Heart of Ice

Right after what was possibly the worst Batman episode comes what is possibly the greatest Batman episode ever, "Heart of Ice." This was the 14th episode produced, but the third aired on Sept. 7, 1992. It was also the first episode written by Paul Dini and directed by Bruce Timm, who both became legends in the DC Animated Universe.

One of the unique things about this episode is that it is, as far as I know, the first time they decided to do a major rewrite of a classic Batman villain. All the other villains were tweaked and adapted a little bit, but none were changed as drastically as Mr. Freeze. At the time, Freeze was a goofy, stupid villain on the Adam West show and even in the comics. But here, Timm and Dini decided to take a risk by trying to make Freeze cool. Well, he was always cool, but now they made him fascinating. The changes they made turned Freeze into a classic Batman villain, and even convinced the comics to adjust Freeze's background to match the cartoon's. If that doesn't tell you how good this episode this, then nothing will. Of course, I can't just stop there. I will go through several more points on this episode, which you can take as the icing on the cake.

The first step to fixing up Mr. Freeze was to give him a good design, which they did quite well. Right from the start, we hear his cold, robotic voice, see the frost on the inside of his helmet, and then are introduced to his terrifying red eyes. Now this is a villain we can take seriously! The score is now 6.

I'll add another point for Mr. Freeze's attitude and emotion, or rather, lack of emotion. This is best exemplified by him leaving behind one of his henchmen after he froze him. And yet, we do see a little bit of tenderness underneath his heartless exterior.

The score will rise to an 8 for the great animation in this episode. Not only did Mr. Freeze and his ice effects look great, but so did Batman and the Batcave. I really love it when Batman's cape is long enough to drape over his arms while he works at his computer. It's a little thing, I know, but it's the little things that I love about this show.

I'll add another point for Mr. Freeze's origin story. As I said earlier, this was a completely original story that was incredibly emotional and slightly haunting. The scene of Freeze's hand sliding down his wife's case should send chills down anyone's spine. And with a story like that, it's real easy to let Mr. Freeze steal the show, but the producers never forgot that this was Batman's show, and they made sure to let him have some pretty awesome moments himself, like doing detective work as Bruce Wayne and in disguise, and punching a bad guy behind him without looking. Those moments and the great balance between the hero and villain raise the score to a perfect 10.

Not only did this episode breathe new life into a failed villain, but it also set the standard for Batman: The Animated Series. "Heart of Ice" gained critical acclaim, and without it, I don't think the show would have lasted as long as it did, let alone inspire Superman and Justice League shows. This masterpiece will forever remain frozen in my memories.

Final score: 10

I've Got Batman in My Basement

Batman: The Animated Series came out the same year that Batman Returns did, which helped with the overall popularity of Batman, but kind of hurt the show at the same time because of the dark nature of the movie. One episode that suffered from that connection is "I've Got Batman in My Basement," the 13th produced and 20th aired. It marks the first appearance of the Penguin, who doesn't get an origin story because of the movie, but also because of the movie had to be cleaned up and toned down a bit. Unfortunately, they went a little overboard in this regard, and decided they needed to put him in an episode that featured kids as the heroes.

I'll add a point right at the beginning for Penguin's giant vulture. I've always liked the idea of Penguin utilizing birds to assist in his crimes. With the vulture and the Faberge egg, we know we'll be seeing the Penguin eventually. Plus, it's always fun to have Batman fight a nontraditional enemy like a massive killer bird.

I have to take a point off for the stupid, stupid, stupid kids in this episode. There's Sherman and Roberta, the ever-eager junior detectives, and then two nameless bullies straight out of Happy Days. They were all super annoying from the moment they entered the episode and they became increasingly annoying throughout.

I will add another point for the overall look and design of the Penguin, especially his voice. He is similar to Danny DeVito's Penguin in shape and build, but this one is civilized and sophisticated. He really is a great character, unfortunately stuck in a really lame episode.

Now to get back to the negative. The episode will lose a point for some very sloppy animation. A lot of things were too slow, too fast, or just plain stupid-looking. One glaring error is when the kid clearly hits the off switch on a conveyer belt, and it turns on. Come on, take the two extra seconds to make sure it says on!

The rest of the episode is really just stupid scene after stupid scene, which were bad enough to lose a point each. First the kids decide to drive THE Batmobile, and somehow do a pretty good job at it. Then, they inexplicably refuse to call for any help and take Batman to their basement. You just keep asking yourself "Why, WHY?!" during the episode.

The score falls to a 2 when the kids initiate "Operation: Fowl Play" and defeat the Penguin in their house using Batman's gadgets and Home Alone techniques. One of the worst parts of the fight was the Penguin being wrapped up in slow-motion by the insufferable kids.

But I will add one last positive point for Penguin's umbrella. I have a weakness for trick umbrellas and this one is one of the most versatile in his arsenal. I counted three different blades on this umbrella, including one poking out the bottom of the handle and the tip that can squirt acid to break locks or become a rotating blade to slice Batman's throat.

The score falls to a 1 for the crappy final scenes. Batman wakes up just enough to out-fence Penguin with a screwdriver ... yes, a screwdriver ... and then our young heroes truly become young detectives themselves, cracking down on cases of missing papers and lost puppies. Batman checks on the kids to make sure they're all playing nicely, then walks away with approval. And thus ends perhaps the worst episode in Batman: The Animated Series.

Final score: 1

It's Never Too Late

Here comes a subtle, yet interesting episode of Batman: The Animated Series. "It's Never Too Late" was the 12th episode made, but the sixth that they aired, which makes it the first episode we've got to that was good enough to be bumped up in airing order.

This is a touching tale of redemption, but before I can get to praising it, I have to take a point away for one thing that really bugged me. They repeatedly said that Rupert Thorne is much younger than Stromwell, but he looks about 20 years older than him. Why couldn't they make Stromwell look just a little bit older?

But I will give a point for a quick scene showing Thorne throwing a bum out of the restaurant, and as soon as you here the bum speak, you can recognize Batman's voice. I love it when Batman goes into disguise to gather intelligence — that is true detective work.

The score will rise to a 6 for the Godfather-esque scene of the evil Thorne trying to kill Stromwell in the restaurant. Thorne is one of my favorite characters because he can throw his weight around with manipulation and viciousness. He is just so much fun.

I'll add another point for the subtle, yet effective anti-drug message in this episode. Earlier, the show had tried to have similar messages, but they usually felt out of place or heavy handed. Here, it was handled in a very classy manner, I felt. Another good thing about this episode was its ability to include religion without being religious, which is a very difficult thing to do.

Along that note, I'll add another point for the surprisingly emotional flashbacks. They were black-and-white, which was a fun change of pace, and I also really liked how we only got half the flashback at first, and had to wait for the rest later. It was pretty nice storytelling for a rather sweet episode that adds diversity to the Batman canon.

Final score: 8

Two-Face

Up next is the first two-parter of Batman: The Animated Series, and it was a good one. "Two-Face" was the 10th and 11th episodes produced and 17th and 18th aired on Sept. 25 and 28, 1992. It seems only fitting that the origin story of Two-Face would be split into two parts, and the story was good enough to make the risk worthwhile.

Part I


The main premise of this episode was to show that Harvey Dent always had Two-Face inside him all along and the accident that scarred his face only let loose the beast inside him. Just like with The Dark Knight, Two-Face works best when this aspect of his character is explored. Harvey Dent made two other small appearances before this episode, where we saw he was a devoted D.A. and a good friend of Bruce Wayne's. Now, we see that he had a split personality, which will raise the score to a 6.

I'll add a point for the introduction of one of my favorite characters, Rupert Thorne. He's no Kingpin, but he still is a wonderful mob boss. I really like him because he conveys a true sense of power. Everyone knows he's a mob boss, but nobody can do anything about it. He even has the confidence to call Harvey Dent himself to threaten him. This was a great first appearance of a classic villain for this show.

The score will go to an 8 for one very brief and very awesome bit of animation. During Dent's therapy session, a flash of lightning puts Dent's face in shadows and it looks just like Two-Face. It's a blink-and-you-miss-it moment, and one of the great subtleties that makes this show such a classic.

I'll add another point for the scene of the accident. I loved the intense calm of Harvey when he snapped on Thorne, and the display of Batman's true friendship when he groaned, "Harvey! Nooo!" It was not only a powerful scene, but a nice change of pace to have half his body blown up instead of just half his face.

And then the very end of the episode is so good it deserves a separate point on its own. There's a nice homage made to the Joker asking for a mirror in Batman, then there's more lightning and a terrified Grace. He is now officially Two-Face! It took a whole episode to get to this moment, but it was worth it!

Part I score: 10


Part II


Harvey Dent is now finally Two-Face, and we finally get to see him in action. Although he's paired with some annoying twins, he did have good psychology with his coin. Whenever the good side came up, he acted like a good guy, and vic e versa. This was nice enough to earn a point.

I also loved the idea of Batman being tormented by Two-Face. Harvey was his good friend, and Batman feels responsible for his horrific transformation. This is really the first villain with this emotional connection to Batman, and it's great! Plus one more point!

Not only did I like the design of Two-Face's suit, but I loved how they played with him in the shadows. The scene where Grace first saw him was great. He was standing perfectly on the edge of the shadow and the dark side of his hideout wasn't necessarily dirty or anything like that — it was just dark, which I like enough to add another point.

Richard Moll did a great job as the voice of Harvey Dent and Two-Face, especially at the end when he lost his coin. There was real anguish in his voice and it was even a little frightening. I'll add a final point for his performance.

I can't give this episode a perfect score because of one really lame element. About half-way through the episode, Two-Face kicks Batman in the ribs, which not only knocks Batman out, but renders him incapacitated throughout the whole episode. Since when did Batman become such a wuss? I'm sure he's been kicked there hundreds of times before.

The build up to creating Two-Face was epic, and the first "adventure" with him was great. The first two-parter of the series was a success, and we will see it used for several other iconic story lines.

Part II score: 9

Be a Clown

Batman finally got out of the strange, experimental stage and returned to some good, old-fashioned super villains with the Joker in "Be a Clown." Although this is a heavy-handed kid-centric episode, and definitely not the best Joker episode out there, it's not the worst, and it was rather refreshing to get an iconic bad guy for Batman to fight again.

One fun thing with this episode is we got to see the Joker become a real clown, and he was a pretty good one at that. Mark Hamill also did a good job of giving the Joker a fake voice that still sounded like the Joker. Then there was the great moment where Bruce recognized the Joker because of his distinguished laugh, which works because we've already had two episodes with the Joker and it is a very memorable laugh. That earns a point.

The score will go to a 7 with Bruce helping the save the day under the guise of a clumsy weakling who can barely hold a heavy birthday present. Not only was he able to save everybody's life, but he perpetuated the myth that Bruce Wayne could not possibly be Batman.

When the Joker got back from the mayor's mansion, he started to take off his fake clown makeup, but then he realized the mayor's son had stowed away with him. So he kept the makeup on, but still took the time to put on his traditional purple suit for some reason. Later, he revealed himself as the Joker by ripping off the fake clown makeup like it was a mask. This flub bugged me enough to take a point away.

The score falls to a 5 because of Batman's bad puns. Oddly, the Joker had some really good lines in this episode, but it seemed everything Batman said was corny and stupid. Right at the beginning, he threw some bad guys into a trash can, and said, "The trash pickup usually comes on Monday, but it your case, I think they'll make an exception!" Later, the Joker attacked Batman with his razor-edged playing cards, and Batman said, "Now it's my deal!" Then the worst was probably after Batman escaped the water torture chamber and said, "Now it's time for some Bat-magic!" Ughh ... this isn't supposed to be Adam West!

I will, however, add one point at the end for the roller coaster scene. I always liked the idea of the Joker taking over an amusement park, and this fight on the roller coaster was very reminiscent of the classic comic book "The Dark Knight Returns."

I was rather surprised by the score of this episode. I never really remembered liking it that much, but when I reviewed it, I realized it did have a few good things going for it. I didn't mind the mayor or his son that much, and it was pretty nice to see Batman fight the Joker in his native, carnival element.

Final score: 6

The Forgotten

I still consider this episode to be in the experimental, not-so-good era of Batman: The Animated Series, but that doesn't necessarily make it a terrible episode. "The Forgotten" was the eighth produced and 23rd aired on Oct. 8, 1992.

Normally, I like to see episodes with Batman in his suit fighting main villains, but every now and then, it's nice to have Batman do something different. This episode started off with Bruce volunteering at a soup kitchen (a great thing for him to do), where he learns about homeless people going missing. Instead of attacking this problem as Batman, he puts a disguise on, which I absolutely love. We also saw some nice fighting from Bruce with his hands in his pockets, until he let himself get knocked out. I will add a point for this unique and entertaining start of the episode.

I'll add another point for the involvement of Alfred. He gave us a deeper look into the Batcave, showing that Bruce has a huge garage with tons of cars, which is a concept I've always enjoyed. And then Alfred did some serious detective work. Yes, it was a little corny with him in the Batplane, but that part was redeemed with Bruce's affectionate slug to Alfred's jaw when they were reunited.

The score will rise to an 8 for some really cool, though brief scenes of Batman fighting the bad guys in the dark cave. The way he slowly picked them off one by one and made them all terrified made me wonder if this episode served as a major inspiration for the Arkham Asylum game. This scene really was that good.

True, this episode may be rather unglamorous, but I really enjoyed it. I almost took a point off for the nameless fat villain, who was little more than a grown up Sewer King, but I found I kind of enjoyed his enormous obesity and repulsiveness. This was an episode where they tried something new, and I think it really worked out for the most part.

Final score: 8