Batman: The Animated Series Season 2- Part 2

Batman is back with some more adventures...


Episode 8- Cat Scratch Fever: This episode shows Selina Kyle trying to reform from her days of being Catwoman. And then her cat goes missing, causing her to be Catwoman again. Well that didn't last long. The episode isn't all that exciting in the plot, but it's always great to see an episode that showcases the romance between Batman and Catwoman.

Episode 9- The Strange Secret of Bruce Wayne: Now THIS was a fun episode. Dr. Hugo Strange discovers Bruce Wayne's secret by peeking into his thoughts with a new machine. Discovering he's Batman, Strange tries to sell the footage in an auction featuring The Penguin, Two-Face, and The Joker! Fan-freaking-tastic! The villain cameos, the introduction of a new villain, the stakes on the line to protect Batman's identity. This is a great episode, and it bears a striking resemblance to the plot of Batman Forever. Clearly the screenwriters for that film were fans of this episode.

Episode 10- Heart of Steel Part 1: This episode is pure robot madness. The first part in this 2-parter, the episode plays out as a mystery that is reminiscent of the Ultron story in The Avengers universe, with the use of a villain with artificial intelligence and the extinction of the human race. Of course, THAT is a little dark for a kid's show, so instead, they replace a lot of the show characters we know with robotic counterparts. This episode also marks the series debut for Commissioner Gordon's daughter Barbara. Fans of the show or the comic books will immediately understand the significance of that, but for those that are new to the party, I'll touch base on that more when we get to the third season. The episode also knows how to end on a cliffhanger, with Batman returning home to be attacked by the computers in the Batcave.

Episode 11- Heart of Steel Part 2: This episode contains the fallout of that awesome cliffhanger. We get to see just how much the H.A.R.D.A.C. computer is in control of the situation. He has a ton of robotic minions running around, has Gordon and Bullock submerged in water to further study and learn from them, and reveals his plan to do away with humans due to our ability to have flaws and errors. Batman springs in to save the day, but needs some help from young Barbara Gordon. Well isn't that interesting. What a great preview of things to come for this show. But again, won't be able to address that until next season.

Episode 12- If You're So Smart, Why Aren't You Rich?: It only took us 6 discs to finally get to the debut of The Riddler and I'm a really big fan of how this episode plays out. The narrative of the episode flows like a riddle, constantly filled with twists and turns to make the viewer think. I really like seeing both Batman and Robin using their heads to answer the riddles and survive the maze trap they are in. There's even some moments where Robin can beat Batman in solving a puzzle, displaying how the two complement each other in many situations.

Episode 13- Joker's Wild: Yet again, we have another episode where the Joker is upset over not getting royalties for his likeness. In this case, it's a casino run by a man looking to pay off the insurance money when he fully expects the Joker to show up and blow up the casino. Not a bad idea for an episode, but it's nothing overly great. I like the idea of Batman and Joker trying to use different motives to catch another bad guy. It's a perfect representation of how they're polar opposites. Batman seeks truth and justice to solve the problem, whereas the Joker is fueled by violence and revenge. Who wouldn't give those guys their own reality show?

Episode 14- Tyger, Tyger: This episode told the classic mad scientist story, this instance creating animal-human hybrids. It started off so-so, but really picked up with the second half. There's a decent amount of theology developed among many characters in a short span of time. It actually becomes really deep, calling back to a classic story like Frankenstein. Broken record moment here, but it still astounds me that a show like this, with an ending and characters this deep and developed, was marketed primarily for kids.

Series Spotlight: The Riddler, voiced by John Glover

I'm actually really disappointed they didn't use Riddler that often on the show. But on a creative standpoint, the episode plots and riddles themselves could be a bit of a challenge to come up with on a recurring basis. Still, The Riddler has always been one of my favorite Batman villains because of how he makes us think. If you want to solve the crime, you have to solve multiple puzzles and clues that he would throw at you. And also, just look at that costume. That is a great look for a villain to have. It takes a lot of what we associate with The Riddle, with a modern, almost timeless quality to it. He's one of those villains on Batman: The Animated Series that doesn't have too many appearances, but is popular enough to make the most of every episode he's in.

Series Spotlight: H.A.R.D.A.C., voiced by Jeff Bennett

I was pleasantly surprised how much I was really into everything this villain had in its arsenal during the "Heart of Steel" 2-parter. As far as marketing a villain like this to children, this was a way of introducing concepts similar to Ultron, Skynet, and HAL 9000. Just look at how much authority this machine had in the episode, nearly getting the upper hand on Batman thanks to a robotic army of Gotham City doppelgangers. The most interesting part for me when it came to H.A.R.D.A.C. was the motivation that stemmed from an emotional response from its creator. Because his master showed an emotional flaw, H.A.R.D.A.C. took matters into its own hands to try and replace every Gotham City resident with a robot duplicate, while preserving the human counterparts to study their habits, knowing that while humans are flawed, there is still so much to learn from them. I found that absolutely fascinating. The machine, which we assume to be cold and ruthless, isn't quite as unfair as we'd have imagined and acknowledges that humans have a purpose in the foundation of the world.

I'll be back with some more Batman: The Animated Series analysis in Part 3...


Batman: The Animated Series and images are copyrighted by Warner Bros. Animation