Monday, June 25, 2018

Batman 66 - Episodes 41-44 Reviews

In the batch of episodes I'm looking at now, a sinister Pharaoh has resurfaced and we meet a crime family with a deadly matriarch.

2x07: The Spell Of Tut


My favourite original villain returns for his second story and thankfully, it's as enjoyable as his first one. Last time we saw Tut, he kidnapped Bruce Wayne, so this time around, it seems that he's taking his talents and minions in order to revive Scarabs while his Cleopatra is posing as Gordon's secretary and drugging him. There's an amusing cameo from both the Green Hornet (Van Williams) and Kato (Jackie Chan) that now seems like a precursor for the crossover two parter later in the season but here is just a rather pleasant moment. Things also got a little choppy for Robin as his attempts to infiltrate Tut's lair resulted in him nearly being fed to the mad Pharoah's crocodiles. 8/10

2x08: Tut's Case Is Shut


Well, needless to say Robin survived nearly being din dins for the crocodiles but that didn't stop Tut from getting both O'Hara and Gordon under his control as well as Batman during the second half of this episode. Again we had the cliche of Cleo Patrick not wanting any harm to come to the Caped Crusader and unabashedly fancying him but Tut's scheme to basically turn everyone in Gotham into his mind controlled puppet more or less backfired on him. Second time around, Victor Buono delivered a fabulous guest performance and the episode ends on an odd note with Commissioner Gordon directly talking to the audience. It's not a bad way to end the two parter but a little odd though. 8/10

2x09: The Greatest Mother Of The All


And now for something a little maternal. The family that commits crime together also stays together ... in prison. For any other crime family, that might be the end of their reign of terror but for Ma Parker (Shelley Winters) and her children - Legs, Pretty Boy, Machine Gun and Mad Dog, it was only the beginning. The fact that she was able to trick the Dynamite Duo into getting her family into the prison and the meticulous way she took over the joint, much to Criton's horror was absolutely brilliant. As for the little bit of dynamite left in the Batmobile, that felt like an afterthought compared to all the excellent scheming beforehand. Good cliffhanger moment though. 8/10

2x10: Ma Parker


With the criminals running Gotham State Penitentiary, you have to hand it to Ma Parker for having the most genius of plans. I love that she's so much of a force to be reckoned with that she can even get the Joker and Penguin thrown into solitary confinement for not falling in line with her while Catwoman briefly pops up to show some support. It's a shame that Catwoman isn't actually utilised in the episode or that she didn't try to undermine Parker but either way, it's a nice but too brief use of the character. As for Ma herself, she did let her mistreatment of Legs play a role into her downfall when Batman and Robin were able to trick the latter but it still doesn't detract from the fact that Shelley Winters is a delight in the role. It's a shame that Ma and her motley kids were a one off set of baddies. I would've loved to have seen them in another story. 8/10

Next blog I'll delve into The Clock King's Crazy Crimes/The Clock King Gets Crowned and An Egg Grows In Gotham/The Yegg Foes In Gotham.

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