What scares the Batman?
Last time on Batman: Caped
Crusader, a new agent of vengeance came to Gotham. Jim Corrigan, former
police detective that tried to kill Barbara Gordon for the massive bounty on
her, is put through a medical experiment in exchange for a reduced sentence.
Something goes wrong during the procedure, and Corrigan dies horribly on the
table as Barbara and Renee Montoya watch from the observatory. Imagine their
shock when Corrigan raises again from the grave, scaring the men driving him to
the morgue so bad that it causes a car crash. Corrigan shuffles off, grabbing a
green hooded jacket and throwing it on. Batman chases Corrigan as he travels
around Gotham, using a mysterious supernatural power to kill three men, Vinnie
de Leone, Roger Marshall, and Freddy Borke. Batman called Barbara, who informs
him all three men were guys that Corrigan arrested, but they got off due to insufficient
evidence. Batman warns that Corrigan might be on his way to her, and Barbara
prepares to face him with her gun. She meets Corrigan on her front step and,
instead of shooting him, demands to know why he’s doing this. She’s not a
criminal that got away, HE attacked HER, so why is he trying to kill her.
Corrigan, who’d only been able to moan, “Vengeance” up to this point, instead moans,
“Forgiveness, please forgive me,” before dying. Batman arrives and almost puts
a hand on Barbara’s shoulder to comfort her but runs off as the cops arrive instead.
At the cave, Alfred left out a tray of Christmas cookies, and Batman takes one before
the credits roll. Enough recapping. Let’s get to it, shall we?
Ep 16: Sudden Fear
The episode opens with a Gotham University
student screaming at the top of his lungs that he’s covered in spiders. From
the way that the spider’s seemed to just appear on his body, it’s clear that he’s
hallucinating even before you realize that these spiders would be big even for
Tarantulas. He tries to get them off himself, but one huge spider lunges at his
face. We cut away to find him dead on the ground, a look of horror on his face.
A mysterious man in black watches from a distance before departing.
After that we move on to Barbara
and Montoya meeting for breakfast. They spend a minute catching up before
Barbara tells her friend that she’s having trouble finding a psychiatrist that’s
good and has trial experience for her latest case. She says she misses Harleen
and then apologizes for bringing her up as she knew that Montoya and Harleen
were getting close. Kind of highlighting once again that this is a 40s style
world, not the actual 40s. Imagine someone casually bringing up a woman dating
another woman, so scandalous. Montoya says that she was going to take Harleen
ice skating with regret in her voice. Barbara says that since they never found
Harleen’s body, it’s a bit like she’s still out there, haunting them. Montoya
looks like she’s about to say something big to Barbara but shifts to promising
to find a shrink for Barbara’s case. They’re interrupted by Flass popping in,
saying that they have another ‘College Crazy’ case to check out before leaving
again. When Barbara prompts her, Montoya says that they’re on case number 5 of
a GSU student flipping out and creaming about something that isn’t there before
dying. The cops head out.
We cut to GU where Bruce Wayne is
getting his picture taken with Provost Williams. Williams apologizes for all
this extra hullaballoo, but Bruce doesn’t hand out endowments very often, so
they needed to add some pomp to the occasion. Bruce tells him not to worry, as
he and his father were both GU alumni, and apologizes that it took the student
deaths to remind him to give back to his old college. For those who might have
forgotten, yes, Bruce does have a law degree. Williams says that the deaths are
making this years Greek Week a bit of a downer, but he and the school’s board
are all confident that this’ll blow over. Bruce notes GCPD nearby, and Willaims
says that they’ve been very helpful keeping things contained for now. The photographer,
Vicki Vale, interrupts to remind them that she needs some solo shots of Bruce
for the article and that they need to move to a spot with better lighting.
The spot turns out to be right
behind Montoya as she interviews the professor of the dead student (Thomas Dalton).
She asks if Dalton ever discussed his mental state. Professor Burton says that
he teaches Chemistry, not psychology, and Dalton was just one of hundreds of
students. He doesn’t get involved in their personal lives. Montoya asks him
about his class, Esoteric Chemicals and their interactions. Burton starts the
classic, “you’re not smart enough to understand my work,” speech, but Montoya
cuts him off and asks that he calls her if he thinks of anything. Bruce notes
the note in Burton’s hand as he walks away. Flass is interviewing some of the
other students. One, Carmine, says that nobody was chasing the victim, he just started
screaming and running around like he was being attacked. But he claims that one
of the smart types loses it at least once a semester before running off to try
to impress a girl. The other student Flass was talking to, Junior, says that
Dalton was a good student and that’s about all he has to add. Bruce hears Montoya
say that they need to pressure the coroner to get the toxicology report done. As
they leave, Bruce politely asks Vicki for copies of his headshots. She flirtishly
says that he can have whatever he wants before she gets embarrassed and runs
off.
We then jump to Harleen Quinzell as
she watches her neighbors through a window and psychoanalyses them. One guy is overeating
to deal with the stress that his affair and the fact his wife knows about it is
causing, one woman is dressing up her dog and being a bit weird about it, and
another is slamming a door repeatedly to deal with his emotions. Harleen says
that the last guy is hiding his problem well, and that hiding is something she’s
become an expert at. She moves to the chair, and we get a time elapse as
Harleen finds ways to waste time before her roommate comes home late that
night. The roommate? Renee Montoya! Turns out that Montoya has been hiding her
for a while now. She apologizes for being late and tells Harleen a little about
the case. Harleen is very interested in this case, but Montoya shuts her down,
saying that she can’t be involved in an ongoing investigation. Harleen is
clearly getting stir crazy being locked in the apartment all day, but they’ve
got few options considering Harleen was on the front page of the news every day
for a month and is still a fugitive. Montoya promises to make it up to Harleen
after she changes.
Batman drives around Gotham and
asks Alfred if he noticed anything odd about the photos they got from Vicki. He
says there’s nothing unusual about them besides the fact Vicki left her number,
a note for Bruce to call her, and a kiss mark on all of them. Alfred asks where
Batman is off to next, and he says that he’s headed for the morgue to get the
toxicology report.
Harleen looks over the report and
notices that there are five victims with identical symptoms. She realizes that
this is a field test, and goes to Montoya to ask a question, but finds her
lover passed out on the bed. She tucks Montoya in, kisses her forehead, and
then digs out her clown suit.
As Harley Quinn, she enters the
morgue. She pulls out one of the bodies and examines him, dead boy number three.
She then pulls out one of the girls. She notes that it’s been three dead boys
and two dead girls thus far. She grabs a scalpel to cut a tissue sample but is
interrupted by the man in black. His mask makes him look like a huge black
crow, and he demands that she keep her hands off his bodies. He asks if he
scared her, she says that would take more than he’s got, and he grabs a huge
knife and says they’ll have to test that theory. Before the fighting can start
in earnest, Batman breaks in through a window. Both criminals run off, Scarecrow
(they haven’t named him yet, but come on,) pulls out bodies from the morgue
freezer to slow Batman. They burst into the hallway and Batman elects to chase
Harley.
Back at the apartment, Montoya
wakes up and apologizes to Harleen for falling asleep, only to find the
apartment empty. Before she can puzzle things out, she’s interrupted by Flass.
Flass tells her about the break in at the Morgue and they head out to
investigate.
Batman chases Harley through an
alley and corners her. He accuses her of working with the Scarecrow, but she
insists that she isn’t. She says that the other guy is the one scaring people
to death. Batman says that you can’t do that, but she insists that delusions
can kill people if chemically induced and enhanced. She offers her help in solving
the case. Batman doesn’t say a word but is clearly hesitant. Harley brings up
that she is a trained psychiatrist and a mental health expert, and that she’d
be a very valuable asset in this particular case. Batman relents, and just as
Harley starts to gloat, he hits her with a knockout spray.
The spray was to transport her to
the cave without her knowing where he lives. She is impressed by the scale of
it but says that it points to a significant childhood trauma. She starts
talking about their last encounter, where Batman points out that she tried to kill
him, and Harley says, ‘Not very hard.” She reveals some of what she knows about
the case, Dalton screamed about bugs that weren’t there but says that she won’t
tell him how she knows. Batman, showing off his deductive skills, says that
since there are only two cops on the case, and that Harley didn’t run in Flass’
circles, asks why Montoya is shielding her. Harley shouts that Montoya isn’t, all
but confirms it to be the truth. Harley then says that it’s none of his business,
so they’ll focus on Batman’s actual mania, catching criminals. They go over the
victims, all are chemistry or molecular biology students, ranging in age from 19-25,
and all died of intense delusions. We get a shot of all the students that were
killed plus a few more that were in Burton’s class. Harley tells Batman her
theory about this being a field test, thinking that this is about testing a
drug. Batman points out that they’re all connected to Dr. Charles Burton.
We cut to the Greek Week celebration
where Burton is seemingly trying to convince a student named Jane to do
something she’s uncomfortable with. They don’t say he’s trying to
convince her to have sex with him for a better grade, but it’s heavily
implied. They’re interrupted by Junior and Carmine, who get the professor back
off. He tells Junior that he’ll deal with him later. Junior tries to offer Jane
an apple cider, but she declines, saying she’s going to go back to the sorority
house and go to bed. Carmine tease Junior for his lame line and offers to explain
the bird and the bees to him.
As Jane walks back to her dorm, she’s
stalked by someone in the shadows. She thinks it’s the professor and threatens
to call the police if he’s stalking her. She runs inside and tries to call Detective
Flass. She is told to stay at her room while Flass is brought in. She goes to
get herself a bedtime snack, but the Scarecrow sneaks in and then gasses her.
Batman and a knocked-out Harley
race to GU. Harley wakes up, saying she could just be blindfolded, and notices
the picture of Jane that Batman has. He says that she fits the pattern. Harley
points out that they don’t know how the drug is being administered.
Jane is tripping from her gassing.
She thinks the house is on fire and she’s trapped inside. Scarecrow tells her
that he’s helping her, and that she’s helping him. Batman and Harley burst in, Batman
fights Scarecrow while Harley examines Jane. She thinks the toxin is Alkaline
based and that milk can counteract the affects, thankfully Jane got a glass
before her gassing. Harley tries to grab it, but Scarecrow shouts that he’s not
done yet before dosing her. Batman knocks him aside and tries to talk Harley
through the hallucination.
Harley’s hallucination is being trapped
in Montoya’s apartment alone. The room quickly shifts into a jailcell, with
Montoya just outside the bars. She calls out to Montoya and begs to be let out,
but Montoya just turns and walks away. The apartment turns into walls that close
in and starts to crush her. Batman shakes her and tries to get her to come out
of it, and Harley gets just lucid enough to ask for the milk. Unfortunately,
while Batman was helping Harley, Jane’s hallucination got worse and she jumped
out her window into the ‘lake’ she saw outside. It was pavement. Flass and
Montoya pull up a moment later, and Montoya sees Batman and Harley flee via
grappling hook.
Back at the Greek Week celebration,
they light a huge bonfire. Batman and Harley watch from the roof. He tries to
focus on the case, while Harley panics a bit about Montoya seeing her on this
case. Batman makes her focus. She says that Burton has got some messed up
delusions and that he’s fixated on patterns. A pattern they broke, so Batman
asks the good doctor what comes next.
We cut to Burton who knocks on Junior’s
apartment. Junior opens the door and Burton says that they need to talk about
him interfering in Burton’s life.
Batman and Harley break into Burton’s
office. There are files on the “Alkaline based phobic instigator” that’s been
used and photos of the dead students with an X over their faces. Harley sees
that Burton had a partner for a lot of this research… Jonathan Crane, Jr. Harley
thinks that he might be the son of her own former psych professor. Batman sees
that Junior is the only one left, besides Burton, so they race to his apartment.
They find the room trashed and Burton dead on the mattress. The two quickly
deduce what happened: Crane helped Burton develop the chemical, Burton cancelled
the project for ethical reasons, Crane felt abandoned as the project was his
whole identity and so he set about continuing the project. Batman realizes that
Crane has three options, disappear, go out in a blaze of glory, or both. Harley
tells Batman to go on his own, as she’s not a hero. She only notices that he’s
gone after speaking for a few moments and says that that’s classic monomania.
At the Greek Week celebration,
Scarecrow is hitting everyone with his toxin. He screams that they’re all
idiots and fools and diagnoses their fears as he does. Carmine tries to stop
him, but Scarecrow hits him in the face with the gas. He rips his mask off to
scream, “Fear of never shutting the hell up!” in his face. Batman arrives to
try to stop him, and Scarecrow gets him with the toxin.
Batman’s fear is presented as him
as an old man. Scarecrow says that he wishes that he could see what scares
Batman. He lies in a while room, alone, and just outside his window we see
Gotham burning. Old Bruce gets up and walks to the window. He mutters no fear
to himself several times before leaping out of the window. This breaks the
delusion, somehow, and Batman gets up. He throws a bat-a-rang at Junior,
forcing him to get a hit of his own toxin. He shouts that fear is a weapon,
fear is a poison, but it is never in control. Batman in Junior’s eyes morph
into a bat demon. Batman grabs him and asks what he sees before he passes out
from fear.
We jump to the skating rink where
Montoya meets Harleen. Montoya tries to tell her that they can still make
things work, but Harleen says that they can’t. Keeping the secret was drowning Montoya
and driving Harleen crazy. We hear sirens going off, and Harleen says goodbye,
kissing her lover and saying not to wait up. The cops pull up and both Gordons
get out of the car. Harleen skates over to them to turn herself in.
It was nice seeing Harley again.
This version is one of my favorite interpretations of the character, being wholly
separated from the Joker and yet still connected to her original jester look.
She’s intelligent and not playing up a ditzy persona for any reason. Having her
hiding out at Montoya’s apartment seems a little farfetched, but I suppose
Montoya just doesn’t entertain at home very much and given her sexuality in the
time period that she’s living in, I guess it makes sense that she might be a
more private person out of habit rather than temperament. I like how they framed
Harley’s time with Montoya as something that she clearly loves while they’re
together, but the whole ‘I’m alone for like 18+ hours a day,’ has been wearing
on her mind. I wish that her being held up at Montoya’s place had been a plot
point before this episode, as they could have expanded on how much the
isolation was wearing down Harley’s mind. I like how they utilized her to help
figure out the whole game plan here, it shows off how intelligent that she is.
The red herring about Burton being the killer was well done. They really sell
that it might be him, right up until the name Jonathan Crane comes up. I
like him as a villain, but I think that his costume design is trying a bit too
hard. I mean, his mask is a giant black beak. I get they’re probably trying to
invoke the look of a plague doctor and make him more of a Scare Crow rather
than a Scarecrow. But come on, the actual Scarecrow looks are all iconic on
their own. It’s like Eddy Nigma being the Riddler because he riddles things
with bullets, they’re trying too hard (in my opinion) to take a different path to
the same destination. It was interesting to see that this version of Batman’s biggest
fear is seeing Gotham being destroyed and him being powerless to help it. In
part, because that’s exactly what canonically happens to at least one Batman. The
original DCAU Batman, also created and run by Bruce Timm that made this
version, does grow into a bitter old man. He is too old and weak to be Batman anymore,
he’s alone and forced to watch the city he tried to hard to defend slip back
into the rotting cesspool he fought tooth and nail to drag it out of. In a way,
that’s a much more believable fear for him than his fear of Bats. Shame Harley
had to go to jail at the end of this, if there’s a season 3 I hope she gets to
help again somehow. Next time, Riddler meets a new lady and this gal has got
thorns. Have a good night and stay safe.
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/u2761062/posts/viewer-log-caped-173410142
Bluesky: @basicssuperhero.bsky.social
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