It would be easier to count down the other way

[trinityvixen]

As several comments point out on this thread, it would be easier to make a list (that would also be shorter) of Batman: the Animated Series episodes that weren't good. The series was far and away the best animated series of all time, far as I'm concerned. While I have loved many, many animated works with varying degrees of passion, I keep returning to BTAS because it remains entertaining, provocative (and thus, often slightly disturbing), and beautiful. I have seen every single episode multiple times, and I never get tired of watching my favorites over and over.

So, after that rosy declaration of eternal love, what would I admit to being some of the worst parts of that series I adore?

"Prophecy of Doom" - Something about a cult of rich people following a con artist. Very yawn-worthy.

"The Underdwellers" - The one-off villains are really the worst. This one was a sewer-dwelling, crocodile-owning enslaver of children. It was just mediocre in the extreme.

"Moon of the Wolf" - The mutated man story was covered infinitely better in the Man-Bat episodes and "Tyger, Tyger."

"Birds of a Feather" - I'm beginning to suspect the richie-rich crowd episodes are entirely to blame for any wrong-footing in this series.

"Fire from Olympus" - No, really, one-off villains are the problem.

"Avatar" - A rare awful episode with Ra's Al Ghul. For shame, series! For shame!

"The Terrible Trio" - Damn rich people again!

It should be noted that, of those seven, none of those episodes is actually unwatchable. These are just some of the weaker episodes of a series so superlatively great, any merely acceptable episode seems awful by comparison.

Then there's the fourth volume that aired on the WB. Of that one, I liked only two episodes at all ("Mad Love" and "Legends of the Dark Knight"), and the rest blend into a fuzzy haze of disappointment. Mostly, I think, because the animation style became less artsy and Batman became more one note. For all that I fault the rich-people-doing-stupid-things episodes of BTAS, one thing they brought to the series was the recognition that Bruce Wayne does have non-cape-related interactions with other people. In fact, Bruce Wayne's affability is what makes it so ludicrous to believe he could ever even be Batman. More than one episode features people dismissing the idea outright because Bruce Wayne is just so...normal. (For, you know, a multibillionaire.)

So later episodes lost the human element of Batman. Good episodes that could have been really great--like "Never Fear," where Batman gets dosed with a Scarecrow poison that removes all fear (and thus, any caution)--end up being sort of flat because the human element, the not infrequent demonstrations of compassion are totally missing from Batman. (In "Never Fear," it's actually hard to tell Batman is at all affected by the toxin until he literally starts renouncing Tim Drake, that's how humorless he is.)

The one good thing I will say (and have said, many times) about the later Batman episodes is that they led to the greatest cross-over episode with the Superman animated series. That would be "Knight Time." Humorless Batman is actually played for great comedic effect as goody two-shoes Supes must pretend to be dour and dangerous Batman. Although Batman is out of commission until the end of the episode, he really dominates the whole thing in spirit, both in the reflection of him in Superman's portrayal and in Tim Drake's amazing savvy. Not to mention, it becomes really clear how amazing Batman must be in order to defeat enemies who can nearly destroy Superman. We likes our amazing Batman, we do.

Take a look at this list of episodes, and you tell me: what are some of the (very few, not really all that) bad episodes of BTAS.

Comments

[ecmyers.livejournal.com]

I never really liked "The Cat and the Claw" or "Tyger, Tyger," so maybe I have something against Catwoman. But you're right, aside from the last season, most of them were good, great, or awesome. I even like "Fire from Olympus," because I like Greek mythology.

Did you finish watching Batman Beyond yet?

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

I love the Catwoman stories, actually, though "The Cat and the Claw" is less good than others, mostly because I didn't think Red Claw and her organization were that interesting. I love "Tyger, Tyger," though; I had it on VHS, one of few episodes I remembered to tape, and watched it until the tape died in the flood.

"Fire from Olympus" was funny only because Maxie Zeus thought Batman was Hades. And Batman did a hilarious o.O face to that.

And, no, haven't finished BB. Or the Justice League stuff that actually finishes it. Maybe today!

[ivy03.livejournal.com]

I went to the William Blake exhibit at the Morgan last week, and the first thing I thought of when the tour guide started talking about "Tyger, Tyger" was the Batman ep. I wisely kept my mouth shut.

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

I once got interviewed for my local paper while I was at the public library about the poet laureate and I was asked what my favorite poem was. I said "Tyger, Tyger," mostly because BTAS made it the easiest one to remember for me. It's a gorgeous poem, but really, it's the Batman effect. I feel you on it.