Viewer Log: Batman: Caped Crusader ep 7

 The sound of violence is stalking the Gordons.

Last time on Batman: Caped Crusader, Batman faced off against a real ghost. Gentleman Jim Craddick, the Gentleman Ghost, rose from the dead to rob Gotham’s struggling working class of their funds. He held up armored cars and the Gotham train, during the latter of which he also ruined a press event for Harvey Dent’s campaign by not robbing him as he saw Dent as a man of a similar station. Batman refused to believe he was dealing with a ghost until he fought the man in his estate and during the fight his fist passed through the ghost’s head. Not knowing what to do, Alfred suggested he look up Linton Midnite at his bookstore. Midnite, a vodou priest, gave Batman a book and instructions on how to exorcise Craddick, by burning the original deed to his estate and using the blood of a noble man. Alfred volunteered the blood as it turns out the Pennyworth’s could trace their family back to English nobility. They performed the ritual in the Craddick family cemetery, Craddick raising again to stop them. After a struggle, Alfred and Batman burned most of the deed, destroying Craddick’s body. But his remains flew at Batman to try to possess him. Alfred took the hit and then begged Batman to kill him to protect himself. Batman destroyed the last deed scrap, freeing Alfred and trapping Craddick in a beaker that Midnite had given him. He checks on an exhausted Alfred and tells him that he can’t do his job without Alfred. He handed the beaker over to Midnite, and judging from Craddick’s screams, he’s in for a bad time. Meanwhile, out of money and options, Harvey Dent turned to Rupert Thorne for money to keep his campaign afloat.

 

Ep 7: Moving Target

 

The episode opens with a client of Barbara’s thanking her for getting him exonerated. She tells him that he’s a free man because he deserves to be, that we’re more than the bad choices we make, and sends him off. Her father watches, scowling, and feeling like this was a miscarriage of justice as the man got off due to a technicality. The Gordon’s start arguing about this, as this seems to be a sore spot between them. Barbara insists that actions aren’t everything, there are mitigating circumstances, while Jim is very adamant that actions are everything. She calls him a cynic, he calls her naïve. This has the vibe of one of those arguments they’ve been having some variation of for years, perhaps decades. Jim insists that deep down people know right from wrong and need to be held accountable for when they choose wrong. Their fight is interrupted by Montoya and Corrigan running up to them, saying they got a tip about something. Suddenly, a man with a mustache calls out to Gordon and pulls a gun. Before he can shoot, he’s hit by Corrigan and drops. Jim asks what’s going on and Montoya says they have a problem.

 

At GCPD, we learn that the assassin was Floyd Lawton, a local contract killer. Jim asks if they know who hired him but Montoya says no as he’s still in surgery to remove the bullet Corrigan put in him. Flass says that one of their snitches informed them this morning that a hit was put out on Gordon last night. Jim points out that taking a hit out on the police commissioner would require a lot of nerve, and Corrigan adds a lot of money too. Montoya wants to investigate and figure out who of Jim’s enemies could have the funds to pull it off, while Flass and Bullock pitch sending all the cops they’ve got to the East End to put the fear of cops into Gotham’s crooks.  Jim shoots that idea down, refusing to turn the East End into a warzone. He says work the case but work it smart.

 

They head up to Jim’s office where Barbara is waiting. She insists they get Jim protection detail and take him to a safe house. Jim thinks she’s overreacting, as they got Lawton, but Barbara says there’s no way he’s the only one being sent. Montoya is on Barbara’s side and thinks they should get Jim to a safehouse too, at least until they can figure out the full scope of what they’re dealing with. He refuses to go, believing that if he leaves that Flass and Bullock will cause trouble without supervision and that running will tell the criminal element he’s scared. He plants himself at his desk and gets back to work. Barbara storms off and Montoya follows her. After letting Barbara vent her frustrations for a minute, Montoya promises to keep an eye on Jim and to call Barbara the second anything happens.

 

At her office, Barbara tries to keep busy but is frustrated by the situation. She looks at a phone on her desk of her and Jim when she graduated from Gotham State U. She then looks over to see that Batman got into her office through her window. Obviously, she’ll need to get used to his entrances as she leaps up and shouts at him. Batman tells her that he’s been looking into the hit on her dad. We get a flashback scene to show ‘looking into it’ involved beating the tar out of crooks at a bar until one of them talks. He tells her that according to his informant, the hit came from Black Gate Prison and that it’s an open hit, meaning that whoever does the deed gets paid. Barbara deduces that this is a personal hit, as her dad put a lot of people into that prison. Batman is sure it’ll be a long list of suspects, given her dad’s 30-year history on the force. He advises her to get Jim somewhere safe and heads out when she’s not looking to investigate further.

 

Batman heads to Black Gate Prison, knocking out two guards that were just joking about how one had killed an inmate the other day. He finds the man that put the hit out on Gordon and demands to know why. The inmate swears he didn’t do it for himself, he was just the middleman that set up the deal. He tells Batman the man that did it was a guy named Muller, he’s in and out of solitary a lot so needed a go between to make the deal. He admits there’s a complication as well. Muller doubled the price after Lawton failed and a whole crew are coming in from out of town to finish them off. We cut to a squad of men in black trench coats and hats carrying violin case get off the train. Their boss dons a black mask with two white concentric circles on it. He walks to the railing of the train station and says “Dun dun dun.” This is Onomatopoeia (Reid Scott).

 

Batman moves onto Muller’s cell. Batman asks why he’d try to kill Commissioner Gordon. Muller acts scared for a second before takin a swipe at Batman with a shiv. Batman beats the crap out of him and then demands Muller start talking.

 

Jim Gordon heads home and finds Barbara, Corrigan, Montoya and a third officer, Marcus Driver (James Arnold Taylor). Jim is adamant that he won’t run but Barbara rightly points out that if he stays at his home and more hitmen come after him, their neighbors will be in the crossfire. Jim relents. As the cops load Jim’s things into their car, Jim sarcastically asks Barbara if hired killers count as victims of circumstance too. He insists that there are times when things are black and white, Barbara tells him to get in the car. As they drive off, the housephone starts ringing. It’s revealed to be Batman, wanting to fill them in on what he learned from Muller. He tells Alfred to keep trying the number as he tries to find where they’ve gone.

 

As the cops escort the Gordons, Jim sees a police car tailing them and is annoyed that they got a security detail as well. It’s only as the police car pulls along side that Jim realizes that’s not one of theirs and screams for Marcus to get down. The fake cop, a member of Onomatopoeia’s gang, pulls a tommy gun on then. Marcus is hit and Barbara grabs the wheel.  The cops all fire on the gang until Barbara makes a sharp turn, tricking the gang to drive off the road and clearly die in a fiery explosion. Montoya and Corrigan agree that their safe house has been compromised. Barbara bandages Marcus’s arm and tells Jim they need to get him to a hospital. They head out, their damaged car fuming and sputtering until it breaks down.  Corrigan checks the engine and says they’re leaking oil and the radiator has been literally shot. Jim wants to find a phone and call GCPD for back up and an ambulance, but Montoya and Barbara agree they can’t really trust anyone right now after being chased by one of their squad cars. Barbara suggests finding some place to hunker down. Corrigan asks where they can do that, since they’re in the boonies, but Barbara walks a few feet and they realize their withing walking distance of the Wayne Garden’s suburb development. They hid the car as best they can behind the Wayne Garden’s billboard and head into the development. They’re looking for the model home, as developers always build that first.

 

Meanwhile, Onomatopoeia and his gang found the wreck their boys left. His second calls the men morons, as they were only supposed to follow. Onomatopoeia sees the oil trail the car left and mimics the noise of dripping fluid to draw their attention to it and then a winning bell from like a gameshow to indicate they found the trail. No, the episode never reveals if he can only speak in onomatopoeias or if that’s just a bit he does while on the job, They follow the trail.

 

Meanwhile, Batman listens on the police scanner for tips. He hears that there’s a downed police car on Dozier Road and reports of shots fired, but the dispatch officer says they don’t have any cops in that area tonight. Batman makes a wild turn and heads out of town.

 

The cops found the prefab house and got Marcus inside. He keeps trying to tell them that he’s fine, but he’s lost so much blood he can’t stay conscious. Barbara and Jim argue about the system, as Barbara is disgusted that they can’t trust any of Gordon’s officers right now. Jim heads to the back to check the windows again rather than fight. Montoya looks at some of the stock photos in the house and says this place doesn’t feel like Gotham. Barbara admits it’s a lot like the house she grew up in. Montoya, on edge and feeling snide asks if it was in one of the rich districts of Gotham and Barbara confirms it was Ellsworth Hills. Montoya complains about elites in Gotham fleeing to the suburbs rather than trying to fix up the city proper, but Barbara counters saying they’re still part of Gotham, just across the river. And points out that the house in question belonged to her grandpa, they weren’t rich. Montoya insists it’s not the real Gotham. Barbara says that she didn’t miss the city while living there, as something are just… she trails off but her dad adds ‘beyond help’ when he comes back in, but Barbara refuses to admit that’s what she meant. Corrigan heads to the kitchen saying he’s going to try to make coffee to soothe people’s nerves. Montoya points out that they’re in a model, not a real house, and the moment Corrigan flips on a light, Onomatopoeia’s men open fire on the model house. He says Bang to tell his men to keep firing. Jim and Montoya cover the front while Barbara and Corrigan cover the back.

 

The firefight really ruins the house. Thankfully, the noise draws Batman’s attention, and he really helps even the odds. He rolls through Onomatopoeia’s men as the Gordons and cops pick men off. Some break into the house, Barbara beating one down with a golf club and her heels. Batman and Onomatopoeia face off. Onomatopoeia proves to be a tough opponent, easily dodging around a lot of Batman’s punches and kicks.  And as a bit of an easter egg his schtick of talking only in onomatopoeias feels like a nod to the 60s Batman series and how it had those exaggerated sound effects. Batman finally gets him in a hold and beats him up. Corrigan and Barbara take out their second goon after a struggle. Batman punches Onomatopoeia in the throat before saying “Pow” and knocking him out. Jim and Montoya join Batman. Batman tells him the hit has been rescinded so this should be the last of them. Jim breathes a sigh of relief… until Batman reveals that the hit wasn’t on Jim Gordon, but Barbara Gordon.

 

Inside, Barbara beaths a sigh of relief only for Corrigan to pull his gun on her and reveal she was the target all along. Corrigan says that he doesn’t want to hurt her, but the amount of money on offer is just too much for him to ignore. Everyone has their price, I suppose. Barbara tells him he won’t get away with this, but Corrigan tells her that he’s going to stage it to look like one of the gang got her before he could put too in his chest. At the last moment, Jim shoots the gun out of Corrigan’s hand and Barbara knocks him out with a punch to the jaw. The Gordon’s hug. The cops arrive at the house, Marcus gets seen to and all of Onomatopoeia and his surviving crew get taken away. Along with Corrigan.

 

Later, Barbara meets with Muller. He’s sporting a broken nose and bruises from his fight with Batman. He tells her he took the hit off her, so she should tell the Batman that. She wants to know why he did it, when she did her job and got him the best deal possible. Muller doesn’t believe that, saying that while he made mistakes, he doesn’t deserve to be in here with the rest of them. Barbara tells him that she thinks he does before walking away.

 

This was a good episode. Onomatopoeia is a villain I hadn’t heard of before, so I looked him up. Turns out he’s a relatively new character, having debuted in 2002 and was created by comic nerd king Kevin Smith and artist Phil Hester. He’s a villain that mostly goes after Batman and Green Arrow, being a contract killer that specializes in hunting non-meta heroes. At time of writing it’s unclear if he’s a meta himself, but he’s shown off endurance to indicate if not he’s getting hits off something like Venom or other performance enhancing drugs to keep him going. I was honestly shocked to hear that he’s such a recent villain. He’s got a vibe to him like Clayface and Hugo Strange or other Older Batman villains. I have to imagine he was chosen to be adapted at least in part because he was an easy concept to fit into this 40-50’s universe much like Batman himself. I was disappointed to see that Corrigan had turned traitor in order to get the reward money. This is due in part to him being played by Roger Craig Smith, who has a long filmography but I know him best as playing Captain America in Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. If you can’t trust Cap, who can you trust? But my point about everyone having their price still stands. For most people, I’d like to think it’s a dollar amount too exorbitantly high for someone to consider paying, but for Corrigan it seems to be a lot lower. The ending was a bit of a downer. Maybe I’m miss reading it, but it seems to me that that last scene with Muller was to drive the point home to Barbara that she had been naïve and that not all of her clients deserve what she gets them and that just feels a bit off to me. But that’s a nitpick. Overall, a good episode. See you next time.

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Viewer Log: Batman: Caped Crusader ep 6

 Gotham is haunted. Information that shocks no one.

Last time on Batman: Caped Crusader, Batman faced off against a crazed psychiatrist. No, not the one you’re thinking of. After running into Fletcher Demming, a former real estate baron that gave away his fortune, thinking he’s a Pharoh, Batman’s interest was piqued. After a short investigation, he learned that Demming and several other millionaires that gave up their money were all patients of Dr. Harleen Quinzel. It’s revealed that Dr. Quinzel is kidnapping ungrateful one percenters and torturing them to give up their moneys and (it’s implied) that they’re forced to commit suicide to cover it up. At the same time, Barbara Gordon is made Demming’s public defender and learns he has a strong reaction to the name Harleen Quinzel. She goes to Harleen’s office, that Batman sacked, and learns from Harleen’s appointment book that she was Demming’s psychiatrist. She goes to speak with another of Harleen’s patients, William Hastings, who shuts the door in her face. She tries to break into the house and meets with Batman who is also trying to break in. He tells her to leave but she obviously ignores that. Hastings, who is another victim of Harleen, detects Batman’s break in and calls Harleen about it. Harleen breaks off a date with Renee Montoya but promises to meet her later. She meets Batman in her “playroom” with her other victims. She uses them to fight Batman and force him into a cell. She locks him in and gases him, telling him she doesn’t want to kill him but needs a head start and gives him 5 minutes to escape before the house blows.  Barbara finds him and tries to free him. Harleen sees Barbara’s car outside the house and goes back for her. She tries to free Batman to get Barbara to leave, but the house blows, and Batman’s cell drops. The women fall into a hole, but Barbara catches Harleen. Harleen tells her to drop her as she’s refusing to go to prison or Arkham. They both drop, but Batman catches Barbara but Harleen drops. Batman leaves Barbara crying over her friend’s apparent death but tells her that he’s sorry. We learn that Harleen somehow survived, as she calls Montoya to say she’s sorry to miss their date and asks her to look after Barbara as she’ll be out of town for a while. Enough recap. Let’s get to it.

 

Ep 6: Night Ride

 

We open with an armored car for Westside Charities driving through a defunct factory district. One of the guards says that it’s a sad turn of the events, her father used to work in the area and back in the day the factories would be running night and day. After a big fire, now they’re just standing there empty. Her partner asks if she really needs a paper clip, like the factories used to make. The first guard complains that if they had a government worth a damn, they’d rebuild but instead they’re keeping the slums. They’re suddenly attacked by a man on horseback. The man (Toby Stephens) and horse are glowing with a blue light as he tells the guards to “Stand and Deliver” before shooting their car with a flintlock pistol and causing the car to crash. He offers to help the first guard to her feet after the crash, saying the road is no place for a lady, before riding off cackling and disappearing in a cloud of smoke, taking all the money with him.

 

We cut to Bruce Wayne reading the paper as Lucias Fox gives him an update on his various investments. I’m not sure why Bruce’s lawyer is doing this instead of an accountant, but that’s conservation of characters for ya. The charity thief has already been dumbed the Gentleman Ghost by the Gotham Gazette. Lucias gets annoyed with Bruce for not paying full attention, but Bruce sums it up as he’s richer and Lucias is too marvelous for words. Lucias asks what Bruce thinks about the Gentleman Ghost, Bruce saying that it’s obviously a crazy person in a costume. Alfred, when asked, quotes Hamlet ‘There are greater things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio,” confirming he’s a ghost believer. Lucias then asks about Alfred’s uncle. Alfred elaborates on the story of his Uncle Nigel that was convinced he’d seen the ghost of his late wife on the moors, looking for their dog. Bruce is a little surprised to see that Lucias and Alfred are on good terms, with Lucias chastising Bruce by saying he was raised to treat the help like people. On the way out, Lucias mentions that he bought a property that Bruce had been interested in at one point for a Wayne Garden’s project. Lucias plans to turn the area into single family units, low-income housing, a public school and park. Lucias offers to cut Bruce in on the deal, saying that Bruce has more than enough in his “discretionary account” that he won’t let Lucias touch. Bruce is adamant that account is untouchable, it’s his petty cash fund.

 

We cut to Harvey Dents office as he reads an unflattering description of him in the Gotham Gazette. He yells at his chief of staff, Gorman, saying that he thought they were getting ahead of this current story. Gorman says he tried, but the paper is tight with Jessop and they’re more than willing to print stories and pictures of Harvey out with his wealthy friends. The story has cost Harvey the endorsement of two unions and implies he’s lost a few others this week. Gorman suggests they do a press event to show that shows he’s a man of the people. Harvey tells him to set it up and storms off to get lunch. He enters his car and is met with Rupert Thorne. The crime boss says that he’s there to see what he could do for Harvey’s campaign now that he’s slipping in the polls. Harvey points out that he’s publicly endorsed Jessop, but Thorne says that he’s “betting on red and black. Then no matter what you come out a winner.” Basically, Thorne wants to make it so regardless of who is Mayor of Gotham they’re in his pocket. Harvey says that’s why he’s running, to try to save the city from corruption like Jessop and Thorne. Thorne cuts him off, saying he has to win to do anything and as DA Dent should be used to compromises to win. He leaves Dent’s car, saying he knows where to call if he wants to get back in the game.

 

At the Batcave, Batman has figured out something odd. Namely, that the armored car that was hit was carrying money for charity, but the weirder thing about that is that it was one of six armored cars on the street that night and the other five all had more money. So, it seems like the Gentleman Ghost targeted a charity truck specifically.

 

We shift focus to Harvey Dent hosting a press event on Gotham’s public transit line. He gives a fluffy speech about how the train is like the heart of Gotham and the people that ride it are the lifeblood of the city. He promises to make the trains cleaner, safer and cheaper than before as mayor. His puff piece is interrupted by the Gentleman Ghost phasing into the car and demanding all the valuables from the riders. The people hand over their wallets and purses. Harvey tries to get him to just take his wallet and go, but Gentleman Ghost tells Harvey that he’d never rob a man of Dent’s station, but he’ll take everything from these people. To punctuate his statement, he puts his pistol to a man’s face and takes his wallet. He vanishes, and the press start writing. Gentleman Ghost leaps off the tracks and onto the streets, only to be chased by Batman in the Batmobile. He leads Batman on a merry chase through town, eventually losing him by phasing through an alley wall. But not before Batman gets a look at his saddle bag and the coat of arms on it. Also, as Gentleman Ghost vanishes, the money he stole burst into flame and rains down on Batman.

 

At the cave, Batman examens the burnt bills for clues but gets nothing. Alfred suggests it might be a real ghost. Batman says that “The world is big enough for us. No Ghosts need apply.” Alfred counters with “But when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth,’ and adding Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is his favorite author too. Batman lists off what they know about Gentleman Ghost. 1. He exclusively targets the poor and underprivileged, 2. He’s obsessed with the 18^th century by his costume, and 3. Batman knows his coat of arms. He says that he needs answers he can’t get here.

 

We jump to Lucias Fox reaching the estate, Heritage Hill, that he intends to buy. He meets with the current owner, Russell Craddick, to work out the sale. Lucias asks about the cemetery that he just passed, and Russel tells him that’s the family plot. He says his family has owned the land since the Pilgrim days. He asks Lucias if they could work out an arraignment to preserve that cemetery and Lucias seems willing to deal. Russel hates to sell Heritage Hill, but the taxes on it are insane. As they go inside, we see the family coat of arms, the same C on a shield that the Gentleman Ghost wears.

 

Since Batman is working in a pre-internet era by something like 40-50 years, he chose to go to the greatest repository of knowledge at the time… the local library. One of the Librarians, Wilma, spots Bruce and takes a moment to reminisce about how he used to come to the library all the time with his mother. He asks about the coat of arms, and Wilma informs him that he won’t find it in any of the books. It belonged to the Craddick family, a founding family of Gotham. They were stricken from public records, though, after the actions of one James Craddick during the revolutionary war. She explains that “Gentleman Jim” Craddick was a staunch royalist and wealthy aristocrat. Unfortunately, he had the common double whammy issue of a severe gambling problem and lousy luck, which basically bankrupted his house. Because of his belief in his divine right to rule, he sided with the British during the war and became a highway man that robbed the poor to enrich himself. He was finally captured and hung. Bruce thanks Wilma, who then gives him her condolences for his parent’s murders. Bruce leaves and calls Lucias’ office, when he learns the Lucias is at Heritage Hill, he tells Alfred to step on the gas and gets his ‘special’ outfit ready.

 

At the mansion, Lucias and Russell are midway through the paperwork when Lucias asks about the portrait of Gentleman Jim. Russell explains that he’s a three- or four-times Great-Uncle that built the house but ruined the family name for centuries due to his treachery during the war. This calls up Gentleman Ghost, as I guess he was listening, as he rips himself free of his portrait. He’s disgusted his descendant is selling their land to common filth. He doesn’t say it, but I have to imagine the fact Lucias is Black doesn’t help the situation either. Lucias puts up his dukes, saying to watch who he’s calling names, but Craddick uses his ghost powers to throw furniture around and announces that Lucias dies first. Batman bursts in and calls him James Craddick, though he’s still sure that the Gentleman Ghost is a sham. He throws a bolo at Gentleman Ghost, but it passes through him, but his fist is very solid when he punches Batman. He tells Lucias and Russell run. They do and Lucias telling Russell the first thing he’s going to do is tear the house down. Russell tells him to do it asap. As they fight, Batman punches at Gentleman Ghost’s head but his hand passes through and freezes. Gentleman Ghost says that Batman fights like a well-bred man, so he’ll spare him, but he won’t be as forgiving if they meet a third time. He floats into the fireplace and vanishes in a flash of blue flame.

 

Meanwhile, Harvey leaves his office. He’s getting mobbed by reporters asking if he did just let Gentleman Ghost rob people while he stood there. In his car he tells his driver to remind him to fire Gorman. 

 

At the Batcave, Alfred uses some hot water to thaw out Batman’s frozen hand. When he tries to explain to Alfred how hot the water should be to avoid nerve damage in his hand, Alfred cuts him off by saying he’s treated every injury Bruce has ever had from scraped knees to gun shot wounds. Batman thaws his hand and asks, hypothetically speaking, if Craddick is a real ghost, how do they stop him. Alfred has a suggestion of someone right here in Gotham. Batman heads over to Linton’s Books and heads in back to speak with Linton Midnite (Cedric Yarbough), the proprietor. Linton knows who he is and why he’s there. Linton points out that Batman doesn’t know how to catch a ghost and Batman admits that before today he didn’t think they were real. Midnite says that he appreciates a man willing to broaden his horizons. Batman asks why a ghost is stealing money while Midnite gets a book. Midnite explains that while each ghost is unique, they’re all echoes of their former selves. Basically, Craddick’s ghost doesn’t need money, he’s just doing what Craddick did in life. He gives Batman a book to exorcise him, telling Batman he needs two things: The deed to Heritage Hill and the blood of a nobleman. The deed to destroy what Craddick believes is his tie to Gotham, and the blood of a nobleman to feed the old magic. He warns Batman that the magic will fight him back and find weaknesses he didn’t know he had. He also gives Batman a glass beaker, saying it’s a boon for a boon, that he’ll return it when he’s done, and tells Batman he’ll know when to use it.

 

Batman as Bruce is able to get his hands on the deed easily, saying that city hall won’t miss a two-hundred-year-old document. Alfred says that he’s glad Bruce is putting those lockpicks he got him for his 12^th birthday to good use. Batman then asks where he’s going to get noble blood in 1940-50s America, when Alfred reveals that the Pennyworths trace their line to the Duke of Devonshire. Batman says that Alfred never told him that, and Alfred counters by saying he never asked. Batman warns him that the ritual could be dangerous, and Alfred says he doesn’t scare easily.

 

They head to the Craddick cemetery and Batman begins the ritual to release Craddick’s spirit. Alfred pours his blood onto the deed and Batman tries to burn it, but Craddock arrives, blowing it from his hand and attacking Batman. Batman, thinking quickly, distracts Craddock by saying modern (1940s-50s) Gotham must disgust him. Craddock pontificates about how back in his day the lower classes knew their place while beating on Batman, completely forgetting about the portly Brit running behind him trying to get the deed. Alfred tries to burn it but can’t get his lighter to work. Finally, he gets a spark, and the document begins to burn. Craddock bursts into flame too, burning away into ash, but his smoky ash dives at Batman. Alfred jumps in the way and is forced to consume Craddock’s ash, and is possessed by him. He tries to attack Batman, saying that Alfred is fighting him and trying to keep Craddock from a specific secret in his mind. Alfred reclaims control and tells Batman to kill him, but Batman tells him he’d never do that. Craddock gets control back and pins Batman to the ground. Batman sees the deed and fires a flare from his flare gun at it, burning it and releasing Alfred from Craddick’s control. He traps Craddick in the vial. Batman checks on Alfred, who is hurt but fine. Batman calls him a fool, but he’s clearly fighting back tears as he says he can’t do this job without him. Batman sees Midnite arrive on one of the hills. He hands Craddock’s vial over to Midnite. Midnite greets Craddock in the vial, saying it’s been a while. Craddock starts screaming, begging Batman that he’ll do anything so long as Batman doesn’t hand him over. He asks Midnite what he’ll do with Craddock and Midnite tells him that he doesn’t want to know. He leaves, saying it was a pleasure doing business with him.

 

The next day, Gorman tells Dent that after the train incident that his biggest donors have taken back their pledges, he’s dropped 15 points in the polls and he’s basically out of money. Harvey throws a snow globe at his campaign poster, smashing it and cracking the glass. He tells Gorman to get out, and once alone calls up Thorne.

 

Gotta say, was not expecting to see Gentleman Ghost to appear in this series. If that name is new to you, don’t worry, he’s technically not a Batman villain and he’s only appeared in one series. Gentleman Ghost is what I’d label as a merc villain, being a baddy that runs into a lot of different heroes depending on the story. But he’s started out as a Hawkman and Hawkwoman villain, having fought them in the past and his own ghostly status was a curse that kept him as a spirit until the two bird heroes pass on as well. He was a prominent recurring villain in Batman: The Brave and the Bold, fighting Batman on several occasions. He works as a Batman villain, obviously, as he’s just supernatural enough to make the very logical Batman having to expand his mind to battle him. He’s essentially just a man that cannot die and phases through objects, in the same way that Batman is just a man with detective and ninja skills. I will say getting Toby Stephens to play both modern and revolutionary era Craddick was the right choice. I’m a fan of when the same actor plays both a modern character and one of their ancestors, it both shows off an actors range and adds a certain bit of realism to the role. We’ve all seen photos of ancestors from a few generations back and been weirded out how similar they can in looks to someone you know. My Great Grandfather Wesley Lockwood passed away before my father was born but my older brother is his spitting image. That sort of thing. Batman getting help from Midnite was an interesting choice. In most situations where Batman needs help fighting a magic or otherworldly foes he tends to get assists from guys like Jason Blood/Etrigan, Zatanna, John Constantine or maybe Dr. Fate. Linton Midnite aka Papa Midnite is a Haitian Vodou priest and is usually an enemy/rival to John Constantine. I’ve no idea what he’s going to do with Jim Craddock’s ghostly essence but judging from his pleas for mercy it’s not going to be fun for him. I liked that Batman is finally softening to Alfred. From episode one, Bruce has been very cold with Alfred while in private, only referring to him as Pennyworth, very much acting like he’s the employer and Alfred is his employee. But learning about some of Alfred’s family history, being reminded how long Alfred has been tending to him, and nearly dying trying to protect him seems to be reminding Bruce that Alfred Pennyworth is at minimum the closest ally that he has in the world. It’s a far cry from the level of respect Alfred deserves, but Bruce is young and in my opinion still harboring an ever so slight resentful feeling towards Alfred for not being there to protect his family. They’ll warm up eventually. It’s sad to see Harvey bucking to Rupert Thorne. The situation with Gentleman Ghost was so far beyond his control, but it murdered his public image, and unfortunately organized crime gets in bed with politicians far, far too easily. This version of Dent is no saint, but it definitely looks like that call cost him something as he made it. We’ll see how this develops. Good night, everyone. 

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Viewer Log: Batman: Caped Crusader ep 5

 A clown comes to Gotham, just not the one you're thinking of. 

Last time on Batman: Caped Crusader, the Police began a Batman hunt. It goes about as well as you think. Gordon is forced to form a taskforce to hunt Batman, much to his own irritation. It’s led by detective Montoya. They try to stage assaults to draw him in, but he doesn’t fall for it. And then they stage a car chase, but he plows right through their fake runaway car. Montoya then taps Barbara’s friend and expert psychology witness Dr. Harleen Quinzel for tips. Harleen analyzes the Bat and realizes the cops aren’t his focus, but criminals, so deduces that the best bait for Batman would be another costumed criminal like Penguin, Clayface or Catwoman. Corrupt cops Flass and Bullock release and arm, covertly, a costumed crook to do just that, a pyromaniac named Firebug. Firebug starts the Eastside Flats, a low rent apartment complex, and the place goes up fast. Batman busts in to try to get the tenants out and the cops go in to chase after Batman. Flass and Bullock corner Firebug and Flass has Bullock execute Firebug to cover up their actions. Gordon chase Batman to the top floor of the building and gets him at gunpoint but finds him saving some kids. Gordon helps and they all escape down a laundry chute back to the ground floor, Batman escaping when Gordon’s back is turned. Gordon had every intention of firing Flass and Bullock for this, but they made the front page for their ‘heroics’ taking out Firebug. So, Mayor Jessup orders Gordon to put them in charge of the Batman taskforce. He does say that for Gordon’s own heroics for saving some kids that his job is safe for now. Afterward, Gordon, Montoya and Barbara have a drink, and Gordon tells Barbara that he’s not licked yet. Enough recap. Let’s get to it.

 

Ep 5: The Stress of Her Regard

 

The episode opens with a break in at Gotham bank. Batman has the thief tied up outside the bank and he’s trying to convince Batman to split the money with him. They’re both distracted by a man dressed up as an Egyptian Pharoh walking down the street and spouting insane nonsense. Batman stops him from getting run over by a truck and the man insist that he’s Batman’s “king” and Batman will do as he says.

 

We cut to Batman researching the Pharoh in the cave with Alfred. The Pharoh is Fletcher Demming, a real estate baron that disappeared a few months ago. Batman remembers seeing him at a party a few months back and he seemed fine but is now locked up in Arkham Asylum. Alfred seems confused by this as he assumed a rich man like Demming should be able to afford better care, but Batman reveals Demming isn’t rich anymore. A few weeks ago, he started donating his fortune to various charities, and now he’s flat broke. Alfred is further confused by this as he always thought Demming was a selfish man. Batman confirms that Demming was and that something weird is going on. We cut to a prison cell where a man dressed as a clown is being tortured. He’s got his feet in a stockade while someone tickles them, making him laugh until he cries and forcing him to swear to give all his money away. A woman on the radio tells the torturer to stop and asks the man if that’s a promise. He says it is, but she doesn’t believe him and the torture resumes.

 

We cut to Barbara and Harleen getting coffee, Barbara complaining that it feels like sometimes that Gotham is past the point of saving. Harleen tells her to learn to laugh it off. When Barbara asks if that’s her professional opinion, Harleen tells her that after listening to the greed and corruption that some of her patients tell her about, she often feels like Barbara. And yes, laughing helps. She’s interrupted by Montoya arriving, saying that she saw them from outside and asks to join them. She sits down and tells Barbara she’s worried about Jim and that since Flass and Bullock took over the task force that he’s pushing himself too hard to try to prove himself. Barbara says she’ll try but she’s not sure what to say. Harleen suggests some roleplay, but the other two women shoot her down immediately. Barbara assures Montoya that her dad will get through whatever funk he’s in. The women head out, Harleen telling her to keep her chin up before she drives off.  When alone, Harleen tells Montoya that she thinks it’s sweet that Montoya’s worried about Gordon. Montoya admits to her that he’s been more of a father to her than her own ever was. Harleen suggests that they get dinner, her treat, somewhere fancy.  Montoya says she could make tomorrow night work and Harleen says it’s a date.

 

That night, Batman breaks into Demming’s old office and sees everything boxed up. He finds a contract Demming signed that would donate a further 1.5 million dollars to Westside Charities. He notes a scuffmark on the floor near a bookcase and finds the secret lock to open the door. He finds Demming’s secret Egyptian themed room. Inside he finds Demming’s checkbook, the vast majority of which have a receipt page paid to the order of Dr, Harleen Quinzel. A moment later the cops throw a tear gas grenade at him. I guess he tripped an alarm or else they expected him to investigate something weird like Demming’s situation. He throws the tear gas canister back out at them and in the smoke takes out all of the cops save Flass and Bullock, who he leaves looking like idiots.

 

We cut to Dr. Quinzel’s office as a patient, Emerson Colins, is complaining about his workers trying to unionize. He calls them Chattel and thinks they owe him respect just for giving them work. The alarm goes off and the Emerson says that he felt like his blood pressure dropped 20 points just talking to her. Harleen says that she doesn’t think the sessions are working, hitting a button on her chair and locking Emerson’s wrists down. She takes off her glasses and says she’s tried to show him the humanity in his employees and family but it’s not sinking in. So, she’s decided to try a new tactic. We fade out and then back in, revealing that Harleen is the one holding the wealthy men hostage in cells and torturing them. She’s also got a full Harlequin Jester costume she dons, ya know, for vibes. She asks her assistant how one of her patients is doing. We see the man writing lines “I’ve been a bad, bad boy,” on chalkboards. When he complains, Harlequin adds another 10,000 lines. She has another man endlessly searching Christmas lights for a bad bulb and treating another like a big baby forced to eat vegetables until he cries. She checks on Emerson, who is now dressed up like a king and strapped to a chair. When he mouths off, she calls on the big baby, Mr. Belsky, and gives him a bat, telling him he’ll get desert after making Emerson agree to give up all his earthly possessions. She also rather creepily says that kings don’t rule this court, the Jester does.  I do like the little in joke that Belsky is doing this all for some puddin’.

 

Meanwhile, Batman is searching news articles for more million and billionaires that gave up their fortunes suddenly. Alfred finds another in his own search, Jorge Campos, died 3 years ago after giving up all his money to women’s shelters. Alfred asks who could possibly be convincing Gotham’s greediest men to give up their possessions, and (assumedly) then make them commit suicide to cover it up. Batman shows Alfred the check book and suggest maybe their psychiatrist.

 

Barbara heads over to Arkham Asylum to meet with Mr. Demming. She’s his court appointed public defender. Demming seems to be stable, at first, but then yells at Barbara to stop calling him Mister as he is a Pharoh. Barbara suggests getting a private psych evaluation to determine if he’s a threat to himself or others. When she namedrops Harleen Quinzel, Demming mutters Harley Quinn before having a panic attack and trying to escape the asylum. He makes it up to the roof and nearly jumps off, but Barbara catches him. Side note, for a fat guy and a woman in heels Demming and Barbara run extremely fast. She has the orderlies give him a sedative and she asks who the “she” he keeps screaming about is, but all he gets out is Har-har-har before passing out.

 

The next day, Barbara meets with Harleen at the courthouse. Harleen is excited to tell Barbara about asking Montoya out, but Barbara is all business today. She asks about Fletcher Demming, but Harleen plays dumb, saying she heard the name but doesn’t know him personally. She diverts Barbara’s attention by asking what Montoya likes and getting details on her.  

 

At GCPD, Barbara visits Jim, saying she brought him lunch. He thanks her and she asks how he’s doing. He says that the mayor seems to think Batman is the only criminal in town. He’s got cases pouring in and all of his people are stuck helping his two worst cops trying to catch a black-and-gray ghost. He notes Barbara is only half listening and asks what’s wrong. She asks what you do when the evidence points you to a place you really don’t want it to. He says it’s better to know as then you can do something about it. She tells him Montoya says he should take a day off, he knows but he also says that isn’t happening any time soon. She kisses his cheek and leaves him be.

 

Barbara heads over to Harleen’s office and tries to knock but finds the door ajar. The room has been ransacked and when she runs to the window, she just barely sees Batman running off across the rooftops. She looks through Harleen’s appointment book and sees Demming’s name in it, she’s clearly hurt her friend lied to her face. She sees a page torn out and uses a pencil to get a rubbing of what was written on the missing page “William Hastings” and his address.

 

She drives out to Hasting’s mansion, which is on the outskirts of Gotham on a cliffside. She meets William Hastings at the door and tries to talk to him about Demming and how both of them were patients of Dr. Quinzel, but Hastings cuts her off, saying this is an invasion of privacy and shuts the door in her face. Barbara leaves but pulls over a short drive from the house and doubles back. She tries to get in one of the windows and meets Batman, who asks her what she’s doing. She asks him the same question. He admits that he thinks Dr. Quinzel is brainwashing some of her patients and is here to get evidence. Barbara wants to help, as Harleen is her friend and if she’s hurting people she needs to stop her. Batman tells her to go back to the city and grappling hooks to the roof.

 

Meanwhile, Harleen and Montoya are having dinner and flirting hard. They’re interrupted by Harleen getting a call on the restaurant phone. She answers that she understands and will be right there. She tells Montoya that there’s an emergency with a patient and she has to go. She tells Montoya to meet her at Hopper’s later and they’ll pick up where they left off. She kisses Montoya and then leaves. This is how you know this isn’t the real 40s-50s, as I’m sure someone in the restaurant would have had a stroke at seeing two women kissing in public.

 

Back at the house, Batman has made it inside and finds most of Hasting’s valuables are also boxed up and ready for donation. He makes his way to the basement and finds all the wealthy men in their cages. Barbara also makes it inside and sees Harleen meeting with Hastings who tells her that Batman is in the playpen. Batman tries to figure out the controls when Harlequin comes in, saying that she knew Batman would eventually come for her after she profiled him for the police. She is his type. She asks him how many crooks will he need to put away to make himself feel better. She skillfully unleashes her patients and tells them that whoever stops Batman will make her very happy. Batman fights off the patients but gets forced into a cell. She drops the cell door and gases him. She says she doesn’t want to kill Batman but needs a head start so his hero complex won’t bite her. She sets the building to blow, saying Batman has five minutes to figure out how to escape. And maybe next time they’ll unpack some of his childhood trauma.   

 

Barbara just barely escape’s Harleen and her goons notice before slipping into the playpen.  She sees Batman in a cell, grabs a bat and tries to break him free. As they drive off, Hastings asks if Harleen is going to miss Gotham. She wipes the jester makeup from her face and tells him to just drive. She sees Barbara’s car, though, and orders him to turn around. She finds Barbara trying to break the glass (she did crack it at this point) and the explosives set to go off in less than a minute. Harleen tells her to run but Barbara isn’t leaving Batman. Harleen tries to free him, but Barbara broke the door. The explosives go off and Batman drops with his cell. The women run, but the whole house collapses. Harleen drops but Barbara grabs her wrist. Harleen says to let her drop, but Barbara won’t. She says she’s not going to prison or Arkham. The board Barbara is holding onto breaks, and they drop. Batman swings in, having freed himself somehow, and grabs Barbara. Harleen drops into the water below. Batman swings them onto the cliff side and starts to chastise Barbara for being reckless because she was Harleen’s friend. She tells him to shut up and let her grieve as she starts to cry. Sirens blare and Batman runs off, but not before telling Barbara that he’s sorry.

 

At Hoppers, Montoya is still waiting when a phonebooth starts ringing. She answers, and it’s Harleen. She says she needs to leave town for a bit but will look her up when she gets back. She asks that Montoya look after Barbara while she’s gone and says goodbye.

 

I want to start by saying that, regardless of what you think of the execution, the idea to introduce Harleen “Harley Quinn” Quinzel not only as a psychologist but as a villain in and of herself without the Joker was a big swing. I personally think it works. In nearly all of Harley’s appearances she’s either too mentally broken herself or playing up a ditzy persona to show off her intelligence, so this version of her that’s driving others to insanity with psychology tactics is a fun twist on her formula. I will say that her victims make me wonder if she truly wanted to help Bruce or if she was planning to have him join the ranks of her broken minions if he kept up his sessions. Hard to tell since she seems to be a genuinely good psychologist most of the time, she just had her own little mental breakdown after treating some genuinely horrible patients for years. That and it’s usually canon that even when Bruce is at his most useless in his public persona, he’s usually Gotham’s single biggest charity donator. Some folks have pointed out that using fears on her victims make her seem like the Scarecrow, but I think if Dr. Crane makes an appearance, they’ll find ways to differentiate the master from the apprentice. And that’s assuming Harleen doesn’t end up in Joker’s orbit whenever he shows up. I have to imagine that the writers had to wrack their brains for a while to connect her to clowns without the Clown Prince of crime. I think the angle they settled on works, as a sort of anti-hero punishing the 1% for their crimes against society and their loved ones. The line about ‘the jester’ ruling the court was great. I feel bad for both Montoya and Barbara in this one, as this is the first Gotham criminal connected to both. Montoya is being swept up in a romance, and while Barbara wants to be happy for them but has to deal with the mounting evidence against Harleen. Batman is clearly having a harder time operating now that he’s a known force in Gotham, with GCPD tracking his movements in the city and criminals like Harleen being able to prep for his eventual butting into their business. The price of fame, I suppose. I did like that brief moment where Batman says he’s sorry for Barbara. Usually in private or with the costume on, Batman has been totally closed off emotionally, so him realizing that Barbara just needed to hear that little bit of empathy from him is a step forward for him, me thinks. So yeah, a good episode. I’m genuinely shocked that Harley Quinn can work without Joker involved even in her origin. Have a good night!

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Viewer Log: Batman: Caped Crusader ep 4

 Pigs use a bug to draw out the Bat.

Last time on Batman: Caped Crusader, Catwoman entered the scene.  Bankrupt socialite and kleptomaniac Selena Kyle was inspired by images of Batman in the newspaper and created her own Catwoman costume. She’s an extremely successful burglar before being captured by Batman. She’s able to get out of punishment by 1. Lying that Batman did it, and 2. Being white and pretty. Immediately after leaving the courthouse, she was making plans for more thefts, much to her maid’s chagrin. At the same time, Bruce Wayne is forced to take therapy sessions after he punched out a reporter for talking about his mother. His therapist, Dr. Quinzel, does her best to break down his walls but Bruce’s walls are high and thick. Batman is ultimately able to catch Catwoman using his mother’s pearls as bait and using a photographer to get evidence. The situation is somewhat complicated by the photographer also getting shots of Batman fighting Flass and Bullock, as the former of the pair was prepared to execute Selena. Selena was arrested and put away, for now, and the police force now have a reason to be much more interested in Batman. Oh, and Selena’s maid sold all her valuables to get 3 years back pay and has left on a cruise. The look on her face when she learns is priceless. Enough recap. Let’s get to it.

 

Ep 4: The Night of the Hunters

 

We open with Gotham City reacting to the Batman being confirmed real. Some like him, some hate him, and some are just scared of him. Mayor Jessup (William Salyers) in a bid to get some good PR for his reelection campaign, announces that he’s ordering Commissioner Gordon to form a taskforce specifically to hunt down and capture Batman. Fun fact, if you look at the crowd of reporters while Jessup is talking, you’ll see the Fleischer era Lois Lane front and center. After his big announcement, Jessup hisses at Jim that Batman is officially his problem and that he better not screw it up.

 

Later, Bullock (sporting a neck brace from his last encounter with Batman) whines to Gordon about how he and Flass should be in charge of the taskforce, saying they’ve put more crooks away than anyone else. Gordon, clearly already tired of hearing about this, yells at him that he’s not going to reward his behavior. He’s furious he has to waste officers chasing Batman, a man that’s been a shadow for a while now, when they could be used to stop Rupert Thorne’s takeover of the Narrows. Bullock is insistent that the men won’t follow ‘her’ but Gordon insists that his people will follow the chain of command, even Bullock. We never learn if Bullock has a sexist, racist, or homophobic reason for not liking Montoya, or he’s just jealous she’s a better cop. Anyway, we enter Montoya’s taskforce briefing already in progress. Montoya polls the cops about what they know about Batman. They’ve got a rough idea of his patterns and territory, the works mostly between10 and 4 and is seen largely in the East End of Gotham. His main targets have been muggers and dope peddlers. Another officer, Corrigan adds that Batman isn’t scared of the police. As this discussion goes on, Bullock whines again about Montoya, Flass tells him to just bide his time while Flass thinks of something. Montoya makes a crack about how Batman has put a dozen cops in the hospital in the last month, not counting Flass and Bullock. Annoyed, Bullock asks what the actual plan is. Montoya says they’re going to start by casting a wide net.

 

GCPD starts a wide undercover operation through the East End of Gotham. They stage various crimes, muggings mostly, in the hopes it’ll draw Batman out. Batman, though, is smarter than that, letting most of the fake crimes go uninterrupted. He stops one fake mugging by hanging two cops by their ankles with his grapple gun, I assume he had a grudge against these two for some reason. Of the four decoy teams, just number four ran into Batman but they didn’t see him, exactly. Montoya is annoyed she didn’t think to put cops on the roofs, but Corrigan points out that Batman would have spotted people up there. She decides that tomorrow they’re upping the stakes.

 

The next night they staged a high-speed chase, with fake gunfire and everything. Batman pulls in to investigate. The cops immediately jump on him, the fake crooks in the lead car switching from their blanks to live rounds. They stop and pepper the Batmobile with gunshots, but the bullets don’t even dent it. He rams the fake criminal’s car and keeps going.  GCPD tries to cut him off with SWAT vans but he shows off the Batmobile’s thrusters and rams though them. He blows past a news stand, kicking up papers that blind the following cops and cause them to hit a hydrant. Eel O’Brian, the reporter/photographer from last time, is able to get shots of the chaos as he was listening to the police scanner.

 

After that debacle, Harvey Dent takes some jabs at Jessop, pointing out that the police taskforce is a waste of taxpayer money and is apparently not up to the task it was created to do. In his office, Gordon gets a call from Jessop who screams at him for what happened. Jessop yells at Gordon that he wants good headlines, as that’s the whole reason Gordon got the Commissioner position, to make good press. He hangs up before Gordan can get a word in. Gordon goes to get a fresh cup of coffee. He enters the conference room and just sees Batman, standing there, examining their Bat-Board.  He drops his coffee cup in shock before pulling his gun. Gordon chases Batman up to the roof top but Batman easily out runs him, leaping from the building and grappling hook swings away. Later, Gordon tells Montoya about the incident. He says that he’s trying to fix GCPD, root out the crooked cops and all that, but he’ll only be able to do that if he’s not fired or demoted by Jessop. So, they need to catch Batman. If they don’t he’ll be sent to Marshall Island and Montoya gets to go back to being treated like the coffee girl. She points out that it’s only been a week, they just need more time, but Gordon says that the Bat is too smart for their tactics, they need to try something else. Montoya thinks about it and wonders if maybe they can use his brains against him, get inside his head. 

 

GCPD brings in Dr. Harleen Quinzel to get a psychological profile on the Batman. She starts analyzing Batman, name dropping her former mentor Dr. Crane as she does so. Gordon asks how Montoya knows her, and she says she met Harleen through Barbara. She’s Barbara’s go-to psychologist expert witness. She and Montoya met at the GCPD Christmas party and kept in touch. Bullock finally asks her to cut the psycho mumbo jumbo and give them an idea in plain English. Harleen says that she’s sure that Batman isn’t actually after cops, they’re just in his way. He’s trying to punish criminals, and thus, that’s the bait they use. They need a weirdo, her words, to draw Batman out. This gives Flass an idea and he and Bullock head out.

 

Flass and Bullock go through the criminals they have in lockup, settling on a pyromaniac they have who goes by Firebug (Tom Kenny). They don’t say his name in this episode, but this version of Firebug is credited as the Joe Rigger version if anyone is interested. Flass initially calls him Firefly, but Firebug corrects him. He tells Flass to get Firebug’s costume out of the evidence locker, as they’re going for a ride. Barbara walks up as they finish loading up Firebug. She represents him and wants to know what’s going on. Flass lies and says they’re taking him to Arkham for a psyche evaluation and there must have been a mix up in filing, so that’s why she wasn’t told. She warns them that he’s more dangerous than he looks, and the crooked cops drive off.

 

In the building, Harleen mentions that Barbara is meeting her and they’re getting dinner at Ginos. This is apparently a ritzy establishment in Gotham, enough so that Gordon flat out says she must know somebody important. Harleen teasingly says she knows too many somebodies. She offers to have Montoya join them, but she’s on the clock but writes Harleen a raincheck that she says she’ll hold Montoya to. Barbara bursts in and tells her dad about Flass, Bullock and Firebug. 

 

As Flass and Bullock drive Firebug, Flass plays with a lighter. Once he does light it, Firebug gives a creepy speech about hearing the people calling out to the flame and wanting to be purged. Flass tells him to shut it. Bullock and Flass mock Firebug, but also set up him up. They mention that they have all his gear in back, that their trunk lock is busted so anyone can get it, and wouldn’t ya know it, they’re having engine trouble and need to stop to have a look. While they feign looking at the engine, Firebug grabs his stuff and runs. Seeing him scamper off, Flass and Bullock stage the scene, Flass slashing one of their tires and has Bullock punch him in the face so they could say Firebug attacked them and escaped. Bullock asks if this plan, to use a costumed freak to burn down Eastside Flats, will actually draw out Batman. Flass tells him that if it doesn’t, they’ll just try something else while smiling evilly.

 

We get a brief shot of how Firebug sees the world as he puts his goggles on. He sees a world on fire, the buildings burning and the people as living flames moving about their lives. He slips into a basement and mixes up the gas he uses for his tanks before using Flass’s lighter to get the fire started. He sets the basement ablaze, a psycho grin on his face.

 

Gordon and Montoya drive around Gotham looking for Flass and Bullock. Gordon mentions that this is a classic move by these two, doing just as much as they think they can get away with and swearing this is the last time. Meanwhile, Batman spies the two from atop a building. He asks Alfred if there’s anything happening on the Eastside and Alfred tells him about the fire. He leaps into action, and Flass calls it in. Gordon rushes over, telling Montoya that the Flats were on his beat and that a fire there will be devastating without Flass and Bullock making it into a warzone. He radios in and tells the cops that no one goes in until he arrives. Unfortunately, Bullock’s got the radio, and he ignores the call. Flass leads a SWAT team inside, telling them their orders are to shoot the costumed guys on sight. Batman finds Firebug and the two face off, he unfortunately can’t get close as Firebug’s got a flamethrower. He holds Batman off long enough to escape, and then Batman is distracted fighting cops.

 

Outside, O’Brian is lobbying to be let inside for pics as Montoya and Gordon arrive. He gets told the situation and Gordon orders no one else goes in without his say so and to move the civilians back. He goes in, telling Montoya he won’t let good cops die because of Flass and Bullock. The gruesome twosome spot Batman in smoke and try to rush him, but Batman dodges around them by leaping to the ceiling and holding himself up. He finds a mother and two kids trying to get out of the building as two cops find him and open fire on him. He dodges around their shots, knocking them both down and directing the woman and her kids to the safest way down. He then leaps out a window and grappling hook his way up to the upper floors. Corrigan is rather impressed to see his flying leap. He radios Batman’s new position to Gordon as he and Montoya find the downed SWAT guys. Gordon orders Montoya to take the two officers down and to bring out anyone else she finds while he goes on ahead.

 

Flass and Bullock find Firebug watching the blaze from a top floor room. Flass says that Barbara (he calls her the lady lawyer) was right that he was more dangerous than he looks. Firebug says that he’s out of gas and tries to surrender. Flass tells Bullock that he’ll talk about his escape if pressed. Bullock shoots Firebug, knocking him out of a fifth or sixth floor window and onto a car. He’s obviously dead-on impact. O’Brian gets a great shot of Bullock standing in the broken window for the paper.

 

Gordon finds Batman on the top floor and pulls his gun on him.  Batman turns and reveals he’s carrying two kids and says there’s one more inside. Gordon grabs the third kid. Batman wants to take them down the way they came up, but Gordon says his men may shoot at him without noticing the kids. He instead takes them to a laundry chute; Batman asks what’s down there right as an explosion rocks the building. Gordon says they’ll find out. Batman drops first with his kids, then moves a big bin of laundry under the chute for Gordon to land in. Batman runs off while his back is turned. Montoya meets with Gordon as he comes up from the basement, he says he found a shortcut down.  O’Brian comes over and asks if he saw Batman inside, and Gordon lies and says no. He sees Bullock and Flass over by Firebug’s body and glares.

 

The next day he has Flass and Bullock in his office. He tells them he knows exactly what they did and how the fire was their fault. He promises them that this is the last straw, and he’ll have their badges for this. Bullock snorts and when Gordon asks him what’s funny, Flass throws a paper on his desk with Bullock on the front page. Jessop calls a moment later and orders Gordon to put the ‘hero’ cops he read about in the paper in charge of the taskforce. He does add that he read that Gordon did good work saving kids, so his job is safe for now. Flass rather smugly asks if the call was about them when Gordon hangs up. Later, Jim, Montoya, and Barbara hit up a bar for a drink. Barbara puts an arm on his shoulder, and he assures her that he’s not licked yet.

 

This episode is the first time I think that we get a clear picture of how Flass and Bullock’s partnership works. Flass is clearly the brains of the two of them. He comes up with the ideas and Bullock follows his orders. And he’s smart enough to just about always let Bullock be the one to do the dirty work. Even when they were setting up the fake Firebug escape, he had Bullock punch him in the face, presumably so that if Firebug talked, he’d be able to say that Bullock forced him into that plan. He also told Bullock to take the shot at Firebug, giving Bullock the 15 minutes of fame as the hero cop, but also protecting himself if anyone ever starts asking questions about the incident. Dirty, dirty cop. And obviously Bullock is too dumb to notice how he’s always the one doing the actual crimes. Hell, flashback to the first episode and he was the one that had to call the Penguin and let her know what happened. Flass is an expert, it seems, on keeping Bullock between him and actual criminal activity. It was fun seeing the cops chase Batman and how they tried to refine their technique to catch him. He seemed to be prepared for anything they threw at him, but it was fun to watch them struggle. The whole ramming into their SWAT vans with his thrusters was a particularly good move. It was interesting to see the show address one of the bigger elephants in the room, ie how a Black man was made commissioner of GCPD even in this more tolerant than real life, but still fairly racist 1940-50s setting. The idea that GCPD was so corrupt that Jessop was willing to put a Black cop in charge specifically for the good press that under him GCPD was changing is a pretty easy one to formulate. And of course, he’d have an automatic fall guy if Gordon couldn’t keep control of the corrupt cops at GCPD. It was nice to see Harley Quinn again. Her namedropping Dr. Crane was a nice easter egg. That’s the civilian ID for Batman’s villain the Scarecrow if it’s not ringing any bells. And using her to come up with the effective but still disastrous plan to use a costumed baddy to draw out Batman was a good choice. I haven’t seen Harley Quinn on Max, so forgive me if that show has also done this, but with two appearances of Harley as a shrink, she’s officially done more psyche work than nearly all of her other appearances. Usually, they show her doing just enough psychological work to get seduced by Joker. So, like, one episode, usually like 10-15 minutes of screen time to show Dr. Quinzel losing it. The whole chase through the burning building was done well too. The smoke and chaos give a good excuse as to why the cops would open fire on Batman without confirming civilians weren’t in the way and gave Batman an excuse to flex his ninja skills on them. Shame that the whole thing led to Flass and Bullock in a position of power. But we’ll see how that plays out next time. Have a good night. 

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Viewer Log: Batman: Caped Crusader ep 3

 Selena's after two things, shiny objects and cats.

Last time on Batman: Caped Crusader, Detective Montoya and Batman investigated a disappearance. Horror movie starlet Yvonne Francis was kidnapped outside her home after a date with millionaire Bruce Wayne. Batman decided to let Montoya do most of the leg work on this one, following her from a distance and listening in on a microphone he planted on her. Montoya’s investigation led her to Basil Karlo, a talented actor that worked opposite Francis as the monster in several films. He claimed to have not seen her in months, but Montoya learned he was at the same party as her earlier that week. She goes to investigate him further but finds him murdered in his apartment. Batman meets the murderer outside, a man with a gnarly face dressed in black with a red scarf. Batman chases after him but the man escapes. Montoya continues her investigation, learning that Karlo had developed a fixation on Francis and was desperate to change his face, believing that was keeping him and Francis apart. He paid a makeup artist named Ellman to make a treatment to make him prettier but the two had a falling out some time ago. At the same time, the Man in Black works around Batman and Montoya, murdering Lew Valentine the studio owner. He makes an attempt on Hayes life, the director Basil Karlo used to work with. Batman saves Hayes, the two have a sword fight but Batman is buried under a collapsed set. He finds Valentine’s body and another victim, Daryl Manning another actor. Batman, knowing that Montoya just interviewed Manning checks on Basil Karlo’s corpse and finds that his face is yielding and malleable like clay.  Montoya goes to interview Ellman, who attacks her and captures her. When she wakes up, she learns that she’s dealing with Clayface, Basil Karlo. He had been getting revenge on his coworkers that he felt slighted him in the past, type casting him as the villain into oblivion because of his dour face. He got the treatment to get Francis, but she rejected him even after he made himself more handsome, this seemed to cause his face to melt, and he decided to get payback. Francis distracts him by critiquing his performance and saying his acting isn’t great, and Batman bursts in to stop him. While Batman and Clayface fight, Montoya is freed and frees Francis. Batman knocks Clayface out. Montoya pulls her gun on Batman, but the arrival of corrupt cops Flass and Bullock let Batman escape. She finds the mic on her jacket and uses it to tell Batman they aren’t done yet. Enough recap. Let’s get to it.

 

Ep 3: Kiss Of The Catwoman

 

We open with Bruce at Gotham Museum. They’re displaying the Wayne family jewels, including his mother’s iconic pearls. We see a photographer named Eel O’Brian (Tom Kenny) taking shots of the event. Bruce is looking at said pearls and feeling things when Selina Kyle (Christina Ricci) approaches him and starts hitting on him. Well, hitting on him and admiring his mother’s necklace, saying she wants pearls just like these.  Bruce ask if he should be worried, as Selina has a reputation for being a kleptomaniac. She says she likes nice things, but they accidentally come home with her. She shifts it to flirting, saying they’re both rich orphans. Bruce points out that technically she’s not an orphan as her father is alive, just in jail for tax fraud. She says that they probably have more in common that half the floozies she’s seen Bruce with. Bruce is distracted by two reporters talking about the pearls. One points out they’ve got to be worth 10-20K, the other saying who the hell would wear something like that in Crime Alley? The implication that his parents were asking to get mugged and murdered is enough to send Bruce into a blind rage and he decked the reporter, O’Brian getting a great shot of the punch and Selina saying, “oh my,” in an intrigued way.

 

We cut to Bruce explaining the event to a therapist. Lucius Fox apparently worked out a deal with Harvey Dent the DA that he just has to see this therapist for a few sessions to prove he’s not a danger to society. His therapist, Dr. Harleen Quinzel (Jamie Chung), seems genuinely interested in helping him. Bruce claims he’s not the bellyaching type, but Harleen points out that talking to a therapist aka bellyaching is part of his no jail time for assault deal, so he should probably start. She asks if he’s ever reacting violently before. He claims he’s not the sort to blow his top, but Harleen points out that he did blow his top. Bruce admits hearing someone talk about his mom negatively set him off. Harleen says that his parents are an obvious but natural sore spot for him and asks if he’d like to talk about it. Bruce refuses, saying it was a long time ago and was awful but he’s beyond it.  He also eyes his file on Harleen’s table. Harleen says that repressed trauma is something he might not even realize he’s doing. Bruce tunes her out as he flashes back to that night. An officer interviewed young Bruce (Santino Barnard) asking if he could identify the mugger/murderer but Bruce is too traumatized to remember anything.  Alfred pulls him aside and says he needs to be taken home.

 

Later, Alfred asks Bruce how therapy was and Bruce says it was a waste of an hour. He says that Harleen thinks she can get into his head, but he’s not going to let that happen. He opens her file on him that he must have swiped when leaving, only to find it just has blank sheets of paper inside and a note saying she’ll see him next week.

 

We cut to Selina Kyle’s apartment. She and her many cats are awoken by her maid, Greta who tells her it’s already midafternoon. Greta tells her there are more bills today and Selina says to put them with the others, aka the fireplace. Greta is very concerned about their finances, as the electricity is going to be cut in a few days and because she hasn’t been paid in quite some time. Selina deflects by saying it’s not her fault her dad left them with nothing. Greta asks if she could at least stop bringing cats home as the food bill for them is insane. There are at least a dozen cats in this shot so Greta does have a point. Selina says not to worry about it, Greta sarcastically saying her tone of voice fills her with confidence. Selina sees a front-page story about Batman and has an idea. She asks Greta if they still have a sewing machine. She fashions a Catwoman costume and asks Greta if she thinks it’s fabulous, Greta says that’s not the word she’d use.

 

We get a newspaper montage of Selina performing dozens of burglaries as Catwoman over the course of several days. Seems like the rich debutant has a natural talent for theft. She’s spotted at one of her heists, but she escapes the uniform cops before running into Flass and Bullock. She dodges around Flass and slashes Bullock across his face before running off, dodging them in an alley by rapidly climbing up a few feet. That’s when Batman drops in on her, asking who she is. Catwoman flirts with Batman a little, saying he’s sexier than the sketch made him out to be and that he ‘inspires’ her before trying to run. He catches her with one of his bolos. She’s shocked to learn he has toys. Bullock and Flass find her tied up and arrest her. Catwoman is unmasked as Selina Kyle, Bullock calling her the high society klepto. She’s put in the back of their car and she sees Batman driving off in the batmobile, saying it’s a nice car.

 

We get another flashback to Alfred driving young Bruce back to the mansion. Alfred asks if he’d like a cup of hot cocoa when they get back to the house, but Bruce doesn’t answer. Bruce comes out of his flashback in Dr. Quinzel’s office, Harleen asking him a question. Bruce tells her the not-a-total lie that he had a late night with a lady friend and asks her to repeat the question. Harleen points out that last week she learned that Bruce was clearly repressing things about his parent’s murder and tries again to get him to open up. Asking if he’s repressing himself in other ways. She points that he’s basically a rich playboy stereotype. Bruce says that maybe that is just the way he is. Harleen says she’s seen him in the society pages but asks how many times he’s been on a second date or if the women he hangs out with are anything more than accessories to him. Bruce says he’s just playing the field, and that life is different for someone like him. Harleen pointedly says “for the rich” and makes a note.

 

We jump over to Selina’s trial. She’s playing the victim, claiming to have been at the wrong place at the wrong time and it was Batman that stole those gems. The Judge is skeptical as he’s seen Selina several times before but asks the DA his thoughts. Harvey tells him that because the gems were returned and they can’t definitively prove Selina’s story about Batman doing it isn’t true, that the city is willing to drop the charges and give her another chance. Flass and Bullock are watching from the stands and looking unimpressed, as is Barbara. After the trial Barbara accuses Harvey of going soft on Selina because she’s rich and famous. She asks if Selina is a campaign donor. Harvey asks if she really thinks he’d sink that low, when she glares, he admits he might… if Selina wasn’t flat broke. Selina leaves the courthouse and is picked up by Greta. Greta asks if they’re headed home but Selina says they need to get some work done on the car.

 

Later, another Cop teases Bullock for losing such an easy case. Bullock almost takes a swing at him, but Flass stops him, saying that the cat is running out of lives, she just doesn’t know it yet. We cut to Bruce hitting a boxing bag in his home gym while listening to the news, learning that Selina got off. Bruce is angry to hear they let her go, Alfred sarcastically adding that she promised never to do it again.

 

That night, Selina starts burgling again. She steals a bunch of jewels from a rich couple as they sleep and their cat, adding insult to injury.  Batman finds her showing off the jewels to the cat. He chases after her across the rooftops, Selina showing an impressive level of fitness as she runs in heels.  That is until she slips because of them and falls. Batman catches her and lowers them down with his grapple gun, Selina calling him her hero and kissing him. You’ve never seen a man less into a kiss, other than maybe Dio kissing Jo Jo’s girlfriend if you’ve seen the series Jo Jo’s Bizarre Adventure. Once they touch down, he pushes her off and says she’s wasting his time. She pulls electrified brass knuckles on him, stunning him and allowing her to run to her cat mobile and drive off. Batman is clearly annoyed.

 

Bullock and Flass head to the Kyle penthouse to arrest Selina, only to find it empty save for a bag of kitty litter. Selina got them a year’s lease on a crummy apartment on the Eastside of Gotham to hide out in. Greta is annoyed by the downgrade in their living arrangements. Selina points out that she’s paid off most of her debts with last night’s take as well. She says that they have to make accommodations if they’re to live as outlaws, Greta angrily pointing out she never asked to live like an outlaw.

 

Batman reads about Selina’s exploits in the paper and angrily crumples it up. Alfred suggests that he try to get some sleep and maybe let the police handle her as she’s really just a burglar with a gimmick, not a true villain. He also points out that Bruce Wayne has appointments today, giving Batman an idea. He goes to get changed and tells Alfred to get the limo. He heads to Gotham Museum and tells the curator he’s pulling his collection from their display. After the string of burglaries, he doesn’t feel safe having them out like this, or so he claims. The curator begs him to let her keep the collection through the weekend and he relents. He gets in his limo, saying the plan is set and they can head home, but Alfred points out he’s got another therapy session. Meanwhile, Selina hears about the closing of the jewelry exhibit and seems intrigued.

 

Bruce points out that this is his last session with Harleen and adding that he thinks she’s helped him out a lot. Harleen says that she will sign his paperwork, but she’s doing it reluctantly. She says she doesn’t think Bruce is a danger to himself or others, but she also doesn’t think they’ve made progress together. She says she sees a lot of wealthy men that just gush to her about their guilty secrets and dark desires on her. She says that she knows Bruce has only shown her a façade but that she’s willing to keep going and work with him if he’ll just let his walls down. Bruce says no. Outside he gives Alfred the paperwork and says to make sure it gets to Lucius. Alfred asks if he’s sure he didn’t get anything out of therapy, Bruce says it was a waste of time and to drop it. But Alfred sees him looking… troubled in the rearview mirror. We get another flashback to young Bruce. On a dark and stormy night sometime after the murder, Bruce remembers the night. He sees the mugger Joe Chill (at least I assume that’s who done it, we don’t get a name) coming out of the dark and shooting Thomas and Martha, Bruce visibly flinching as he remembers the gun shots. He then goes to Alfred and tells him he’s going to make all the criminals pay for what they did and that Alfred is going to help him.

 

In the present, Alfred tells Batman that even if he catches Selina, the judge might just let her go again, but Batman tells him not this time. Batman finds O’Brian the photographer taking picks of a city councilman cheating on his wife. He scares the shit out of O’Brian and almost knocks him off the fire escape. But Batman catches him and tells O’Brian that he needs him.

 

We cut to Gotham Museum as Selina goes for the Wayne pearls. She set off the silent alarm as she came and Flass and Bullock are also on their way. Batman confronts Catwoman, O’Brian taking shots from the second floor. Selina sicks a panther she brought on Batman. Girl has too many cats! Batman throws smoke pellets at the panther but it just leaps at him. Bullock and Flass arrive and start chasing Selina. Batman holds the Panther off until the gas knocks it out, taking a deep breath once the gas clears and gets up. Flass takes a shot at Selena, winging her leg. Bullock gets the cuffs ready, but Flass tells him they won’t need those. He gets in close to finish Selena off, but Batman grabs him and beats the crap out of him, Bullock standing by since he can’t get a shot on Batman. Until he throws Flass at Bullock and then knocks him out. O’Brian takes several more pics. Batman binds Selena’s leg, she tries to flirt with him again but he’s not paying her attention, and he cuffs her leg to a table. She says he’s no fun at all and Batman agrees.

 

Outside, he finds O’Brian. O’Brian has the shots but it’s on the same reel of film of him fighting Flass. O’Brian is clearly terrified of Batman and offers to destroy all the photos to get rid of the police fighting evidence, but Batman tells him just to make sure the Catwoman photos run in the paper, he doesn’t care about the rest. He grapple-guns away.

 

The next morning, Selena calls Greta and tells her to bail Selena out. Greta tells her that’s not going to be possible as she’s got no money. Selena tells her to pawn a few things to get bail, but then Greta reveals that she already sold everything that Selena had in the apartment. She’s taking the money as 3 years backpay and is going to head out on a cruise. Selena looks utterly flabbergasted that Greta abandoned her. Which is why I say, pay your employees.

 

Back at the Cave, Alfred says that Catwoman has been taken care of. Batman knows she’ll be back, but he’s got a break from her nonsense for now. Alfred points out that the photos might be more of a problem for him than Catwoman was. Batman agrees but says that now they know he’s coming for them. Whether he means the corrupt cops or crooks in general is anyone’s guess.  Alfred tries to talk to Batman about seeing Dr. Quinzel again for more therapy, but Batman says that the coffee is cold, an obvious dismissal. Alfred goes to get him a fresh cup. We get one last flashback of Alfred cleaning the car window that night before hearing several gun shots and running to see what happened. Kind of a dark ending.

 

I think it’s an interesting choice to make Batman and Catwoman have zero chemistry in this first outing. Seems like for as long as I’ve been following DC media Bruce and Selena have always had a spark regardless of adaptation, be it animated or live action, and if I recall correctly she’s been Bruce’s primary romantic interest in comics for a while. But I suppose this is an early version of Bruce, some speculate that he’s been doing the Batman thing for weeks at the start of the series, so he’s maybe just too stiff for Selena. The fact that this version is a much more spoiled ditz doesn’t help the situation either. It is funny to be that it looks like she’s got a natural talent for burglary once she set her mind to it, like if she’d picked this up when Bruce was still out training she’d be one of the most notorious criminals in Gotham it seems. I also liked how each outing had her escalate a bit. First, she’s just a burglar in a dress and heels, then she’s also got a few gadgets and a car, and finally she’s using her unique gifts to bring animals to crime scenes. She’s like the most natural criminal to date in this series. Also, props to the show for showing how the criminal justice system tends to work, ie, if you have looks and fame (famous or infamous) you get more second chances than poor people. And finally on Selena, her face when she learned Greta is peacing out was priceless. It was interesting to see that Flass was the one who was going to finish off Selena. Thus far, he seems to prefer pushing off dirty work onto Bullock, but I guess something about Selena must have irked him. I liked that Bruce ultimately chose to make sure Selena was arrested even if it made his job harder since the pictures 1. Prove he exists, and 2. Imply he’s willing to beat up cops. While Gordon knows, or at least suspects, Flass and Bullock are crooked, no one else does so they’ll just see him punching a police detective. Not a great look if you don’t have proof of villainy. So, Selena’s in jail and the Bat’s out of the bag. We’ll see where the story goes from here. Have a good night.

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Viewer Log: Batman: Caped Crusader ep 2

 A new phantom stalks the stage.

Last time on Batman; Caped Crusader, we were introduced to an old new Batman. In a mid-1900s Gotham, Batman was investigating a series of bombings on Gotham Mafia kingpin Rupert Thorne. His investigation led him to the Iceberg Lounge and Oswalda “Penguin” Cobblepot. This lounge singing version of the black and white bird was working on muscling in on Thorne’s turf, but her plans were being foiled by a stool pigeon informing Thorne. She’s led to believe it’s one of her sons, a fella named Aaron, whom she executes without remorse. The actual rat, her other son Ronny, is terrified for his life after this and tries to rat her out to Jim Gordon of Gotham PD. Oswalda turns her prized weapon, a long-range cannon, that she’d been bombing the warehouses with on Gotham PD.  Batman arrives at the Iceberg Lounge and the two face off. Batman is able to hold her off long enough for Barbara and Jim Gordon to execute the station, but Penguin is able to fire the cannon on it anyway, destroying it. Penguin is arrested. It’s only after she’s gone that Batman realizes that she was a much bigger played in Gotham’s crime politics and without her, Thorne is easily able to absorb large parts of her territory into his own. Damn. Enough recap. Let’s get to it.

 

Ep 2: …And Be A Villain

 

We open with a young woman named Yvonne Frances (Lacey Chabert) being dropped off at her home. Someone is watching her from the bushes and walks up to her when she’s alone. She gasps in surprise as things go black.

 

We jump forward in time to Bruce Wayne being interrogated by Detective Renee Montoya. Turns out, he’d been seeing Yvonne and he’d been the one dropping her off. Bruce tries to offer Gotham PD and Renee herself a sizeable check in order to keep his name out of the papers, but Montoya tells him that not everything in Gotham is for sale. Montoya also tells him that she’s not interested in smearing him either, she just wants to find Frances. The interview continues, Bruce impressing Montoya with his exact recall of when he dropped Frances off (10:52 pm). Bruce covering his Batman-like slip by saying he was watching the clock carefully because Yvonne had an early call time the next morning and he was watching the clock. They’re interrupted by the arrival of Bruce’s lawyer, Lucius Fox (Bumper Robinson) who chastises Montoya for interrogating Bruce without him present. While Fox is chewing her out and making it clear that any other questions for Bruce go through him, Bruce slips a microphone into Montoya’s coat. He tells her it was nice meeting her and the two men head out.

 

As Alfred drives Bruce home, he comments that Bruce might have better luck conducting his own investigation. Bruce, fiddling with his radio to get his bug’s signal, says that Montoya is a sharp officer, refused his bribe and honest, he thinks she could be an asset. Alfred asks if this means they’ll find Frances that much sooner, and Bruce halfheartedly adds yes to that too. He gets the radio working and hears Montoya talking with Gordon. She says she thought she was getting to Bruce before the Lawyer got there, but Alfred alibis him and she doesn’t see him as suspect. Gordon tells her that they need a crime to have suspects and right now they have a missing person. Montoya says that Frances, a movie star, has been missing for two days without a peep, which gives her a bad feeling. She tells Gordon her next step is to head to the movies.

 

She hits up Monoscope Pictures studio and goes to speak with one of the actors there. We meet Basil Karlo (Dan Donohue), he’s one of Monoscope’s biggest stars. We learn a bit about his working relationship with Yvonne.  They worked opposite each other in several films, her being the damsel in distress, screaming as he, the heavy, stalked/menaced her. He says this picture would be the first time he’d seen her in months, and he’d heard rumors she’d fallen in with a bad crowd since they last worked together. He rushes her out the door a moment later, saying he has a meeting with Edmund Haynes, the director of his new movie. Montoya goes to speak with a secretary that brings her some of the latest headshots of Frances. While looking through the glam shots, she finds a picture of Basil staring at Frances in a crowd and realizes he lied about not seeing her recently. She asks where Basil is meeting with Haynes, and the secretary says that there is no meeting with them today and Montoya storms off. She asks a gate guard if Basil is still on the lot and learns he left an hour ago. She gets his address from the gate guard and heads over, Batman tailing her from the roofs. She reaches Basil’s apartment in time to hear him scream, she opens the door and finds him on the ground with a knife in his back. She calls for an ambulance as a man in a black coat and red scarf watches from a window.  Batman spots him and the two have a chase across the rooftops. Batman catches him by the scarf, causing the man to slice it free with another knife, revealing a ghoulish face. He runs down a fire escape and loses Batman.

 

We cut to Yvonne Francis, who’s being held in a luxury bed by a man in lab coat and glasses. The man, Jack Ellman (Jeff Bennett) applies makeup to her face, telling her to relax to not ruin it. It’s at that point that she realizes she’s chained to the bed. He tells her to stay calm as she’ll need her energy for her big scene.

 

At the police station, Montoya laments what happened to Karlo. She was sure he was a suspect but turns out he was a victim. Gordon points out that Karlo lied, and if she can find out why, maybe that’ll led her to Francis. Montoya says that she let him down, and Gordon says no she hasn’t. Outside in the bullpen, Harvey Dent is chatting with the cops and telling dirty jokes. He breaks away from them when Montoya comes out, wanting to talk to her. He tells her if she can close the Yvonne Francis/Basil Karlo case, he can put on a hell of trial and make them both look good. Montoya isn’t interested, saying she couldn’t care less about his mayoral campaign. He warns her to start caring, as when he wins, she’ll want to be on his good side.

 

We cut back to Monoscope Pictures where the head of the studio, Lew Valentine, is screaming at his casting director that they’ve got thousands of dollars of rented mad scientist gizmos on the lot and they’re being charged by the day. If he doesn’t want that overage to come out of his pocket, he needs to find a replacement for Frances. His secretary comes in to tell him Hayes the director  wants a meeting with him, he asks what could he want now that their movie as of this moment starts a missing person and a corpse,  and his secretary tells him Hayes probably wants to know if there’s a movie to direct. He tells her to set it up. When alone, he  takes a shot from a flask before being attacked by the man in black,. He blinds Valentine with lights, causing him to fall back and break some of the mad science gear, spilling water everywhere. The man in black then knocks over a light into the water, electrocuting him.

 

At the Batcave, Alfred is watching one of Yvonne Francis and Basil Karlo’s movies for clues, I guess. Batman asks if he found anything, and Alfred says that while pretty, Francis is no Gloria Swanson. Batman then asks if he found anything useful, to which Alfred says no. He then sarcastically asks if Batman found anything useful. Batman has found some unusual silicate on the scarf. Which makes sense if you know who our… malleably faced assailant is. He looks over the scarf and finds it has a blank id spot. He uses a mercury vapor lamp to determine that it’s from the Monoscope Pictures Wardrobe. Batman realizes this means that the killer has access to the studio.

 

Batman rushes to the studio, making it in time for Montoya’s next round of questioning. She interviews another actor, Darryl Manning, who sings Basil Karlo’s praises, saying he’d be one of the best actors of today if he had the looks for it. Montoya asked if a rumor about him and Francis dating a few months ago were true but Darryl denies it. Montoya then goes to speak with the costume department. The head designer says that Karlo and Francis worked together a half dozen times, and their last picture was Tower of Fear. She reveals that Karlo had a not too subtle crush on Francis, but didn’t feel confident asking her out because of his face. Side note, they keep talking about this guy like he’s got some Phantom of the Opera (Erik) deformity to his face but he’s no uglier than Peter Cushing or Vincent Price. Not winning any beauty pageants but hardly hideous. Anyway, Karlo had a crush he couldn’t do anything about because not pretty. The costumer didn’t think Francis reciprocated his feelings, but she did have respect for him. She once said that he should be a leading man if it wasn’t for his face. Montoya intuits that meant a lot to him, the costumer confirming and saying that that also made him desperate to fix his face. We cut to Edmund Hayes, the director. He tells Montoya the same stuff, Karlo is a great actor with a face that meant he was exclusively typecast as villains. He thinks that drove Basil Karlo to Jack Ellman, a makeup artist at the studio that promised a miracle treatment for Basil that would ‘remake his career.’ Karlo paid Ellman a lot of money but got no results, leading to a fight on the lot that ended with Ellman being fired. We learn that the fight that got Ellman fired was about two months ago. Batman watches the interview from across the street and listens in on the bug in Montoya’s coat.

 

Sometime later, Batman is still snooping around the lot. He sees Hayes trying to direct a scene and verbally abusing Basil Karlo’s replacement when he can’t follow his directions before storming off. He’s attacked by the man in black, but Batman intervenes, kicking him in the face. He chases the man in black to a soundstage where they have a sword fight on a set. The man in black cuts a line, collapsing the set on Batman. He gives a salute, thinking Batman dead before running off. Batman, as it turns out, escaped through a trapdoor. Under the stage he finds the bodies of Lew Valentine and Darryl Manning. He radios in to Alfred, telling him to call the cops in two minutes and report the deaths. He also realizes that if Manning is here then something weird is happening since he’s been dead for at least a day but just had an interview with Montoya.

 

Montoya heads to Jack Ellman’s apartment in the East End of Gotham. She radios for back up. Flass answers the radio, saying they’re on the way, but he and Bullock turn off their radio and continue to eat their dinners. Montoya waits for them for a bit but then heads in. She meets Jack Ellman who invites her in for an interview. Batman, meanwhile, checks out Basil Karlo in the morgue. He pulls out the body and pokes at his face, discovering it is extremely malleable, like rubber or… clay. Ellman attacks Montoya with a pipe. She shocks him in the face, crumbling it like it was made of clay. He knocks her out with a blow to the head.

 

Montoya wakes up strapped to a chair. The man in black, Clayface, reveals himself and Montoya realizes it’s Basil Karlo. She asked what happened to his face. Basil, the monologist, tells her the story. Basil wanted to fix his face and Ellman offered him a treatment that turned into a miracle, an injection into his face that made it soft and malleable like clay. He reshaped his face into a more conventionally handsome version of his face. He went to Yvonne to show her, thinking his new looks would win her over but she rejected him. Basil snapped, his face melting and deciding that if Yvonne wouldn’t play her part willingly, he’d make her. He brags about his new powers, saying that he has a face to match his talent, and with it he can play any part and fool anyone, including her. Montoya realizes that he was Manning. Clayface flips a switch and reveals Francis strapped to a table, her mouth gagged. Clayface admits that it took losing his original face, career and obsessions (he says love but we all know Francis was a prize to him, not a person) to realize that he was perfect to play the villain.  It’s at this point that Francis, having gotten the gag out of her mouth, says she doesn’t believe him. Clayface is taken aback by this remark, saying that he did kill Valentine and Ellman, to which Francis critiques his performance. She says he’s chewing scenery and relying on makeup to enhance a weak character. This infuriates Clayface, who says he’ll show her what’s real, just as Batman breaks in.

 

He frees one of Montoya’s hands with a batarang as Clayface activates a swinging pendulum to kill Francis. Montoya frees herself as Batman and Clayface fight, and then rushes over to free Francis. She gets her lose just before the pendulum sliced her stomach open. Batman pummels Clayface, knocking him out with a good hook. Montoya pulls her gun on Batman telling him not to move. It’s just then that Flass and Bullock burst in. Batman escapes out the window again. Flass handcuffs Clayface, snidely asking Montoya if the Bat solved her case for her. She says they’re the idiots that let him get away. The others leave, but when Montoya goes to retrieve her hat, the microphone falls from her coat. She realizes who was listening in on this and tell Batman that things aren’t over between them.

 

Ya know, if this time last year you told me I’d see an adaptation of Clayface’s original origin story, I’d have shaken my head in disbelief. But here we are. Clayface first appeared in Detective Comics #40 Batman, with Robin the Boy Wonder: The Murders of Clayface. In it, Basil Karlo is a horror movie actor that uses the guise of one of his most well-known characters, Clayface, to murder anyone involved in a remake of that film. There’s a lot of chasing and punching and he and Batman end up fighting on a set, so I think the sword fight was an homage to that. The biggest change to the story, weirdly, wasn’t adding a woman that spurned him but giving Clayface powers. Yeah, for decades Basil Karlo was the only one of several Clayfaces that had no shapeshifting powers at all. He gained them a decade or two back, but for a good long while he was a wholly human villain. I can see why they decided to add the shapeshifting face to him, once you introduce superpowers to a character it’s just silly to take them away. So, anyway, yeah, the second they named dropped Basil Karlo, I was aware how this was going to go. That said, it was fun seeing Batman and Montoya work through the clues and situation to figure out who the murderer was. Props to Dan Donohue as he did Karlo’s big villain monologue extremely well. He comes across as a complete psycho, I’m not sure what Yvonne was saying. That said, I do love her bit critiquing Basil’s performance. I’m a sucker for the “acts like a ditz but is actually smart” trope. After hearing Alfred and a few others mention that she’s not very good at acting, it was satisfying to hear her give a critique. It implies without outright saying that she puts on the act of being just a pretty faced scream queen to get parts. This was also a good full introduction to Renee Montoya. She had a few appearances last episode but I don’t believe had any lines, so unless you knew who the woman with the broad shoulders was you’d think her a background character. Like Harley Quinn, Montoya was originally introduced in Batman: The Animated Series and had a few episodes devoted to her as being one of the other cops that doesn’t distrust Batman. I believe she’s been rolled into the comics since, but she hasn’t really had any appearances outside there in years. I believe Bruce Timm and his crew have a soft spot for her, though, so she gets a lot of screen time going forward. So yeah, overall, a great follow up. Have a good night, everyone. 

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