Topic: Batman: The Animated Series

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I really need to watch Vol. 2-4 myself! I may have to borrow them from you before too long Britt!

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30. Perchance to Dream
Bruce Wayne wakes up one morning to find that his life is completely upside-down: his parents are alive, the Batcave does not exist, Alfred does not remember Robin, and he is engaged to Selina Kyle. However, it doesn't mean that Batman isn't still around, and Bruce starts to wonder what has happened, especially after seeing the characteristics of a dream (such as book and newspaper prints not making sense) inside this new life.

My Thoughts:
 
Ok, hard enough to swallow here somehow Bruce’s parents are fine and he’s marrying Selena Kyle (who for some reason doesn’t seem to be Catwoman either) but someone else is Batman. While he actually believed the delusion for a bit, it was nice to see him really happy. A good switch for an episode. And then, you know, have him freak out instead of approaching it logically. Yeah, that’s cool too. Well, at least it looked like Wayne freaked out. Good to see he was able to make sense out of it and realize it was … the Mad Hatter. Um, not exactly the most diabolical/famous villain, but it made since. A nice “What if?” episode. 

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31. The Cape and Cowl Conspiracy
Baron Jozek, furious at Batman for humiliating him at a dinner party (over Jozek's underworld connections), hires Josiah Wormwood, a master in setting traps for his victims, to hunt down Batman and bring back the hero's cape and cowl.

My Thoughts:
 
Here is a villain made up for the show, or at least I think so – Wormwood, an interrogator who used death traps to get information now working as a criminal and setting his sights on Batman. I have to say, it’s got my attention, though it’d take more than some quicksand to pose a threat to Batman. Ah, and here was the premiere of the Batsignal!! Nice. And Wormwood stood up to the plate with the challenge with riddles and Saw-esque conundrums minus the gore. I enjoy this.
And WOW what a twist at the end!!

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32 & 33. Robin's Reckoning Parts 1 & 2
During a fight with some gangsters at a construction yard, Batman and Robin learn the name of their boss: Billy Marin. While Robin looks forward to going up against Marin, Batman becomes distant, and after a falling out at the Batcave, Batman doesn't allow Robin to accompany him on the search for Marin. Robin investigates on the Batcomputer, and soon realises that Billy Marin is not the boss' real name. Rather, it is an alias of Tony Zucco, the man who killed his parents.

My Thoughts:
 
First, I’d like to say in the opening, Robin’s pretty funny, Lol. And real early you can tell the strain between Grayson and Bats. This also has a nice little flashback of Robin’s origins. And he’s been “away at college” so there’s a reason why he hasn’t been in many episodes. Yeah. The writers can think up an excuse for when they do/don’t wanna use characters!!  Seems pretty cool overall, what with merging present and past. And Bruce cheating him out of putting away a guy he’s waited half his life to get back at? Ooh, I can see why Robin’s so mad.

 I continued this to share my views of both parts in one swoop, because this was so well put together I don’t think of it as To Be Continued, I think of it as one big double-length episode. Also, I’d like to add that young Robin is one tough little kid!! Grown up Robin’s tougher.

Quick thing to point out, I also liked how the wounded Batman hid behind the “Sitting Duck Shooting Gallery”, lol 

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34. The Laughing Fish
Fishermen discover that Gotham's fish all have the Joker's colors and signature smile. Batman investigates, and realises that the Joker is hoping to make money off of these new fish by having them trademarked.

My Thoughts:
 
  Yay!! Harley, my favorite!!  First Joker attacks the fishies, then tries to copyright them to get profits for selling smiling seafood and makes a commercial where he force-feeds it to Harley and dresses his henchmen up like kids!! Yes Al, you were right, that would cause a stampede to pork…. I have to say, Batman laughing is really creepy. A hilarious episode, and I agree with Harley - - fish are disgusting.

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35. Night of the Ninja
A mysterious ninja is robbing Wayne Enterprises subsidiaries, and Batman discovers that the ninja is actually his equal in combat. A grudge against Bruce Wayne and skills to match him can only mean one person: Kyodai Ken, an old rival of Wayne's from his days in Japan, and whom was thrown out of the dojo after attempting to rob it, only to be stopped by Wayne. Ken, it turns out, wants revenge.

My Thoughts:
 
Ooh, ninjas!! I like!! Ah, and here you see Robin come back again and Bruce’s roots in martial arts. And what’s the reason Bats is so worked up he didn’t want Robin involved? Cuz the ninja beat him in Japan…alot…. A little on the shallow side to be the reason, but ok. Sorta makes sense. Personal score and all. And the dude’s angry cuz he got kicked out of the dojo, pretty standard revenge motive. Decent action. 

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36. Cat Scratch Fever
Batman must stop Roland Daggett's plan to release a viral plague designed by Professor Milo into Gotham by way of its stray cat population. The case gains new urgency when Catwoman becomes infected with the virus during her search for her missing cat, Isis.

My Thoughts:
 
Aw, I have to feel so sorry in this episode. Even I’m starting to miss Isis!    I admit the evil animal kidnappers have been seen multiple times before, but this is ok.
It’s nice to see growing character in Selena. If I remember right, she went good later on in the comics too. It may have been a little soon in the series, but that’s fine I guess. I still love the end reunion. 

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37. The Strange Secret of Bruce Wayne
After a prominent judge is injured during a struggle with some thugs demanding money from her in exchange for a strange tape, Bruce Wayne decides to take a trip to Yucca Springs, a resort where the judge had vacationed, and consult Dr. Hugo Strange, a psychiatrist. Bruce soon learns that Strange has invented a machine that extracts people's darkest secrets from their minds and transfers them to videotape—and now Strange has proof of Bruce's secret identity as Batman and plans to auction it to three of Gotham's prominent crime bosses.

My Thoughts:
 
Wow!! Robin appears once more!! What a shocker!! You’d think that once he’s in continuity they would put him in more. I get the cover that he’s in college, but Grayson from the start should’ve been a kid like in the The Batman series. But moving on….

No one like Hugo Strange to make a machine to project your traumas like a movie. Auctioning it off to the Joker? Cruel, but clever. I like the way he thinks.  And Two-Face? Penguin? Four’s really a crowd for my taste, but kudos on the writers for bringing the villains together. I won’t reveal much more, but I will say it was a nice touch for Joker’s flight badge to be from a box of cereal. Cool twist end too.

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38/39. Heart of Steel Parts 1 & 2
Barbara Gordon approaches Batman to inform him of her father's sudden change in behaviour. A brutal fight between Batman and Detective Bullock ensues, during which Batman pushes Bullock onto the Bat Signal, and reveals him to actually be an android, meaning that the real Bullock and James Gordon have gone missing, and Batman knows who the culprit is: H.A.R.D.A.C. Can he stop the evil supercomputer before it's too late?

My Thoughts:
 
As I’m watching this (cuz I type while I watch to save time, without even reading description) I’m bored out of my mind, but hey! Barbara’s here! Hmm, where’s the Batgirl episode? This one maybe?  Nope. Ah, I remember it now. Seen it before. And I know I compare these two shows a lot, but I miss the “I gonna do what I want no matter what Batman says, Doing it the Way I like it” air to Batgirl I saw in The Batman. Y’know, the “Whoo-hoo!! I’m Batgirl!!” aspect. What can I say? I know her father just went missing and she starts out in college for some reason, but I like a childlike Barbara!! 

Admittingly, other than Barb I found it a little on the boring side, but I’d watch it again sometime. I like the Chameleon aspect to the comtuper infiltrating everyone's lives.

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40. If You're So smart, Why Aren't You Rich?
Edward Nygma creates the game, "The Riddle of the Minotaur", and makes millions for the company Competitron. He is then fired by his superior, Daniel Mockridge, who wants the profits for himself. Nygma vows revenge, and two years later, he takes up the mantle of the Riddler and traps Mockridge inside a life-sized version of the Minotaur maze. Batman's sympathy is with Nygma, but he and Robin have to stop him before he kills Mockridge, despite the fact that Mockridge cannot legally be brought to justice. 

My Thoughts:
 
Huh, Robin’s loving a video game. Did the writers make up their minds? Did they want Grayson young or older? Then again, I guess college and video games may go hand in hand….

Nice twist on the Riddler’s origin. He’s a bit more sophisticated than I’m used to, but I think that may have been to separate him from the Joker. Fun to watch Batman and Robin go through the maze.       

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41.Joker's Wild
Cameron Kaiser builds a Casino Hotel modeled after the Joker, called the Joker's Wild. The Joker sees this on the news, and, enraged, escapes from Arkham again, with one thought on his mind: destroying the casino, unaware that this is exactly what Kaiser wants him to do as part of an insurance claim.

My Thoughts:
 
Ah, the wonders of WB owning DC. Joker came in whistling Looney Tunes and went all George “Nope nope nope, don’t want to.”  And in the end he was trying to watch Bugs Bunny!!

Ok, that was a funny joke on his part. And did I spot an Easter egg with Harley at the opening of the casino?? Nope, saw her twice. Four times. People in that casino dress as Harley too. “Joker is a long-standing symbol in cards”, yeah right…

Playing the Joker for a fool? Fun episode!! I like it!!

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42. Tyger, Tyger
Selina Kyle is kidnapped by the villainous genetic engineer Dr. Emile Dorian and becomes his latest experiment to provide his man-cat hybrid named Tygrus with a mate. Batman learns of this and comes to the island to rescue Selina. He is captured and forced into a deadly game of cat-and-flying mouse as Tygrus hunts Batman through the island's jungles.

My Thoughts:
 
A cat transformation episode, reminiscent of something I saw on Scooby-Doo no doubt, and I find later in this episode that the title comes from a poem. I suspect no one in the typical audience would get that, but whatever. Funny how the male experiment is named Tigress. I’m thinking Mr. Scientist wanted a girl, lol. Average episode.

[Rogmeister]

Well, I'm glad to see you reviewing episodes of this series again.  It's definitely one of the best super-hero series out there.  The Riddler was used a lot in the old TV show but he was surprisingly not used that much in the actual comics.  I really only remember reading a couple of comic book stories featuring The Riddler.

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yeah, I had a lot of school work to do, along with job hunting and getting some other paperwork straight. but, I'm back!! 

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a little update: i wanted to start on this again today, but i.....well, I got a little distracted - - by Soul Eater. So yeah, when I finish up on my anime fix i'll be back to Batman.