Batman Power Hour Companion: Act 4

If you followed along with the previous three posts in this series, you should be half way through this Power Hour and roughly 2.5 beers in. I hope you're enjoying the experience and that you're ready for more of my insightful commentary!

Clip 31: Dreams in Darkness
Air: 31 (November 3, 1992)
DVD: 128

This image (you can barely see Batman there on the far right) is at the exact
midpoint of the power hour, and was almost the thumbnail pic on YouTube.

Series creator Bruce Timm made a conscious choice not to retell the story of how young Bruce Wayne's parents were gunned down before his helpless eyes, but luckily he didn't have any objections to showing the scene in dream sequences, coma fantasies, or drug-induced hallucinations. "Dreams in Darkness" features one of the show's most interesting storytelling tropes as we hear Batman narrate the plot from the confines of his cell in Arkham Asylum, in which he's been locked after receiving yet another dose of Scarecrow's fear toxin. Given that he's in such a state, it's only natural that his mind would revisit the most traumatic event of his life, complete with remarkably emotional and evocative imagery. A fitting backstory-related clip to mark the halfway point!


Clip 32: I Am the Night
Air: 34 (November 9, 1992)
DVD: 149

Staying with the parents death theme, this clip shows Batman performing his annual ritual of returning to Crime Alley to commemorate what happened on that fateful night all those years ago. Joining him on the scene is Dr. Leslie Thompkins, an old colleague of Bruce's parents and a sort of surrogate mother figure, in the same way that Alfred/Commissioner Gordon play the dual role of father figures. (It's revealed later in this episode that Jim Gordon is the same age Thomas Wayne would have been if he hadn't met an untimely end.) This is one of the more cerebral episodes of Batman: in addition to the two Santayana quotes, Batman also utters a line from Nietzsche ("When you look too long into the abyss, the abyss looks back through you") during a moment of personal crisis. It's not often that you get such philosophical depth in a children's cartoon show, and it's one of the reasons why it will always stand as not only one of the most compelling shows to grace the small screen, but also one of the most thought-provoking.


Clip 33 and 34: The Demon's Quest, Part 1
Air: 57 (May 3, 1993)
DVD: 160

The next two clips return us to the Ra's/Talia al Ghul storyline that ended the last act. A couple things to point out right away that contradict the character's most recent cinematic portrayal: he's not the one who trains Bruce Wayne in his quest to become the Bat, he doesn't make any attempt to hide his true identity behind a red herring decoy figurehead, and he doesn't pronounce his name like a girl character on Frasier ("roz"), but rather a much more masculine "raysh" (like "race" with an "sh" on the end). I don't know how it would be pronounced in the original Arabic (it does in fact mean "The Demon's Head"), and not to keep harping on our good friend Chris Nolan, but I definitely prefer the animated version. Also, as much as I admire Liam Neeson, I must say that the vocal majesty of David Warner is unparalleled in terms of capturing the life of the 600-year-old criminal mastermind. Although, who knows what Neeson might have been able to do if he didn't have to spend half the movie pretending to be a different character...

In the first clip, Ra's introduces himself and the problem: both his daughter Talia and Batman's sidekick Robin have been abducted. Between the clips, most of the action happens: hero and villain join forces and embark on a mission to rescue their loved ones, before it's revealed that Ra's had masterminded the whole thing as a test to see if Batman was ready to lead his forces to a new age. When Batman refuses, Ra's goes into conniptions and dies, requiring his resurrection by way of the mysterious Lazarus Pit. Let me just say, and I promise this is the last negative point I'll make about Nolan's trilogy, but to have a story about Ra's al Ghul without the Lazarus Pit is like having a story about Batman without the Batcave. While there is a sequel to this episode, we won't see clips from it until much later in the hour.


Clips 35 and 36: Robin's Reckoning, Part 1
Air: 51 (February 7, 1993)
DVD: 132

While Bruce Timm put a pin in showing the story of Bruce Wayne's death, he put no such restrictions on the death of Dick Grayson's parents. The demise of the Flying Graysons is one of the most emotionally powerful sequences in the show, so much so that this episode won the Emmy for Most Outstanding Half Hour or Less Program. There's something about that single frayed trapeze wire swinging into frame that just evokes a much greater sense of loss than if we'd actually seen them splat on the circus floor. The second clip shows how Bruce and Dick begin to bond through shared tragedy, and more importantly we see how the orphaned Bruce becomes somewhat of an adoptive father to his soon-to-be sidekick. This of course undercuts some of the more perverse sexual undertones between the two that critics and subversives are quick to bring up... despite an overly-playful fencing scene that takes place in Part 2.


Clip 37: Robin's Reckoning, Part 2
Air: 53 (February 14, 1993)
DVD: 133

The backstory here, if it's not obvious, is that Robin has tracked down the crook who caused the death of his parents (played by the incomparable Thomas F. Wilson, aka Biff Tannen) and is ready to return the favor. I feel bad about having to cut this clip before the full extent of Batman and Robin's dialogue where the Caped Crusader convinces the Boy Wonder not to take matters into his own hands, but I only had a minute and had to use the first part of it to adequately showcase Robin's signature bulletproof motorcycle, another sequence that made it into the opening title when the show became The Adventures of Batman and Robin.


Clip 38: Heart of Steel, Part 2
Air: 41 (November 18, 1992)
DVD: 140

Knowing the plot of this two-part episode isn't really important for what I needed this clip to accomplish; it's enough to know that it involves incredibly life-like robots called "Duplicants" (not to be confused with Blade Runner's "Replicants," even though M. Emmet Walsh plays an important part in both). And that Commissioner Gordon's daughter Barbara, who turns out to be a very capable adventurer even before donning the Batgirl costume (SPOILER ALERT), is instrumental in both uncovering the villain/CPU's master plan and in orchestrating its ultimate destruction. Also note that the censors couldn't say anything about the sexy blonde Duplicant getting brutally crushed by an elevator, since she's not technically a human after all...


Clip 39: Shadow of the Bat, Part 1
Air: 61 (September 13, 1993)
DVD: 157

Staying with the Barbara Gordon theme, this clip represents the first time the adventurous coed dons what would eventually become the Batgirl costume, only this time she puts on the cape and cowl in an effort to impersonate Batman to make it seem like he showed up to endorse a rally in support of her father. It's one of those long, drawn-out, complex political storylines that you can afford to let breathe over the space of a two-parter, but for our purposes, it's enough to show how the Dynamic Duo's newest partner burst onto the scene - and that what appears to be a fashion choice of letting her auburn hair flow out the back of her cowl was actually a result of her first interaction with the Boy Wonder... at least in this universe.


Clip 40: Shadow of the Bat, Part 2
Air: 62 (September 14, 1993)
DVD: 158

It strikes me that of the three Bat-allies that appear in this show, only Batgirl makes the conscious choice to become a crime fighter, i.e. she is the only one that wasn't thrust into the life with some childhood crime-related trauma. Her father is still alive and well (if in constant danger) and although her mother is never depicted (maybe she picked up and moved to Ohio like she did in TDKR - maybe the town of Springdale where witness protection placed our friend Charlie in "Joker's Favor"), there's nothing in the show to suggest that she met with a violent end. Either way, Batgirl is by far the least committed to the costumed hero lifestyle, as she only appears in three total episodes. In this clip, she performs her first competent heroic act (using some gadgets borrowed from Batman and Robin and stolen from police headquarters) by rescuing her father, who somehow doesn't recognize her, despite the close quarters lines of dialogue they share. Although with all the commotion in the background and the bullets flying, I can imagine it's very hard to distinguish voices...