Tuesday, May 26, 2015

The New Batman Adventures - Episodes 9-12 Reviews

Third blog and we've got a few interesting minor villains and a maybe death of a beloved crime fighter? All is not what it seems, folks.

Episode 9: Mean Seasons


The media industry is cutthroat and horrible - hardly an original premise and the modelling industry especially being age unfriendly? Never would've guessed. It might sound like I'm being snarky here but this turned out to be an episode that took a fairly old hat premise and did something pretty great with it. Having former model Paige Monroe turn into a slightly Grim Reaper-ish, Calender Girl and seek revenge on those who destroyed her career did make for a great episode and the team up of just Batman and Batgirl worked pretty well within the context as well. A surprising gem here. 8/10

Episode 10: The Demon Within


An episode focusing on a magical, evil bratty kid wasn't exactly something I was clamouring for but like the previous episode, I was plenty surprised by this one. I mean, Klarion was an annoying little shit but he had a cat that could morph into something to what Selina became in Tyger, Tyger and picked up a magical branding iron to control a demon named Etrigan to get one over on his also magical 'uncle' Jason. The episode was chocked full of decent humour, some nice visual, a great comeuppance and also a pretty good role for Robin as well (well, mostly Tim). 8/10

Episode 11: Over The Edge


Oh no - Batgirl's dead. At least this was what the episode wanted us to believe for the majority of it as it looked like the Scarecrow had sent Barbara hurtling towards her death and had Gordon gunning for Batman, Robin and Nightwing. Of course, it turned out that Barbara was actually fighting the effects of Scarecrow's fear gas but while the episode did seem like an unintended sequel of sorts to Perchance To Dream (and not as riveting as that one), I did like the inclusion of Bane in this one as well as the cameos from Harley, Riddler, Mad Hatter and Ventriloquist and the actual last scene between Barbara and her father was a brilliant ending for the episode. 7/10

Episode 12: Torch Song


Yeah, this one wasn't a favourite of mine. While Calender Girl and Klarion turned out to be fun minor antagonists, I have to admit that jilted Firefly guy wanting revenge on his popstar girlfriend Cassidy was more annoying than threatening to watch. Sure, he had some choice moments and I felt bad enough for Cassidy but the episode was probably the weakest of the bunch so far for me. Good use of the Batman/Batgirl dynamic though. 5/10

Next blog will cover Love Is A Croc, The Ultimate Thrill, Cult Of The Cat and Critters.

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