Review: Fleisher Superman Part 1

 Dude has been flying around for almost 100 years and it shows. 

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Viewer Log: Batman: Caped Crusader ep 20

Joker's unleashes his masterplan.  

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Bluesky: 

Viewer Log: Batman: Caped Crusader ep 19

A rather dower Clown Prince of Crime has entered the scene.  

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Viewer Log: Batman: Caped Crusader ep 18

 Time to put the Thorne situation on Ice.

Last time on Batman: Caped Crusader, Riddler finally met his match. Rose Forrest was a meek young woman living with her father, she just wanted to sell flowers and meet her prince charming. Her ex-cop father spoke sternly to Eddie Nygma when the mob boss came in for his protection money, so Riddler murdered him with a Tommy gun. This caused a psychological break in Rose (mental health problems are implied to run in her family via her mom) and creates a new, seductive persona eventually dubbed Thorn. Thorn seduces Riddler, the two going on a crime spree together. Batman tries to stop them but is caught and almost killed due to being poisoned by Thorn’s bladed whip. They stick him in a car and shove it off a cliff, but Batman escapes. He finally tracks Riddler to his club and tries to bring him in, but Thorn takes him away. Riddler’s girlfriend Lily tries to protect him but has a breakdown when she realizes that Riddler is definitely leaving her. She mutters that things were going so well until they shot up the flower shop. At the flower shop, Thorn reveals who she really is with a bouquet that reads “Burn in Hell.” She murders him with a tommy gun and then skips town. At the cave, Alfred is upset for the poor girl. He was a regular at their shop and had given Rose his condolences earlier. Batman tells him that she’ll probably get out of town, but he’ll be ready if she comes back. In the episode’s final moments, the remnants of Thorne/Riddler’s gang is scooped up by the Joker for whatever he’s planning. Enough recapping. Let’s get to it, shall we?

 

Ep 18: Zero Hour

 

We open with a pair of mobsters gunning down a rat. Once he’s dead, one of the mobsters asks if this was an ‘off the books’ hit, and his friend says not to worry, he already called the guy. An armored ice truck pulls up and three men get out, the first two are obvious henchmen, but the third is very odd. He’s a large Black man with blue hair and a neck brace with an electronic voice box built into it. The man looks over the corpse, says that it has holes, which he doesn’t like. The goons shrug and say that’s a hazard of their line of work. They pay him, and his goons take the body away. He warns the two that they shouldn’t call him again for a body like this. He wants the corpses without a visible sign of damage, or there will be no more business from him. The squad get in the truck and drive away.

 

At the Batcave, Alfred crosses out Riddler’s picture and asks if this’ll mean a reduction in mob activity. Batman doesn’t think so, if Thorne is out for revenge, it won’t stop just because the Riddler is dead. Alfred points out that it’s weird that Thorne has been MIA for so long. He wonders if maybe this is just an all-out gang war instead of Thorne still being butthurt about his arrest. Batman doesn’t think so, as he believes mobsters display their kills to show off, the fighting right now has been oddly bloodless comparatively speaking. Aflred says that he investigated air and train travel out of Gotham and neither Rupert Thorne nor his son Mattie’s names had been seen on any ticket purchases. He thinks that maybe they’re running under false names. Their investigation is interrupted by their police scanner letting them know that Thorne’s car has been found. In Gotham Bay.

 

We jump over to Carrie Kelly, one of the four orphan Robin homages from the Nocturne episode, who has had a pretty big win since we last saw her, she’s been adopted. She’s riding her bike home when she sees an old lady putting up missing posters for her dog. Carrie takes one of the posters before she’s grabbed by Harvey Bullock. The now officer Bullock tells Carrie that curfew is at 5 pm, and that she’s out past it. He takes Carrie back to her parents and tells Carrie’s new mom that an orphan like Carrie is a half-criminal, so she needs to be watched constantly, or she’ll run all over town. Carrie’s mother, I’m going to call her Maria after her voice actress Maria Canals-Barrera because she doesn’t have a name in the show, ‘thanks’ Bullock for seeing Carrie home safely, but points out Carrie is only ten minutes late. Bullock tells her to keep Carrie and her bike off the street, he handcuffs the bike to their front gate for emphasis, and warns that if she’s smart, she’ll see if the orphanage has a return policy. Bullock storms off, almost getting hit by a car as he walks away. Maria waves and thanks Bullock again, but if looks could kill he’d drop dead on the spot. She slams the door and shakes her head at how Bullock can find so much time to harass her ten-year-old girl. Carrie begins to apologize, saying that she’s sure that she’s not what the Carson’s had been expecting when they adopted her. Maria cuts her off and says that Carrie is a delight. A little rough around the edges, but she was too back in the day. Her dad, I dub him Kevin after his voice actor Kevin Michael Richardson, pops out of the kitchen to say dinner is ready.

 

After dinner, her parents discuss Carrie and how she’s adjusting. Maria thinks that Carrie is having trouble settling in. She thinks Carrie needs to make friends, if only so she’s not as easy of a target for Bullock to harass. Kevin says that Carrie just needs a little more time. She’s a good kid with good parents. He shouts up to Carrie to tell her to finish her homework and head to bed. Carrie agrees, while setting up a decoy in her bed and preparing to sneak out. She dresses up in a Gray Ghost costume, quoting the character, “The road of life takes many turns, but crime is a dead end.” She’s dubbed herself the “Crime Smasher” and is going to go out to help the community.

 

A reminder, the Gray Ghost is an in-universe fictional superhero, the star of a radio drama and early tv series. He’s a sort of Batman character for Bruce Wayne to look up to. He was introduced in the original Animated series back in the 90s and was an homage to Adam West, who also voiced the character.

 

Carrie slips out and uses her lockpicking tools to get her bike free from Bullock’s cuffs. She rides around town, her cape flapping in the wind as she looks for Bingo, the missing dog. She is able to track the dog down, finding it thanks to a paint paw trail. She delivers the dog to his owner, anonymously, and rides off to find her next case.

 

At the bay, they pull out Thorne’s car. Gordon orders his men to get photos of the car and then to get it back to GCPD for more tests. He sees Batman and goes to speak with him covertly. Batman and Gordon agree that Thorne was either killed or kidnapped. There is a tire trail of a much heavier car that leads to where Thorne’s car was dumped, but that’s the only clue they’ve got. Gordon laments the fact that Riddler is dead, as he might be the only one who could confirm what happened to the Thornes. Batman doesn’t think Riddler was involved at all, he was an opportunist, not a planner. They need a body, regardless if its dead or alive to prove a crime. Batman slips away as Gordon says this, as he often does.

 

Carrie continues her ‘Crime Smasher’ activities. She stops some hoodlums from breaking into a store with brick with her fireworks, and practices shooting with her slingshot. Her training is interrupted when an armored ice truck drives by, almost hitting her, but hitting her bike. She sees it has Subzero Icehouse advertised on the side. She shouts that it’s illegal to leave the scene of a crime. She repeats the line that “crime is a dead end” while holding her handlebars.

 

At GCPD, Gordon is spending his evening sketching out a concept for the Bat signal when Batman calls him. Gordon is impressed that Batman has something already, as it has only been three hours and that’s fast even for him. His list is pretty exhaustive. 15 companies in Gotham use private delivery trucks, none with a fleet bigger than 5, 8 are the wrong model, 2 were locked down for safety violations, so he’s narrowed it down to five potential options. Gordon tells Batman to keep him posted and if he can get a little more info to Gordon, he can put men on it. He begins to say that they work well together, but Batman hangs up before he can finish. He scribbles out the signal idea.

 

Carrie checks the phonebook and finds the ad for Subzero Icehouse. It’s in ‘old Gotham’ which is a dangerous part of town, but it’s her only lead, so she goes for it. Oh, to have the stupid confidence of youth again. She finds the business and their trucks. She is excited to have tracked them down, but is surprised when Batman gets the drop on her. She tries to convince Batman that she can help him, as she did save his life once, but Batman isn’t having it. He tells her that the scum he fights wouldn’t hesitate to kill her and yells at her to go home. I feel like this is Bruce Timm trying to keep people from getting their hopes up for a Robin to show up. Carrie runs off, crying because her hero yelled at her.

 

The goons bring a body into the Icehouse. Batman checks out the truck and finds a big pool of blood. The goons sneak up on him and one puts a gun to his head. Batman beats them up and locks them in the truck. He investigates the Ice House. He finds something that surprises him, but before he can react further, a block of ice falls on him, knocking him out. The boss, Mr. Zero, is impressed with the Batman. He dubs him a perfect specimen and thinks that Batman will be his master work. Mr. Zero frees his goons and tells them to get to work.  

 

Carrie kicks a can in anger, saying that Batman is a jerk. She sees a billboard for the Wayne Manor Estates, which tell her to ‘live the good life.’ She asks how she do that, right as Bullock grabs her. He was staking out the area near her house as he was sure she’d sneak out again. Carrie mouth offs to Bullock, which really pisses him off. He warns her that he’s done a terrible things to folks for a lot less. She calls him scum. Bullock almost takes a swing at the girl, but thinks better of it, saying that a few years in Juvie will straighten her out. Before he can get her in the car, though, she kicks him in the balls and runs off. She escapes Bullock and heads back to the Icehouse, saying that the Gray Ghost never abandons a case, and neither does Crime Smasher.

 

I thank god this is a show, because this kid would absolutely get killed in real life doing this.

 

She breaks into the warehouse and as a look around. She finds the office is covered in cobwebs. She finds the cold storage area and the thing that surprised Batman, a creepy statue of a guy. It seems to be frozen solid. She finds Batman stuck in a tube of some kind. He starts to scold her, but as he doesn’t have any other option, she tells him to pull the lever beside him to get him free. She gets him out and he says that he needs his belt. Carrie says they need to get out of there. The lights come on and we see a lot more frozen statues… including one of Rubert Thorne. Mr. Zero comes in, saying that he won’t let a moppet steal his masterpiece. Batman tells Carrie to go, but she pulls out her slingshot and asks Mr. Zero if he really thinks she’s intimidated by a wannabe Basil Carlo. Carrie fires a rock at Mr. Zero, who knocks it aside with his giant tongs. The rock shatters Mattie Thorne’s head… revealing brains. Carrie is horrified to learn that the statues are all frozen corpses. Batman tries to fight Mr. Zero, but he’s still sluggish from being partially frozen and is knocked aside. Carrie slips away and shoves over the statues to bury Mr. Zero in ice. She grabs Batman’s belt, but Mr. Zero grabs her and sticks her into a crane’s claw. He tells Carrie that he’s going to dunk her in liquid nitrogen and turn her into a frozen angel. Batman rushes Zero and keeps him from dunking Carrie. They fight as Carrie uses the utility belt to free herself. She uses a flashbang to blind Zero and then a heavy ball to move the crane. Zero’s goons come to help him. Batman knocks one into the nitrogen, freezing him, and then Carrie tosses him the belt. The two are able to disable the other goon, and then both quote the Gray Ghost before doing a Kamen Rider kick to knock down Mr. Zero.

 

Carrie is happy to learn that Batman also liked the Gray Ghost. He says he used to, he found the character… inspiring. Carrie is obviously overwhelmed by all the death that she’s witnessed tonight, and says that Batman can handle wrapping this up. Batman thanks her for saving him, again, and starts to apologize for yelling earlier, but Carrie ran off already. Ya, Bruce, it doesn’t feel so good, does it?

 

Carrier runs home, only to be cut off by Bullock. She dodges his grab and uses her might ‘being a child’ powers to outrun the overweight Bullock. She climbs up her fire escape and gets into the house just before Bullock rings the bell. Kevin and Maria answer the door and are shocked by Bullock being there so late. He says that Carrie snuck out and demands to see the girl, but Carrie is a master at quick changes, so she’s already in her PJs and sleepily asks her parents what is going on. The Carsons close the door on Bullock, Carrie giving him a wink as the door clicks shut.

 

Batman meanwhile has Mr. Zero tied up and demands to know who killed Thorne. Mr. Zero says that a client wanted Rupert Thorne out of the way, so he was paid to get rid of him, and he got to make his art, everyone wins. Batman threatens to toss him into the liquid nitrogen, and Zero relents. He starts to say who hired him, but is shot in the head and neck before he can finish. Batman turns to try to see who did it, but he’s alone in the warehouse. The episode ends on Rupert Thorne, frozen forever with his rictus grin.  

 

I’ll be honest, they wasted this version of Mr. Freeze. I know they used the older name of the character to separate him from the iconic Freeze from Bruce Timm’s original Batman: The Animated Series. But it’s so weird that Timm took a one note villain with a weird gimmick into a multi-dimensional, award-winning tragic antagonist… and turned him back into a one note villain with a weird gimmick. The statues were creepy as hell, I’ll give them that, but it’s a far cry from Mr. Freeze’s monologues. Design wise he was okay. The blue hair was distinctive, and the voice box was an interesting idea… but I can’t help feeling like he was all set up. Like, why did he have a voice box? When did he get started freezing corpses? How long has he been operating in Gotham? No answers, just a creepy artist that got his brains blown out. At least with guys like Basil Carlo and the Penguin there’s a chance they could come back for more, killing him just felt like a waste. Especially when keeping the secret of who hired him is a moot as hell point, since we’ve only got two episode’s left and the Joker is definitely getting revealed next time. Just a waste. It was nice to see Carrie again, and that her life has been going well except for Bullock. I assumed this version of Batman wouldn’t get a Robin, it’s a bit too focused on the grim noir aesthetic to have room for the boy wonder, but this was a nice little homage to Batman’s sidekick. As I said above, though, it’s a good thing this is a show, because Carrie would absolutely be dead by the end of this confrontation in a more realistic scenario. Her little wink of victory at Bullock was just perfect. I liked that they worked the Gray Ghost into this story as well, as nods to happy memories from Bruce’s childhood helps to break up the misery that was his life post parental death. I like that he apologized to Carrie, and that she didn’t hear it, as it was fun to see Batman be the guy who didn’t notice someone left before he was finished for once. So ya, this episode had some interesting ideas, and I liked seeing Carrie, but it left me feeling like it was incomplete. Next time, the Joker’s masterplan is finally unleashed. 

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Viewer Log: Batman: Caped Crusader ep 17

 Every Rose has its Thorns. 

Last time on Batman: Caped Crusader, Gotham University proved to be a dangerous place to be. Multiple students seemed to die of fright. This piques the curiosity of Batman, but also Dr. Harleen “Harley Quinn” Quinzel. The Good doctor had been hiding out at Montoya’s place for an undisclosed amount of time, and she was going stir-crazy being unable to leave. She and Batman cross paths at the morgue with each other as well as the mysterious Scare Crow (I separated it because he’s more of a scary bird than a thing that scares birds) that’s poisoning everyone with the fear toxin. They’re able to figure out that all the victims are connected to one Dr. Charles Burton but find him murdered at the last potential victim’s apartment, Jonathan Crane, Jr.’s. Batman rushes to stop the mad scientist and gets a face full of gas for his trouble. He’s able to fight through his delusion (where he’s an old man watching powerlessly as Gotham burns) and gives Crane a taste of the gas. The episode ends wit Harleen saying goodbye to Montoya, as while she loved being with her, Harleen knows she’s a liability to Montoya, and that she’ll go nuts if she goes back to being locked up in the apartment. Enough recapping. Let’s get to it, shall we?

 

Ep 17: Her Dark Reflection

 

We open at the Forrest Flower shop, where father, Phil Forrest, and his daughter Rose are working on some plants. Rose takes out a locket with a picture of herself and a man inside it and sighs. Her father tells her not to be too upset. Phil is clearly a hard man to impress, as he calls the guy, Freddy, soft and a bad bet. He claims that Freddy wouldn’t have been as bad as Rose’s mother, but he wouldn’t have worked out long term. Rose doesn’t disagree that her mom was bad but insists that Freddy would have been good to her. Phil says that she needs a strong man that’ll get her out of the hell hole that is Gotham. He tells her “no more breakdowns” and promises to find her prince charming. Eddie and Lily come in, the Riddler tells his girlfriend that he needs to handle a little business and then he’ll take her some nice place. He shakes the Forrest’s down for protection money and offers to have Rose work out a ‘private’ deal with him, if she wants. Phil tells him to back off; his daughter isn’t a part of this. Eddy, whose ego could be bruised with a soft pinch, angrily asks if Phil is trying to tell him how to run his business. Phil says that he doesn’t want trouble, he didn’t have any with Thorne, and he doesn’t want any from Eddie. But he was a cop for ten years, and he’s seen a lot of guys like Eddie, and they all end up six feet under. Eddie looks pissed but then laughs it off before leaving. Rose asks if they should call the cops, and Phil says not to worry, as Eddie is all bark and no bite. Eddie proves this wrong as he tommy guns the shop, killing Phil as he shoves Rose behind the counter. She cradles her father’s body and starts to sob.

 

We cut to Rose being interviewed by Montoya. Eel O’Brien gets a photo of the distraught Rose because, well, he’s aptly named. Montoya tells Rose to call her if she thinks of anything. Montoya compares notes with Flass, who confirms none of the neighbors ‘saw’ anything. Both cops agree that no one is willing to cross the Riddler. Montoya reveals that Phil used to be a beat cop with Gordon back in the day, but he retired after his wife left him to raise Rose. He said that he didn’t have the right to risk his life when she needed him, and Flass, being a dick, sneers and asked how well that worked out.

 

At Wayne Manor, Bruce is reading the paper. Riddler is the front-page story. Alfred mentions that it seems like things in Gotham have been getting worse since Thorne disappeared. Brue agrees, saying daylight crimes are way up. Alfred mentions that he hopes that Rose is doing okay. Bruce asks if he knows her, and Alfred says, ‘in a manner of speaking.’ He reveals that he was a regular at the Forrest Flower shop, as he bought the bouquets that were placed on the Wayne’s graves there. Bruce, visibly stunned, says that he thought that the cemetery covered that. Alfred simply say that it does not. Bruce has noticed that the crimes are all spiraling out from Gotham’s Narrows, the heaviest crime area of the city. Bruce orders the car gassed up, as he’s going to investigate tonight.

 

Rose cleans up the shop, and finds Riddler’s matchbook for his club, Stumpers, and pockets it. She heads upstairs to her apartment and tries to get some sleep, though she’s clearly terrified. She wakes up in the night, a severe look on her face. She walks across the room to her dresser, and gently touches a photo of her parents back when they were young. She remembers her father’s words about finding her prince charming. She takes off her necklace and beats it on the dresser repeatedly, shattering it. She then goes to her closet and pulls out her mother’s old showgirl outfit. Rose’s voice has completely changed as she says that it’s about tie her mother was useful for something, but it still needs something. Rose heads to a lingerie shop for some accessories. She grabs a dark, longer haired wig, green lipstick, and a spiked choker to complete her look. A cop stops her for breaking and entering. She flirts with the cop a little, I think just to see if he’ll react to her. He seems into it, but then she tries to attack him and they have a struggle. She beats him to the ground, steals his gun and says that she’s asking for ‘it’ but that he’s no the one who’ll give it to her. She knocks him out with the butt of the stolen pistol.

 

I should note that they don’t name this new version of Rose “Thorn” until the end of the episode, but I’m going to start referring to her as such. Rose is no longer in the driver’s seat.

 

We jump to Stumpers where Lily plays piano for the club as Eddie entertains some goons. Thorn walks in and immediately turns head. Everyone in the club notices her, but especially Eddie. She heads to the bar and gets a drink. Lily joins her and warns the other woman that looking is fine, but she’s already called dibs on Edward Nygma. They have a verbal spar over who Eddie is interested in before Lily leaves in a huff. Flass comes into the club and tries to butter up Eddie, but the goon turned kingpin isn’t interested in talking to him. Flass tries to offer his services to Eddie, saying that he and Thorne had a very amicable relationship, and he’d like to see that continue. Thorne cuts in, asking what good was that relationship. Thorne was taken in by Batman after all. He was arrested, just barely dodged a 20 year stint at Blackgate, and now he’s hiding in his own city. Flass tries to get Thorne to back off, but she grabs his hand and forces him to his knees. Eddie tells Flass to get a drink, and sends off his other goons to have a minute alone with Thorne. They have a flirty conversation, Thorne saying that she wants everything, like Eddie, and she knows how to get it. He gets her a cigarette and tells her to keep talking.

 

Rose wakes up the next morning to someone calling her name. She finds herself naked in bed with a huge bruise on her arm. She goes to her window to see a cop waiting to escort her to her father’s funeral. She says she’s coming and rushes to get dressed.

 

Gordon delivers the Eulogy at the funeral, and it brings Rose to tears. She heads back to the shop after and starts arranging a giant heart display of flowers. She interrupted by Alfred, who came to offer his condolences. He notices that there’s something a bit off about Rose, asking if she really shouldn’t take some time off. She insists that she needs to keep busy, her father was a believer about idle hands being the devil’s workshop. Alfred gives her his card and says that he and Mr. Wayne will help her however she needs.

 

That night, she’s at Stumpers again and convinces Eddie to leave the club to do some crimes with her. He tells her, “Baby, we’ll paint the town red.” We get a montage of Eddie and Thorn’s crimes as Batman and the cops investigate. Batman starts to see a pattern develop. The cops finally catch up to Riddler and Thorne, but he sets off a bomb to distract them and races off. Batman starts chasing them in the Batmobile. Riddler and Thorn give him the slip, but he sees their oil trail and follows them to a junkyard.

 

Insider, Riddler and Thorne prepare to blow a safe, but Batman throws a bat-a-rang to stop them. Batman fights off Riddler and his goons, but quickly passes out. Thorn got him around the neck with her thorny whip. She coats the thorns in poison that knocked Batman out. Riddler wants to kill Batman immediately, but Thorne insists that they play with him just a bit longer. They tie Batman up and put him in the cab of a car. They pull the break and shove the car towards a canyon. Batman struggles to get free, but the car goes off the broken bridge, exploding when it hits the ground. Riddler and Thorn kiss in celebration, and they head out to cause more trouble. It’s revealed Batman survived, having gotten his grappling hook out at the last second. He drags himself back to the main shop and finds another Stumper’s matchbook. With how often Eddie is tossing those around, it’s a wonder it took this long to find one.

 

A dejected Lily watches and plays piano as Eddie and Thorn celebrate the death of Batman. Eddie says that she’s the ‘Cherry on this whole Sundae.’ Thorn says that she always thought of herself as more of a Rose, clearly trying to tip Eddie off about who she is, but the guy does pick up on it. He claims to have big plans, to spread into Bludhaven once they’ve taken Gotham. Thorn asks if he plans to make this partnership permanent. Before he can say much else, Batman arrives, throwing a Bat-a-rang to get their attention. Batman beats up the goons, Eddie takes a swing, but Batman knocks him aside. Thorn grabs him and says she knows where they can lay low. Batman finishes the last goon, but Lily shoots at him, saying that she won’t miss the next one. She’s all bark though, and can’t bring herself to shoot Batman. She starts having a breakdown, saying that Eddie is HER’s, not Batman’s or the cheap dime store floozy’s. She starts crying, muttering that everything was going right until Eddie shot up that flower shop. That tips Batman off to where to go next and he runs off.

 

Thorn takes Eddie to the back entrance to Forrest Flower shop, there’s a cute little heart note with Eddie’s name on it. She tells him to get inside, it’s open. He finds the big heart bouquet that Rose had been working on. It has “Eddie Nygma, Rot in Hell” on the banner over it. He asks if this is a sick joke. She says that Rose thought Eddie would like it. He’s stunned to realize that Thorne is (sort of) Rose, saying that that girl was a mouse. Thorne claims that Rose was a sweetie, and that she might have even been able to forgive him in time… but she can’t. She woke up when Eddie killed Phil. Eddie calls her a crazy bitch as she unloads a tommy gun into him, killing him and knocking him into the bouquet. There’s an eerie shot of a white rose dyed red in his blood.

 

Batman finds his body, taking one of the flowers just before the cops arrive. Batman and Alfred hear about Riddler’s death on the radio in the cave. Alfred is so disheartened to hear about more trouble happening at Rose’s shop and thinks about checking in on her. Batman tells him that he won’t be seeing Rose again. He pieced together that Rose and Thorn (he dubbed her that on his crime board) are the same person. Alfred is shocked that Rose did it, he says the girl he knew wouldn’t be capable of that. Batman says she had a bad day, a really bad day. Alfred asks if she’ll be okay, and Batman thinks that this’ll be the last they hear of her. The man that killed her father is dead, so she’ll want to put distance between herself and Gotham.

 

We see that Thorn has boarded a train. She heads out of town. There’s a moment where Thorn looks at her reflection in the glass and sees Rose looking back, but she’s gone a moment later. Thorn stretches out and gets comfortable as the train rolls out of town. Batman says that if she returns, he’ll be ready for her.

 

We then cut to a bar where Thorne’s former gang have a toast to Eddie. One of the goons asks what they’ll do now. The door to the bar opens and the Joker is standing there. He says that it’s very simple, they all work for him now.

 

I’m… conflicted about this episode and the whole Riddler arc of season 2. On the one hand, I get why some people like it. This version of Edward Nygma is a deconstruction of the character with his traditional love of riddles and word games is suppressed to instead focus on his insecurity and anger issues. But if you take away the riddles from Riddler, it makes me question why he’s Edward Nygma at all! If you take away his schtick to this degree, you might as well just use one of the other mob type characters like Falcone to fill the spot. He’s a bitter, angry man that gets distracted by a shiny new bauble dangled just within reach and gets killed when he grabs for it. That hardly feels like the Riddler at all to me. And like everyone who has any knowledge of Batman knew that the Riddler was just holding the place for the Joker to step up and take the spotlight for the finale, but like, they could have tried harder to make it less obvious. Using Rose/Thorn as the villain was an interesting choice. I like many saw a plant themed lady in the trailer and assumed she’d be Poison Ivy. Maybe they’re saving Pamela for season 3. For those who don’t know, she’s actually a Golden Age DC villain that first fought the original Flash, Jay Garrick, and then later fought and became romantically involved with Alan Scott the original Green Lantern. That version has plant-based powers, unlike the Caped Crusader version, but they do stick to the fact that Thorn is the split personality of Rose. Having her be the one to kill Eddy in vengeance for her father was thematically a good call. He was destroyed by the monster that his rage unwittingly made and all that jazz. And I think it’s kind of a neat decision that she’s the one that has arguably come the closest to killing Batman. Not an assassin, not a mobster, not a supervillain, but an angry woman that was just using him as a steppingstone to her actual target. Shame Batman didn’t have much to do in this episode besides track them, almost die a few times, and then find Riddler’s body. I liked the moment when Bruce learns that Alfred is the one that lays out the flowers for his parents. While their relationship is significantly warmer than it had been in the first season, there is still a wall there that Alfred is slowly chipping away at to get Bruce to open up to him. And learning that Alfred is doing his best to keep the grave looking pretty all on his own is going to help that thaw significantly, I think. The reveal that the Joker is now scooping up the majority of Rupert Thorne’s remaining men is probably not good news for Batman. But we’ll have to wait and see on that one. Next time, Batman meets an old fan and a new artist. 

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Viewer Log: Batman: Caped Crusader ep 16

 What scares the Batman? 

Last time on Batman: Caped Crusader, a new agent of vengeance came to Gotham. Jim Corrigan, former police detective that tried to kill Barbara Gordon for the massive bounty on her, is put through a medical experiment in exchange for a reduced sentence. Something goes wrong during the procedure, and Corrigan dies horribly on the table as Barbara and Renee Montoya watch from the observatory. Imagine their shock when Corrigan raises again from the grave, scaring the men driving him to the morgue so bad that it causes a car crash. Corrigan shuffles off, grabbing a green hooded jacket and throwing it on. Batman chases Corrigan as he travels around Gotham, using a mysterious supernatural power to kill three men, Vinnie de Leone, Roger Marshall, and Freddy Borke. Batman called Barbara, who informs him all three men were guys that Corrigan arrested, but they got off due to insufficient evidence. Batman warns that Corrigan might be on his way to her, and Barbara prepares to face him with her gun. She meets Corrigan on her front step and, instead of shooting him, demands to know why he’s doing this. She’s not a criminal that got away, HE attacked HER, so why is he trying to kill her. Corrigan, who’d only been able to moan, “Vengeance” up to this point, instead moans, “Forgiveness, please forgive me,” before dying. Batman arrives and almost puts a hand on Barbara’s shoulder to comfort her but runs off as the cops arrive instead. At the cave, Alfred left out a tray of Christmas cookies, and Batman takes one before the credits roll. Enough recapping. Let’s get to it, shall we?

 

Ep 16: Sudden Fear

 

The episode opens with a Gotham University student screaming at the top of his lungs that he’s covered in spiders. From the way that the spider’s seemed to just appear on his body, it’s clear that he’s hallucinating even before you realize that these spiders would be big even for Tarantulas. He tries to get them off himself, but one huge spider lunges at his face. We cut away to find him dead on the ground, a look of horror on his face. A mysterious man in black watches from a distance before departing.

 

After that we move on to Barbara and Montoya meeting for breakfast. They spend a minute catching up before Barbara tells her friend that she’s having trouble finding a psychiatrist that’s good and has trial experience for her latest case. She says she misses Harleen and then apologizes for bringing her up as she knew that Montoya and Harleen were getting close. Kind of highlighting once again that this is a 40s style world, not the actual 40s. Imagine someone casually bringing up a woman dating another woman, so scandalous. Montoya says that she was going to take Harleen ice skating with regret in her voice. Barbara says that since they never found Harleen’s body, it’s a bit like she’s still out there, haunting them. Montoya looks like she’s about to say something big to Barbara but shifts to promising to find a shrink for Barbara’s case. They’re interrupted by Flass popping in, saying that they have another ‘College Crazy’ case to check out before leaving again. When Barbara prompts her, Montoya says that they’re on case number 5 of a GSU student flipping out and creaming about something that isn’t there before dying. The cops head out.

 

We cut to GU where Bruce Wayne is getting his picture taken with Provost Williams. Williams apologizes for all this extra hullaballoo, but Bruce doesn’t hand out endowments very often, so they needed to add some pomp to the occasion. Bruce tells him not to worry, as he and his father were both GU alumni, and apologizes that it took the student deaths to remind him to give back to his old college. For those who might have forgotten, yes, Bruce does have a law degree. Williams says that the deaths are making this years Greek Week a bit of a downer, but he and the school’s board are all confident that this’ll blow over. Bruce notes GCPD nearby, and Willaims says that they’ve been very helpful keeping things contained for now. The photographer, Vicki Vale, interrupts to remind them that she needs some solo shots of Bruce for the article and that they need to move to a spot with better lighting.

 

The spot turns out to be right behind Montoya as she interviews the professor of the dead student (Thomas Dalton). She asks if Dalton ever discussed his mental state. Professor Burton says that he teaches Chemistry, not psychology, and Dalton was just one of hundreds of students. He doesn’t get involved in their personal lives. Montoya asks him about his class, Esoteric Chemicals and their interactions. Burton starts the classic, “you’re not smart enough to understand my work,” speech, but Montoya cuts him off and asks that he calls her if he thinks of anything. Bruce notes the note in Burton’s hand as he walks away. Flass is interviewing some of the other students. One, Carmine, says that nobody was chasing the victim, he just started screaming and running around like he was being attacked. But he claims that one of the smart types loses it at least once a semester before running off to try to impress a girl. The other student Flass was talking to, Junior, says that Dalton was a good student and that’s about all he has to add. Bruce hears Montoya say that they need to pressure the coroner to get the toxicology report done. As they leave, Bruce politely asks Vicki for copies of his headshots. She flirtishly says that he can have whatever he wants before she gets embarrassed and runs off.

 

We then jump to Harleen Quinzell as she watches her neighbors through a window and psychoanalyses them. One guy is overeating to deal with the stress that his affair and the fact his wife knows about it is causing, one woman is dressing up her dog and being a bit weird about it, and another is slamming a door repeatedly to deal with his emotions. Harleen says that the last guy is hiding his problem well, and that hiding is something she’s become an expert at. She moves to the chair, and we get a time elapse as Harleen finds ways to waste time before her roommate comes home late that night. The roommate? Renee Montoya! Turns out that Montoya has been hiding her for a while now. She apologizes for being late and tells Harleen a little about the case. Harleen is very interested in this case, but Montoya shuts her down, saying that she can’t be involved in an ongoing investigation. Harleen is clearly getting stir crazy being locked in the apartment all day, but they’ve got few options considering Harleen was on the front page of the news every day for a month and is still a fugitive. Montoya promises to make it up to Harleen after she changes.

 

Batman drives around Gotham and asks Alfred if he noticed anything odd about the photos they got from Vicki. He says there’s nothing unusual about them besides the fact Vicki left her number, a note for Bruce to call her, and a kiss mark on all of them. Alfred asks where Batman is off to next, and he says that he’s headed for the morgue to get the toxicology report.

 

Harleen looks over the report and notices that there are five victims with identical symptoms. She realizes that this is a field test, and goes to Montoya to ask a question, but finds her lover passed out on the bed. She tucks Montoya in, kisses her forehead, and then digs out her clown suit.

 

As Harley Quinn, she enters the morgue. She pulls out one of the bodies and examines him, dead boy number three. She then pulls out one of the girls. She notes that it’s been three dead boys and two dead girls thus far. She grabs a scalpel to cut a tissue sample but is interrupted by the man in black. His mask makes him look like a huge black crow, and he demands that she keep her hands off his bodies. He asks if he scared her, she says that would take more than he’s got, and he grabs a huge knife and says they’ll have to test that theory. Before the fighting can start in earnest, Batman breaks in through a window. Both criminals run off, Scarecrow (they haven’t named him yet, but come on,) pulls out bodies from the morgue freezer to slow Batman. They burst into the hallway and Batman elects to chase Harley.

 

Back at the apartment, Montoya wakes up and apologizes to Harleen for falling asleep, only to find the apartment empty. Before she can puzzle things out, she’s interrupted by Flass. Flass tells her about the break in at the Morgue and they head out to investigate.

 

Batman chases Harley through an alley and corners her. He accuses her of working with the Scarecrow, but she insists that she isn’t. She says that the other guy is the one scaring people to death. Batman says that you can’t do that, but she insists that delusions can kill people if chemically induced and enhanced. She offers her help in solving the case. Batman doesn’t say a word but is clearly hesitant. Harley brings up that she is a trained psychiatrist and a mental health expert, and that she’d be a very valuable asset in this particular case. Batman relents, and just as Harley starts to gloat, he hits her with a knockout spray.

 

The spray was to transport her to the cave without her knowing where he lives. She is impressed by the scale of it but says that it points to a significant childhood trauma. She starts talking about their last encounter, where Batman points out that she tried to kill him, and Harley says, ‘Not very hard.” She reveals some of what she knows about the case, Dalton screamed about bugs that weren’t there but says that she won’t tell him how she knows. Batman, showing off his deductive skills, says that since there are only two cops on the case, and that Harley didn’t run in Flass’ circles, asks why Montoya is shielding her. Harley shouts that Montoya isn’t, all but confirms it to be the truth. Harley then says that it’s none of his business, so they’ll focus on Batman’s actual mania, catching criminals. They go over the victims, all are chemistry or molecular biology students, ranging in age from 19-25, and all died of intense delusions. We get a shot of all the students that were killed plus a few more that were in Burton’s class. Harley tells Batman her theory about this being a field test, thinking that this is about testing a drug. Batman points out that they’re all connected to Dr. Charles Burton.

 

We cut to the Greek Week celebration where Burton is seemingly trying to convince a student named Jane to do something she’s uncomfortable with. They don’t say he’s trying to convince her to have sex with him for a better grade, but it’s heavily implied. They’re interrupted by Junior and Carmine, who get the professor back off. He tells Junior that he’ll deal with him later. Junior tries to offer Jane an apple cider, but she declines, saying she’s going to go back to the sorority house and go to bed. Carmine tease Junior for his lame line and offers to explain the bird and the bees to him.

 

As Jane walks back to her dorm, she’s stalked by someone in the shadows. She thinks it’s the professor and threatens to call the police if he’s stalking her. She runs inside and tries to call Detective Flass. She is told to stay at her room while Flass is brought in. She goes to get herself a bedtime snack, but the Scarecrow sneaks in and then gasses her.

 

Batman and a knocked-out Harley race to GU. Harley wakes up, saying she could just be blindfolded, and notices the picture of Jane that Batman has. He says that she fits the pattern. Harley points out that they don’t know how the drug is being administered.

 

Jane is tripping from her gassing. She thinks the house is on fire and she’s trapped inside. Scarecrow tells her that he’s helping her, and that she’s helping him. Batman and Harley burst in, Batman fights Scarecrow while Harley examines Jane. She thinks the toxin is Alkaline based and that milk can counteract the affects, thankfully Jane got a glass before her gassing. Harley tries to grab it, but Scarecrow shouts that he’s not done yet before dosing her. Batman knocks him aside and tries to talk Harley through the hallucination.

 

Harley’s hallucination is being trapped in Montoya’s apartment alone. The room quickly shifts into a jailcell, with Montoya just outside the bars. She calls out to Montoya and begs to be let out, but Montoya just turns and walks away. The apartment turns into walls that close in and starts to crush her. Batman shakes her and tries to get her to come out of it, and Harley gets just lucid enough to ask for the milk. Unfortunately, while Batman was helping Harley, Jane’s hallucination got worse and she jumped out her window into the ‘lake’ she saw outside. It was pavement. Flass and Montoya pull up a moment later, and Montoya sees Batman and Harley flee via grappling hook.

 

Back at the Greek Week celebration, they light a huge bonfire. Batman and Harley watch from the roof. He tries to focus on the case, while Harley panics a bit about Montoya seeing her on this case. Batman makes her focus. She says that Burton has got some messed up delusions and that he’s fixated on patterns. A pattern they broke, so Batman asks the good doctor what comes next.

 

We cut to Burton who knocks on Junior’s apartment. Junior opens the door and Burton says that they need to talk about him interfering in Burton’s life.

 

Batman and Harley break into Burton’s office. There are files on the “Alkaline based phobic instigator” that’s been used and photos of the dead students with an X over their faces. Harley sees that Burton had a partner for a lot of this research… Jonathan Crane, Jr. Harley thinks that he might be the son of her own former psych professor. Batman sees that Junior is the only one left, besides Burton, so they race to his apartment. They find the room trashed and Burton dead on the mattress. The two quickly deduce what happened: Crane helped Burton develop the chemical, Burton cancelled the project for ethical reasons, Crane felt abandoned as the project was his whole identity and so he set about continuing the project. Batman realizes that Crane has three options, disappear, go out in a blaze of glory, or both. Harley tells Batman to go on his own, as she’s not a hero. She only notices that he’s gone after speaking for a few moments and says that that’s classic monomania.

 

At the Greek Week celebration, Scarecrow is hitting everyone with his toxin. He screams that they’re all idiots and fools and diagnoses their fears as he does. Carmine tries to stop him, but Scarecrow hits him in the face with the gas. He rips his mask off to scream, “Fear of never shutting the hell up!” in his face. Batman arrives to try to stop him, and Scarecrow gets him with the toxin.

 

Batman’s fear is presented as him as an old man. Scarecrow says that he wishes that he could see what scares Batman. He lies in a while room, alone, and just outside his window we see Gotham burning. Old Bruce gets up and walks to the window. He mutters no fear to himself several times before leaping out of the window. This breaks the delusion, somehow, and Batman gets up. He throws a bat-a-rang at Junior, forcing him to get a hit of his own toxin. He shouts that fear is a weapon, fear is a poison, but it is never in control. Batman in Junior’s eyes morph into a bat demon. Batman grabs him and asks what he sees before he passes out from fear.

 

We jump to the skating rink where Montoya meets Harleen. Montoya tries to tell her that they can still make things work, but Harleen says that they can’t. Keeping the secret was drowning Montoya and driving Harleen crazy. We hear sirens going off, and Harleen says goodbye, kissing her lover and saying not to wait up. The cops pull up and both Gordons get out of the car. Harleen skates over to them to turn herself in.

 

It was nice seeing Harley again. This version is one of my favorite interpretations of the character, being wholly separated from the Joker and yet still connected to her original jester look. She’s intelligent and not playing up a ditzy persona for any reason. Having her hiding out at Montoya’s apartment seems a little farfetched, but I suppose Montoya just doesn’t entertain at home very much and given her sexuality in the time period that she’s living in, I guess it makes sense that she might be a more private person out of habit rather than temperament. I like how they framed Harley’s time with Montoya as something that she clearly loves while they’re together, but the whole ‘I’m alone for like 18+ hours a day,’ has been wearing on her mind. I wish that her being held up at Montoya’s place had been a plot point before this episode, as they could have expanded on how much the isolation was wearing down Harley’s mind. I like how they utilized her to help figure out the whole game plan here, it shows off how intelligent that she is. The red herring about Burton being the killer was well done. They really sell that it might be him, right up until the name Jonathan Crane comes up. I like him as a villain, but I think that his costume design is trying a bit too hard. I mean, his mask is a giant black beak. I get they’re probably trying to invoke the look of a plague doctor and make him more of a Scare Crow rather than a Scarecrow. But come on, the actual Scarecrow looks are all iconic on their own. It’s like Eddy Nigma being the Riddler because he riddles things with bullets, they’re trying too hard (in my opinion) to take a different path to the same destination. It was interesting to see that this version of Batman’s biggest fear is seeing Gotham being destroyed and him being powerless to help it. In part, because that’s exactly what canonically happens to at least one Batman. The original DCAU Batman, also created and run by Bruce Timm that made this version, does grow into a bitter old man. He is too old and weak to be Batman anymore, he’s alone and forced to watch the city he tried to hard to defend slip back into the rotting cesspool he fought tooth and nail to drag it out of. In a way, that’s a much more believable fear for him than his fear of Bats. Shame Harley had to go to jail at the end of this, if there’s a season 3 I hope she gets to help again somehow. Next time, Riddler meets a new lady and this gal has got thorns. Have a good night and stay safe. 

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Bluesky: @basicssuperhero.bsky.social

Viewer Log: Batman: Caped Crusader ep 15

 The Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come is on the hunt.

Last time on Batman: Caped Crusader, Batman became the center of a cult. The cult worshipped Barbatos, the Demon Bat God, and under the orders of the Mad Monk, stole lots of treasure to offer up to their dark god. The cult accelerates after murdering a man to get their offering and are told by the Mad Monk to get the blood of Barbatos’ avatar, Batman, to summon their lord. Batman investigates the murder and the cult and learns from Linton Midnite that it’s a scam. Barbatos is a fake god that pops up every decade or so that occult grifters use to fleece people out of their money. And obviously the fake Bat God’s cult would work Batman into their mythology. The cult escalates further by kidnapping Jim Gordon and talk show host Hattie Tetch (Gordon had agreed to an interview to try to boost moral) and it’s revealed Hattie’s produce Dala Landry is part of the cult. They kidnapped the two to sacrifice to Barbatos, as they represent an ally and an enemy of the Avatar. Batman busts in and frees the captives before running down the Mad Monk. He gets Batman at gunpoint and reveals that he was indeed a grifter. Batman is able to get the gun away from him and capture the Monk. But he doesn’t get far, as Dala heard his reveal, and so stabs the Monk as a blasphemer. She sobs and calls out to Barbatos when Batman grappling hooks away. After, Hattie Tetch has warmed to Gotham PD and Jim Gordon but is still adamant that Batman is a menace that must be stopped. Really showing off her J. Jonah Jameson right there. Enough recapping. Let’s get to it, shall we?

 

Oh, and I should remind you of Jim Corrigan. He was introduced in season one and was largely a background character until the episode “Moving Target.” A hit is put out on Barbara Gordon (everyone assumes it’s on Jim because they’re always together when attacked) and he’s one three cops protecting the Gordon’s for most of the episode. That is until Batman is drawn away to fight the episode’s villain Onomatopoeia, it’s revealed he’s a corrupt cop and is going to kill Barbara for the bounty. She holds him off until her dad can arrest him.

 

Ep 15: The Spectral Hand

 

We open with Barbara at the gun range doing target practice. She remembers Corrigan threatening to kill her as she makes several head and body shots. Montoya calls out to her, but Barbara doesn’t respond right away until prompted again. She insists she’s fine despite being very obviously not fine. As shown by her sneer as she goes back to shooting.

 

The two women head out, and Montoya points out that Barbara seems… tense. Barbara reveals she’s on edge because Jim Corrigan is going to be released from prison soon. Maybe. He’s offered to be part of some medical experiment in exchange for a reduced sentence. Montoya tells her that she doesn’t have to go as a witness, but Barbara insists that she does, to look that ‘animal’ in the eyes. Montoya tells her she’s not going alone.

 

At Blackgate, Corrigan is grabbed and brought to a surgical theater for the experiment. Barbara and Montoya, along with a late arriving Bruce, are some of the few viewers. Bruce claims to be here because Dr. Peterson’s longevity experiences might be worth investing in… but we the audience knows Batman is just checking in on an old case. Montoya accuses him of only caring about money, and Bruce responds, “what else is there? Besides wine, women and the occasional song?” he heads toward a seat. Montoya and Barbara say, “I can’t stand him,” in unison. Dr. James Peterson steps up, presenting his Osiris Project. Peterson claims that this project is about reviving the recently deceased and increasing the longevity of people. He thanks Corrigan for volunteering (Barbara snidely adding “Volunteering to get his sentence reduced”) and they begin. They stop Corrigan’s heart with an injection. As he goes under, the last person he intentionally sees is Barbara in the crowd. He flatlines a few minutes later and they begin the procedure. They stick a metal headband on his head and power up some electronics. This feels very… movie Frankenstein. It seems to be going well for a minute, his heart starts beating an everything, but then the machines start going wild. Corrigan starts screaming in agony as his skin is burned and his hair goes white with the stress. He dies on the table.

 

One of the prison guards lets a colleague know that Corrigan died, and that leads to a riot as the prisoners believe that if the cops will kill a cop, they’ll kill anyone. They’re able to grab a guard, steal his keys and hold him at gunpoint. The second guard sets off the alarm as the prisoners try to escape. Bruce hears the alert and runs off to intercept. Montoya takes Barbara with her, saying that while she knows Barbara can take care of herself, the prisoners finding the police commissioners daughter is at the prison would be bad. Batman cuts off the wannabe escapees at the gate, kicks their asses, and leaves them for the cops.

 

Later, we see a pair of coroners taking Corrigan’s body. One of them says that it is hard to feel bad for Corrigan, but they both agree the way he died was nasty. As they start chatting about their Christmas and New Years plans, Corrigan opens his eyes and sits up. Seeing a corpse get up obviously freaks out the guards and they drive off the road. Alfred drives Bruce home, mentioning that maybe it’s better the experiment failed, and muses about how extending life indefinitely could be dangerous. Bruce is barely listening. Alfred suggests that maybe he should make the biscuits that Bruce liked as a child, but those were tied to memories of Bruce’s mom, so that really shuts Bruce down. They come across the scene of the accident and Bruce gets out to investigate. The coroners are both dead, but he sees a trail walking off into the distance.

 

At the police station, Gordon chews out Barbara for going to the experiment, saying that she could have been killed. Montoya excuses herself from the parent/child dispute. When alone, Barbara says that she felt relieved when she found out Corrigan died, and asks what that says about her. Gordon tells her that it means she’s human that went through something traumatic. She heads home, Gordon warning her to be careful as the storm is getting bad.

 

We cut to a bar where a drunk named Vinny de Leone is forcing the bartender to stay open and serve him drinks. Corrigan, who grabbed a green hooded jacket at some point stumbles in. He still looks like a walking corpse, and only mutters Vinny’s name and the word “Vengeance.” Vinny takes several shots at Corrigan, but he barely slows his plodding step. Once close enough, Corrigan’s eyes go black and he seems to give Vinny a heart attack. The bartender calls the cops and tells Montoya what happened, saying that Corrigan walked off with two bullets in him, and that he didn’t seem human.

 

At the Gordon house, Barbara is reviewing Corrigan’s case while listening to the radio. The host says that he’s going to be doing a dramatic reading of a Christmas Carol, which Barbara shuts off. She hears a thumping outside her window, goes to check and sees it’s just a loose shutter.

 

Corrigan finds another victim, Roger Marshall as the man is threatening to beat up his lady. Roger runs off when he gets a look at Corrigan’s corpse like face. He runs into a department store and starts throwing things over to try to slow Corrigan down. Batman hears about a break in on his police scanner and goes to investigate. Corrigan corners Roger, and tells him, “Vengeance.” Roger seems to think this is about the death of his wife, who he definitely murdered. He tries to (badly) convince Corrigan that his wife fell down the stairs, the jury acquitted him and everything. He throws a chair at Corrigan, but he bats it aside. Roger runs outside and laughs at having escaped Corrigan… right up until he’s hit by a Christmas tour bus. Batman pulls up in time to see Corrigan’s black eyes return to normal and then shuffle off. He runs after the ghoul, but once Corrigan is out of sight, he seems to vanish. Must be weird to be on the receiving end of that for once.

 

Gordon calls Barbara to let her know that he’ll be even later than normal getting home. He claims Christmas is like a Full Moon in Gotham. Gordon asks if she’s okay, and Barbara admits that she can’t get Corrigan out of her head. He reassures her that Corrigan isn’t on her, and that she should get to bed and have some of his terrible eggnog before she goes.

 

Batman hears another sight of Corrigan the zombie and heads for the Hotel Gothamite. Freddy Borke is up waiting for his mistress to show up and complaining that she’s late. He hears a noise and has his goon check it out. The goon opens the door and Corrigan is waiting on the other side. He comes in, crushes the guards windpipe and throws him at the radio, shattering it. Freddy makes a run for it, climbing up the fire escape to the top of the hotel. Batman pulls up as Freddy runs across the roof. He grappling hooks up to the roof and tries to fight Corrigan, but the undead ma barely notices him. He uses his mysterious power to trap Batman under a fallen letter from the Hotel’s sign. Freddy tries to escape Corrigan by climbing on a flag pole, but falls and ends up improbably impaling himself on the Star atop the Christmas tree the city set up. Graphic way to die. Corrigan slips away into the crowd, somehow reaching the ground as Freddy hits the star. Dude is slow when observed, but the Flash when not.

 

Barbara is still waiting up when she gets a call. She assumes its her dad, but it’s Batman. He lists off the victims: Vinny De Leone, Roger Marshall, and Freddy Borke, and asks how they’re tied to Corrigan. This is how Barbara learns Corrigan is somehow wandering around. Barbara starts to list off their crimes, but Batman cuts her off (De Leone bilked people out of insurance money, Marshall killed his wife, and Borke was deep into the drug trade), he needs to know how they tie back to Corrigan. Barbara says that he was the arresting officer in all three cases, but they were let off due to insufficient evidence. Batman realizes that Corrigan is going after people that got away from him, settling unfinished business. Barbara says that can’t be true, as the bounty was lifted, but Batman warns her to call her father. He was going to say more, but Barbara hung up on him and got her own gun ready.

 

Batman sees people fleeing from the subway station and runs in just in time to follow Corrigan onto the train. They fight again, but Corrigan’s supernatural strength is too much for Batman. He tries to choke out the zombie, but it doesn’t work and he almost loses his head. Corrigan beats Batman and then throws him out the back of the train.

 

Corrigan gets off the train and walks down Barbara’s suburban street. She opens the blinds and sees him coming. She decides she’s going to face him, to end this one way or another. She opens the door with her gun drawn. Batman is following, but his injuries have him moving slowly. Corrigan calls out Barbara’s name. She asks if he’s “ready to die again, you son of a bitch!” Corrigan pulls down his hood and just looks at her. Barbara shakes as she holds the gun on him and finally asks why. She’s not a criminal that got away, he attacked her, so why is she on his list. He then mutters “Forgiveness,” and “Please, Forgive me.” Batman comes up as Corrigan drops to the ground. Barbara says that he came all this way to ask for forgiveness and starts to tear up. Batman reaches out to maybe comfort her, but pulls back. He leaves her be as the cops and Gordon pulls up. He covers Barbara with a coat and asks if she’s alright. She says no, but that she thinks she will be.

 

Batman returns to the cave and sees Alfred left him a plate of Christmas cookies. He grabs a cookie as he walks by.

 

           This was an interesting spin on The Specter. For those that don’t know, James “Jim” Corrigan is best known as the Specter, the spirit of Vengeance. As the name implies, he’s a supernatural ghost that hunts down individuals that need to be punished. He’s a lot like Ghost Rider but without the flaming skull or motorcycle. He’s typically given near god-like power and omnipotence. This version of Corrigan seems to be a less powerful version of that. He knows where his targets are and can seemingly reach them wherever they are, and he can hit them with enough bad vibes that they die. While obviously the procedure is what triggered this short undead life, I like that the story kept it vague as to the actual mechanics. Is this some sort of latent Meta ability? Is he possessed by the Spirit of Vengeance? The episode doesn’t spell it out, and that’s for the best. I very much loved how they set up this final confrontation with Barbara. From the very start, Barbara doesn’t fit the pattern of guys Corrigan is going after. He strikes at low lives, people that escaped justice, and yet we’re all worried that he is going to go after Barbara. She was the last person he looked at in life. And while we don’t get shown what’s going through Corrigan’s head in this episode, I think the implication is there that she was as much on his mind as he was hers. The episode seems pretty vague on how dirty Corrigan was as a cope, but the implication I got was that he was supposed to be a lot like Dent. Did he cross ethical lines? Ya, probably. But it was ultimately in the pursuit of trying to do good, at least up until trying to kill Barbara. Ya don’t come back from the dead and kill three dirt bags unless you had at least a little of your integrity left is all I’m saying. I don’t have much to say about Batman himself in this one, as most of the episode was just him in pursuit of Corrigan. He’s not questioning how a zombie is walking around or anything, just running. But I liked that small moment when he almost reached out a hand to Barbara. Batman of the last season I think would have just left the moment he knew that the danger had passed. But after at least a year of growth in universe, he was willing to at least consider offering someone a bit of comfort when they needed it. That’s real growth for this ice king Batman. And that’s all I have to say about that. When we come back next month, we’ll see the return of a season one champion, Harleen Quinzel. Look forward to it. Have a good night and stay safe.

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Bluesky: @basicssuperhero.bsky.social