Category: cartoon

The Legacy of Batman

Return of the Joker

Batman gets to work and interrupts a heist by the Jokerz; a new group we haven’t seen in the show.  There’s a spot of gentlemanly behavior, when he hesitates to hit the pair of girls.  There’s no such hesitation after they taser and kick him.  Of course, Batman stands out from other heroes and saves one of the girls when they start to plummet to their death.  Her twin sister rescues her.  Destruction is caused, but one of the Jokerz gets away with a computer component.  When they meet up with their mysterious boss later, it’s not enough.  When one of the gang members speaks out on his frustration with their current jobs for the mysterious boss, the boss shoots him.  Okay, this is something new…and made a bit worse by the revelation that the original Joker is back and he is ready to give Gotham a wedgie.

Back in the Batcave, Bruce can still throw a batarang with precision.  And his company has dropped “Powers” from their name, returning to Wayne Enterprises.  Bruce is taking more control of his company again.  He keeps an eye on his protégé and questions Terry’s decision to go out that evening; he’s sore and tired, but Terry quips back, “the night is young and so am I.”  That lasts all of a couple minutes once he hits the club with Dana; he falls asleep on her.  Later, at a Wayne Enterprises party, the Joker’s laugh interrupts the festivities.  Terry, as Bruce’s assistant, tries to head off some of the Jokerz gang.  Once Bruce is fine for the moment (he takes out one member with a cane), he tells his assistant to “go to work.”  A minute later, Batman swoops in to save the patrons.  The Joker rises out of the floor and causes mayhem, but ultimately escapes.  Terry grouses to Bruce later in the cave that he should have gone after the Joker, but Bruce reassures him he did the right thing by saving the people.  However, he won’t talk about the Joker.

Terry switches tactics and goes to Barbara Gordon; “what do you know about clowns?”  “In this town, they’re never funny.”  And she refuses to talk.  Terry comes back to the cave to see Bruce going over the Joker’s file.  He is listed as deceased, yet when Bruce runs an analysis on the voices from the archive and from the previous night, they are a match.  When Terry asks again, Bruce calls the man a psychopath and a monster; and he wants Terry to give back the suit.  He has no right to force this life on the young man, or anyone.  Terry disagrees; Bruce didn’t force the life on him, Terry stole the suit.  And they come from two different worlds.  For Terry, Batman is a way for him to make up for past sins (running with a gang, etc), this appeases his soul and is a chance for him to be a worthwhile human.

  “It’s what I want, Bruce.” 

“Stupid kid.  You don’t know want you want, none of you did,” Bruce retorts as he walks away.  Terry throws the suit as his feet and runs out.

With his new free time, Terry meets up with Dana at the club again.  Bright side, more time for her.  Bad side, less pocket money.  Their evening is interrupted when the Jokerz gang shows up and goes after Dana.  The two girls attempt to distract Terry while Dana is grabbed, but he fights them off.  Dana is hurt and Terry puts Chelsea in charge while he finishes off the gang.  He heads to Bruce, who has been working on Joker anti-toxin.  The clown himself shows up in the cave and greets Bruce “hello Batman.”  A gas fills the room.  By the time Terry arrives in the cave, the clown is gone, but he left graffiti and a mess.  Bruce is frozen on the floor, wheezing out a few words between a weird laugh.  Terry administers the anti-toxin in time and calls Barbara for help.  She finally opens up about what last transpired between Bruce and the Joker, still adamant that it’s not the real Joker, but Terry deserves answers. 

Dick Grayson had already left; Tim Drake was Robin.  He was abducted and she and Bruce spent three weeks searching for him before a clue was delivered.  The Joker and Harley Quinn had taken Robin to Arkham Asylum.  They decided they wanted a family of their own and decided to “borrow” one of the kids that Batman had lying around.  The Joker molded Robin into “Joker Jr” and not pleasantly.  He tortured the kid (and shows Batman a video) and now know who’s under the cowl.  Barbara goes after Harley, who falls several stories, though they never found the body.  Bruce goes after the Joker.  The Joker gets a lucky cut on Bruce and holds Batman up for Robin to kill.  Robin ends up shooting the Joker amidst laughing, then crying.  Barbara tells Terry they buried the Joker and Tim was able to put the events behind him after extensive therapy, but Bruce forbade him from ever donning the Robin costume again.  Tim eventually left as well.

Terry decides to pay Tim a visit while in the Bat suit.  Tim is adamant that he knows nothing about the Joker’s reappearance and he as much as anyone wishes the clown gone.  Besides, he was so sick of the crime-fighting that he never wanted to see his suit again.  Terry goes searching for other clues, Barbara sitting in the chair in the cave this time.  She does suggest that Terry look up Nightwing for more stories if he wants.  Batman checks on a disgruntled Wayne Enterprises employee, thinking he’s behind it, but finds the Jokerz gang there, ready to waste him.  Yes, the employee had been in on the one attack, but the man behind the scenes decided to tie up loose ends, sending a laser weapon after the man and Batman.  Batman saves him, but is more than happy to turn him over to the commissioner. 

Bruce is up and around a bit more now and apologizes to Terry; he never wanted the young man to go against the Joker.  Terry notes that he is a completely different Batman, he never was a Robin.  And it’s then that they notice the only costume the Joker completely shredded was Tim Drake’s old costume.  And Terry puts together the parts he knows the Jokerz have stolen and they align with Tim’s expertise.  Bruce tells him to suit up, and take Ace with him.  The Joker is not pleased that Terry has figured it out shoots down the Batmobile. 

Between Ace and Terry, they take out the Jokerz gang.  Terry finds Tim face down, but then the man starts acting funny and feels unwell.  Soon his body transforms and Tim Drake is not just in league with the Joker, he is the Joker.  Or rather, as the Joker explains, the old Joker implanted young Tim with a chip coded with the Joker’s genetics.  Tim doesn’t realize he is the Joker.  His first order of business is to threaten to either go after Dana, Mary and Matt, or Bruce.  Ace attacks and the fight begins.  The Joker knows all of the tricks from Bruce’s peek and Terry is out of his league.  Bruce suggests that Terry tries to drown out and power through the Joker’s talking.  Terry has a different idea.  He likes to talk too.  He mocks the Joker; it was sad that he fixated on Batman in the past; the man wouldn’t know a joke if it bit him in the cape.  Oh, and Terry fights dirty.  Proof the Joker doesn’t know him.  Terry laughs, the Joker is pathetic.  “Not funny,” the Joker growls.  “I thought you wanted to make Batman laugh!” Terry calls down from the rafters.  “You’re not Batman!”  The Joker gets a good hit and Terry’s on the ground, the Joker trying to choke him.  Terry picked up a joy buzzer and burns out the chip on Tim’s neck with it.  Terry manages to get himself, Tim, and Ace out of the hideout before the laser (that has been running through Gotham) hits.

Terry visits Tim in the hospital alongside Barbara.  Tim thanks him and compliments that “Bruce couldn’t have chosen anyone better to put on the mask.”  Bruce actually shows up to visit Tim.  Before Terry leaves, Bruce corrects his earlier statement; “it’s not Batman who make you worthwhile, it’s the other way round.”  (On a funny note, Dee Dee, the twin girls from the Jokerz gang, have their bail paid by their grandmother, Nana Harley [Quinn]).  At the end, Terry stands over Gotham, in the suit, ready for work.  He slips on the mask and swoops into action.

As already stated, Terry McGinnis as Batman makes a few more appearances in the DC Animated Universe.  He shows up in an episode of Static Shock, where a young Static time-travels to the future, meeting old Bruce Wayne and the new Batman (and having to help break his future-self free from the Kobra gang).  He also appears as part of the two-part episode Once and Future Thing in Justice League Unlimited.  In the first half, Batman (Bruce Wayne), the Green Lantern, and Wonder Woman chase a thief named Chronos to the past, specifically, the Wild West.  They then end up following him to the future in the second half and there meet the older Static, Warhawk (who happens to be the Green Lantern’s son), and younger Batman.  Also featured are the new Jokerz gang that were introduced in Return of the Joker…with some upgrades.  The heroes manage to escape, after taking a beating and Batman leads them to the new Justice League headquarters, the old Hamilton Hill High School.  The Watchtower had been attacked and most of the members killed.  Old Bruce enters at that moment to keep everyone from dwelling on the bad; they’ve got a mission to attend to.  Bruce faces his younger counterpart and comments “surprised to see me?”  “A little,” original Batman remarks, though he’s more surprised to see he lived that long. Terry quips “Batman, Bruce Wayne, Bruce Wayne, Batman…or, have you met?”  They deliver “not now!” at the same time, so he gripes “what did they use to call it, stereo?”

The main issue is that the time line is becoming polluted, as original Batman notes, and Bruce responds that history is becoming fluid.  This needs to be stopped.  Batman writes a program to put an end to Chronos’s time travel belt; now they just have to find him.  Terry tries to warn Batman he doesn’t know the new town.  “Are criminals superstitious and cowardly [and we laugh because of the musical!]?”  “Yup,” Bruce responds.  They catch one of the gang and original Batman’s method of interrogation is to hang him over a building and tell him to talk before his arm gets tired.  Bruce hauls the criminal away and growls he can’t believe he was ever that green…his cane is a bit menacing in his hand, but he succeeds.  They can get to Chronos through his wife.  

There is a final showdown between the League and the Jokerz while time itself unravels.  Dee Dee pins Terry and electrocutes him.  We hear his cries of pain, then Bruce at the school shouts “Terry!”  Then silence.  But Green Lantern and Batman follow Chronos who wants to see the beginning of time and put a stop to the madness.  They end up back at the Watchtower from when everything started; the only ones to remember the events (and putting everything back in order).

Justice League Unlimited also brought us Epilogue.  We’re even farther in the future; Terry has bulked up and sneaks into Amanda Waller’s residence for some answers.  Apparently, Bruce needed a new kidney and Terry was found to be a perfect match.  The odds of that are suspicious, so he does a DNA test and discovers his DNA matches that of Bruce, not Warren McGinnis.  There is a scene where Terry confronts Bruce about it and also where he breaks things off with Dana, but these turn out to be just a dream.  Terry is mad at Bruce, thinking he meddled, but Amanda admits it was her doing; Project Batman Beyond.  She used project Cadmus (which, the Joker used on young Tim Drake in the flashback of Return of the Joker; Terry admits it was as low blow when he accused Bruce of it) and Batman’s DNA from crime scenes; then she overwrote Warren McGinnis’s reproductive DNA to that of Bruce and so when he and Mary had a son, Terry, he was in fact, Bruce’s son.  (This was a way to explain how both Matt and Terry have dark hair while their parents have ginger hair; Warren and Mary were selected since they had similar psychological profiles to Bruce’s parents.)  Amanda originally had planned that Warren and Mary would be killed while Terry was a child to mimic the tragedy Bruce underwent to become Batman, but the assassin backed out, arguing it was not what Batman would want.  So life continued unassuming until Paxton Powers had Warren McGinnis murdered and Terry met Bruce as a sixteen-year-old.  She urges Terry not to make the same mistakes as Bruce and points out that he is Bruce’s son, not his clone.  He doesn’t have quite the brilliant mind that Bruce does, but his heart is just as big, if not bigger. 

The episode ends up Terry contemplating an engagement ring for Dana, then helping Bruce out with his meds and vowing to continue to be Batman.  Bruce urges the younger man to eat something before attending to League duties.  Terry quips he’s stubborn, like his old man.

First, my thoughts on Return of the Joker; I think it’s a great continuation of the Batman Beyond story and a reasonable way to bring back Batman’s greatest enemy.  Because who would have ever expected that the Joker was hiding in Robin?  And the showdown between Terry as Batman and the Joker is great.  Terry is a different Batman and he doesn’t have a history with the Joker.  I wouldn’t say he’s not emotionally involved in the fight, because this man did harm his mentor (I’m sure running down to find Bruce gave Terry flashbacks to finding his father).  Terry also shows that he’s not a brash teenager any longer; when Bruce doesn’t want to talk about something, he does back off, same with Barbara.  But he is correct that he deserves answers.  Also, Bruce doesn’t waste time telling Terry off for suspecting Tim; Bruce trusts Terry’s skills.  And he tries to help during the showdown with the Joker, giving Terry advice.  And I think it’s a bit sweet that Barbara fills in for Bruce after the Joker’s laughing gas attack.

And the irony of Mark Hamill aka Luke Skywalker voicing the Joker will never not be funny (and it will always be funnier that he voiced Fire Lord Ozai in Avatar: The Last Airbender)

As for the Justice League episodes; Epilogue at least gives us a proper ending to the series (as does Return of the Joker; Unmasked was pathetic and lame).  And I agree that it gives us a reasonable explanation to the family non-resemblance Terry has with his parents.  On the one hand, it’s sweet that Bruce has a biological son, though in the lore, he adopted Tim Drake (apparently Dick Grayson was a ward, which had some standing; I reiterate, Batman lore is not my strong suit, I just like this show).  Terry will continue his legacy not just as Batman, but potentially as a Wayne (he’d have to find some way to explain that to the public pending circumstances).  And as Amanda points out, Terry is Bruce’s son, not a clone.  He is not Bruce Wayne, he’s still just Terry.  His decisions were his own.  On the other hand, there is a more compelling story of Terry being Batman with no blood connection to Bruce.  I’m glad the episode ended well nevertheless.

As for Once and Future Thing, Terry is hilarious at times.  I’m a bit sad to realize he was essentially killed at one point, though relieved that it was erased.  It’s a satisfactory story, though I mainly watch it for the “Batman meet Bruce Wayne” bit.

This was one series I explored fanfiction early on.  I have several recommendations that I repeatedly re-read:

Katfairy has “Beyond Knightfall” where Terry lands is a spot of trouble and his friends have to help him out (though I wish it would be completed), and “Divine Secrets of the YoYo Sisterhood.”  It has a good mix of drama and humor.

“Virus” by ChampagneWishes could be another episode in the show.

Bumpkin has some good little scenes in “Welcome to My World,” “An ‘Inside Peek’ into Mary’s Mind,” and “Nelson’s Wake Up Call.”

Tomy’s “Reparation” is excellent and “Reclamation” is good as well.

Jadeling has a whole series of stories, most especially “Lover, Friends, and Family.”

And if you want a hilarious crossover joke, try “Ron Beyond” by speedster.

Next Time: Batman Forever and Batman and Robin with Chris O’Donnell.

“Anything broken?” “If I said yes, could I go home?” “No.”

Season Three

The Royal Flush Gang is back in King’s Ransom, minus Ten.  And King gets angry if you mention her.  Turns out he’s working with Paxton Powers; well, more like Paxton’s assistant.  King is having an affair from his Queen.  She’s not happy with the state of the family, things are not like when her father was in charge.  King tries holding Paxton for ransom, but Bruce won’t deal.  If King has a problem, Paxton wrote the policy.  Though Bruce is now able to nail Paxton on some crimes (and Barbara has a snarky comeback when Paxton protests being arrested; he’d never try to kill Bruce, he was like a father to him.  Well, Bruce doesn’t glow in the dark like Paxton’s real father).  And when Queen finds out about the affair, she goes after her husband.  King protests to Batman, “do you have any idea what it’s like living in someone’s shadow?!”  (Yes, he does.)  On a happier note, Melanie stays out of the criminal activity and even pays Jack’s bail so he can have a fresh start.

There is a thief running around Gotham, stealing isotopes and wearing a force field, making him Untouchable.  Bruce and Terry investigate the force field and discover that Wayne Enterprises is funding its’ research to be used for patients with weak immune systems.  Terry befriends one of the female teenaged patients (and Bruce makes a crack that women used to throw themselves at his feet; he simply stepped over them).  She does help discover that one of the doctors is behind the thefts.  While Bruce is away in Inqueling, Terry has to face Inque by himself; he refuses to risk Bruce again, after the last encounter brough out the dangerous Bat Armor.  Dana is not as upset about Terry missing their date; she’s figured out that Bruce is a father figure to Terry.  Terry admits to Max that his girlfriend may not be so far off.  Inque is in trouble and needs to lay low; she finds her daughter and convinces her to steal the appropriate mutagen.  But after only sending money her entire life, the daughter betrays her mother for her large bank account.  Batman is not convinced that Inque is truly gone at the end.

An old friend of Terry’s returns; Charlie Big Time Bigelow.  He was the one who took Terry on a heist when Terry was fourteen and Charlie was eighteen.  It was when Terry’s parents were divorcing and he was being an angry kid with Charlie.  Terry didn’t realize what was going on until it happened.  Terry got three months in Juvie, Charlie got three years in jail.  Now he’s out and wants Terry’s help.  Terry refuses; he has a life now, a job.  However, he still feels guilty and tries to get Charlie a job at Wayne Enterprises.  Bruce figures out that Charlie is trying to get in with another crew and is using his connection.  Terry goes after Charlie; Batman is waiting at the next break in.  Charlie is exposed to cerestone, a growth hormone.  He becomes large and disfigured and goes after the crew.  Batman is involved in the fight and takes down Charlie.

Bruce starts to feel his age in Out of the Past.  Terry treats him to the Batman musical for his birthday; Bruce does not find it amusing.  [Though, the music and lyrics are very good, even using “I am vengeance, I am the night, I am Batman.”  And criminals are a “superstitious and cowardly lot.”]  he reminisces about his past relationships and Talia al ’Ghul steps out of the shadow.  Terry even knows who she is; he’s actually done research on the Bat computer.  She’s offering Bruce a trip to the Lazarus Pits for eternal youth.  Bruce takes it when Batman has to save him and a young woman from an accident.  The process works and Terry enjoys working out with a more youthful Bruce.  But Bruce feels like it’s a cheat, so they plan to leave.  The guards won’t let them, so the two kick butt together (and the Animated Series theme plays for a minute).  And Talia is actually Ra’s al Ghul; he used his own daughter to continue to cheat death.  His ultimate plan is to transfer his consciousness into Bruce, now younger and stronger, and return to Gotham to take over the company as Bruce’s long-lost son of Talia’s.  Batman to the rescue!  The pits are ultimately destroyed and Bruce bids farewell to his beloved.

There is a gorilla on the loose in Speak No Evil.  The local university used human DNA to give the gorilla human intelligence.  Now he’s after James van Dyle; he appears to be a conservationist but is actually a poacher and captured the gorilla and his mother years ago.  Batman helps the gorilla and investigates, but he’s captured.  The gorilla helps get him out of a tiger’s cage and the commissioner is there to arrest van Dyle.  Bruce and Terry release the gorilla back into the wild so he can scare away poachers.

Superman shows up in The Call, a two-part episode.  The Justice League tower in Metropolis is facing danger, superheroes are being put out of commission.  Superman comes to Gotham to ask Terry to help the Justice League.  The other members are not happy about young Batman joining them and they don’t trust him.  Batman does his research and even rescues Aquagirl when she’s in danger.  Superman feels there is a traitor in the League and right now, he only trusts Terry.  Metropolis is under multiple attacks and the League is spread thin.  Warhawk receives a distress signal and Batman follows him because no one else heard it.  Warhawk is apparently killed in an explosion and when Bruce investigates the footage, it looks like Superman is responsible.  Bruce has kept kryptonite on hand, in case Superman ever went rogue again.  His directive to Terry is “do whatever it takes, but make sure you stop him.”  However, turns out that Warhawk is alive; he suspected something when he was the only one to receive the distress call and now trusts Batman when he suspects Superman.  When they go to confront Superman, he is being controlled by an alien starfish.  He escapes, but Bruce knows where the Fortress of Solitude is located.  There, the League finds a zoo of alien creatures.  Batman uses kryptonite to stop Superman and Aquagirl is able to read the starfish’s mind to discover that the starfish was kidnapped from its’ home world.  Superman eventually freed him, but kept him locked up again.  Now the starfish wants freedom and to take over the world, so he’s using Superman.  Superman and the starfish wake up and take control of the League, except Batman.  Now Batman has to fight several other superheroes in order to save the world (just another day in the life, huh).  Superman goes after Batman and eventually an electric shock brings Superman back.  They work together to free the League and to stop the starfish’s friends from escaping.  Superman almost traps Batman (“he knew what he was getting into” Superman tells another hero when they protest Batman is still underwater), but Batman flies up at the last second.  They send the starfish home and Batman is offered a full-time position with the League.  Old Batman was only ever part-time.  Then they have something in common, Terry remarks.  Superman muses, more than you think.

Big Time is back in Betrayal and Bruce has to warn Terry against going after Charlie again.  Leave it for the police.  But Terry won’t back down.  He ends up kidnapped by Charlie (Max picks up the backpack with the suit and Bruce calls her to warn her against putting it on…the old man knows everything).  Charlie wants Terry to join the new operation as his loyal companion.  Terry refuses, which makes Charlie angry.  Terry escapes and Charlie chases.  When he catches his old friend, Charlie says he can’t kill Terry due to their friendship.  Terry convinces Charlie to go to the police; yes, he’ll go to jail, but while there, Terry will have Bruce’s company search for a cure to the cerestone.  When the police arrest the gang, Charlie runs.  Terry is only slightly surprised, but now he’s angry.  Charlie lied to him; he never had any intention of going good.  He used it as a way to get the leaders out of the way and now he’ll take over the gang.  Bruce drives by and throws the bookbag to Terry.  Batman appears a minute later to save Bruce and take on Charlie.  Bruce once again warns Terry against facing an old friend.  Charlie ultimately falls off the bridge during the fight and Terry claims he outgrew him.

Terry faces the Kobra cult in the two-part Curse of the Kobra.  They start by stealing a thermal bomb and Batman can’t face off against all of them.  Instead of berating Terry, Bruce sends him to an old martial arts teacher to fine-tune his technique.  There, Terry makes friends with Zander.  He even introduces Zander to Max when they go to get a slice of pizza (“who’s bad, who’s rad, who’s never been had,” she cheers when she beats Zander at a video game).  But Zander is being groomed for something else and can’t socialize with his new friends.  Turns out, Zander is the leader of Kobra and they have something big planned.  Then he kidnaps Max (who immediately calls Bruce and Bruce immediately sends Batman to her house when they hear her scream).  Batman ends up with a minor concussion and four cracked ribs after trying to go after Max and Zander.  Bruce warns him that it will hurt to move and breathing won’t be fun.  He helps with the investigation since Terry is in no condition and blaming himself is not productive.  When Bruce finds the hideout, Terry immediately suits up: “I’ll breathe on the weekend.”  “It’s a toxic waste dump,” he tells Bruce when he arrives.  “Or so they say.  Can you think of a better way to make people want to avoid the place?”  “Call it a high school?” Terry quips.  Max meanwhile attempts her own escape (after being changed out of her clothes into something that is almost slave-Leia inspired).  She’s stopped by a dino-man, the result of a Kobra lackey breathing in green gas.  Zander’s master plan is to use the thermal bomb to heat the Earth up so only he and his men will survive and thus they’ll rule the world [not the brightest plan], and he’s chose Max as his companion.  He likes that she’s different, though to make her subservient, he does order her to be gassed.  Batman goes in (sore) to rescue Max and receives a bit of help from a ninja in the shadows.  After Zander breathes in the gas to go through the transformation, their teacher (the ninja) appears to take him down.  She buys Batman and Max time to escape.

At a science symposium in Countdown, Mad Stan interrupts to “blow it all up!”  He comes across a man in distress afterwards and rescues him from federal agents.  The man is actually a synthoid; Zeta is back [tying in to the new show that was developed].  Mad Stan figures it’s the feds out to get him so he arms Zeta with a secret bomb and releases him.  Batman discovers the plot and now has to go after Zeta. He tries to get the feds to help him, but they are only concerned about getting Zeta back, not the innocent people that could be hurt or killed.  Batman of course finds the bomb in time, but they’re surrounded by the feds.  Zeta pretends to be Batman so he can escape and Terry gets out as himself in disguise.  [Not a terribly exciting episode.  Nor is the final episode.]  Unmasked relates a mission Terry had when he was first becoming Batman when he showed a young kid his face in order to rescue him.  Kobra found out and kidnapped the kid so they can find out who Batman is.  Terry lucked out and the kid remembered his face as a famous action figure.  Terry uses the tale as a caution to Max for making jokes about Batman in Terry’s place. 

If the final episode feels like a letdown, never fear; Terry McGinnis shows up as Batman in a follow-up movie Return of the Joker and several episodes of Justice League Unlimited.  What I really appreciated about this season is Bruce showing obvious care and concern about Terry.  I do so love when a crochety character shows tenderness to a select group of important people.  Bruce may be learning from his past mistake of shoving people away.  Overall, the episodes are not as interesting as season two, but Out of the Past was fairly interesting, giving Bruce a little bit of the limelight again. Charlie Bigelow as a villain after being a friend to younger Terry is a good twist; Max remarks in his second appearance that Charlie was always a monster, just now his outside matches his inside and Dana never trusted the guy. It highlights Terry’s growth as a person. As he remarks when Charlie first approaches him, he has a life now.

Next Time:  Return of the Joker and the other episodes featuring the new Batman.

“Where were you?” “Oh, just out saving the world.”

Batman Beyond: Season Two

Season Two opens with introducing a friend of Terry’s, Maxine Gibson (voiced by Cree Summer, who has provided voices for hundreds of shows and games, including Susie Carmichael in Rugrats and All Grown Up, Valerie Grey in Danny Phantom, and Princess Kida in Disney’s Atlantis movies).  In Splicers, Terry faces off against Dr. Cuvier, who leads the splicing movement in Gotham; splicing animal DNA in humans.  DA Young stands against the movement, understanding its dangers.  Even Terry agrees with him, though his friends are piqued by the teen craze.  When Batman investigates the Chimera Institute (Reborn to be Wild), he’s electrocuted and captured.  Cuvier injects bat DNA into Batman, but Batman escapes, in time to help stop an attack against Sam Young.  Barb has to stop Batman from killing one of the henchmen (even calling him Terry in the process); the invading DNA is starting to take over.  Barb calls Bruce to warn him and Terry steps out of the shadow; he’s now half man, half bat.  He attacks Bruce, but the old man is a few steps ahead and already has a mutagen antidote ready.  Terry is cured and takes Ace to help him track down Cuvier “you find, me stop.”  Cuvier spends part of the fight as “a true Chimera,” injecting himself with multiple animals’ DNA.  Then Batman overloads him and he gets real creepy.  Ace leaps to Batman’s rescue and Batman returns the favor “don’t touch my dog.”  The factory ends up going up in flames and Barb speaks to Terry afterwards; he can’t live a life of narrow escapes.  It’s a thankless existence with few rewards.  To Terry, the small rewards are the best, like now being friends with Ace.

Earth Mover is a bit creepy.  Terry is studying with a classmate, Jackie, and they feel something watching them.  Terry chases after a blob, which throws him around a bit (and he gets right back up), but it disintegrates into dirt.  Later, there is an earthquake at a field where Terry is with Dana, Jackie, and her stepfather.  Radioactive goo spills out and they all run.  Batman swings in to the rescue.  The truth comes out that Jackie’s birth father worked for Bill, until there was an accident illegally dumping chemical waste.  Tony was believed dead and Bill adopted Jackie.  Turns out Tony’s DNA was scrambled with the earth thanks to the waste and he’s now trying to contact Jackie and get revenge on Bill.  Batman helps saves the pair and Tony finally dies.  (Terry does have to point out to Bruce that ten years ago, when some of this went on, he was only seven so no, he didn’t read the news.)

A few Jokerz find a new government vehicle abandoned (because it was going to overheat) and take it for a Joyride.  They terrorize Gotham with it and Batman has to work with the woman who developed it to get it shut down before the nuclear core blows.  Of course, Batman saves the day and another teen realizes he does not want to join the Jokerz.  Lost Soul is also a bit creepy; a businessman from the past who had his mind stored in a computer decides that when he’s woken up he’s going to take over his grandson’s body.  He manages to take control of the Batsuit and attempts to drown Terry before Bruce uses the kill switch.  The suit escapes the Batcave and Terry decides he’s going after it.  Bruce tries to stop him; that suit is very powerful and just punched through a stone wall.  Terry brings up “is Batman just the suit, or the man inside?”  Bruce gives Terry one of his old utility belts and Terry uses Nightwing’s mask.  The actual suits won’t do much good since they have bullet holes and cuts in them.  Using his wits and gymnastic moves he already possesses, Terry faces off against the controlled suit and runs a spike plugged into a magnet to shut it down.  At the end, Terry says he’ll be glad for a few nights off for Bruce to reprogram the suit.  Bruce quips, it’s the suit that’s out of commission, not Batman.

Max is running a program in Hidden Agenda to discover Batman’s true identity; she’s brilliant and bored.  Terry is fearful that she’ll find out his secret, but first he has to protect her from a band of Jokerz out to hurt her.  They’re led by a classmate angry that Max beat his test score.  For a while, Max believes Terry is one of the Jokerz, but quickly realizes the truth.  She’s eager to help Batman, going after the female Joker when Batman tells her to run.  “Not what I meant,” he quips.  Max points out to Terry at the end that her knowing his secret can be good; she can cover for him with Dana when he as to cancel dates.

Batman gains a Stalker in Blood Sport.  Stalker is a poacher who is now hunting Batman as the ultimate prey.  He bears a scar down his back from an encounter with a panther; the scar now gives him enhanced strength and other abilities.  Stalker also believes that the bat spirit is an ageless soul that inhabits the strongest warrior in each generation.  Terry doesn’t realize he’s been marked after his first encounter with Stalker and ends up leading the man to his younger brother while he’s babysitting.  So Batman swoops in to rescue Matt (which Matt finds thrilling).  Matt even quips to his brother that Batman is super cool, unlike Terry.  To which Terry responds, “we can’t all be Batman.”  Ten is back in Once Burned, stealing from a high-stakes poker game to pay the Jokerz ransom to get her family back.  Turns out, it was all a test by her family to prove her loyalty.  Melanie stays with Terry while she’s in Gotham and really wants to get back together with him.  But she goes on the run after breaking with her family and Terry decides to not read the note she left with Batman for him.

Max pressures Terry to let her help Batman in Hooked Up.  He ends up agreeing when clues from comatose runaways lead to the Virtual Reality gaming room.  Max is approached, but Terry is hesitant and suspicious.  She goes without him and comes under the thrall of Spellbinder, who is using virtual reality to give people their dreams, in exchange for money.  They steal when they run out and when they get too much of their dreams, it puts them in a coma state.  Max likes the dream world because she’s alone at home and in the dream, her family surrounds her.  She does ultimately help take out Spellbinder, but she’s beginning to learn what Batman’s world is really like. 

Rats is another creepy episode (this season has several).  As you can guess, rats feature heavily in the episode.  Dana is mad at Terry for breaking another date, but decides to give him another chance when she finds a white rose.  However, Terry ends up late for the date anyway (keeping Mad Stan from blowing everything up).  And when Dana goes to leave before he arrives, she finds another rose, then is chased by large rats.  She wakes up in an underground lair of Patrick, the rat boy.  He collects unwanted things and has been spying on Dana, realizing that Terry’s been letting her down, so he’s brought her to him.  She plays along to get Patrick to leave, then attempts to escape on her own (you go girl!).  She gets away for a while, but ends up lost and stuck; Patrick finds her.  Batman is also searching desperately for Dana when her father reveals to Terry that Dana never came home.  He discovers the giant rats at their meeting place and follows them back to Patrick.  While Batman fights Patrick, who has decided that Dana needs to die since she won’t stay with him and teases him like others have (he’s done this before…you might not want to think about that), Dana fights off the rats and starts a fire.  Gotham’s underground seems riddled with chemical waste and a pool of it explodes while Batman flies Dana to safety.  It’s Terry who meets her above ground and she has him take her home.

A psychic girl, Tamara, contacts Batman to save her in Mind Games.  The Brain Trust told her parents she was going to a gifted school, but when they try to contact them, they get nothing.  With Tamara’s help, Batman is able to track them down and rescue the little girl.  Max pops up in the episode, helping Terry study while on patrol (all presidents are boring, according to Terry), and accompanying him to a swanky hotel to find the girl.  There is a supposed ghost haunting Hamilton Hill High in Revenant.  Strange accidents have been happening around school, so a few girls hold a séance to contact the ghost (at home, Matt wants to hold one to contact his father).  Nelson interrupts them and the “ghost” attacks.  Batman has to begrudgingly save Nelson.  But Bruce doesn’t believe it’s an actual ghost; not because he doesn’t believe in ghosts.  He’s seen actual magic, but this stunt seems “so high school.”  Terry puts together some of the clues and visits Willie Watt in Juvie.  Willie has retained his powers and is responsible.  He escapes and goes after Nelson, then fights Batman.  Willie is locked up again and cannot access his powers.  At home, Terry reminds Matt of the good memories they have of their father.

When animals start going nuts in Babel, Bruce and Terry realize that Shriek is back.  And Shriek plans to use sound to his advantage and terrorize Gotham; he’ll drive them all mad unless Batman hands himself over at midnight.  Barbara tells him “you’re out of your mind” on the phone; Shriek answers “duh.”  Barbara calls Bruce and he is the first to offer himself up as Batman.  But he’s not the Batman people know now.  And Bruce won’t hand Terry over so easily; while he may trust Barbara, he doesn’t trust the others around her.  “That kid’s done a lot for the city; it’s time for the city to do something for him.”  Max cautions Terry that he has friends and family that would miss him if he handed himself over.  And the public isn’t going to do anything to protect their vigilante hero.  But Terry still shows up at the Batcave in his suit; it’s not his first plan to just hand himself over, but he also remembers why he became Batman.  And he figures out where Shriek is hiding.  They fight and Shriek is buried in a pile of rubble.  Back in the cave, Bruce thanks Terry for reminding him why he started his crusade.  This is one of my favorite episodes because it’s about Terry as a person, not in the suit.  He has to decide that he’s the kind of guy to put others ahead of himself.  And I love Bruce standing up for him.

Terry’s Friend Dates a Robot is exactly what it says on the tin.  Terry’s friend Howard is trying to be popular.  When he accompanies Terry on an errand to a synthoid factory for Bruce (he has Terry run simulations against the classic villains as training), he discovers a man running a side-gig, hooking men up with…let’s say female companions.  Howard orders himself a hot and loyal girlfriend.  And it works to get people to come to his party.  But “Cynthia” attacks Nelson when he makes fun of Howard.  And she tries to go after Chelsea when she flirts with Howard; Terry manages to stop that.  And at the party, when Howard tries to hook up with Chelsea, Cynthia goes berserk.  Max buys some time for Batman to swoop in; and Howard does nothing to help when he utters “can we still be friends?”  As Batman points out, that is never the right thing to say.  Cynthia self-destructs and Howard now has to deal with irate parents.

While Barbara won’t hand Batman over to Shriek, she will believe that he killed Mad Stan in Eyewitness.  To be fair, it’s not entirely her fault.  Spellbinder is behind it; and Batman interrupted an undercover sting.  But Terry has to go on the run for a while after he finds cops at his home asking to see him.  Bruce luckily believes him and works to clear up the video recording of the last fight between Batman and Mad Stan.  Barbara reminds Bruce that Terry has a record; he knows.  Terry spent three month is juvie, but Bruce argues, the teen is still learning.  And if Barbara takes Batman in and reveals Terry’s secret, she reveals a lot of other secrets too.  Bruce is able to give Terry the clue to reveal Spellbinder.  Barbara makes it up to Terry by giving him a student award to cover for the police looking for him.

Curaré is back in Final Cut.  She’s taking out the rest of the Society of Assassins.  The last member comes to Batman for protection (voiced by Tim Curry, a most excellent Cardinal Richelieu in Three Musketeers with Chris O’Donnell [who plays Robin in Batman Forever and Batman and Robin]).  He’s planted a bomb in Gotham that will go off if he doesn’t input a code every twelve hours.  Batman needs to stop Curaré, or a lot more people will die.  Max again tries to help Batman, but Terry warns her off.  She doesn’t listen and is almost killed by Curaré.  Batman saves her (and warns her not to call him “Terry”) and the assassin dies.  Now it’s a race to find the bomb and disarm it.  And fight off Curaré.  The latter task is Batman’s and Max has to deal with the bomb.

Dr. Wheeler has set up a ranch for troubled teens in The Last Resort.  But his methods aren’t the best.  Busloads of kids are being sent to the ranch for minor things, apparently due to a new parental liability law.  Luckily, Terry is not sent, but Batman investigates because what kind of ranch would take his friend Chelsea alongside a legitimate threat like Sean Miller.  Wheeler’s methods run alongside those use to brainwash prisoners of war; and he’s using it on kids.  Terry heads in as himself to speak to Chelsea; he has to sneak past the guards to get the truth and ends up running into Sean Miller.  Wheeler catches him and throws him in a cell.  If no one comes looking for him, he’s to be terminated.  Terry works with Sean to escape and Batman swoops in to finish the job.  The kids run free and Batman has to stop Sean from killing Wheeler.

Terry’s friend Jared shows up again in Armoury.  His stepfather throws him a lavish birthday party, then ends up laid off.  As a weapons’ developer, his skills are just not called for now and he struggles to find a new job.  An old buddy suggests some illegal methods and the man takes them so he can maintain appearances.  That means stealing from Wayne-Powers and Batman gets involved.  Jared figures out the truth of what his stepfather is doing and the partner is not happy.  Batman shows up and the partner tries to kill him, but the stepfather saves him.

Batman’s identity is almost revealed in Sneak Peek.  A nosy journalist, Ian Peek, has found a way to get exclusive dirt on celebrities.  Turns out, he has a belt that allows him to go intangible and sneak through walls.  When Ian gets in a spot of trouble, he finds the Batmobile and sneaks a recorder inside.  He captures an image of Terry unmasking in the Batcave and Bruce alongside him.  He plans to reveal the exclusive on television.  Terry attempts to tell his mother, but she laughs him off.  He goes as Batman to Ian to persuade him to not reveal Bruce; he’s done too much good for the city.  Ian is his usual reporter self.  Batman flies away.  Then Ian needs Bruce’s help; he can’t control the intangibility, he needs Bruce’s company to save him; after all, the original scientist worked for him.  Oh yeah, he killed the scientist.  Bruce isn’t happy and walks away.  Ian attacks and luckily, Batman is nearby.  When he begins to sink through the floor, Batman tries to save him, but gravity is the only thing that works on him now.

Eggbaby actually won an Emmy award for the show and it is a fairly funny episode.  It’s a classic family studies episode, which Terry is failing.  So he has to take care of a baby simulator, an egg.  While being Batman and facing Ma Mayhem and her boys from stealing rubies.  Bruce is not happy that Terry takes the egg on patrol (for a second he thinks there is an actual baby and does Terry have something he needs to tell Bruce?), but he also won’t watch the egg.  Through various mishaps, Terry has to get the egg back.  And all the excitement is apparently good for his grade because he’s the only one to pass since he gave it positive stimulation.

There’s a synthoid on the loose in Zeta (which ended up being the backdoor opener to a new series that no, I did not watch).  It first masquerades as a teacher at Hamilton High, then the feds show up and start shooting (not the smartest of ideas).  Zeta was a deep cover operator for the NSA, whose purpose was to infiltrate, interrogate, and dispose of terrorists.  Now it’s gone off target.  Max gets involved and Batman goes to save her.  Turns out, Zeta doesn’t want to kill anymore.  Max persuades Batman to help and when Zeta resists killing an NSA agent, he does help Zeta disappear.  The NSA shows up in the next episode, Plague, when they’ve hired Stalker to track down False Face, who is helping the terrorist organization Kobra spread a super virus through Gotham on credit cards.  Batman and Stalker have to work together and their styles do not wholly mix.  They stop the virus, but False Face gets away.

Batman faces a gang of thieves who have metal accessories in their bodies in April Moon, thanks to a specialized doctor.  He gave the gang their powers hoping to save his kidnapped wife.  When Batman does further investigating, it turns out that she was in on the operation, which breaks the doctor’s heart.  Batman is able to defeat the gang, though the leader escapes.  He goes to the doctor at the end of the episode, not knowing that the doctor knows the truth now (that can only spell bad things).  Luckily, the next episode is a bit funnier, and a bit of a spoof on Star Wars.  Sentries of the Last Cosmos is an elaborate series of video games.  One of Terry’s friends excels at the game and is invited to the home of its creator.  Who believes the story he has spun, that he is a Wise One and uses the kids on sentries to destroy his enemies, like the Dark Regent is on Earth.  They attack a hall of records and Batman investigates afterwards (dissing Jar Jar at the same time).  Batman is able to reach “the Dark Regent” first, who is actually the original writer of the game series, the other man was the producer, but wanted more of the profits, so he cut the writer out.  His charade falls apart and the kids leave him.  They turn up on the writer’s doorstep and ask their questions.  “It began a long time ago, in a cosmos far from Earth…”

There is a masked man attacking people who disrespect kids in Gotham, named Payback.  Bruce figures out the connection between the kids; they all attend youth counseling.  Terry goes in and has a convincing story about being overworked and underappreciated by his boss.  Batman goes after the wrong man first and gets in an argument with Bruce (proving his point).  We do get this exchange (this episode has some of my favorite quotes from the show):

“Ow!”  “Why weren’t you watching your back?”  “I was too busy watching my front.  Am I supposed to have eyes everywhere?”  “Only if you want to live to a ripe old age.”  “You don’t make it sound too inviting.” 

They attend a fancy dinner and Payback attacks…as planned.  Payback goes after Bruce. 

“You’re a mean old man, you know that?”  “Mm-hmm.  And what are you?”  “Your worst nightmare!”  “You have no idea what my nightmares are like.” 

Of course, Batman saves Bruce and Payback is revealed to be the counselor’s son, hoping that taking out the kids’ problems would allow his father more time to spend with him.

Terry leaves a date with Dana, Max, and Howard, then ends up following a guy in the subway.  The next day, he’s not at school and Bruce can’t hail him.  Max decides to help Bruce find Where’s Terry?  Batman wakes up in rubble.  There’s a runaway kid there who wants Batman out of his domain.  He’ll lead him topside.  Batman thought he recognized someone.  He did; Shriek is behind it.  But the tunnels make aiming bad for him.  Batman sends the kid on for help, but Shriek strikes again, releasing the river into the tunnels.  Batman can now escape and goes to help the kid.  Meanwhile, Bruce and Max track down Terry’s backpack and Bruce uses Max as a decoy so he can find Terry.  A well-aimed strike with his can puts Shriek out of commission and the kid decides to run back home.  Luckily for Terry, his mother doesn’t suspect anything; she just now thinks that he makes his bed in the morning.

We discover Ace’s background in Ace in the Hole.  His previous owner had him in dog fights.  He managed to run away during a police raid and found Bruce while he was paying his respects to the spot his parents were murdered.  They save each other from a clown and Bruce takes Ace home.  Now the previous owner is back and Ace chases after him.  Batman searches and even goes undercover as Terry.  Ace finds the bandages with Terry’s scent and Batman discovers that the owner is making serostone growth hormones to use on the dogs.  Batman has to face one of the huge mutant dogs, but Ace breaks free in time to help him.  It’s a happy ending, with Bruce and Ace reunited.

I like the character development we see in this season.  Bruce genuinely cares for Terry, even if he is sarcastic about it.  He doesn’t want to see Terry hurt.  And Terry cares for Bruce.  When his mentor wears the powered Bat-armor, he’s fearful of the effect it will have on the elderly man.  This season also shows Terry coming into his own as Batman.  He doesn’t always need the suit and he’s developing his own deductive sense.  Though, could the bad guys please stop electrocuting Batman?  That’s got to have some consequences for Terry down the road.

Next Time: Season Three

“I’m Batman now”

Batman Beyond

I’m not entirely sure how my brother and I stumbled onto this cartoon aside from it was on when we came home from school.  It was also my first foray into the superhero world.  I of course knew basics about the major superheroes; I knew Batman, Superman, and Spider-man existed, but I never read comic books, I never played video games.  This is essentially a continuation of Batman: The Animated Series, but I had never watched it.  The stories though are what kept me coming back.  It does feature Kevin Conroy, who has voiced Batman in any number of shows, as Bruce Wayne.  And Will Friedle (Eric in Boy Meets World; he’d later go on to voice Ron Stoppable in Kim Possible) headlines as Terry McGinnis.

The first episode is a two-parter, entitled Rebirth and gives us the back story.  Batman is breaking up a kidnapping, but he now has heart issues, so when he strains too much, he ends up breaking his one rule and picks up a gun to scare off a crook.  He’s disgusted and retires.  Twenty years into the future (where cars fly now, but obviously written before our technological advances because there are no smartphones) Gotham is rank with crime.  Gangs modeled after the Joker roam the streets and cause problems.  We meet Terry McGinnis when he takes on one.  Wayne Enterprises is now paired with Powers, headed by Derek Powers, and we soon learn the merger was not for the best.  Terry’s father, Warren works for Wayne-Powers; his friend delivers him secret information then disappears.  Warren reads the information and realizes something horrible is going on at the company.  He and Terry argues over Terry’s temper and fights before Terry storms out to join his girlfriend Dana at a club.  Jokerz attack outside the club and Terry takes them on.  Before they can hurt too many in the crowd Terry takes a bike and leads the gang away.  He ends up on Wayne property and meets old Bruce.  Terry attempts to keep the gang away, but Bruce uses his cane to great effect.  But he’s overexerted himself, so Terry helps him back to the house and gets his medicine.  Before he can leave, he finds a bat stuck in a clock and discovers the Batcave.  Bruce chases him out.

Terry arrives home to find police there, and his mother.  His father is dead, police are blaming Jokerz (we noticed a henchman of Powers waiting outside [Mr. Fixx, voiced by George Takei, aka Mr. Sulu from the Original series]).  Terry finds the information tucked away and makes the same discovery as his father.  He goes to Mr. Wayne, yelling “something stinks in your company!”  When Bruce doesn’t respond, he shouts “you’re no Batman!”  The episode ends with the gate opening.  The second part of the episode reveals that Powers is using the company to make nerve gas to supply to a dictator.  Wayne reads the information and is furious, but sends Terry to Barbara Gordon, the new police commissioner.  Terry doesn’t trust the cops and ends up stealing the new suit to take care of business on his own, including finding out that Powers had his father killed.  Terry’s got the quips down (“just in time for fall”) and learns the suit quickly.  But Bruce is not happy with Terry and shuts down the suit.  Terry pleads for help and Bruce relents.  When the new Batman goes to break up the delivery of nerve gas, Powers is hit by a cannister.  Batman goes after the boat and Mr. Fixx, ending up sending the boat to the bottom of the harbor.  Powers is secretly treated, but it makes him radioactive and turns him into a more classic villain; he’s got the chuckle down.

Bruce visits Terry at his home the next day and offers Terry a job in front of his mother.  A part-time assistant is the official cover, but Bruce tells Terry he needs an ally.  “Welcome to my world,” he tells the young man when Terry agrees and they shake hands.

Black Out introduces Terry’s first villain, Inque; a woman who underwent genetic manipulation and can now slide through cracks and uses it to commit corporate crime.  Powers has hired her to attack Foxteca, a company with times to the old Wayne Enterprises, knocking out his competition for a government contract.  Powers is displeased with Batman interfering and sends Inque to kill him.  She hides in the Batmobile (which flies now) and makes it back to the Batcave, but Bruce is crazy prepared.  She does try to bring the cave down on them, but her new body dislikes being frozen by a freeze gun.  Bruce calls Barbara Gordon (voiced by Stockard Channing, Rizzo in Grease, and the aunt in Practical Magic [I like the concept of that movie, but it’s also a bit creepy]); his new errand boy is making a delivery.

Batman has to take on a giant lifting machine in Golem, controlled by a teenaged boy (a classmate of Terry’s) who is going after a bully at school.  As Terry tells Bruce, there’s a line of people that starts with him and wraps around the block, twice that has beef with Nelson Nash.  Unfortunately, an accident fries the controls of the Golem to Willie’s mind.  He’s ultimately caught and the machine is destroyed.  Willie keeps the powers.  Mr. Freeze [I know him more as played by Arnold Schwarzenegger in the 90’s Batman and Robin movie with George Clooney and Chris O’Donnell] returns in Meltdown.  A doctor tests a theory on him to give his head a new body; to see if it would work for Derek Powers.  Bruce doesn’t trust Freeze, but Terry thinks he’s not too bad.  When Freeze realizes the doctor and Powers mean to betray him, he tries to turn villain again.  He ultimately saves Batman by shooting Powers, now known as Blight.  The building collapses on Freeze.

Heroes brings new heroes to Gotham; accepted by the public and backed by the government (and as noted by fans, they’re very similar to Fantastic Four).  They’re the Terrific Trio and they will wage a war on crime in Gotham.  Terry’s younger brother Matt still thinks Batman is the coolest, so his big brother rewards him with ice cream.  However, one of the members of the trio, Magma is dejected; this is not how he had planned his life.  He discovers that their friend knew an accident would occur and didn’t stop them.  The Army has turned on them and Batman gets embroiled in their fight.  The Trio secretly escapes and Batman is still Gotham’s defender.

Batman’s second new villain shows up in Shriek.  A scientist is working for Powers to use sound as a mean of demolition.  Powers sends him to the old part of town to tear it down so he can turn a profit.  Bruce gets the board to stop him, but he’s almost killed by Shriek when he visits the old police station.  Batman saves him, but Bruce is admitted to the hospital.  And he starts hearing voices.  Powers is gleeful, but Batman breaks him out.  Terry tries his hand at investigating and confronts the sound scientist.  A batarang damages his suit and he ends up deaf.  Bruce explains to Terry he knew he wasn’t crazy because the voice called him “Bruce.”  He calls himself something different in his own head.  Terry drops his voice, “that’s my name now.”  “Tell that to my subconscious.”

The Royal Flush Gang returns in Dead Man’s Hand; they’re a family of crooks that steal from the rich.  When Terry briefly breaks up with Dana due to his limited social life, he hooks up with Melanie; who happens to be Ten from the gang.  Her father vows to get revenge on Batman for breaking up the gang.  Bruce and Terry also get into an argument and Terry doesn’t feel any better when Melanie breaks things off with him; her family is pressuring her to put the family first.  Terry traces the call to a hotel, to discover the trap that the gang left for him.  He connects Melanie and Ten and then has to fight the family when they return.  He ends up saving Ten, but has to watch as Terry while Melanie is led away.  Bruce starts to tell him the story of Selena Kyle.

The Winning Edge could be called the “drug” episode of the show (very popular in the 90s).  Terry falls asleep in class and his grades drop.  His mother starts to believe that he’s using the popular drug going around “slappers.”  She enforces a curfew, which cuts into his Batman patrolling.  Bruce wryly notes he knows how to handle archcriminals; mothers are another thing.  In the meantime, Terry discovers that one of his classmates is stealing and using the funds to purchase “slappers.”  They examine one and Bruce realizes the formula matches venom, used years ago by Bane.  Batman pays a visit to Bane to discover that the man is on life support due to using the drug.  When Batman traces the shipment, he also discovers that Bane’s doctor is the one behind the drug; he had to make it for Bane and decided to make a further profit.  Batman and the doctor fight, the doctor falling into a pile of the product and overdosing.  Terry tests clean, to his mother’s relief and a story comes out about the kids on the sports team using the drug, the coach implicated by turning a blind eye.

Another new villain pops up in Spellbound.  A man in a weird leotard uses an orb to hypnotize his victims and steal expensive items.  First, it’s a classmate of Terry’s.  Then a wealthy fashion collector.  Terry borrows a different suit, belong to “DG” to attend a wedding where the villain shows up to collect priceless jewels.  Batman rescues the bride, but ends up hypnotized.  Bruce is able to help him out of it by connecting to his vidlink.  At school, the psychologist decides to check in with Terry after the death of his father; and working for Bruce Wayne.  Bruce hears a break-in and finds out Terry was hypnotized again.  Bruce had made the deduction that all of Spellbinder’s victims had a connection to Ira Billings, the psychologist.  Batman heads out to stop Spellbinder and tries not to get caught in the visions of zombies.  Again, Bruce coaches him and Batman unmasks Ira.  At the arrest, Barbara Gordon begins to make the connection between the new Batman and Terry (Terry also comments to Bruce earlier “guess you’re the expert on troubled kids.  You collect them,” tying back to the animated series.

Inque is back in Disappearing Inque.  She’s been imprisoned on ice, but her caretaker starts to take things too far and is fired (he’s been a bit creepy, confiding in her and even kissing the ice).  The caretaker sabotages her containment and she escapes.  But the ice has damaged her genes further and she can’t shift back into a human.  So they break into a lab to mix a serum to fix that.  The caretaker wants to become like her as a reward.  Inque also plans revenge on Batman; she also wants the old guy she’s heard in the headset.  Young Batman does end up captured and Inque threatens to kill him.  In true hero fashion, Batman warns his mentor not to come.  Bruce goes anyway, clad in his exo-suit that gives him incredible strength, but puts too much strain on his heart.  Together, they do manage to defeat Inque (and you hear a bit of the animated series’ theme) and now the caretaker is the one locked up and has to listen to a woman tell him all her woes.

Barbara Gordon features in A Touch of Curaré.  Curaré is an assassin sent by a society to kill Sam Young, the District Attorney, and Barbara’s husband.  Batman helps stop her first attempt.  Afterwards, Barbara visits the Batcave, to Terry’s surprise.  He’s further surprised to realize she was Batgirl.  Barbara warns Bruce and Terry to stay out of police business.  Batman still keeps an eye on things and bundles a trap set for Curaré.  Barbara is waiting for Terry afterwards; she takes him to a diner to have a conversation.  She stayed with Bruce after Dick Grayson left (she was more than partners with Bruce at that point).  On the streets, Batgirl and Batman were great.  But to Bruce, there was nothing but the street.  So Barbara left.  She doesn’t hate Bruce, she just hates what he became; a great man all alone.  Bruce will keep protecting Barbara, though Terry warns him he doesn’t want to get on the wrong side of her; he respects her.  Bruce also warns Terry that Curare will be desperate now; assassins from the society who fail become the next target; they kill their own.  Batman does end up swooping in to save Barbara and Sam, and Barbara proves she can still use a batarang.  She comments to Batman is was like old times.  And just like old times, Batman vanishes.  The episode ends showing that Curaré managed to escape, but now someone else is after her with their own super sharp sword [that thing acts like a lightsaber, deflecting bullets, cutting through steel doors.]

Blight is back in Ascension; he’s burning through his skin that covers his radiation, not helped by his temper.  New arrangements must be made; so he calls in his son, Paxton (voiced in this episode by Cary Elwes; most famous as Westley in Princess Bride, Robin Hood in Men in Tights, and the evil uncle in Ella Enchanted, and I totally want to check out Castle for Christmas).  Paxton will be his front man, but Derek will retain the true power.  However, in a board meeting, Derek loses his temper and reveals himself as Blight.  He goes into hiding.  The Batsignal lights the sky again; Paxton is asking Batman’s help in finding his father, under the guise of helping him.  Bruce does warn Terry about sounding too vindictive going after Blight; the teen’s also not terribly sad that he may have inadvertently caused the accident that made Derek Powers into Blight.  The man had Terry’s father killed and hides from the law.  He taunts the man when he finds him aboard a nuclear sub.  “This is personal,” he declares.  You killed my father.  “Do you know how little that narrows it down?” Derek is flippant.  But Derek has a larger problem once Paxton steps out.  He taught his son the only way to get power is to seize it, and Paxton has no problem killing his father.  Batman tries to step in, let justice be served.  But Blight goes supernova and the sub begins sinking.  Paxton escapes and Batman carries some of the men he was just beating up to safety.  But Batman is not sure that Derek is truly gone.

I like the banter in the show and how they develop the relationship between Bruce and Terry.  And I am fine that this show is not all light and fluffy.  It’s not too dark, which a lot of Batman movies and such try to do.  Batman can get knocked down and it really is a team between Bruce and Terry.  The creators also commented that while some of the original villains make comebacks, they also wanted a new Rogues gallery for this Batman.  And yeah, as a teen, it was cool that Batman’s suit has jetboots and the Batmobile flies, and he’s a teen just like us who has to deal with school and homework.

Up Next: Season Two