Run It Back – Batman: Caped Crusader Season 1 Review
In this episode of Cape or Cap: A Black Nerd Superhero Podcast, we’re cruising into the latest season of Batman: Caped Crusader as we step foot in the grim Gotham City where affluent philanthropist Bruce Wayne goes beyond his humane capabilities and transforms into an enigmatic figure, Batman; his crusade for justice brings in unexpected allies, but his actions also lead to perilous consequences.
In our “Run It Back” segment, we break down the season's best and worst moments, focusing on character development experienced by Batman, his growing rogues gallery, and the police force of Gotham along with their and action-packed scenes. From small villains like Firebug to big villains like GCPD we ask the real question: does the show take new heights like a kite with its cape or is it a total cap?
01:14:27 Cape or Cap Verdict
Hosts: Chamar Griffith and Andrew Tejada
Producers: Chamar Griffith and Andrew Tejada
Support Cape or Cap by donating once today or monthly. Follow the show on social media @capeorcap and share your thoughts with us through a direct message or email at capeorcappod@gmail.com.
Like and Subscribe to our YouTube page, and listen to the rest of the episodes wherever you get your podcasts!
Transcript
I see why Matt Reeves really wanted to invest in this show,
Speaker:because the Batman presented here is not Well,
Speaker:hi, I'm Chamar Griffith and I'm Andrew Tejada. We're going
Speaker:through superhero productions to let you know if they're still
Speaker:fun or the hype around it was dumb on Cape or cap, a Black
Speaker:Nerd superhero podcast.
Speaker:Welcome to this week's installment of Cape or cap, a
Speaker:Black Nerd superhero podcast. My name is Chamar Griffith,
Speaker:codename comic sham and I am Andrew Tejada codename Arete.
Speaker:Andrew and I have known each other since 1996 that was the
Speaker:year the Batman Forever arcade game released, and it is
Speaker:absolutely chaotic. If you go on YouTube, you'll see Batman and
Speaker:Robin shrinking and growing. They're they're unleashing an
Speaker:explosion. As a finisher, it's possible to unleash a unleash
Speaker:150 hit combo to an enemy. You can punch two face in the face.
Speaker:And the tagline is, the streets of Gotham City are paved with
Speaker:gold, which they absolutely are not, no because the economy of
Speaker:Gotham tells us that is paid the trash. Yeah. Why would that be
Speaker:the tagline Gotham and gold that doesn't relate at all, like,
Speaker:what also, which face are you punching? Two facing both of
Speaker:them? I think it's a hate crime. I'm not sure. I'm not sure.
Speaker:Double the double the crime, double the time. You know, I'm
Speaker:glad that Batman Forever is still gonna it's probably, like,
Speaker:the second worst Batman film from that, like Tim Burton era.
Speaker:But I'm also surprised it's the only one that got an arcade
Speaker:game, because I would have happily played the arcade
Speaker:version of Batman and Robin, especially when they just, like,
Speaker:grab onto some random like, ice skates and try to escape Mr.
Speaker:Free. That would have been maybe that's part of the 150 hit combo
Speaker:they were planning for the next one. Yeah. But then Batman,
Speaker:Robin came out, and it was like, nope, cut it. Cut it. Oh, man.
Speaker:But you know what we love? Well, do we love Batman? When is this
Speaker:time? When it's his time? It's been a while. It's been a while
Speaker:since we've been a Batman I think, Well, it's because we had
Speaker:to hop over to a whole brand new university production company.
Speaker:But we are back, baby. We are back. Of course. We are wrapping
Speaker:up our run it back season, where we are talking about all the
Speaker:television shows that premiered during the summer of 2024 that
Speaker:included my adventures with Superman Suicide Squad Issa Kai,
Speaker:as you heard recently last week, kite man, hell yeah. So wrapping
Speaker:up the summer block of DC shows before. I feel like this was
Speaker:basically them trying to get everything out before they're
Speaker:like, listen, we're gonna change the guard. We're having James
Speaker:Gunn run everything, but before we do, we have one other
Speaker:director who was running stuff with Batman, and thankfully,
Speaker:today we got Batman caped crusader. A gotta say, was not
Speaker:expecting this to ever happened. But then again, it's Batman, and
Speaker:we know DC loves Batman, so as soon as they have any production
Speaker:with them, it was automatically going to get greenlit. Yeah.
Speaker:This show had 10 episodes in his freshman season. It has a TV y7
Speaker:rating, which I was just like, PG, PG 13. So 10 episodes that
Speaker:all premiered on Amazon. So this was for all of our max friends
Speaker:who are wondering why they couldn't watch the show. You're
Speaker:just in the wrong streaming service. DC has some things
Speaker:going on that's, you know, there was, at one point before this,
Speaker:it was HBO max. Now it's not. But I digress, because more
Speaker:importantly, we have an incredible show runner today,
Speaker:the only show runner for this show, actually, Bruce Tim
Speaker:imagined, yes, like, if you there's not much I can say about
Speaker:him, because it's like if you grew up and were molded by the
Speaker:era of Batman, The Animated Series, the Justice League, like
Speaker:we were honestly just give Bruce's flowers like, you know,
Speaker:he helped create what was the animated version for a lot of
Speaker:our superheroes, especially on the DC side. You know, if it
Speaker:wasn't for Bruce Timm, we wouldn't even have Harley Quinn,
Speaker:because it was a Bruce Tim production on that show. So once
Speaker:again, thank you, Bruce Tim for creating stories and characters
Speaker:that would span generations of these, of these DC characters.
Speaker:Um, while Bruce Tim was the only show runner, we did have a
Speaker:pretty extensive executive producer list, which I was, uh
Speaker:gotta say, pretty shocked to see. Some of these things. First
Speaker:up, we got JJ Abrams without lens flares. I don't think, I
Speaker:don't know if you can animate lens flares, but I'm pretty sure
Speaker:JJ Abrams will one day figure it out. Next up, after coming out
Speaker:with the Batman, Matt Reeves decides to tie his name as the
Speaker:executive producer to Batman caped crusader. So I, you know,
Speaker:I think we went to go see Batman The Batman in theaters. We
Speaker:watched all almost three hours of it, and then we decided to
Speaker:spend even more time watching the penguin. So if y'all want to
Speaker:hear our thoughts about the penguin, let us know in the
Speaker:comments, uh, reach out to us. We I will not say much further
Speaker:than that, because I don't want to spoil any content for a few
Speaker:traffic and last but not least, another executive producer we
Speaker:have is James Tucker. Uh, James Tucker has worked with Bruce
Speaker:Timm on so many productions all the way back to the DC au to
Speaker:even some of the current stuff, definitely running as a animator
Speaker:and a show runner. And I gotta be honest, one of the best days
Speaker:we probably had early on in our original version of the pod,
Speaker:yeah, and then the DC anime podcast was when James Tucker
Speaker:liked one of our tweets. That's how we know we made it. Yup,
Speaker:yup. So here's an audible thank you to Mr. James Tucker for all
Speaker:that you have done, all that you do and all that you will do,
Speaker:especially as a black animator in the game, we love to chat
Speaker:sometime because as blurred ourselves, we just love seeing
Speaker:ourselves represented in so many different spaces. So this could
Speaker:be a straight up interview, or if you just want to hear us,
Speaker:just thank you for hours on end, like we can do that too, yes,
Speaker:but don't. Don't worry, it will not cloud our judgment. We are
Speaker:coming today open and honest sweetest, sweetest interviews,
Speaker:but we are also going to be honest about every part of the
Speaker:show we loved, including a ghost cameo. We absolutely can't wait
Speaker:to rave about. And speaking of the review, of course, we had to
Speaker:look through the information here. So on Rotten Tomatoes,
Speaker:this show currently has a 94% amongst critics and a 55%
Speaker:amongst the audiences. That's exactly what we like to see
Speaker:here. Yes, divisive. And of course, we have to go through
Speaker:the people who helped put this together to see why is it that
Speaker:this show is somehow right down the middle amongst fans and
Speaker:critics? Um, so the cast list is as follows, as we have Hamish
Speaker:Linklater, who is no stranger to the superhero world after
Speaker:voicing Sandman in the Marvel wastelanders Doom podcast
Speaker:series, and even prior to that, being Leonard in the Fantastic
Speaker:Four with Chris Evans and Clark in Legion. Mm, so good in
Speaker:Legion, he's so good. Well, in that case, it makes total sense.
Speaker:Why today he voices our titular caped crusader next up Jason
Speaker:Watkins. Uh, he doesn't have too much in the superhero production
Speaker:world, but he did have some time with Britain's favorite
Speaker:superhero. I would call him doctor, who in a couple of
Speaker:episodes here and there, in a couple of podcast productions.
Speaker:And I think this was my favorite tidbit of his. He has been
Speaker:Gordon Shakespeare in a set of British produced holiday movies
Speaker:called nativity, which has the sequel, nativity two, danger in
Speaker:the manger and they and nativity three, Dude, where's my donkey?
Speaker:I All right, I'm gonna let you just have that one. I can't take
Speaker:away anything from your dedication to the series. And of
Speaker:course, speaking of dedication, we have to make sure that he got
Speaker:the voice of Alfred Pennyworth, the man dedicated to Bruce
Speaker:Wayne. All right, natosa, who a superpower, Princess of power in
Speaker:Netflix's recent she ra production trades in her power
Speaker:of energy manipulation for the power of the law as Crystal Joy
Speaker:Brown. Voices, Barbara Gordon, this is also, I think, the first
Speaker:time we've ever seen a Barbara Gordon who was actually
Speaker:practicing like law outside of just like, you know, being the
Speaker:cop. Yeah, I don't, I can't think of one. I think even back
Speaker:in day, she was like, when she was first introduced, she was
Speaker:going to law school. So congratulations, Barbara. You
Speaker:know, thank you for fighting the good fight. All right, now this
Speaker:guy, he's got so much voice work that's hard to pinpoint his time
Speaker:in the Max's Harley Quinn show, the Loud House Call of Duty, or
Speaker:even the Fallout series. But today, Eric Morgan Stewart is
Speaker:our Commissioner Gordon, which quick point to say that this is
Speaker:the second time now that Commissioner Gordon and Barbara
Speaker:Gordon are black presenting characters, yeah, and, uh,
Speaker:surprisingly, Internet didn't lose its mind. So, good job.
Speaker:Internet for being normal,
Speaker:joining her Fallout voice star, we have Michelle C Bonilla as
Speaker:Detective Renee Montoya. Also kind of cool to see that Renee
Speaker:is getting her time to shine now, especially as she, as her
Speaker:character in comics, has been growing and of course, you can't
Speaker:have a Batman production without the likes of Dietrich Bader,
Speaker:John DiMaggio and Gary Anthony Williams, who have all spent
Speaker:their time at some point in the DC world, either as a Batman, as
Speaker:a joker or just a random Waylon Jones character type. Today we
Speaker:have them voicing Harvey Dent Two Face Bullock and flas
Speaker:respectively. Finally, we've talked about the three before
Speaker:who have been in countless DC productions, but this person in
Speaker:particular has been in more superhero productions than I've
Speaker:known of everyone else. I think you know more times than you've
Speaker:probably seen Stanley cameos in the Marvel Universe. Now we may
Speaker:have had her issue with her performance in a certain very
Speaker:capped version of the Dragon Ball story. But today we're
Speaker:going to see if Jamie Chung can redeem herself as the new voice
Speaker:of Harley Quinn. The last person I have to highlight on the voice
Speaker:cast is Cedric Yarborough playing Rupert Thorn, the
Speaker:gangster, and previously he he played Colonel H stink meaner on
Speaker:the boondocks. That's where you've heard him from. That's
Speaker:why he sounds so familiar, but you can't place it. That's where
Speaker:he's from. Oh, my God, Cedric, thank you. Thank you so much,
Speaker:especially because I know Gary Anthony Williams voices, uncle,
Speaker:ruckus, right? Oh man, wow. This is amazing. I did not expect to
Speaker:have a Boondocks reference on this podcast that actually
Speaker:connected to the cast list. This is freaking awesome. Haven't
Speaker:watched the boondocks. Why are you waiting, people? It is. It
Speaker:is a pinnacle show to our time. If we ever want to understand
Speaker:certain things, just watch the boondocks. And thank you too for
Speaker:coming together, making K through cedar. Oh my god, Cedric
Speaker:and Gary together again. This is it makes so much sense there was
Speaker:so much hate in this show. Alright, with that amazing,
Speaker:lovely, amazing note, uh, let's see if this show earned this
Speaker:actual name or is missing the letter P, and start our cape or
Speaker:cap review of the first season of Batman caped crusader. Oh,
Speaker:and forgot to mention, of course, as a running back
Speaker:episode, we will not be diving into all the specifics that we
Speaker:usually do with our movies. Instead, we're going to run
Speaker:through and explain what how we felt about the story, the
Speaker:characters, fight scenes, animations and anything in
Speaker:particular that truly stuck out to us within our scenes. So this
Speaker:will be more of our spoiler filled review, and then you can
Speaker:jump ahead, if you wish, to to our final verdict, where we'll
Speaker:provide a spoiler free review of the entire series season, so you
Speaker:can determine whether or not you are interested in watching this
Speaker:show and being a DC fan, because I feel like a lot of people are
Speaker:hopping over as of late. Oh yeah, now's a good time to get
Speaker:back in there after after crisis anyway. So as this show opens,
Speaker:we try to, we always try to figure out where Batman is,
Speaker:where he's relation to Gotham. And this feels more like a year
Speaker:or two. Batman's been around a while. People know that Batman
Speaker:is in the shadows, but he and the police still don't really
Speaker:understand each other. Some people still think he's a myth,
Speaker:until he's cracking their collarbone, and the first big
Speaker:mystery he has to solve in the show is that around the city,
Speaker:warehouses are blowing up, and they happen to be belonging to a
Speaker:crime boss named Rupert Thorn. So they're trying to figure out
Speaker:who is blowing up these warehouses on on his end, on the
Speaker:other end, in the light side of the law, who people who are out
Speaker:there trying to practice, we have Barbara Gordon, who's a
Speaker:lawyer who has a heart of gold really pulls for a client's
Speaker:Harvey Dent, not so much a heart of gold. He's a smarmy really.
Speaker:He's he'll take bribes to do whatever it takes to win. So
Speaker:they're working the case their own way, and Jim Gordon is just
Speaker:trying to keep his job serving everyone. So we have some a nice
Speaker:of collection of players. And also for wondering, what kind of
Speaker:Batman is this? Is this an ultra realistic Matt Reeves? Is this a
Speaker:far out Batman and Robin? And the answer is somewhere in the
Speaker:middle, because the last scene of the first episode has an.
Speaker:Barlow cannon, somewhere in the multiverse, Michelangelo,
Speaker:teenage mu ninja turtle is just like squealing with joy. And I
Speaker:gotta say, this is where the show shows that it's not going
Speaker:to be your typical Batman story. I think one of the biggest
Speaker:changes that we see is that we get the introduction of the
Speaker:Iceberg Lounge. We get the introduction of all of the mob
Speaker:bosses around who are operating in Gotham. And because we have
Speaker:the Iceberg Lounge, of course we're going to have the penguin
Speaker:and the biggest change here is that Oswald Cobblepot is now
Speaker:oswalda Cobblepot. I know that this was a big change, and a lot
Speaker:of people were like thinking about this, especially because
Speaker:there was the other penguin television series that came out
Speaker:around the same time, both of which shows some big changes to
Speaker:the original lore and even just the naming conventions of the
Speaker:penguin. So it was definitely interesting for me to see
Speaker:penguin now portrayed as a woman, because I you know what?
Speaker:To me, this definitely worked, because this version of the
Speaker:penguin kept the same demeanor that I've been seeing of the
Speaker:penguin in this particular year, like this person who is
Speaker:fantasizing about the old school kind of mob mentality, singing a
Speaker:lot of these, like, I guess, like 1920s and 1940s kinds of
Speaker:songs. So it totally makes sense that this Oswaldo Cobblepot is
Speaker:also singing to the crowd, entertaining the crowd, while
Speaker:being this, like ruthless person in the background looking to
Speaker:carve out her own stake in Gotham. Um, so what did you
Speaker:think, Andrew, how did you feel about Oswaldo kabapo, I was
Speaker:mixed on it. Um, I have no problem. When I first heard the
Speaker:controversy, I thought it was very silly, because these are
Speaker:comical villains. They're reimagined in so many different
Speaker:ways. So I did not mind penguin being a different gender than
Speaker:the penguin we're used to. And I didn't mind the setup of the
Speaker:episode Penguin. Penguin has kids. She's the lounge singer
Speaker:for the Iceberg Lounge I didn't mind any of that, but because
Speaker:she doesn't appear after this, I was kind of like to me, if
Speaker:you're going to do something, if you're going to make that big of
Speaker:a change. I mean, I absolutely go for it, but I had hoped that
Speaker:they were, she was going to be incorporated more, and that it
Speaker:was going to inform her character a little bit more,
Speaker:because that's where I'm torn. It's like, I honestly don't mind
Speaker:it, but I also do wonder, in this instance, when I saw with
Speaker:the end game was for her, which was set her up as an entertainer
Speaker:that has homicidal tendencies and rules the Iceberg Lounge. At
Speaker:this point, I wonder, why not use like somebody like Fish
Speaker:Mooney? Why not use another I know Batman villain roster isn't
Speaker:particularly that deep when it comes to female villains that
Speaker:people recognize outside of poison ivy, Catwoman, etc. But I
Speaker:do wonder why, specifically they felt the need to turn penguin do
Speaker:a different gender for Penguin, instead of trying to dig deeper
Speaker:into the roster or make an original female villain. So I
Speaker:did wonder that when it got to the end of it. So again, I don't
Speaker:mind it, but I would have liked to see more of it if they were
Speaker:going to make a change that was so sizable to people in the fan
Speaker:base. Yeah, that that's what I was curious about. Like, in the
Speaker:end, why? Why go that route with it? Yeah, yeah. Especially,
Speaker:you're right, especially if it is just the as far as we know, I
Speaker:don't know if this show has gotten the season two
Speaker:confirmation. But yeah, this is the last, first and last time we
Speaker:do see this as Waldo kabapo. She does a pretty big move and
Speaker:destroys the police station, which doesn't seem to be too
Speaker:much of a factor late in later episodes, actually. Yeah. I was
Speaker:like, Dude, I feel like they still have the station, yeah,
Speaker:yeah. I feel like this might have almost been a proof of
Speaker:concept episode, and they haven't really, they didn't
Speaker:really, because there are seeds in this episode that continue.
Speaker:But I feel like everything with Penguin doesn't really affect
Speaker:anything going forward, except for the fact that penguins being
Speaker:taken down allegedly emboldens Rupert Thorn, who is a criminal,
Speaker:to to do more. But again, we don't really see the immediate
Speaker:payoff of that. Instead, the next couple of episodes kind of
Speaker:focus on one shot villains, and we get more into the episodic
Speaker:nature of the show. We get one on clay face, which is this
Speaker:really dark, psychological murder mystery we get. And I
Speaker:gotta say, I did enjoy that episode, because I,
Speaker:you know, I think that most of my clay face knowledge has been
Speaker:associated with the Batman the show, with the one that's
Speaker:created by Dwayne COVID. And then after. That is the Harley
Speaker:Quinn show, where you show kind of like, yes, it was definitely
Speaker:this actor who develops this clay like state. I think that
Speaker:this particular take on it is a good blend between the two.
Speaker:Because, look, Dwayne copizzi Is the Batman will forever be my
Speaker:best, my favorite version of Clayface, because that story and
Speaker:the turn that happens with because it like has a direct
Speaker:connection to Bruce versus this one definitely feeling more
Speaker:villain the week. But I did enjoy seeing that, like, if
Speaker:we're going to lean into the actor route, I need to know how
Speaker:this happened. And it's perfect. It to me. It's like the
Speaker:convoluted steps that were taken in that path were great. So this
Speaker:version of basil Carlo, I don't know if it's gonna possibly
Speaker:influence, especially because, as you mentioned, Matt Reeves
Speaker:was a part of this show. I don't know if this might influence the
Speaker:Batman too, because I believe he's supposed to be a villain in
Speaker:that movie, at least that's the rumor is. So, yeah, I'm
Speaker:interested to see if this is the take that they're gonna go with.
Speaker:Yeah, I know they're developing a clay face for Gods and
Speaker:Monsters specifically. So there might be there, he might appear
Speaker:there instead of Matt Reeves. It depends on how far Matt Reeves
Speaker:wants to go. But, yeah, it was a definitely, it was. It was an
Speaker:interesting examination. You know, it's followed by a
Speaker:Catwoman episode, where they kind of retool things, where
Speaker:Catwoman is actually a member of high society that's trying to
Speaker:cling on to her status by by stealing, which I thought was a
Speaker:nice shake up of of her origin story. And she also has an
Speaker:Alfred, which is much, who is much more bitter and turns on
Speaker:her instantly. Will definitely draw you a bath, but like we'll
Speaker:paint it. We also have a an episode where the police really
Speaker:try to capture Batman, where they do this great thing, where
Speaker:they set up fake crimes around the city and see if Batman WILL
Speaker:TAKE THE BAIT, though, that was a pretty funny twist on the
Speaker:origin. But to really draw them out, where we get an A really
Speaker:big, substantial thing, they say you need a costume to catch a
Speaker:costume. So, so Harvey Bullock and Mr. Flats himself, the
Speaker:smoothest version of flats I've ever seen these two corrupt cops
Speaker:who have been taking bribes since episode one decide to
Speaker:release what they think is a two bit villain and called Firebug?
Speaker:Now, this one was, I think this is one of the strongest episodes
Speaker:of this season because of how much it ties into the world of
Speaker:Gotham. You know, we kind of, you know, when you hear of all
Speaker:these heroes, you're thinking of, like, okay, like, you know,
Speaker:Superman is saving people in Metropolis. Flash is saving
Speaker:people in Central City. You see all these, like, you're
Speaker:basically seeing a very metropolis, like era, like you
Speaker:stepping into Manhattan. These are the people who are falling
Speaker:victim this time in this episode, all of the fighting,
Speaker:all of the process of trying to catch this guy, even Batman
Speaker:working with Jim. They're doing this in what feels like you just
Speaker:step foot into like some random residential part of Brooklyn or
Speaker:residential part of the Bronx, like you're these are you're
Speaker:seeing in real time people being affected by these moments. So
Speaker:when things are burning down because Firebug, which I guess
Speaker:is supposed, is supposed to be a play on Firefly, another Batman
Speaker:villain. Maybe this is, like the early stages of it. This is when
Speaker:you see that, like all these fires, and how Batman and Jim
Speaker:are reluctantly having to work together to save the people.
Speaker:Because, like, Jim's like, I know this neighborhood, like,
Speaker:this is part of my beat. Like, I need, this is part of my old
Speaker:beat. I need to save these people, and Batman jumping in,
Speaker:and you actually see them having a bit more of an appreciation
Speaker:for each other, and then ultimately it turning into like
Speaker:Firebug getting killed by Bullock or flask, and them, in
Speaker:the end, being praised as heroes, because everybody saw
Speaker:the Mad Men being killed by the police versus Jim, who's just
Speaker:like, Listen, you killed someone like you, set this man loose on
Speaker:these people, and ended up harming so many people, at
Speaker:destroying their homes, everything. But now you're being
Speaker:praised as heroes that this is a terrible idea, like, I don't
Speaker:understand. How is it that you could be praised for this work?
Speaker:And this is when you kind of start seeing even that dynamic
Speaker:between Batman and Jim to starting to grow because they're
Speaker:like, Okay, we have a better understanding. We have a mutual
Speaker:understanding that, like, we're here to save the people of
Speaker:Gotham, not cause enough chaos to make ourselves look good in
Speaker:the efforts of making it look like we're safe. Yeah, and their
Speaker:promotion and status as heroes plays in heavily towards the the
Speaker:finale. So it's Jim wants to get rid of him, but now he can't,
Speaker:because they're hero cops. Um, some other one offs that we see
Speaker:are we get gentlemen ghosts, by far the most random episode
Speaker:where ghosts are real and he only steals from poor people.
Speaker:And I'm like 90% sure a gentleman ghost is racist. Um,
Speaker:oh, no more racist, and Richie's dad in a static shock, man, oh
Speaker:yeah, because the way he was acting with Papa midnight,
Speaker:weird. This is really a weird one off. I don't really feel the
Speaker:need to go into it more, but was a weird one, mainly for me,
Speaker:because it's just like, it's a complete tonal shift in the
Speaker:show. Yeah, like, prior to this, we spent a lot of time with very
Speaker:like, these are individuals who are just like, you know, they're
Speaker:creating things that there. It's like, concoctions and chemicals,
Speaker:things that can alter things. Now we're jumping into the
Speaker:supernatural, and it was weird to kind of have that like, Hey,
Speaker:here's this, like, super racist ghost. Yeah, healing from
Speaker:people. I don't really know how he doesn't really advance the
Speaker:story for me, like a lot of these villains that appear,
Speaker:advance the story in one way or the other, gentleman, ghost is
Speaker:the one that I'm like, I don't really see where this goes. So
Speaker:is this interesting show? Dr, Midnight's trip. Yo, like, I
Speaker:guess he had a nice suit. He had a nice white suit. I was like,
Speaker:all right. Dr, Midnight Carly does show up. We'll get into it
Speaker:later. She deserves more than the quick, just the quick
Speaker:replay, but the last one off before we get into the real meat
Speaker:and final plot line of the season is Harvey Dent, for his
Speaker:mayoral campaign, eventually agrees to accept money from the
Speaker:gangster ruperth Thorne agrees to do some criminal favors, and
Speaker:in exchange, Rupert Thorn supplies money That enables him
Speaker:to do a carnival. And at this carnival, these clever so and
Speaker:so's kids keep going missing, first a kid named Dickey, then a
Speaker:kid named Jace, then a Steph and Steffi Brown, and then
Speaker:eventually a Carrie. So if you didn't catch on. Those are all
Speaker:Robin names that go missing as orphans, which is a really
Speaker:messed up easter egg. Also is another crazy easter egg,
Speaker:because it's like, done in a very similar way to, I think the
Speaker:episode from Batman the enemy series is called, I have like,
Speaker:the Batman in the basement thing or something where I there's,
Speaker:like, a there's an episode in which a bunch of kids share
Speaker:their stories about Batman, and it's like, done at the end of it
Speaker:in a very similar tone, when all of them are talking amongst each
Speaker:other. I think I just really like the scene. It was just
Speaker:like, like, you know, if you Amanda, I can't remember the
Speaker:episode from Batman, The Animated Series. But I love the
Speaker:the energy that it gave off, especially because knowing that
Speaker:like each person, like you said, like these cheeky people really
Speaker:put in almost every Robin, but I'm still mad that Tim Drake get
Speaker:no time to shine. Well, he's not an orphan. Oh, right, neither is
Speaker:Damien. So same event for season two, for like, let's just go to
Speaker:a parent teacher conference or something. Yeah, so why is these
Speaker:kids go missing? This is the one. Well, I also want to talk
Speaker:about Bruce later and his characterization. But Bruce all
Speaker:this season has been pretty focused on crime, almost to, you
Speaker:know, obsessively. But when he sees these kids missing, he
Speaker:decides to go and look out for them. And while asking questions
Speaker:about, did anyone see some little kids to the carnies?
Speaker:Everybody jumps them because they think he's Drake and and
Speaker:throw him in a pit
Speaker:they don't like, so he ends up unconscious. Meanwhile, people
Speaker:are asking Harvey Dent to take action, but he is so distracted
Speaker:by the corruption going on his carnival, including an offer to
Speaker:let somebody get off on criminal charges, that he doesn't do
Speaker:anything. And by the time he can take action, it's already way
Speaker:too late, and Batman comes in to save the day, luckily and solve
Speaker:the mystery, which was all these kids were going missing, because
Speaker:this one younger girl needs to take the souls from young people
Speaker:in order to survive. So she was draining them. And this was a
Speaker:really standout emotional moment, because this girl tries
Speaker:to take Carrie soul and Carrie Love her. She's the one who
Speaker:fights back. She try all the other kids kind of fall for the
Speaker:the this other kids charms, but Carrie fights back. And in the
Speaker:process of this wild episode. Code, um, the evil kid, um,
Speaker:forget what her actual name is, Evelyn. Oh, Nocturne. Nocturne,
Speaker:Natalia, Nocturne, or something like that. Yeah. Natalia, in the
Speaker:process of her trying to get more souls, accidentally injures
Speaker:and mortally wounds her brother. Her brother dies, unfortunately,
Speaker:from his wounds. And at the end of the episode, Batman tells
Speaker:her, and Natalia is ready to just perish in the sunlight
Speaker:because she can't survive in the sun. But Batman covers her with
Speaker:the cape, even though Carrie's like, leave her, Batman says,
Speaker:Batman can't let her go, can't let a child suffer, and covers
Speaker:her with the cape and takes her home. And in a very nice
Speaker:animated touch, Carrie holds on to Batman's cape, the other side
Speaker:of Batman's cape, as they walk back into the light, which I
Speaker:thought was really nice touch. And Harvey Dent, after all this
Speaker:goes down, says, You know what? No more corruption. I'm not
Speaker:taking dirty money, but some people aren't that happy about
Speaker:that. Yeah, and here's where we get the standard story of Harvey
Speaker:Dent, where, unfortunately, he gets one of thorns people throw
Speaker:some ass at his face. And I gotta say this was the calmest
Speaker:looking two phase adversity, like it wasn't that bad, like it
Speaker:was bad, yes, but it compared to where we've seen like with
Speaker:Gotham knights and The Dark Knight, and even just talking
Speaker:about Tommy Lee Jones and Batman Forever, like this one, it does
Speaker:sent him into a spiral. Unfortunately, it does seem to
Speaker:unlock. I think this is the only one where, like, even though the
Speaker:injury wasn't as severe as past injuries, this was the only one
Speaker:that I think felt like they dive into that psychosis instantly,
Speaker:like there were moments throughout even leading up to
Speaker:it, where you were seeing it build up. I think this is
Speaker:something that, I think even resembles how it was done back
Speaker:when Bruce Bruce Tim did it for Batman, The Animated Series. I
Speaker:think Bruce Tim does a great does a great job in like this,
Speaker:like moment for dent, where it's like, what is the switch for
Speaker:him, from going from the the lawyer turned trying to be mayor
Speaker:into like this, like individual, and in the aftermath of all
Speaker:this, this is when dent loses, basically, not only just loses
Speaker:the mayoral bid, but like, basically loses his sanity,
Speaker:about his securities, about everything. So he's constantly
Speaker:now, like having these random outbursts. He gets angry at
Speaker:Bruce. He wants vengeance against Thorn for everything
Speaker:that he's done. So he actually, this was, I think, the most
Speaker:strategic dent that I've also ever seen, because, like, the
Speaker:way that he was navigating going through thorns men and the
Speaker:compound, it was like he has some military training that we
Speaker:I'm just like, I'm gonna need to find some more details about
Speaker:what dense has done in the past. Um, unfortunately, though, this
Speaker:is a two part finale, it seems, because during this time when
Speaker:dent decides he's guilt ridden over everything, he snaps, but
Speaker:he's end up skin taken to Arkham, he which he willingly
Speaker:goes to, and Barbara decides to be his lawyer to try to help
Speaker:him, because he knows that Harvey Dent knows all the stuff
Speaker:that happens with Thorn, especially the fact that Bullock
Speaker:and Flass are part of thorns crew and taking money off from
Speaker:him. So this whole last episode turns into a really great kind
Speaker:of culmination of the entire season so far, of that how, how
Speaker:Barbara and is trying to save Harvey alongside with Jim, while
Speaker:flash and book are tasked with trying to kill him, and Montoya
Speaker:joins in. So it's just like everybody who has been a part of
Speaker:the show and all this corruption that's been happening in this
Speaker:like almost B plot throughout the entire season, it's finally
Speaker:come to a head, even at the point where dent seeing that
Speaker:Barbara is about to get shot by flas, he jumps in front of her,
Speaker:and unfortunately, he he does succumb to his injuries there,
Speaker:and this is when Batman just absolutely loses it. He's
Speaker:whopping flas. And when he finally gets a chance, he grabs
Speaker:the gun, and this is when he takes a beat and he's
Speaker:threatening to shoot flash with He's just staring at him,
Speaker:pointed the gun at him, while Barbara is looking too, and
Speaker:ultimately, this is what he just says, it's not worth it spares
Speaker:him and decides that again, the iconic line that we love from
Speaker:the DC AMU justice, not vengeance. And the season ends
Speaker:with, you know, Gotham clearly rocked from this, but on the
Speaker:brain. Side, Batman has established a rapport with the
Speaker:GCPD. Presumably, after this, flats will probably be placed on
Speaker:leave for shooting Harvey Dent in the back. We know how it
Speaker:gonna go. Paid leave. Yeah, paid leave. And Batman sends a
Speaker:Batarang at thorns face, letting him know. You know, you got away
Speaker:with this one. Good on, you, champ. But next time it might go
Speaker:a little different. Um, so that's basically, in a nutshell,
Speaker:the fast forwarded version of the story of the first season.
Speaker:Now getting into characterization, I think first
Speaker:it's worth talking about the man, the myth himself, Batman. I
Speaker:see why Matt Reeves really wanted to invest in this show,
Speaker:because the Batman presented here is not well, it's similarly
Speaker:to Robert pattinson's take on the character. This batman is
Speaker:trapped in an obsession that he that controls him more than he
Speaker:controls it, and there's so many great little moments in this two
Speaker:I want to highlight, especially about his Batman character, are
Speaker:when he they replay parts of his origin story, where he's a kid,
Speaker:he's lying awake at night thinking about what happened to
Speaker:his parents, and at one point, he gets up and goes to Alfred's
Speaker:room, and you think this is going to be one of those scenes
Speaker:where he's like, Alfred, can I just spend the night with you?
Speaker:Can can, you know, can Is it okay if I stay in here and
Speaker:little Bruce stands at the door and says, we're going to make
Speaker:them pay, and you're going to help me, and in this moment,
Speaker:you're like, is this a cereal COVID, like emerging right now,
Speaker:if my child ever did this to me, I'm like, No, we are. We're
Speaker:going to Toys R Us to talk about this right now. You need
Speaker:therapy. Stat, so that that was an a great intro to like, how
Speaker:twisted his psyche became. And one thing they play with really
Speaker:effectively in the last couple of episodes is he takes Harvey
Speaker:out after Harvey's accident, and he shows up as Bruce. So you're
Speaker:thinking, this is a genuine concern, like, this is Bruce
Speaker:being real, but Bruce only takes Harvey out to get the identity
Speaker:of the person who does it. It's still Batman. Yep, it's still
Speaker:the case. And Harvey starts to see it. But it culminates in a
Speaker:moment where Harvey is an Arkham and Bruce is trying to, like,
Speaker:play nice. But there's one point where Bruce switches his Bruce
Speaker:voice into his batman voice and says, I know you saw something.
Speaker:Don't grow a conscience dent, and then catches him. So there's
Speaker:this hint that they do of that Batman is a split personality of
Speaker:sorts. They don't go all the way and say it's a completely
Speaker:separate identity, but they do throw in those shades of it. So
Speaker:at the end of the season, when Batman turns to Alfred and says,
Speaker:that could be me. I could be two face, and Alfred has to reassure
Speaker:him that he still has his humanity. So I really this what
Speaker:they do with Batman. Roundabout arc, I think is beautiful for
Speaker:this, this first season. And
Speaker:I also even say that comes up in even some smaller moments, one
Speaker:the entire time that you're watching this show, you were
Speaker:hearing Bruce as Batman, or even just as Bruce himself talk to
Speaker:Alfred. It is very there's a clear line between the two of
Speaker:them. It is not a friendship, not in the past, we've seen it
Speaker:as like you know. This is a confidant. This is my guardian,
Speaker:who I've grown with, who I know he trusts me. Here, it's like
Speaker:the even to the bare minimum, that Batman and Bruce only
Speaker:refers to Alfred as Pennyworth. The entire series, he only
Speaker:refers to him as Pennyworth up until the last episode, when
Speaker:they have this conversation about how Bruce does have some
Speaker:parts of his humanity still left. And this is when Bruce
Speaker:catches himself and in the Batman costume and says, Penny,
Speaker:I mean, Alfred. And this is when you know that, like it finally
Speaker:broke through, that he's finally letting people in. And this is
Speaker:actually even stemming from a conversation back when we first
Speaker:learn about Harley Quinn, who does, who does have a great
Speaker:origin story in this one, it doesn't dive into as much as we
Speaker:have seen in the past, where she was a therapist or a
Speaker:psychiatrist who was working alongside Joker. Here she is
Speaker:just working with everybody in Gotham. She is good friends with
Speaker:Barbara. She is a power more of Renee Montoya, and the two of
Speaker:them end up having a conversation, and she calls
Speaker:Bruce out for something in particular about this sense that
Speaker:she's feeling like she's not talking to the real Bruce. And
Speaker:this is the episode where we do kind of dive into the origin of
Speaker:Bruce. And. As they're talking, you get this sense that she is
Speaker:even seeing and understanding the duality that Bruce has with
Speaker:Batman. And she comments that she doesn't really know who
Speaker:she's talking to, because it does feel as if he is putting up
Speaker:that front, the constant front of the playboy billionaire
Speaker:philanthropist and or, I guess, take away the philanthropy. I
Speaker:don't know if he was actually giving away money in this show.
Speaker:Oh, I think he did mention he donated a lot to orphanages,
Speaker:okay. Oh, yeah. Dr Tompkins episode, yeah, yeah, yes. So it
Speaker:was, I think here you're right. Like, this characterization of
Speaker:Bruce is definitely someone that has this split, like, it
Speaker:definitely has been, I feel like it's been joked about in the
Speaker:past, like, I think of Batman Beyond where Terry had asked
Speaker:Bruce, like, how did he know he was being mind controlled? And
Speaker:he was like, I don't refer to myself as Bruce in my head. So,
Speaker:you know those hints that we had in the past. Now it seems like
Speaker:we're taking the fun aspects of it, and this show was just like,
Speaker:let's take add in the psychological, conversational
Speaker:aspects of it. So I think this characterization of Bruce, I
Speaker:definitely agree with you. I can see why Matt Reeves wanted to
Speaker:tack on to this. It is a well done Bruce, especially because
Speaker:it's a good balance between not having this like super aggro
Speaker:version that we have seen as of late pop up in Dawn of Justice,
Speaker:and let that be the narrative. And now it's just like, here's
Speaker:the complicated individual who is in the early stages of
Speaker:himself, and we don't know exactly where he is on the
Speaker:teetering side of his psychosis. Yeah, and, and, speaking of
Speaker:psychosis, put it off long enough. Gotta talk about Harley
Speaker:Quinn. Yes, um, Harley Quinn, as you said, is imagined as not
Speaker:tied to the Joker in this version. She is friends with
Speaker:Barbara Gordon and Renee Montoya, who are all around the
Speaker:same age in this version of the story, and they're all friends,
Speaker:and she is even becomes Bruce psychologist after he punches
Speaker:somebody for commenting on his mom's pearls, which that was a
Speaker:nice touch. Um, so at first she's presented as this
Speaker:psychologist who can outwit Batman, but nothing really
Speaker:sinister about her. But then you find out that some of her
Speaker:clients have gone missing. And we get this one of the most
Speaker:twisted scenes I think I've seen in a Batman, certainly from
Speaker:Harley um, where she has her Harley's mo in the story is to
Speaker:take the patient, she has these rich, over privileged patients
Speaker:who are weeping about problems or even confessing to crimes,
Speaker:and she takes them, traps them in a basement, and twists, twist
Speaker:their psyche so much that they're entirely dependent on
Speaker:her and getting her approval and signing away their possessions,
Speaker:they'll do whatever they want for Harley Quinn. And there is a
Speaker:point where she brings in a new client, and everyone's dressed
Speaker:in these ridiculous get ups and baby costumes and all these the
Speaker:childish costumes. And she gets this one person who is just in
Speaker:this King's outfit, and he's refusing to sign away his
Speaker:possessions to listen to Harley. But then she turns to another
Speaker:one of her clients and says, You in the baby costume? Do you want
Speaker:dessert today? He's like, Yeah, I want to eat dessert without
Speaker:having to eat my vegetables. We all get it. And gives him a
Speaker:sledge hammer and says, you get the king to give up his earthly
Speaker:possessions, and you get dessert. And he's freed from a
Speaker:cage he's in. He could attack Harley with this hammer, but
Speaker:instead, he obeys her and goes and attacks the other man
Speaker:instead. So this Harley is a master manipulator, a
Speaker:psychological expert. She can read steps two steps ahead, and
Speaker:it leads to Batman going into the mansion to try to stop her
Speaker:and save these people. And Barbara Gordon is also there,
Speaker:following the trail. And Barbara has this horrifying realization
Speaker:that one of her best friends in the world is this criminal, and
Speaker:has to choose between saving Batman at one point and leaving
Speaker:with Harley. And she does choose to save Batman, I mean, and
Speaker:Harley also has to leave Montoya hanging in the middle of this
Speaker:romantic plot line, saying she has to get out of town and
Speaker:presumably off screen. Montoya would have learned of what
Speaker:Harley did, but we don't see our reaction to it. I would love to
Speaker:see that one day though, to see what she thinks of Harley. Now,
Speaker:yeah, because this was a great version of Harley Quinn, in my
Speaker:opinion, because it, it, this, this show, this really does a
Speaker:great job in this, like, um, just like the the dual
Speaker:differences of the mind when it comes to certain characters.
Speaker:Because this version of Harley. So it seems like she definitely
Speaker:kept this whole side of this master manipulator separate from
Speaker:this person who seemed to be so love struck with Renee Montoya.
Speaker:So seeing that like this loving relationship was about to get
Speaker:built, and then it's just like immediately taken away from you
Speaker:within 20 minutes. It is in the fact also you feel connected to
Speaker:seeing how this relationship grows, that right there, to me,
Speaker:just great way of combining and introducing characters and
Speaker:putting together this story, because it's showing that Harley
Speaker:finally became, sorry, let me take that back, because he's
Speaker:always been an amazing character, but more so finally
Speaker:became showing her that she's an amazing character, outside of
Speaker:having her origin be connected to the Joker, which it is
Speaker:alluded to in the end of the season that he may be coming
Speaker:there was like a scene, a post credit scene, in which some
Speaker:people were laughing uncontrollably was seem to be
Speaker:doing dealing with, Like someone people administering Joker
Speaker:toxin, based off our knowledge of DC stuff, but to see that
Speaker:this version of Harley happened, especially because the mindset
Speaker:that plays out here is a lot similar to that of the Hugo,
Speaker:strange character in the Batman storytelling, and this person
Speaker:who is a really big adversary for Batman, because it's more so
Speaker:the psychosis of Batman and Bruce Wayne versus like this is
Speaker:just a punch him up with a man who knows, like, 50,000 ways of
Speaker:fighting. Now you have it be that like Harley Quinn, while
Speaker:she doesn't know that Bruce is Batman, she does know Bruce's
Speaker:mind. So to know that like this could be a potential threat for
Speaker:him in the future, because I'm pretty sure she's going to be
Speaker:able to put two and two together. She was smart enough
Speaker:to keep both of these lives separate for so long, and to
Speaker:manipulate Gotham's riches like this is, I feel like the people
Speaker:who people who are like, tax the rich. This is like, this is your
Speaker:champion, right here. So I gotta say, loved Harley Quinn. Love
Speaker:this version of her. Definitely looking forward to see more. So
Speaker:I'm glad that even though it looked like she died off screen,
Speaker:it is looking like she is gonna come back. Oh no, she didn't die
Speaker:so Oh no, my bad. I couldn't remember. I knew she felt but
Speaker:then it was always like, you know, she felt it from a height
Speaker:that was like, No, it should survive that. No, no, but yeah,
Speaker:you're right. The phone call, yeah, right, you're right. My
Speaker:bad. Y'all let me not Harley's coming back. It's like, it's
Speaker:like a Marvel movie Harley Wilburton that was on the screen
Speaker:the last, uh, villains, the last people I want to highlight,
Speaker:respectively, are flash and dent. I mean, flash and Bullock,
Speaker:um, the corrupt cops. Because, again, you, when you seen as
Speaker:much Batman media as we have, you're, you're kind of used to,
Speaker:like, okay, bullet's going to be the slimy guy. Uh, Flash is
Speaker:usually slimy, but they don't usually use him that much. But
Speaker:they are such an effective duo, because Flash is this smooth
Speaker:talking dude who's like, all right, oh, it's a shame that
Speaker:Firebug has the trunk is open right now, and it's a shame we
Speaker:got engine trouble in this car. We're carrying fire bug in, and
Speaker:Bullock sucks, just like that. People like Andrew actually did
Speaker:the voice work, yeah, but uh, and Bullock is just as heavy.
Speaker:He's just muscle. And there's this fascinating dynamic between
Speaker:the two of them, where Bullock, when he shoots Firebug in that
Speaker:episode, he's not happy about it, but he did it because, you
Speaker:know, Flash is encouraging him to do it. But flash doesn't
Speaker:actually have to bloody his hands with it. Yeah. So
Speaker:eventually, in the two face episode, when he's really
Speaker:running around his two face and they're about to dispose of two
Speaker:face, Two Face mentions. But look, how many times have you
Speaker:just done what flash told you to do? How many times have you
Speaker:taken out the garbage for this man and who, because he's in
Speaker:charge here, and though he does, he only puts a little crack in
Speaker:their relationship. You see it. You see it on Bullock's face
Speaker:when he's responding, when he's like, has the chance to take out
Speaker:Barbara Gordon, but kind of holds back. You see it. So it's
Speaker:this fascinating thing where Flash is the more sinister of
Speaker:the two, but Bullock keeps falling into the trap of, yeah,
Speaker:doing things for him. I think that's a really fascinating
Speaker:dynamic, yeah, especially because Bullock, you know, from
Speaker:history, isn't usually the guy who ends up in this position,
Speaker:you know, like in the beginning he, yeah, he does end up being
Speaker:like a cop on the take, but once you see him operate with Jim,
Speaker:it's like a completely different character, like. Like, um,
Speaker:Bullock for me was always kind of like the Bulk and Skull from
Speaker:Power Rangers. He was like, yeah, that, you know, they're
Speaker:gonna get into some weird antic stuff that seems kind of like,
Speaker:not necessarily villainous or nefarious, but more just like
Speaker:evil comical, like Lex Luthor stealing cakes. So but to see in
Speaker:this series, him make that shift to being truly acting like a cop
Speaker:on the take, but still having this moment where it's just like
Speaker:he want, like there's a potential for redemption from
Speaker:him. I love this dynamic that they had flash agreed, smoothest
Speaker:talking crooked cop I've ever seen in my entire life, the only
Speaker:man in Gotham to walk around in a bow tie. How was that not
Speaker:dirty like I'm impressed. I am 100% impressed. I love this
Speaker:version of Flash, especially because we've always seen like
Speaker:the more the guy who was always like, drunk and stumbling like
Speaker:this seemed like a very well put together flash. I loved it. I
Speaker:love this version. I love seeing that who had these two cops on
Speaker:the take who are just like, manipulating things in the
Speaker:background, but still raising up in the ranks. And I gotta say,
Speaker:especially agree with that scene of dense calling out flash for
Speaker:what he did and making sure that Bullock knows that, like, hey,
Speaker:you know, you're basically the one doing all the stuff, because
Speaker:flask got real close a couple times. You know, he almost shot
Speaker:Catwoman dead to rice. But if it wasn't for that scene, the one
Speaker:time he got actually, we actually saw him get dirty and
Speaker:kill dent was the only time that we did see him. And thankfully
Speaker:he was stopped right then there. But I would be interested to see
Speaker:if I wouldn't be surprised to see, rather, if this is probably
Speaker:one of the last versions that was times that we see flash and
Speaker:then they kind of pivot towards a bullock redemption by season
Speaker:two, or maybe hopefully the sleeping gets like a season
Speaker:three or something. I definitely want to see how that plays out.
Speaker:I definitely want to see these two come back. Because, again,
Speaker:was not expecting two characters who usually side characters who
Speaker:never really get that much speaking lines like book. The
Speaker:most I saw him speak was either in Batman The anime is series,
Speaker:or Fox is the Gotham. That was it, and now you made another
Speaker:version of Bullock that has drawn me in. I definitely can't
Speaker:wait to see more of them. Yeah, and talked about standout
Speaker:characters now, just things that stand out in general, just are
Speaker:good or bad. One quick thing I have to mention, there's an
Speaker:episode where there's a crew of assassins that comes to get
Speaker:Gordon, and when they get off the train, they just stand
Speaker:together like an album cover. Words, it's so hard. It was
Speaker:like, we're going to kill somebody, people, but first we
Speaker:gotta pose. You know, you gotta get this straight out costumes.
Speaker:Yeah, so I love that. Um, there's a great line I have to
Speaker:take time to highlight where, um, Alfred, after Bruce finishes
Speaker:his required therapy sessions, he's like, Are you sure therapy
Speaker:didn't work? Because I kind of wanted you to keep doing that.
Speaker:And Bruce shakes them off. So I'm glad they also acknowledged
Speaker:that he tried to put him into therapy much earlier, but didn't
Speaker:take so I am very glad there's a version where Alfred is like,
Speaker:yeah, I tried. I did try. Yeah. I think also, I loved Alfred in
Speaker:this one, because one thing in particular stuck out to my mind
Speaker:was the, you know, we never, we always hear of the Batman origin
Speaker:story, or rather, Bruce's origin story into becoming Batman, of
Speaker:the dealing with the death of his parents. It's always walking
Speaker:down Crime Alley, the pearls, the shots, the the dedication to
Speaker:justice, not vengeance. This time around, we see that Alfred
Speaker:is act was actually nearby. He is their chauffeur, so he hears
Speaker:the gunshots and immediately runs out. It's the closing scene
Speaker:on one of the episodes, and no words are said. But you know, as
Speaker:I was watching it, I was just like, I've never actively
Speaker:thought about Alfred being there. Every single time that
Speaker:you hear this story, it's like Alfred met up with them later
Speaker:on, he was probably called in even every version that I've
Speaker:seen from from the Tim Burton stuff to even just like thinking
Speaker:about Gotham and even the Batman, it's always that Alfred
Speaker:ran over afterwards while being at Wayne man, this is the first
Speaker:time where I. So we're now hearing that Alfred was present,
Speaker:really for the moment, and it made me wonder, like, hey, like,
Speaker:what was going through his mind when he saw that? Like, granted,
Speaker:they were his bosses, but I'm pretty sure that they were also
Speaker:his friends, given the fact that he's not the guardian of their
Speaker:child. So what happened to Alfred in that moment when he
Speaker:ran up and saw that these two people who were close to him
Speaker:were dead on the ground, and that the only surviving person
Speaker:was their child. So and also, you know what, he seemed to keep
Speaker:it together, but like, what happened after the fact? Like
Speaker:what were made me think about, what were stuff that he probably
Speaker:experienced himself, like when Bruce came up to him, was just
Speaker:like, we're going to make them pay. And he's like, yes, we're
Speaker:going to okay, we're going to put you in therapy and whatnot.
Speaker:Did he have his moment degree? Did he have moments in which he
Speaker:went to therapy and talked about the fact that, you know, he was
Speaker:right there? He not saying that only could, not only could it
Speaker:have been him, but maybe he could have reached he could have
Speaker:been with them and helped to stop it. Maybe he could have
Speaker:been the one sacrificed himself even, and not have this child
Speaker:deal with the fact that he lost his parents right in front of
Speaker:his eye. So I love the fact that they added this, because it
Speaker:creates a whole new narrative that I would love to see more of
Speaker:and the fact that it was just him running towards the danger
Speaker:that opens up this large possibility of what else can we
Speaker:learn of how did Alfred Pennyworth tackle the loss of
Speaker:his I'm going to call it his friends. Yeah, Alfred is always
Speaker:walking on eggshells around this Batman and, yeah, maybe it stems
Speaker:from that moment where he feels he fails to fail him, you know,
Speaker:and just permits everything because he just doesn't know how
Speaker:to help him cope. Yeah, another highlight went after Harvey den
Speaker:becomes two face the camera, the angles are very, extremely
Speaker:careful to maximize when his good side's in the mirror and
Speaker:the good side not what you're thinking about physical because
Speaker:sometimes they use the scarred part of his face to represent
Speaker:his good nature. But they do so much with the duality, with the
Speaker:turning. The framing of shots after he becomes two faced are
Speaker:extremely careful and extremely well done. So I do want to
Speaker:highlight the animators for that my favorite joke in the show. I
Speaker:also have to highlight where,
Speaker:while Batman is investigating the penguin on a boat, he has to
Speaker:dive into the water. So he comes out of the water, and Barbara
Speaker:Gordon is there, and he makes a dumb joke about, you know, it's
Speaker:at a party until someone falls overboard. And Barbara Gordon's
Speaker:like, why are you being weird? That's not funny. What happened
Speaker:to you? He goes out to another group, immediately makes the
Speaker:same joke, and they all laugh against the great of like him,
Speaker:keeping up this fake persona no matter what, I love that it's so
Speaker:good, yeah. And also it just feels very natural that this is
Speaker:the thing that, like, you know, we did say that this feels like
Speaker:a year to kind of Batman. So you wonder now, is this like, Is
Speaker:this him, kind of truly diving into his Playboy persona, trying
Speaker:to play off these things. And yes, 100% yes, especially
Speaker:because there is one scene in particular where his play
Speaker:Playboy persona gets put into serious question. We did mention
Speaker:it because it is such a great episode, because of the fact of
Speaker:the back and forth that they had. But this Harley Quinn and
Speaker:and Bruce Wayne conversation while he's in therapy. She asks
Speaker:him all these questions, but the thing that stuck out the most
Speaker:was, Hey, how are you how are you dealing with relationships?
Speaker:And he's just like, have you seen the paper? I'm on a new
Speaker:day. I have a new person on my arm every time. And then she
Speaker:hits him with the well, this is seem to be like you're having
Speaker:many second dates. And I gotta say, I feel like from the
Speaker:history of Batman, Bruce Wayne definitely took that personally.
Speaker:Channels as MJ and decided to pull the roster of Selena, Kyle,
Speaker:Vicki, Vale, super Saint Cloud. The list goes on and on people
Speaker:of multiple dates that he will go on for these people, I feel
Speaker:like it just all stems from this one conversation. This is why
Speaker:Bruce Wayne has a like his roster is kind of wild after
Speaker:that. This is his villain origin story, yeah. And I want to say
Speaker:quick note in case people have, you know, remember this from
Speaker:killing joke and had this question because somebody also
Speaker:had this question when I mentioned Barbara Gordon was the
Speaker:same age as Bruce, they're like, do they do something romantic?
Speaker:No, no. And I love that the series leaves it very ambiguous.
Speaker:Because at one point I also thought Barbara might hook up
Speaker:with Renee Montoya. I thought they were going that way, not
Speaker:forcing anything here. Um, that was might have just been subtext
Speaker:I picked up on that wasn't actually intended, but Barbara
Speaker:is focused on her legal career, her friends and her family. She
Speaker:does not have time for romance in this version. But that said,
Speaker:if they did decide to go that route because of her frayed
Speaker:relationship the Batman where she kind of accepts him and kind
Speaker:of now at one point, he does the appearing, and she's like, Yo,
Speaker:do you ever use a door? Like, I feel like she's getting more
Speaker:comfortable with him. If this went romantic, I would not hate
Speaker:it, because I trust these writers to get us there in a way
Speaker:that makes sense, but I'm also fine with it never, ever, ever
Speaker:happening in any form of media, ever again. So I I do like
Speaker:Barbara as a character. I do like that they did not feel like
Speaker:they needed to force them together, and they just came
Speaker:together organically throughout the show. Yeah, you know, it's
Speaker:always been Batman and Jim, so it's kind of nice to see that
Speaker:Batman and Barbara get a chance to have this, this relationship
Speaker:of, let's work towards like, if it turns romantic, or even if it
Speaker:just sticks to the let's work on fixing Gotham, because it does
Speaker:work like this. The this is the same dynamic that we've known
Speaker:for a while. This does work of the vigilante and the law
Speaker:enforcement, whether it be a lawyer or a legal litigator,
Speaker:reluctantly having to work together for the greater cause.
Speaker:And it works. Definitely works. The last thing I did want to
Speaker:point out is that if you're ever feeling in this show, you don't
Speaker:know what time period you're in, while they don't say what year
Speaker:it is, you definitely get a strong noir vibe. And I think it
Speaker:is perfect for this show. You know, usually it's always in
Speaker:most Batman productions, you don't know which way they're
Speaker:going to lean, especially because sometimes we want to
Speaker:make it futuristic, because you want to give, you know, the
Speaker:marketing for the toys later on in the future, or you want to
Speaker:make it just like, seem kind of cool and edgy for like, the
Speaker:older fan base, who was just like, We're stuck of seeing
Speaker:Batman past. Here it is clear that Batman is definitely a noir
Speaker:production of like these, like 20s to 40s, kind of like private
Speaker:detectives. You could definitely imagine hearing the the jazz
Speaker:backgrounds music with like the detective or the private eye
Speaker:swishing around with their glass of like, two knuckles worth of
Speaker:whiskey or something like that. This show captures that even
Speaker:with the placement of fog in certain scenes, this show does a
Speaker:great job in just leaning into the time period that's in with
Speaker:not specifically saying what year it takes place, and even
Speaker:the way they show Batman. Batman is shown in his very classic mor
Speaker:attire. The only thing that was missing from this from being a
Speaker:true like early stage Batman production, and this is just
Speaker:for, like, the people who have a crazy level of detail, ie
Speaker:myself. You could have actually given Batman the purple gloves
Speaker:in this one, and it was still totally have worked. It would
Speaker:100% work. Yeah, so now we come to the end of it. Where do we
Speaker:stand at taking the esthetic, the characterizations, the
Speaker:racist gentleman goes, after seeing all of that, did Batman
Speaker:earn his cape this time, where she he just rip off those bad
Speaker:ears and put on a big black cap for this one. I gotta say that
Speaker:this show, in my opinion, definitely earned its cape. This
Speaker:is truly a caped crusader, in my opinion, because it did the one
Speaker:thing that I have been demanding of Batman productions in the
Speaker:last couple of years. I'm tired of seeing him work alongside
Speaker:just it's just a Batman focused thing where it's just like a
Speaker:punch him up with whatever villain of the week thing it is.
Speaker:And granted, it was built out like that, but this time around,
Speaker:they had such a compelling backstory of the world of Gotham
Speaker:in the background. So Batman, in comparison to a whole bunch of
Speaker:other stuff. I feel like him in the costume doesn't pop up as
Speaker:much as we think, as compared to other productions, which I
Speaker:thought was a great choice, because if you are going to be
Speaker:talking about how all these things interact, especially if
Speaker:the focus is going to be the world of Gotham and the people
Speaker:operating at the montoyas, the Barbara Gordons, how they're
Speaker:working alongside Batman, I wanted to see how they came to
Speaker:the same conclusions that Batman got to. Because obviously we
Speaker:know that Batman's going to get there. He's a great detective,
Speaker:but he doesn't. He in comparison to his detective skills, in
Speaker:comparison to, you know, the regular beat cop, it's going to
Speaker:be far superior. But like seeing the the steps that Renee Montoya
Speaker:and Barbara Gordon had to take, even team working with Harley
Speaker:Quinn to have this like forensic psychology breakdown of Batman
Speaker:when they were building out that task force. It showed me that
Speaker:the world of Gotham has a lot of stories still to tell, and we
Speaker:don't need to have it be that every single person can only be
Speaker:a side character to Batman. Batman. It felt like in a lot of
Speaker:these stories, was the side character, which is funny
Speaker:because the whole show is named after him. So I really
Speaker:appreciated the fact that we had this. The only thing that I did
Speaker:have some reservations about is that the show does jump in tone
Speaker:quite frequently. You know, we spent majority of the first half
Speaker:of the season, I think it was up until episode six, it is a very
Speaker:much like this can happen. I can see this happening in my own,
Speaker:even everyday life, like first episode, there's definitely,
Speaker:probably some crime boss who ran through this an umbrella cannon.
Speaker:But there that's not the most absurd weapon I ever heard of,
Speaker:or even like a psychologist who a psychiatrist who's probably
Speaker:manipulating or using some, I don't know, using something to
Speaker:manipulate people that she is talking to, like those are
Speaker:things that we've heard about, we've seen about in news, but as
Speaker:soon as they jumped into the racist German ghost, and kind of
Speaker:had no explanation about the supernatural world of Gotham,
Speaker:because they even jumped into Nocturne and how she was able to
Speaker:absorb the energy from from these kids, like those two
Speaker:episodes, definitely, while Nocturne, the nocturne episode,
Speaker:is great because of that Easter egg of the orphans being
Speaker:Robbins, and then that end sequence of Batman deciding to
Speaker:save the girl while also being held onto by another kid. It's a
Speaker:great scene. It just feels so out of place from a world where
Speaker:it's like everything seems to be told within a realistic setting.
Speaker:So if we were going to dive into that, I would need some
Speaker:explanation from the show as to how this is even possible in
Speaker:this because, again, this is a year two Batman. There's no way
Speaker:that I would expect for him to fight against a ghost and a
Speaker:racist one at that. I feel like he uses the vigilante with the
Speaker:hard art, but what about you? How are you feeling about is
Speaker:this caped or capped Crusader? I think this is the Caped
Speaker:Crusader. Back at it. This show, where it really excels is the
Speaker:psychological exploration. It's exactly what I came here for. I
Speaker:wanted those deep dives of Batman villains that I remember
Speaker:in episodes, like baby doll from the original. I wanted those
Speaker:deep dives. And it did not disappoint. CLAY face, even
Speaker:though we glanced over really quick, um, there's a point in
Speaker:the episode where someone's like he's the greatest actor of all
Speaker:time, he just didn't have the face for it, and how they
Speaker:mentioned that that followed him around for decades, and then he
Speaker:got a chance to get this experimental serum that allows
Speaker:him to change his face and that sparks his, you know, spree. You
Speaker:know, it's just this constant being told that he isn't the
Speaker:right person for the part, and he ends up not committing his
Speaker:last kill because the actress he captures says, I don't believe
Speaker:you. I don't believe you're committed to being the villain.
Speaker:And that hesitation saves her life, and even saves Barbara
Speaker:Gordon's life, because they broke kidnapped at the time. So
Speaker:the deep psych evaluations for him, for Firebug Harley's
Speaker:motivations, I love so much, and there's still room to go and see
Speaker:how she became that way. I love those so much. So I think if I
Speaker:can offer why this show might be divisive among fans, but critics
Speaker:love it. I think it's because those episodes are so strong. I
Speaker:think when they focus on the individual takes, the self
Speaker:contained stories, those are the absolute strongest episodes of
Speaker:the series. The Harley episode is fantastic. The clay face
Speaker:episode is fantastic for even though it's really out of tone.
Speaker:I did enjoy the Natalia episode as well, because It delves into
Speaker:this child's psyche and her inability to understand
Speaker:consequences because she was trying to survive. So I do like
Speaker:those. But I think what happens throughout these episodes is we
Speaker:get to. Are taken into this Rupert Thorn, Harvey Dent,
Speaker:Barbara, Gordon, Jim plot that isn't as interesting as what's
Speaker:going on in that particular episode. And they never took the
Speaker:focus away completely. But there would be scenes and moments
Speaker:where it's like, I really want to see what Firebug is getting
Speaker:into right now. Yeah, more than I want to hear about Harvey
Speaker:Dent's mayoral campaign. So I do think, unfortunately, and
Speaker:there's no easy solution to this, of you know, they had a
Speaker:running story throughout the whole season, but also they had
Speaker:these individuals self contained, and I do appreciate
Speaker:it, because it gave a building sense. But I do think that if
Speaker:there was an RT alteration to be made here is that they've
Speaker:narrowed the scope a little bit because you had Jim Gordon, you
Speaker:had Barbara Gordon, all Renee Montoya, and they gave you
Speaker:narrowed the scope a little to Jim Montoya and Harvey Dent tied
Speaker:them together a little bit closely. Barbara, of course,
Speaker:too, tied them together much closer, so that every other
Speaker:scene that wasn't the main was focused on them completely. I
Speaker:think it would have been an easier thing to accept each
Speaker:episode, especially for more Harvey, while we got to see his
Speaker:smarmy, dirty side. Yeah, this was a time rarely where we
Speaker:didn't see his real rageful side a lot before the end. Um, so I
Speaker:think I would have liked to see a little bit more of a hint of
Speaker:that, just a tiny bit, not much more than they did. But that
Speaker:would have been nice to see a little bit more. Um, but I do
Speaker:think the other elements are fantastic. I think the build,
Speaker:especially Batman's efforts to work with the police. That build
Speaker:is gorgeous. I think he had to. I have never seen a Batman work
Speaker:so hard you to ally with the cops. They really make him go on
Speaker:and run for his money this season, and they still don't
Speaker:fully trust him or give the green light to him. There's a
Speaker:hilarious line where he's like, I need to connect with you.
Speaker:Barbara, here's my phone number. And she's like, Oh, phone
Speaker:number. I'm surprised you're not just shining a light through the
Speaker:window. You know? It's like, he's a really great interaction
Speaker:between them. So I do think that I would hope going forward, I
Speaker:love a good running plot line, but I think put it in a back
Speaker:burner a little bit and focus on those one offs. Because I think
Speaker:ultimately, all of this to say, I think the reason there's a
Speaker:split among fans is because I think people coming for one offs
Speaker:are feeling a little distracted, and then the people coming for a
Speaker:long plot line are unsatisfied by the one offs. So I think, I
Speaker:think we a choice needs to be made. And I think Batman
Speaker:animated series, the 2004 Batman series, did this well where,
Speaker:yes, there are everything is villain of the week, but there
Speaker:are things that are advancing in the background, but they're
Speaker:always very low priority. So I hope they take those notes and
Speaker:really hit those deep dives that they're doing so well at that I
Speaker:loved in the next season, and have that running plot line way
Speaker:in the background, and no more ghost, no more. I don't want to
Speaker:see gentlemen ghost again. I appreciate the callback. I'm
Speaker:sure someone loves him. I'm not one of them. Want to see that
Speaker:guy again. Exercise, cancel him. I also want to see more of this,
Speaker:like the random interactions of Bruce or Batman inside GCPD. I
Speaker:think there's a scene in particular in which Jim kind of
Speaker:just like happens on him, and then, like this whole it turns
Speaker:into this whole big thing. And I thought that was just a master
Speaker:class of just like weirdly enough comedic timing for what I
Speaker:didn't expect for interaction between Jim Gordon and Batman.
Speaker:That was only that only pales in comparison to when Robert
Speaker:pattinson's Batman punched Jeffrey writes Jim Gordon in the
Speaker:face. But yeah, that is our full cape or cap review of Batman The
Speaker:Caped Crusader. Ultimate verdict, it looks like this is a
Speaker:show that definitely earned the caped part of its name, so you
Speaker:should definitely check it out. I was just going to say, if you
Speaker:have skipped all the spoilers, in general, I'd say if you saw
Speaker:Batman, The Animated Series, growing up, or you were into the
Speaker:2004 Batman, but are looking for something a little bit more
Speaker:psychological, a little bit a little bit darker than what you
Speaker:you've seen in those shows, with the tinge more realism, not
Speaker:completely realistic. There are some elements in the show that
Speaker:are not realistic, as you'll find out. This is a good this is
Speaker:a good springboard. It is a really nice call back to the old
Speaker:but it does. Do some new things, and it will absolutely be a
Speaker:contrast to any other like bright and happy superhero show
Speaker:you're seeing right now. This is a definite contrast, and it's a
Speaker:real quick watch, so definitely recommend giving a shot if you
Speaker:like those old Batman animated series, but you're ready for
Speaker:something a little bit more bite, little more bite, a little
Speaker:bit sharper, a little bit darker. This is for you. And I
Speaker:will say too that, like if you are a parent who probably wants
Speaker:to introduce your kid to Batman in this particular sense, I
Speaker:probably say this isn't the while. This is, this isn't the
Speaker:best one for them. Andrew here is just like, Nah, we're going
Speaker:to cut that out real quick. No, don't do it. Don't do this. It
Speaker:says TV y7 but I wouldn't, I'd, I'd bring, bring that rating up
Speaker:a little bit.
Speaker:Yes, definitely. So fortunately for you, though, there are still
Speaker:many classic episodes of the Batman either in the 2004 Batman
Speaker:the series that we talked about, or even Batman The Animated
Speaker:Series, which was a little bit dark at times, but this is still
Speaker:those are still some great ones. This is definitely one for you.
Speaker:You took the kids away, you popped open your whiskey and you
Speaker:just want to watch some good war Batman storytelling. This is a
Speaker:great one. Um, very glad that this came about, because, you
Speaker:know, we definitely was worried about it, especially because
Speaker:it's like, hey, we have had so much Batman so a lot of Batman
Speaker:fatigue. But thankfully, this keeps the energy going, versus
Speaker:like anything else that we would have expected from it. Mm, hmm.
Speaker:And before we adjourn here, I have a surprise new thing. I
Speaker:think every time we cover Batman, we need to do this. This
Speaker:is completely surprised. I have not briefed my co host on this
Speaker:whatsoever. But the question is, for this show, Does Batman kill
Speaker:people? The answer right now, Does Batman kill people in this
Speaker:show? Okay, so three people who got hit by a car show. I do
Speaker:think about this. I'm mad I didn't put this in my notes
Speaker:because I was just like, You know what? Maybe they got back
Speaker:up, but, um, let's just say that Batman gives the nod, and I
Speaker:don't know if they nodded back. Yeah. I mean, there was one
Speaker:person I was willing to give the benefit of the doubt, because
Speaker:there's one point where two face lights somebody on fire and
Speaker:Batman does not attempt to save them. I think it's implied it's
Speaker:too late. But also I'm like, you kind of let that one die, but I
Speaker:was gonna let that one go. The one person. There's three
Speaker:people, though, I think are definitely dead. In the final
Speaker:fog scene, he jumps in between two people who are shooting at
Speaker:him, and they shoot at each other. I think they're dead,
Speaker:right? And again, you can say indirect, the one you can't
Speaker:though there's a person, Batman knocks out and then throws in
Speaker:the water that person, 99% sure they drowned and died. 99% sure
Speaker:they were unconscious in the water. Yeah. That also answers
Speaker:our questions like, should I watch this as my kid? No? Three
Speaker:to six is his kill count? Three to six. Three to six is a pretty
Speaker:wide it's three too many. I really thought it was just the
Speaker:people he hit with his car. This Batman never said he doesn't
Speaker:kill people. That's true. This might have been the moment. This
Speaker:might have been his like, who was like, he's like, You know
Speaker:what? I'm better than this. But flash your bow tie was too cool.
Speaker:I can't kill a Batman, a black man to be a hate crime. He
Speaker:Barbara. Barbara and Joe will have been looking at. So this
Speaker:the real Batman, huh? Oh, man. Well, with that, that wraps up
Speaker:our episode. Glad to know that there's something out there for
Speaker:Batman to keep on doing. Very much looking forward to what
Speaker:happens if we do get a season two join us next time on the
Speaker:show. As while we have completed our running back summer series,
Speaker:we of course, still have a bunch of superhero productions that
Speaker:are going to be happening close the end of this year, or have
Speaker:even happened throughout the year. So stay tuned for an
Speaker:announcement. Alright? So with that, that wraps up our show.
Speaker:Thank you again for listening to our running back summer watch
Speaker:list. Be sure to support us, either through a one time gift
Speaker:on buy me a coffee, or monthly through Patreon. You always
Speaker:check us out for our socials, for updates on. Episodes or
Speaker:other announcements that you can always find across Apple,
Speaker:Spotify, YouTube and many other platforms, if you ever want to
Speaker:reach out to us. Of course, our DMS are open, just slide right
Speaker:in. That sounds weird, but you can also email us at Cape or cap
Speaker:pod@gmail.com Take care of yourselves. And remember that if
Speaker:you ever have an ancestor who pops up as a ghost that decides
Speaker:they're going to try to, you know, steal and reclaim your
Speaker:family's honor, you might need to have a conversation with them
Speaker:first about the usage of an A versus an ER at the end of
Speaker:certain words. And if you're at a carnival and someone asks you
Speaker:to go behind and check the tents, and you know secret place
Speaker:behind the tents. I think you should know not to go, but it's
Speaker:a reminder, don't go. Don't go there behind the tents. You will
Speaker:end up like dead Thanks again for listening. If you liked what
Speaker:you heard, press that follow button and share us with a
Speaker:friend, and don't forget, you can always see more updates and
Speaker:content on our social media accounts, just by searching at
Speaker:Cape or cap you.
