Birds of a Feather

I've never been able to fully justify my love for the Penguin. After watching "Birds of a Feather" again, I think a large percentage of my love comes from this episode. This was the 47th-produced episode and 52nd-aired on Feb. 8, 1993.

One of my favorite things about this episode is it gives us a look at the personal life of Oswald Chesterfield Cobblepot, aka the Penguin. Not quite wild enough to go to Arkham, he just goes to jail like regular criminals. And the crimes he commits aren't really that bad — just stealing some paintings, usually — so he regularly gets released from jail in a rather clockwork manner. This episode kind of shows us what happens after said criminal is released. What really makes the Penguin so interesting is how delusional he is about his own life. He believes himself to be somewhat of a celebrity in both the high society and the super villain community, yet he is neither. It's really funny, but pretty sad, too, which is why I'll add a point for it.

I'll raise the score to a 7 for the added twist of Veronica Vreeland being the real villain of the episode. I mean, what she did here was really cruel — purposefully leading on the Penguin just for her amusement. Yes, she did later grow fond of him and began to regret her actions, but it was too late. In the end, she got no less than what she deserved.

Now I have to take a point off for the conflicting nature of the Penguin's social graces. I always thought of him as truly being a social elite, but this episode implied that he only thinks he's a social elite. While at a fancy restaurant, he eats fish with his hands as if he were a real penguin. And at the opera, he stands up and sings along with the performer. In my head, the Penguin would know better to not do that. I think a lot of this directly comes from Tim Burton's Batman Returns, where the Penguin was quite gross and disgusting. I don't like that Penguin, and I would have preferred to see him behave well in social settings in this episode, but only disturb people by openly talking about his exploits as a criminal.

I will add a point for the active Bruce Wayne here. Batman is going to follow the Penguin any way he can, and what better way to keep tabs on the high society than by being billionaire playboy Bruce Wayne? I always appreciate it when the writers remember that Bruce Wayne is an influential and important citizen of Gotham City.

This episode is the first in a string of episodes where some of Batman's most notable villains attempt to reform their ways, which is an idea I really like. How many times can you stand to get beat up by Batman before you give in and forsake your life of crime? But as we see here, these people became criminals because something is wrong with them mentally. And whatever that condition or paranoia is, it prevents them from truly leading a normal life. When Penguin found out he was being taken advantage of, a logical response would have just been to leave the party and be sad for a while but eventually try to make some new friends and start over again. But Penguin is not logical or sane, so he immediately kidnapped Veronica and returned to his life of a super villain. Really deep stuff. The score is now an 8.

Sadly, the episode could not end on a "high note," as the Penguin so painfully punned. The final fight with Batman is in an opera house, and Penguin utilizes one of the props — a fire-breathing dragon. I probably could have accepted this by itself, but it went over-the-top for me when Penguin put on the viking helmet. I can see Joker doing that to earn an extra laugh, but why would Penguin stop, take off his top hat, and put on that viking helmet? I have to take a point off for that in what was otherwise a very fine episode.

Final score: 7

Almost Got 'Im

It is with great joy and pleasure that I review my favorite episode of Batman: The Animated Series. "Almost Got 'Im" was the 46th-produced episode, but wisely bumped ahead to be the 35th-aired episode on Nov. 10, 1992. Since I already said this is my favorite, I'm not going to focus too much on the scoring and just focus on the highlights of this masterpiece.

First of all, the starting was brilliant. You only see the villains' hands, but you instantly know who all of them are and you get a brief glimpse of their personalities. Two-Face, with two-pair, pours half-and-half into his coffee. Penguin prepares himself some fancy tea. And the Joker, of course, pulls an ace out of his sleeve.

The next point that got me really excited was the explanation of the giant penny in the Batcave. In most continuities, Batman has a giant penny (and sometimes a T-rex) in the cave for no reason. Until now. While having Batman use Two Face's suddenly jagged coin to escape is a little far-fetched, the main idea of flipping the penny with Batman on it was good.

This episode also boasts one of the funniest moments in the entire series. Killer Croc (really Batman in disguise) slams his fist on the table and demands to tell his story. He starts with a dramatic buildup, then abruptly and lamely ends with, "I threw a rock at him!" What makes this scene great is the few seconds of silence that follows then Poison Ivy trying to change the subject. Sheepishly, Croc adds, "It was a big rock." Pure gold. Unfortunately, I think this part was too funny because ever since this episode aired, Croc became incredibly stupid both in the cartoons and the comics. In Jeph Loeb's "Hush," which came out more than a decade later, Batman is surprised to see Croc carry out a sophisticated crime like kidnapping a child. This makes me sad because in Croc's first appearance in this show, "Vendetta," he is quite smart and carries out a very intelligent crime that frames Harvey Bullock. Of course, I can't blame this episode for any unintended negative repercussions that came from it.

Not only does this episode rock because it has so many wonderful bad guys, but their respective stories were very good despite their brevity. In fact, you could argue that some of these villains had their best moments from the entire show here in this episode — especially Penguin. Most Penguin episodes fall a little flat, but his story here was really good and true to his character. I only wish it was a little longer, but I understand why it wasn't.

Naturally though, the Joker's story tops them all. Pumping the studio audience with laughing gas was similar to Frank Miller's "The Dark Knight Returns" and I loved how even the other villains were disgusted by Joker's plan to turn Catwoman into cat food. Yes, this is a clean kids' show, but when you really think about it, that is a pretty gruesome idea.

And then there's the great heroic, surprising moment at the end, when Croc stands up and in Batman's voice says, "I don't think so." I get chills every time. Then he throws Joker over the table and in the swinging light Croc's silhouette becomes Batman's. It does not make one iota of logical sense, but it is so cool it doesn't matter.

The best Batman episode of all time is "Heart of Ice," but if I could only choose one Batman episode to watch, I'd pick "Almost Got 'Im." It has all the villains you'd ever want, it has great action, great humor and even a nice bit of romance at the end with Catwoman. You'd be very hard-pressed to find another 22-minute episode that contains this much stuff and handles it this well.

Final score: 10

Terror in the Sky

"Terror in the Sky" was the 45th-produced episode of Batman: The Animated Series, but it got bumped up to be the 37th-aired episode on Nov. 12, 1992.

This episode marks the return of Man-Bat, which made me very happy. That was the first villain of this show, and it shouldn't be forgotten. Bringing it back, with a new twist deserves a point.

Making Francine the Man-Bat ... er, Woman-Bat, was a great idea, but they kind of had a hard time handling Francine when she wasn't a bat. I guess the transformations were making her moody and giving her headaches, or maybe her headaches were causing the transformations? I'm not sure. In any case, she was completely annoying the whole episode, culminating in an extremely cheesy scene where she had a complete meltdown despite being perfectly fine two seconds earlier. Such random changes in mood were the norm in the '90s Spider-Man cartoon, but thankfully rare in Batman. However, whenever something like this happens, I have to take a point off.

But I will raise the score back to a 6 for a great scene with Dr. March. He is the prototypical mad scientist, but unlike other mad scientists, he actually admitted he was wrong. Watching the depressed doctor burn his notes was really a beautiful scene.

A large portion of this episode is devoted to Batman chasing the Woman-Bat around in his Batplane. However, it never got boring because it was so well done. The cinematic nature of it made me forget I was watching a 20-year-old Saturday morning cartoon. The music was also powerful and fun when a brief moment of "Night on Bald Mountain" was played. Truly a work of art.

Episodes like this prove why this show still holds up two decades later. This isn't near one of the best Batman episodes — it is perfectly average — but when the average episodes are this good, then you have an amazing show.

Final score: 7