
their own, but put together in an “omnibus” of sorts makes for a an episode
that is a delight to watch, and the small sight gags the animators work in for
each character makes it even better on rewatch.
19. Mad Love
Harley Quinn was unquestionably the most ingenious
addition provided to the Batman world via the animated series, so the show’s
creators had a mighty task ahead of them when it came time to finally unveil
her origin story. Originally told as a prestige format comic book by Paul Dini
and Bruce Timm, Mad Love was later
adapted into an episode when the show was retooled as The New Batman Adventures. Casting Harley Quinn as the former
psychiatrist at Arkham assigned to the Joker who eventually fell in love with
her patient was a rare stroke of genius--the perfect twisted origin that kept
Harley in line with Batman’s psychologically-damaged rogues but still kept true
to an original character that was unlike any other in Batman’s world, or even
mainstream superhero comics at the time. Originally able to loosen their belts
with a format that allowed the story to be told with more mature themes, what’s
most surprising about the adaptation is how much of that survived the
translation from comics to animation--the animated version pulls no punches in
portraying the Joker’s abusive relationship to Harley for what it is.
18. Mad as a Hatter
One of the reasons Batman: The Animated Series was so resonant as a whole was in how it
took existing villains and refashioned them into characters with
clearly-defined motivations. It’s not surprising, since Batman’s origin and
motivation was what separated him instantly from other heroes of the day like
the Shadow or Doc Savage. Taking an otherwise one-trick character like the Mad
Hatter and giving him a backstory of social awkwardness and unrequited love is
oddly fitting, as it is entirely in keeping with the character’s central gimmick
of using mind control to get what he wants. The Hatter’s a creep, for sure, but
a sad, pitiable creep, and Roddy McDowell’s masterful performance is at turns
equally unsettling and heartbreaking.
17. Harlequinade
The Joker acquires an atomic bomb and holds Gotham
City to ransom, and the only way Batman and the police can track him down is to
free an incarcerated Harley Quinn and persuade her to turn on her beloved Mr.
J. Thus begins a madcap comedy of errors, as Batman works together uneasily
with Harley to find the Joker and stop him before he blows Gotham off the map.
The Batman/Harley pairing is a fertile ground for some Odd Couple-styled humor,
including a memorable jaunt through an underground speakeasy where Harley saves
her and Batman’s skins by performing a musical number. It concludes in a
fantastic set-piece involving the Joker and a prop-driven aircraft, and a
pretty great final scene where it initially appears Harley is ready to break
off her relationship with the Joker by finishing him.
16. Legends of the Dark Knight
This is a fun episode, especially for comic fans and
historians of Batman’s deep and storied legacy. The set-up couldn’t be more
simple: a group of kids are walking the streets of Gotham one evening, and the
conversation eventually turns to the Batman. Each kid claims to know what the
hero is really like, and proceeds to regale the others with differing visions
of the Dark Knight, and that’s where the really fun stuff begins--each kid’s
story is animated in the style of a famous Batman artist, so we get an
anthology consisting of the do-gooder Dick Sprang Batman of the 40’s and 50’s
side-by-side with a truncated adaptation of Frank Miller’s seminal Dark Knight Returns (confession time: I
prefer this short segment to the later, two-part animated film adaptation of DKR). The ending is a bit of a let-down,
as the real Batman shows up to save the kids from… Firefly, and the kids get to
see that he’s a little bit like their own versions. But weak ending or no, the
individual segments capture their respective artist’s styles to
near-perfection, and it’s hard to see Batman fans of all eras not getting a
kick out of it.
15. The Ultimate Thrill
Out of all the characters created for the animated
series, Roxy Rocket not catching on with the wider public bums me out the most.
I suppose she is a character that doesn’t fit in with the modern Nolan/Arkham games aesthetic that drives much
of the Bat-media we get today, but Roxy is a fun character that could
absolutely carry a series of her own. A former stuntwoman who found the
controlled thrills of movie sets limiting, she got hold of a flying rocket and
started getting her kicks by staging daring robberies. It’s a relentlessly fun
episode packed with exciting set-pieces and wickedly-clever dialogue, including
some pretty obvious sexual innuendos that I’m surprised the animators got away
with.
14. The Laughing Fish
Two famous Joker stories provide the basis for this
episode, the titular “Laughing Fish” and “The Joker’s Five Way Revenge.” After
developing a new compound that allows him to induce Joker smiles onto fish, the
Joker is incensed when copyright and patent offices refuse to let him lay legal
claim to his new product, and seeks to enact his revenge on all of them. It’s
an odd set-up storyline to be sure, feeling more like a scheme Caesar Romero
would have tired pulling off in the sixties, but the horror-tinged atmosphere
permeating the whole show gives the episode an undeniable creepiness, and the
final standoff between the Joker and Batman is one of the series’ finest
moments.
13. Harley & Ivy
I don’t know what the initial inspiration for
teaming Bat-villains Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy was, but whatever led to their
pairing resulted in a long-lasting partnership that has ingrained itself into not
just the Bat-mythos, but the wider DC Universe as a whole. It all starts here,
as a down-on-her-luck Harley happens to bump into Poison Ivy during a robbery,
and the two decide they have a better chance at making it out together rather
than apart. The two have an instant chemistry, with Harley’s child-like
goofiness playing off of Ivy’s cool, sultry nature. The jokes are layered
enough to land with kids and adults alike, and performers Arleen Sorkin and
Diane Pershing never sounded better in their respective roles as Harley and
Ivy.
12. Mudslide
I don’t know what it is about the character, but the
villain Clayface always seems to bring out the best in the show’s creators
whenever he turns up. This time, the former Hollywood star-turned-psychotic
mudman has seemingly found a permanent cure for his condition, which is growing
increasingly unstable by the day. Clayface/Matt Hagen is helped in this cause
by Stella, a former medical advisor he knew from his film days who’s developed
a way for him to return to normal. It’s a humanistic portrayal of a very
complicated relationship, as Stella’s feelings for Hagen are clearly not
returned, and Clayface is only giving her the time of day to receive the
treatment that will put him back together again. It all culminates in a tragic
showdown with Batman, with one especially memorable moment of Clayface
absorbing Batman into himself in an attempt to suffocate him, before the
villain takes a tumble into a Cliffside ocean and dissolves into a watery
grave… Until the writers decided to bring him back, of course.
11. You Scratch My Back
The now-grown, be-mulleted Dick Grayson had already
made a brief appearance in the previous episode “Sins of the Father,” but makes
his full debut as Nightwing in this action-packed, full-throttle episode. With
his relationship to the Bat-family as frosty as ever, Nightwing gets mixed up
with Catwoman while investigating a smuggling operation. Bringing Nightwing
into the show’s continuity was incredibly exciting at the time, since the
character has always been beloved as the cooler older brother of the DC
universe. Nightwing’s uneasy alliance and flirtacious banter with Catwoman
provides ample story and character opportunities, and the animation and
choreography of the various action set-pieces never looked better.
10. Beware the Gray Ghost
Even if this episode didn’t feature Adam West in the
perfect guest role, this would still contain the raw ingredients for a classic
episode. We get our first looks at young Bruce Wayne, inches from the television
as he watches his favorite TV show, chronicling a Shadow-esque hero called the
Gray Ghost, who it turns out had quite the influence on Batman, himself. All
the meta-references inform the episode before you even get to the ultimate
meta-reference of them all, having West voice the actor who played the Gray
Ghost, was subsequently typecast and has trouble getting work in the present
day. The reveal of the villain’s motivations is the only weak spot, but his
plan provides the two heroes with enough of an excuse to team-up and play
against each other (also, small side-note: the episode makes you wonder if
Batman truly understands the concept of acting as make-believe, as he keeps
badgering an older actor who only played a superhero on TV to put on a cape and
help him with the case in the very real present).
9. On Leather Wings
The very first episode is still one of the absolute
best, as it lays down the framework and sets the tone for what is still the ideal translation of the Batman character into any medium. The script is a bit
simple compared to the emotional and thematic highs the show would later reach,
but provides all the elements that would go on to define what the series’
interpretation was all about: the dark, pulpy tone that was somewhere between
film noir and classic horror, tragic villains who were motivated by more than
just doing evil for evil’s sake and Batman’s detective-work being highlighted
just as much as his physical prowess. Man-Bat may have been a curious choice to
the uninitiated for the series’ debut villain, but he winds up being the best
possible choice in allowing the show to plant its flag in the ground in stating
what the show was going to be, and the climax of Batman and the Man-Bat
sweeping over the beautifully-painted Gotham cityscapes remains breathtaking to
this day--all resulting in an episode that you just want to watch over and over
again.
8. P.O.V.
It was pretty rare for a cartoon to take inspiration
from Rashomon, but that’s B:TAS for you: a show that routinely
traded in small, intimate crime stories as much as it did in world-threatening
stakes. Batman exists only on the periphery in this one, as three cops are
called in to testify and recount their version of events of a sting gone wrong.
The differing interpretations of the event and Batman himself give an alternate
viewpoint of this world and the Dark Knight who protects it, and also provide
definition for the three cops; chief amongst them Officer Montoya, another
jewel that the series gifted to the larger Bat-universe, and a character who
has remained an important fixture in the DCU ever since.
7. Showdown
One of the very best Batman episodes has very little Batman in it, as this episode is
mostly a flashback to years past. The benefit of a character like Ra’s al Ghul
is that his elongated life-span allows for stories like this, where the action
is moved to the American West of the 1880’s and Ra’s is plotting a takeover of
the U.S. government with a high-powered zeppelin warship. The only thing
standing in his way? A certain scarred bounty hunter with a penchant for
one-liners. He wouldn’t be the first hero you’d expect to guest star on B:TAS, but Jonah Hex fits into the
format of the show like a well-worn jacket, and considering this episode was
penned by long-time Hex scribe Joe
Lansdale, nearly every line of dialogue that comes out of his scarred mouth is
solid gold. Incredible voice actors (the likes of Malcolm McDowell, Elizabeth
Montgomery and William McKinney) add to the lively steampunk western vibe, and the
last minute reveal in the present day is the cherry on top.
6. Growing Pains
Many have decried the revamped New Batman Adventures for the sometimes drastic redesigns and the
inclusion of a younger Robin, proclaiming it a “kiddie-fied” version of the
original animated series, but the opposite could not be more true--case in
point, this episode, where the younger Robin Tim Drake befriends an orphaned
girl on the run from someone, with no memory of who she is or where she came
from. It’s the type of story that could only have worked with this version of
Robin, and the final twist of who the girl actually is by turns equally clever
and heartbreaking. It culminates in a downer climax that’s as sophisticated as
anything to be found in the original run of B:TAS,
in which Robin learns that not every story gets a happy ending.
5. Perchance to Dream
The Mad Hatter traps Batman in his latest mind
control device, this one providing its user with his or her deepest desire. In
Batman’s case, it’s a world where his parents were never killed, where he’s a
carefree playboy engaged to be married to Selina Kyle. Bruce Wayne refuses to
accept it, however, realizing something is amiss once he sees someone else
posing as Batman in this manufactured dream-world. It’s one of the oldest
questions in philosophy, whether or not you could be happy once discovering
everything around you is a lie, and for the pragmatic Batman, there’s only one
choice--a climactic final confrontation between Wayne and the Hatter that ends
with a quite-literal leap of faith, which could alternately be read as a kind
of suicide.
4. The Demon’s Quest Parts 1&2
The fate of the world was something that was never
really in play in the largely Gotham-bound original animated series, which made
its appearance in this epic two-parter all the more special. Ra’s al Ghul makes
his full debut here after being teased in “Off-Balance,” the first part of
which is almost a line-by-line adaptation of his first appearance in the
comics. The Demon’s Head’s first encounter with Batman is in the Batcave, being
one of the few villains to have correctly deduced his civilian identity. He
appears at first to be on Batman’s side, as both their “children” (Robin and
Ra’s’ daughter, Talia) have been kidnapped. It’s all a ruse, of course, and
Batman soon finds himself running afoul of Ra’s ultimate plan to cleanse the
world of its human population and restore to it to its former green, pristine
state. It’s a globe-trotting, James Bondian episode that recalls everything
from Raiders of the Lost Ark to Lawrence of Arabia, all of it
culminating in shirtless sword fight between Batman and Ra’s--one of the
goofiest, most homoerotic scenes I’ve ever seen in a cartoon, made all the more
goofy by the fact that Batman keeps his mask on for the duration of the fight
(just like he did in the original Denny O’Neil/Neal Adams comics). I kind of
love it, and eagerly await the day DC Collectibles announces an action figure
two-pack for their B:TAS line.
3. Two-Face Parts 1&2
What was great about B:TAS’ interpretation of Two-Face is that the audience first got to
know the character as Bruce Wayne’s best friend, Gotham D.A. Harvey Dent--which
made his eventual turn all the more shocking for those who weren’t already
deeply invested in the comics. The first half of this two-part episode is
undeniably the superior entry, as we see the tragic circumstances that led to
Dent getting half his face scarred, but once again, the true genius of the show
lies in its careful reinterpretations of Batman’s classic villains. B:TAS was the first to suggest that Dent
already had immense psychological scars before he acquired the physical ones.
It’s heavy stuff, and the first half plays not like a superhero adventure but
rather an intensely psychological character study. The second part doesn’t
quite live up to the first, both in the writing and animation, but it’s solid
enough, and largely able to coast on the goodwill established in the first
part.
2. Heart of Ice
“Heart of Ice” has long been considered the best episode
of the entire series, for good reason. It took Mr. Freeze, a ridiculous villain
that no one had much use for previously, and completely rethought him from the
ground up, using his cold motif not only as a gimmick but a thematic starting
point for a character who is dead to all emotion. It revamped the villain’s
origin, giving Freeze a compelling motivation by having him lose his wife in the
same accident that caused his frozen condition. But aside from the fresh take
on an old character, “Heart of Ice” excels in nearly every other regard, whether
it’s writer Paul Dini’s poetic, whipsmart dialogue, Bruce Timm’s assured
direction of both slick action scenes and high character drama or the smooth
and beautifully-rendered animation courtesy of the Spectrum animation studio. Like
the rest of the series, it’s a story that is representative of what is best in
Batman, bringing together all of the elements of the character and his world in
a perfect way.
1. Over the Edge
There is a great debate over the merits of dream sequences in narrative, the chief argument revolving around whether the stakes can have any lasting impact on the characters if the events in the dream don’t actually happen. It’s a bullshit argument, in my opinion--just because something is revealed to have not really taken place doesn’t remove from the impact it had on either the audience or the characters themselves; what matters is whether the emotion behind it reads as truthful, which is part of the reason this episode works as well as it does. “Over the Edge” presents a what-if scenario of what would happen if one of the Bat-family were to fall in the line of duty, and the ramifications that follow. Considering that said Bat-family member is Batgirl/Barbara Gordon, the daughter of police commissioner Jim Gordon, it becomes the darkest timeline as Batman has his identity outed and is on the run from the police, with his former friend and mentor leading the charge. The events continue to spiral out of control, before the episode climaxes with a tragic showdown that ends with lives ruined and friendships broken. Honestly, the fact that it all turns out to be a Scarecrow-induced nightmare in the end is a relief. But, aside from the charge the audience gets from seeing the unthinkable occur, the episode works as well as it does partially because it plays on the very real anxieties of Barbara, whose anxiety at keeping her night life a secret from her dad is clearly beginning to bother her. The true ending of “Over the Edge” is as sweet as the false one is horrifying, the perfect bow to cap the very best episode of the series.
No comments:
Post a Comment