Joker's unleashes his masterplan.
I just want to take a moment to pay
my respects to Eric Bauza and Sir Patrick Stewart. Eric Bauza was a prolific
voice actor, his biggest roles being the voices for the male Looney Toons. He
died earlier this week due to hypertension cardiovascular disease. He was 46.
And Sir Patrick Stewart died earlier today due to complications due to Alzheimer’s
and Dementia. He was 86. Two big deaths that hurt bad. Rest in Peace, gentlemen,
you were spectacular.
Last time on Batman: Caped
Crusader the Joker made his grand entrance. The Criminal Clown murdered
Hattie Tetch with his Joker venom, causing her to die laughing. He came in and
promised to Gotham that he would murder the mayor at the stroke of midnight and
then the city would burn. Batman rushed to the studio to try to stop him, but
Joker unloaded a shotgun into Batman’s chest for his trouble. He’s fine, he had
a metal plate over his heart. Gordon and the cops focused on protecting the
mayor while Batman hunted the Joker. Mayor Jessop chose to follow Detective
Flass over Montoya because he’s a dumbass. Batman realized that one of the Joker’s
henchmen used to work for the Riddler and so checked out Stumpers. The goons
were all there, with a Joker decoy. They all died laughing as well. Joker calls
Batman on the club’s phone and says that Batman can’t stop him. Batman races to
Miss Kitty’s massage parlor, a frequent hangout of Flass’. He burst into the
building and fought his way to the cops to try to grab Jessop, but Flass holds
him off with a knife. As they fight, Jessop dies laughing. Alfred patches Batman
up at the cave and finally begins his autopsy on Thorne. Unfortunately, every
corpse killed by the Joker venom sit up and start releasing a toxic gas. Cops
at GCPD get infected, as does Alfred. Enough recapping. Let’s get to it, shall
we?
Ep 20: The Laughing Death
We open with Alfred laughing
manically, but instead of laughing until he dies, he mutates, growing into a
smaller version of Blockbuster. Alfred attacks Batman while muttering his
darkest thoughts. He calls Batman a fop and a loser, someone who has no friends
except his faithful lapdog, Alfred. Batman actually calls him Alfred to get him
to stop attacking, which works for a second, but then Alfred throws Batman
across the room. He lands near the chemistry set and grabs a dart gun and a
needle full of a anti-toxin they’d been working on. He hits Alfred with it, he
passes out and reverts to normal.
At GCPD, the Laughing Blockbusters
escape the morgue and head deeper into the building. Outside, Joker quotes WB Yeats’
poem The Second Coming, “Turning and turning in the widening gyre / the falcon
cannot hear the falconer;” An apt poem for him to read, s the last lines are, “Things
fall apart; the center cannot hold/ Mere Anarchy is loosed upon the world.”
In GCPD, Barbara is meeting with a
client, a Mr. Merkel, who had to have a gag put on him to keep him from biting.
Their interview is interrupted by some loud thumps outside the room. Barbara goes to investigate, only to find the
rampaging Laughing Blockbusters. Bullock is among their number and he calls out
to Arnold Flass specifically. Montoya grabs Barbara and pulls her out of the
Laughing Blockbuster’s line of sight. Flass just barely sneaks around behind
Bullock and escapes through an exit. Barbara and Montoya watch in horror as
Bullock attacks Merkel, killing him in a splash of blood. Creepily, Merkel also
turns into a Laughing Blockbuster, his snapped neck righting itself as he crab
walks away. The two women rush off to find Gordon.
Back at the cave, Batman begins to
figure out the phases of Joker’s plan as Alfred cleans up. Phase 1: Injection,
causes uncontrollable laugher and eventually death; Phase 2: Incubation, a toxic
gas builds up in the body that escapes when it hits saturation. Phase 3: Blockbuster,
self-explanatory at this point. Alfred tries to stand up, but he’s still woozy,
and Batman helps him to a chair. Their anti-toxin
seems to work, but Batman is confused because the gas only seems to last a few
seconds and thus can only infect people close by. It’s far too slow to be an
effective epidemic like that. Batman heads out to investigate. Alfred tries to
apologize for whatever he said or did while Blockbustered, the transformation
seems to cause memory loss, but Batman says to not worry about that. He asks
Alfred to whip up as much of the anti-toxin as he can.
Batman races towards GCPD, but
Joker hits the Batmobile with an RPG. Joker greets his “Brother” and asks if
they can begin. He fires another rocket, destroying the Batmobile. Batman grappling
hooks up to him and the chase begins. Joker runs off, just barely dodging a
pair of bat-a-rangs he through. Batman races after him, the two headed for a
tower that’s under construction.
Montoya and Barbara look for
Gordon. They’re slowed by a Laughing Blockbuster who starts to charge them, but
Gordon leaps out and knocks him down a flight of stairs. The three head up to
Gordon’s office as they can barricade themselves inside. They dodge a group of
monsters, but Gordon is clearly exhausted and they help him to a chair. Barbara
looks at the phone and clearly wonders if/when Batman will call.
Batman enters the tower. Joker
stays just out of sight as he taunts Batman with his accomplishments. He’s been
in Gotham for months without Batman’s knowledge, and removed Thorne and Jessop
singlehandedly. He also takes credit for Riddler’s death, but I think he’s
reaching there. Unless somehow he gave Thorne mental health problems, or was
the one that told the Riddler to shake down the Forrests somehow. Batman
follows his voice into the construction site. He leaps from the dark and slashes
Batman’s back. He disappears again. He promises that tonight he’ll remove the
police and the citizens, destroying their illusion of order. He attacks Batman
from behind again, but he anticipates Joker this time, and they grapple. Joker
is impressed with Batman, but pulls another dagger and slashes his chest. He
says that there’s still mercy in Batman’s heart and call it an anchor, dragging
him down. They grapple some more, Batman forcing him to drop the daggers. Joker
kicks him off, saying that he’s nearly ready before escaping up an elevator shaft.
At the cave, Alfred picks up when Barbara
calls. He apologizes that Batman is busy this evening. They compare notes about
the situation, Barbara confirming that the infection is spreading and Alfred
confirming that he’s working on an antidote. Alfred is horrified to learn that
the Laughing Blockbusters are in the streets already. Barbara says that the
infection seems to spread via biting, and Alfred dubs that phase four. Their
conversation is interrupted as Gordon starts laughing. We see he was bitten on
the side of his neck. He mutates, screaming at Montoya and Barbara to run as
fast as they can from him. They do, just as Gordon throws his desk.
Flass makes it to the lower floor,
abandoning his fellow officers to try to escape. Bullock finds him, though, and
starts hunting the other corrupt cop. He follows Flass into the locker room and
starts ripping doors off them to try to find Flass. Flass hides is able to
shoot him in the back and Bullock drops. He starts to gloat, saying that he was
always the weak link. That no matter how simple Flass made a scam, Bullock
would mess it up. He kicks the body, but then Bullock grabs his leg and crushes
it. He slams Flass into a vending machine, grabs him by the neck and starts to
strangle him. Flass tries to talk him down now that he’s in danger again,
calling him “buddy,” but he proves that’s a lie immediately by shooting Bullock
in the stomach this time.
Alfred listens to the news as he
makes the anti-toxin, the Laughing Blockbusters are rampaging through the
streets. Civilians are ordered to stay in doors, but if they must go outside, to
not do it alone and to bring protection. We see some families barricading
themselves inside and some climbing onto buildings. Laughing Blockbuster Jim Gordon
hunts Barbara and Montoya, but they trick him into a cell, knocking him out
with a fire extinguisher and then locking the door. Barbara says that he’ll be
safe in there and the two head out to try to save the city, despite Montoya’s
objections that Barbara stay somewhere safe.
Joker leads Batman higher into the
tower. Joker calls him a surprisingly poor student, saying that he doesn’t need
the shadows, or anything or anyone else. Batman leaps out at him, saying he’s
not the Joker’s brother. He pummels the Joker, bursting onto the outside of the
tower. They hear screams and laughter from the people below. Joker says that
the ‘ants’ down there are no better than the elites they serve. Batman demands
to know why Joker is doing this. He throws Batman off of him and down to the
street below. He says that he’s a teacher before running into the elevator and completing
the thought, “And I suppose now I am teaching you.” He pulls out a German
pistol as he does. Batman saves himself with a grappling hook and he chases
Joker to the very top of the tower.
Joker mutters that Batman is clever,
and that he was clever too, before his eyes were opened. Batman lunges at him
and knocks the gun away. Joker pulls out another knife, and they get into a melee
fight.
On the street, Barbara takes a police
force armored van to run over some Laughing Blockbusters and try to save people
camped out above the movie theater.
Joker and Batman fight, Joker
saying that he’s doing all of this to show Batman something. Batman asks what
he means, Joker says to show him what they both are. Batman calls him a
monster. This infuriates Joker, he grabs his gun and shoots at Batman, saying
that HE doesn’t get to say that. They’re the same! He sees the trail of blood
that Batman left and follows it. He says that he destroyed Gotham with a bit of
chemicals, destroying the illusion of order. Joker says that Batman can dance
in the glow as they all burn up in his cleansing fire. Batman attacks him with
a board, saying that the ‘insects’ down their have lives, families, and him! Joker
shoots the board from his hands. Joker says they make him weak. They are alike
and thus above the rabble. Batman starts to laugh, and Joker asks what’s so
funny. Batman replies, “How wrong you are. I am not alone.” We then see Alfred
fly by in the Batwing as he unleashes the anti-toxin into the air. Joker
shrieks in anger and starts shooting at Batman as the fog covers everything. He
says that Batman will learn his lesson, there is no other way, no other
teacher.
Groundside, the Laughing
Blockbusters revert back to normal and pass out.
Joker says that this is no cure,
these are just more anchors pulling him down. He shoots into the fog and gets
Batman in the thigh. He starts to gloat, saying that Batman is still teachable,
and that he’ll watch as Gotham burns. Batman hurls a bat-a-rang at him. Joker
dodges it. He says that he’ll leave Batman for now, but he’ll be back and he’ll
teach him. The bat-a-rang boomerangs back, as Batman says that he talks too
much. It slices a cable holding rebar, causing it to drop and one piece impales
Joker. He says that this is still good. Batman can’t win, he’ll never win, but
he’ll learn. He starts to do his iconic cackle as he leaps off the building and
disappears into the smoke.
Later, we see that Bullock and Flass
are in a hospital room together. Bullock is in a neck brace with an arm immobilized
and his stomach bandaged, but is alive, so that’s good for him. Flass has a
busted leg and lots of cuts and broken bones. Bullock has no memory of what
happened, but because he and Flass were found together and he’s still under the
delusion that they’re friends, he thinks they fought the monster together until
they passed out. Flass, who is a jackass but isn’t stupid, agrees with this
version of events. He’s got his fall guy back in line
Gordon and Batman meet on the roof
of GCPD. He says that they haven’t found the Joker’s body, but it’s only been a
day. The fall combined with being impaled makes it seem like that should be the
end of it… but it’s the Joker. He’s survived worse. Batman agrees with me,
saying that they NEED to find the body. Gordon notices that Batman is different
after the incident, saying that this one got to him. Batman says that he almost
destroyed Gotham. Montoya and Barbara join them and basically tell Batman to
lighten up and take the win. Gordon swears that they’ll see to it that Gotham rises
again.
Overall, I liked this show a lot. I
think season 2 had a fair share of problems, but overall, it was a solid season
of television. This version of Joker was incredibly grim, but that works
surprisingly well. Matthew Needham’s slight German accent added a lot of menace
to the character, and his insistence that he was trying to ‘teach’ Batman that
he’s above everyone else is just delightfully psychotic. Initially, it was
weird to hear the Joker talk so much without a single laugh, chuckle, or
chortle, but that does make his final laugh all the more impactful. I have zero
doubt that he survived the fall, he’s the Joker after all, but the fact that it’s
left ambiguous works well. He’ll be on Batman’s mind forever until they face
off again. That’s a perfect little plot to follow Batman on for a potential
season 3, Batman dealing with his PTSD and paranoia that the Joker will be
back. Their fight was really well done, with lots of punches, slashes, shots, and
bruises. Even without the rebar through his gut, I’d say Joker is going to be
out of it for a while, just from the concussion Batman definitely gave him with
all those punches to his face. His plan was a bit… silly. I mean, he could make
a poison the kills in seconds that is spread through injection. If he just made
that stuff airborne, Gotham would have been dead by 12:30 and there wouldn’t
have been anything Batman could do about it. But then, where’s the fun in that?
I liked the side plot with Flass and Bullock. We didn’t see a lot of them
together after Bullock got demoted, but it was clear that Bullock was furious
about being shut out by Flass. Whatever part of the Blockbuster formula that
made him fixate on that hatred would obviously zero in on Flass for being just the
worst friend. The shot where Bullock was strangling Flass while Flass shot him
in the gut was a hell of an image to cut away from. It feels slightly like a
copout to let Bullock survive that much trauma, but I assume they’ve got more
planned for him, so whatever. It was also nice to give Barbara and Montoya
something to do besides hide. Capturing Gordon to keep him from hurting people and
then saving civilians was heroic as hell. And Alfred is the MVP of the episode,
manufacturing all that anti-toxin and then releasing it on the city just in the
nick of time. Regardless of universe, Alfred comes in clutch. So ya, I had fun
with this episode and the season overall. I’m really curious to see what
villains they’ll bring in if they get a season 3, as a lot of the big names have
been axed. There’s Poison Ivy, Man-Bat, Professor Pyg, Clock King, Condiment
King, Sportsmaster, Scarface and Wesker, Killer Croc, and a few others but I don’t
know, I’m not sure how many could be a season long antagonist like Joker or Thorne.
Ra’s al Ghul, I suppose, but I don’t know how well he’ll fit in this setting.
But that’ll be something we can discuss when/if a season 3 is announced. DC’s
projects seem to be up in the air right now due to the Skydance monopoly. But
they have announced an Absolute Batman run and I know Warner Bros was
always hesitant to have multiple Batmen going at once. So, who knows? We’ll
just have to wait and see. Next time, I think we’ll be going WAY back, but that’s
all I’ll say right now. Have a good night, everyone, and stay safe.
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/u2761062/posts/viewer-log-caped-173810766
Bluesky: @basicssuperhero.bsky.social
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