A rather dower Clown Prince of Crime has entered the scene.
Last time on Batman: Caped
Crusader, we finally learned what happened to Rupert Thorne. Just after the
Riddler’s murder, GCPD discovered Thorne’s car in Gotham Bay. Batman noticed a
heavy truck tread leading up to where it was dumped and so began to hunt
trucks. At the same time, Carrie Kelly (one of the orphans from Nocturne, the
one that saved Batman’s life) is sneaking out of her new home to ‘fight crime’
as the Crime Smasher. She dresses up as fictional DC hero, the Gray Ghost and
does little acts of heroism like finding lost dogs and stopping vandalism. Her
bike gets run over by a Subzero Icehouse truck, and she tracks the truck to its
distribution center. That’s where she crosses paths with Batman, who angrily
tells her to go home out of fear for her safety. Carrie initially goes home,
but is chased by Harvey Bullock, who has a vendetta against her, and decides to
head back as the Grey Ghost doesn’t give up on cases. And it’s good that she
did, as Batman was knocked out by Mr. Zero, a serial killer with a fixation on
turning people into frozen statues. Carrie frees Batman before he can be frozen
and the two work together to stop Zero and his goons. We see that two of his
victims are Rupert Thorne and his son Mattie. The episode reveals that Zero has
been cleaning up for the criminals of Gotham, taking the victims of various
murders to make this macabre art. Batman and Carrie beat the villains, but
Carrie is extremely freaked out by all this and makes it clear she’ll be retiring
the Crime Smasher for a while. Batman does apologize to her for being harsh,
but we’re not sure if she heard it. Carrie sneaks’ home, just barely beating
Bullock and getting to humiliate him when he accuses Carrie of sneaking out. Batman
tries to get Zero to divulge who hired him to take out Thorne. Zero almost spills,
but he’s shot in the throat and head by an unseen gunman. The episode closed on
Batman looking at the Frozen, dead Rupert Thorne. Enough recapping. Let’s get
to it, shall we?
Ep 19: Dead Before Dawn
We open with Hattie Tetch doing a
news report on Gotham hosting the World’s Fair. Shame they don’t know about
that whole “Devil in White City” situation we had IRL, they could be preparing
for their own HH Holmes. Anyway, Hattie is pro-fair, as she feels like it’s just
what the city needs to get back on its feet after the crime filled few… decades
Gotham has been dealing with. In the cave, Alfred is listening to the broadcast
as he performs an autopsy on Rupert Thorne’s body. Partway through her broadcast,
Hattie starts laughing uncontrollably. It starts as just a light chuckle but
quickly develops into the full body laughing stroke that Joker loves so much.
Alfred, thinking quickly, patches the radio to the Batmobile, as Batman is on
patrol. Hattie’s crew try to help her, but some goons come in with tommy guns
and start unloading on Hattie’s staff. They miss her, but she’s hit the rictus
grin phase of the Joker poisoning, so like, she’s has seconds. Batman asks
Alfred for the number of assailants (four) and tells Alfred to stay on the line
as he is in route.
Joker walks in, shoving Hattie’s
body from her chair and taking over the broadcast. He tells Gotham that it’s 8:43
pm and they have 3 hours and 17 minutes before he murders Gotham’s Mayor
Jessop. He intends to use this murder as his proof to Gotham that no one will
be able to stop him and swears that all of Gotham will be dead by dawn. We see Barbara,
who’d been watching the broadcast, make a worried call to her dad with that
pronouncement.
Alfred describes Joker to Batman,
and he’s ordered to record it. Which, given the time period, involves getting a
full reel-to-reel projector in place. He updates the criminal count to 5 and
then tells Batman that Joker ‘terminated’ the recording. Batman doesn’t answer
as he enters the Monoscope picture’s lot. He busts in just as Joker and his men
try to leave. He orders Joker to stop, but Joker simply responds, “No. Not yet.”
Batman makes short work of the goons and tries to cut off Joker. Joker
nonchalantly says, “You’re blocking my way,” before pulling out a shotgun and
blowing Batman back. We see he’s alive, he had a metal plate on over his chest
as a 40s era Kevlar vest. Joker simply walks by Batman’s crumpled form and
exits the building.
Montoya comes into the GCPD office,
and the cops are frantically trying to figure out how to stop the Joker’s
threat. She comes into Gordon’s office as he orders more guards on city hall at
least until they move Jessop. She lets him know that the studio is a mess, as
Hattie’s entire production staff were murdered along with her. She offhandedly
says that it could have been worse, it could have been a live studio audience.
Gordon tells her to not even think that. She also informs him that Batman had
been there, they found one of the bat-a-rangs, but he’d left before they
arrived. Gordon heads to the morgue to oversee Hattie’s autopsy. Montoya wants
to go with, but he orders her to take the lead on Jessop’s protection detail.
She tells her to move him to the Tri-Corner safehouse. We get a close up of a
clock, it’s 9:40.
Barbara is brought into the morgue
as a body was recovered from the bay and they wanted her to identify if he was
one of her clients. The body is bloated and smiling, Barbara confirms that’s
Barry Vance, she hadn’t seen him in six months. Both Barbara and the medical
examiner agree that he looks like he was hit with the same ‘thing’ that killed
Tetch. Barbara asks her to forward all the info she gets to GCPD and the
medical examiner agrees.
We see a montage of the city as
Gordon issues a safety warning. He promises that GCPD will have a 24-hour watch
on Jessop until this is handled and tells the civilians to stay indoors for the
duration of the treat. We see people boarding up their businesses, making last
minute food runs, and generally panicking. Barbara, who is driving through downtown,
mutters that fear spreads like fire.
Montoya arrives at City Hall;
Bullock is one of the uniformed officers stationed outside. She enters Jessop’s
office and the old sexist demands to know where Gordon is. Montoya says that he’s
working the case and that they have a safehouse ready for him. Jessop says that
he’s putting Flass in charge of his security detail, and overruling Gordon’s
decision to put Montoya in charge. He claims that Flass has earned his trust,
unlike Gordon and the rest of the department. Considering Flass is the single
dirties cop in Gotham, Jessop should really reconsider his friends. Montoya
tells Flass that the Tri-Corner safehouse is set up and that’s where Gordon
wants Jessop. Flass thanks her for the info and bids her farewell.
At GCPD’s morgue, Barbara informs her
dad about her client, that he suffered from the same symptoms as Hattie, who is
laid out before them. Gordon is spooked to learn that the Joker has been operating
in Gotham for that long unnoticed. Barbara points out that they don’t know who
he is or what he wants. Batman makes himself known by saying, “he told us what
he wants.” He comes over and starts examining Hattie’s body without asking. He
sees an injection mark hidden near Hattie’s fingernail. Montoya comes in, is
unsurprised to see the Gordons with Batman, and updates Gordon on the Jessop
situation. She confirms that he’s not at any of their safehouses. Batman takes
a cheek swab and hair sample from Hattie as well. Gordon says that he can’t
protect the mayor and find this ‘joker’ (This is the only time they call the
Joker ‘joker,’ by the way, I’m just using his name for readability). Montoya
spells it out to Batman that they need him to stop Joker.
At Jessop’s office, they fit him
with a vest and Flass tells the mayor that they’re ready to move him. As they
leave, Bullock is waiting outside and tells Flass to put him on this detail. He
sees this as his chance to get promoted back to detective. Flass unfortunately
isn’t a loyal friend, and he tells him to buzz off. Bullock says that Flass
owes him; that he took the fall for Dent’s murder, so he deserves Flass’ help.
Flass tells ‘Sloppy Joe’ that that is his mistake, he thinks he can ‘earn’
things, like in Flass’ eyes is about what you take. He walks off, leaving Bullock
looking angry.
At the cave, Alfred says that he has
just gotten Thorne’s body thawed out enough to start the autopsy. Mr.
Zero kept him well preserved, it seems. Alfred has also been distracted by the
chaos of the evening. He says that he’d been reviewing the Tetch murder video
as that seemed more pressing. He apologizes for only getting a few seconds of
footage before Joker shot the camera. Batman notices the goon that handed Joker
the gun was one of Riddler’s men. He leaves, telling Alfred that maybe muscle
isn’t all that Joker took from Riddler. We get another clock close up, and it’s
10:43.
Jessop is moved to Flass’ preferred
safehouse, a strip joint called Miss Kitty’s. Jessop says that Flass is a good
friend to have, and Flass says he scratches the mayor’s back for scratching his.
We move to Stumpers, where Joker is
playing solitaire while his goons loiter. Batman busts in, turns out the lights
and beats the snot out of everyone. He finishes by flipping the table and
grabbing Joker… only to learn that this was a decoy. He’s just a normal goon
with painted skin and dyed green hair. The goons all start Joker Lauging, Joker
having clearly poisoned them all for this. Batman holds onto the fake Joker
until the man literally breathes his last breath. The phone rings and Batman
picks it up. Joker says that he’s fighting the inevitable. He tells Batman that
the mayor dies in 27 minutes, and he’s just the beginning. He asks if Batman
really thought that they could hide Jessop from him. The man surrounds himself
with corruption and cowardice, Joker says that they’re delivering Jessop to him
without even knowing it. Batman demands to know where Joker is, but he hangs
up.
Batman races around to try to find
Jessop. Barbara arrives at GCPD and gives Montoya coffee. Montoya thanks her
but says that Barbara should be locked down at home. Barbara says she has a client
meeting, and the job waits for no man. Montoya answers the phone when it rings
and passes it onto Gordon when she learns it’s Batman. Batman tells the
commissioner that Joker is using Riddler’s former goons and that he killed
them. Batman asks where Flass took Jessop, and Gordon says he’s got no idea.
Batman radios into Alfred and asks
him to get their file on Flass and to tell Batman Flass’ frequent hangouts. Alfred
lists a couple, but obviously “Miss Kitty’s (air quotes) Massage Parlor” stands
out. Batman races to it. Alfred gets back to his autopsy work and we see it’s
ten minutes to midnight.
At Miss Kitty’s, Jessop is
panicking, but he keeps repeating to himself that he’s going to be fine. Flass reassures
the mayor, but Jessop starts to panic when they hear somebody fighting the cops
outside. It’s Batman. He knocks the cops around and makes it to the upper
floor. When Flass sees the shadow under the door he orders the men to open fire.
They shoot the door up so badly that it’s more of a window now. They go to investigate,
but Batman bursts through the wall beside the door. He makes short work of the cops
and tells Jessop that he’s coming with Batman. Flass pulls a knife on him and
they fight some more. Batman gets stabbed in the shoulder, but he knocks Flass
away. At the stroke of Midnight… Jessop starts laughing. Classic mastermind Joker,
he only gave them the illusion that they could stop him. Jessop laughs himself
to death on a hooker’s bed. Flass gets up and prepares to shoot Batman in the
head. Batman dropped a gas pellet and escapes. Flass fires several shots but
only hits the mayor’s corpse.
Jessop’s body is brought to GCPD
and put along side Hattie’s as Batman gets patched up by Alfred at the cave.
Batman says that no one else besides GCPD was at the place. Alfred wonders if
one of the corrupt cops killed him, like Flass himself. Batman doesn’t think so.
He asks if Alfred has any updates from Thorne’s body, but Alfred is just about
to start the autopsy in earnest. Batman says that the precision required for
this Joker toxin means that the man is a borderline genius. Batman realizes
that Joker had this planed down to the second, both with Hattie’s murder and
Jessops.
We cut to GCPD where the cops on staff
ask why they’re keeping the bodies here. His buddy says that the morgue is full,
so they’re keeping them on ice here for now. As they talk, Hattie’s body starts
sitting up and laughing. She’s followed by the other victims, and every one of
them unleashes a green mist from their mouths.
At the cave, Batman tells Alfred to
check Thorne’s hands, under the nails. As Alfred works, Thorne’s body also gets
up and starts laughing, unleashing the gas. Alfred is the only one exposed. He
starts laughing hysterically just before the credits roll. Joker poisoned
ALFRED. He’d better be ready for when Batman comes for his hide.
Well, that was certainly an
entrance for Mr. J. I’ll start by saying that it annoys me that they don’t name
him. I know, this show isn’t big on giving their villains their iconic names,
but like, come on, if I hadn’t called him the joker, this’d bee six pages of “The
White face man” or “Mr. Green Hair.” Other than that, I do think this is a very
interesting version for the character. A Joker who still develops his trademark
laughing gas, but who himself hasn’t laughed once. This isn’t the first time
that a serious Joker has been done, I’ve read this happened in the Golden age
and there’ve been Elseworld stories with a grim, serious Joker, but it’s my first
time experiencing it. The fact he doesn’t laugh makes it feel like he’s trying
to infect the town with something that he’s incapable of doing. I fully
expected at least a wisecrack when he shot Batman, but nope, just a shotgun
blast and walk away. It was eerie. This is also a solid ‘mastermind’ version of
the Joker. His plan is complicated, to the point where Batman acknowledges it. And
while his plan came at the cost of sacrificing far too many Batman villains (Blockbuster,
Mr. Zero, Hugo Strange, Hattie Tetch, Rupert Thorne), that at least highlights
how BIG this plan is. The man had so many plates spinning in the air, and they’re
all about to drop at once. Batman rushing around to try to figure out how to
stop him was really nice. Regardless of universe, Joker fills Batman with
enough instinctual unease that Batman never takes him lightly. I do wonder if
he could have done something for Jessop if he hadn’t had to track him down.
Probably not, as Alfred hadn’t even gotten started on the exam, much less on
figuring out a cure, but maybe. The extremely corrupt mayor dying on a bed in a
‘massage’ parlor is poetic. So, the plan, phase one, infect a bunch of people
with his Joker Toxin. Phase Two, murder the mayor to put the city on high alert.
Phase Three, start infecting people, especially cops, with Joker venom. Phase
Four… well, that’s what we’ll see next time. Next time, Joker tries to destroy Gotham
once and for all. See you there. Have a good night and stay safe.
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/u2761062/posts/viewer-log-caped-173712890
Bluesky: @basicssuperhero.bsky.social
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