Batman Power Hour Companion: Act 5

Just two more acts until the end of my Batman: The Animated Series Video Power Hour! I'll try to keep the rest of my commentary short and sweet (while including plenty of pretty pictures), since you're probably all pretty sloshed at this point...

Clips 41 and 42: Almost Got 'Im
Air: 35 (November 10, 1992)
DVD: 146

Pop Quiz: In what year was this giant penny minted?
Make your guesses in the comment section or tweet @Hunter_S_Batman!

With all the major villains introduced and all the most interesting origin stories revealed, it's time to go back to the veritable buffet table of Batman's rogue's gallery and grab a second heaping plate full of bad guys. And what better way to start our second run through than with one of the most clever episodes of the whole series, featuring some of our favorite antagonists swapping stories over a high stakes poker game. I picked Two-Face's story because not only is it the most action-packed, but it shows yet another instance of his trademark coin leading to his downfall. Also, die-hard fans intimately familiar with the Batcave of the 1940s will recognize a ret-con of the giant penny that originally belonged to a little-known villain called the Penny Plunderer.


Clip 43: Joker's Wild
Air: 42 (November 19, 1992)
DVD: 141

In my opinion, this is one of the deepest and most clever episodes of the series, complete with a decidedly grown-up plot involving insurance fraud, and no fewer than four noteworthy sequences in addition to the high-flying hang glider antics featured in the power hour. I would have especially liked to include the battle of wits (and sleight-of-hand abilities) between Bruce Wayne and the Joker, who was able to blend in perfectly with the blackjack dealers, but it would have taken far too long to explain why the casino was Joker-themed in the first place. Also, the haunting laugh of the spinning Joker head is a much more iconic and memorable image for this clip to go out on.


Clip 44: Birds of a Feather
Air: 52 (February 8, 1993)
DVD: 147

This episode really delves deep into Penguin's character, depicting him as a failed socialite who is genuinely ready to forsake his criminal ways when he is accepted into the upper echelon of Gotham's social strata, but who falls back into his old habits when his status revealed to be nothing more than a practical joke. It's a tragically moving character arc for old Oswald Chesterfield Cobblepot that offers a rare glimpse into the human element behind all the heists and umbrellas and bird-related puns. So of course the clip I choose involves him wearing a Vakyrie helmet and riding around on a prop dragon... What can I say, society is to blame: high society.


Clip 45: Cat Scratch Fever
Air: 33 (November 5, 1992)
DVD: 136

The title of this episode should be enough to explain why Catwoman is seen blearily stumbling through a snow-covered forest: she's got the cat scratch fever! In fact, she's been infected by an animal-borne poison that was engineered in a nefarious plot by Roland Daggett to create demand for his anti-toxin, but that's far too complicated a plotline for this late in a power hour. The main thing I wanted to emphasize with this clip is Catwoman's flowing blonde hair, another aspect that's in direct contrast with The Dark Knight Rises, although I don't mind the discrepancy at all since Anne Hathaway was one of my favorite parts of the movie. (See? I can say nice things about a Christopher Nolan movie!) There's also this brilliant joke that ends the minute:

Batman (feeling Catwoman's forehead): You're hot!
Catwoman: Now you notice...

The only problem is that people tend to find the setup so funny that they laugh right through the punch line. Come to think of it, a similar problem occurs in the first minute of this act during an exchange between Poison Ivy and Two-Face: In my screenings, her line, "You're still looking halfway decent" gets a big enough reaction to undermine the setup for this exchange:

Two-Face: Half of me wants to strangle you.
Poison Ivy: And what does the other half want?
Two-Face: To hit you with a truck!

Remember that they used to date...


Clip 46: What is Reality?
Air: 45 (November 24, 1992)
DVD: 148

The only thing better than a Riddler episode is a Riddler episode involving virtual reality! Whereas the climactic battle in Edward Nygma's first appearance was taken directly from a video game, this episode sends the Dark Knight into a video game with a piece of ludicrously advanced technology - how can you justify the existence of a cordless modem in a world where TVs are still in black and white? But it's worth the anachronisms to be able to see a computerized Batman solve puzzles that can only exist in a virtual world. All the sci-fi overtones of this episode actually hide a deeper, character-driven plot: The Riddler has been trying to eradicate all traces of his alter ego Edward Nygma (destroying his birth certificate, DMV records, etc.) - but who needs to see all that? Give me more red-tinted Batman in knight's armor riding a Pegasus, please!


Clip 47: Mudslide
Air: 63 (September 15, 1993)
DVD: 152

Including both parts of his two-part origin story, Clayface only appears in three episodes of this series (he would go on to tally two more in the 24-episode "3rd season" The New Batman Adventures). He apparently kept a low profile since bursting onto the scene because his chemically-enhanced cellular structure has been slowly decaying. A medical consultant on one of Matt Hagen's films (named Stella just so they could re-create the famous scene from Streetcar Named Desire) has fallen in love with the villain and is illegally working on a cure, but sparks fly when Batman tries to interfere. This clip is replete with theatrical puns and a truly disturbing attempt on Batman's life, elements of which are taken for the final boss battle in Arkham City.


Clip 48: The Man Who Killed Batman
Air: 49 (February 1, 1993)
DVD: 151

It's hard to establish whether Batman truly created the Joker in this universe, since the show does not origin story for the villain (for a good one, I would suggest the 2010 animated movie Batman: Under the Red Hood, featuring Star Trek's Bruce Greenwood as Batman and Futurama's John DiMaggio as the Joker) - but there is no question that the Clown Prince of Crime could not function without the Caped Crusader. This clip shows how Joker's criminal instincts are rooted more in a rivalry with Batman than a desire to cause mayhem, and that with no prospect of a conflict arising between the two, Joker has no motivation to even finish the crime spree he started.


Clip 49: Harley and Ivy
Air: 47 (January 18, 1993)
DVD: 156

Although Harley Quinn - a character who was created for this show, but who was subsequently added to the official comic book canon - has two standalone episodes all to herself ("Harley's Holiday" and "Harlequinade"), there's nothing like a conversation with a fellow super villainess to delve into the psychological underpinnings behind her association with her abusive employer. Plus in this clip we get to see Harley blow up an Archie Bunker lookalike's car with a personalized bazooka. All I can say that it was darn nice of her to give her victims ample time to run to safety before pulling the trigger...


Clip 50: Heart of Ice
Air: 3 (September 7, 1992)
DVD: 114

This image ended up being the YouTube thumbnail pic.
Not ideal, but not terrible either, as it is one of the show's finer episodes.

Mr. Freeze does have a second episode, but to be honest, it doesn't really add anything either to the show overall nor to the character's story. But since the tragic backstory established for this episode basically went on to redefine the character of Mr. Freeze, it felt fitting to let him finish out this act with a heart-wrenching monologue that still brings the occasional single tear to my eye, even after all these watchings. Speaking of tears, here's a bit of trivia about this sequence: Bruce Timm has stated that one of his biggest regrets about this series was not having Mr. Freeze's tears turn into icicles halfway down his cheek. But even without that bit of minutiae, "Heart of Ice" is still one of the all-time great episodes of the series.