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matt_zimmerThe last season of the revamped Batman cartoon has a lot of good points and unfortunately a lot of bad ones. It's pretty good overall but nowhere near as good as the previous season. That said, it's probably the second best season of the show.
Last season ended with Batman joining the Justice League and the series picks up with Batman teaming up with the various heroes all season long and climaxes with him teaming up with the entire Justice League to face the alien race The Joining for a second time.
The series weak point this season is the fact that the non-team-up episodes this season feel like kind of a waste. With the exception of the Joker tour de force The Metal Face of Comedy I wish the season had spent more time saying goodbye to villains we had gotten to know in the first four seasons of the show. It's really galling that neither Catwoman or Riddler got a proper episode this season and Mr. Freeze and Poison Ivy were reduced to glorified cameos.
Also a problem is the fact that a lot of the time, Batman seemed to be a guest star in his own show. The better team-ups tended to have Batman not only chasing a member of the guest hero's rogues gallery but also one of Gotham's villains too. And it's kind of disappointing that the series finale felt more like a regular episode of the DCAU Justice League than a proper finale for The Batman.
I liked this version of Superman a lot because he's voiced by JLU's George Newbern and Dana Delaney and Clancy Brown also voice their counterparts of Lios Lane and Lex Luthor respectively from Superman: The Animated Series. That was a great tip of the hat to the DCAU and I really appreciated it. Also fun is the fact that Charlie Schlatter voiced Flash (he voiced him in the STAS ep Speed Demons).
So, I liked the season but kind of wish Batman had gotten a better final episode. It was really good but it wasn't really a The Batman type of episode. Season Overall: ****.
The Batman/ Superman Story: Part 1: Really cool season premiere that had me geeking out. (Metallo!). I especially liked the cliffhanger. I also like that this version of Lex Luthor is particular brutal. Also cool is the difference between this episode and World's Finest. Here BATMAN is the team-up guy and Superman is the aloof guy who prefers working alone. I liked that. I also liked that they jammed a lot of Batman rogues into this one. *****.
The Batman/ Superman Story: Part 2: Not as good as part one this feels like somewhat of a let-down. It was good, but it didn't have as many geeky moments as the first part. ****. Two Part Average: ****1/2.
Vertigo: I hate to say this but Green Arrow has one of the lamer origins in comics (it's just so ridiculous) so I'm sorry they actually went into it here. JLU had the right idea of just setting up Arrow as a hero with no backstory necessary. **1/2.
White Heat: They actually wasted one of the non-team-up episodes on Firefly? They would have been better off going with Gearhead. I'm joking but only by a little bit. Meh. **1/2..
A Mirror Darkly: I liked John Larroquette as Mirror Master but he's no Alexis Denisof. I like this version of Flash too. ***1/2.
The Joker Express: This episode was kind of boring and I found my mind drifting. And this series also broke another cardinal rule (and not for the first time): the Joker is NEVER supposed to be able to make Batman laugh. **.
Ring Toss: I would probably have been less impressed if they hadn't managed to admirably throw Penguin into the mix. Seeing him get the ring was hilarious. ***1/2.
The Metalface of Comedy: Yes, nano-bots are the first sign that a superhero toon has jumped the shark. But danged if they didn't actually manage to use them in a creative way. I especially love how appalled Harley and Tech Guy were when it appeared Nano-Joker destroyed the original: "You NEVER delete the original, dude". This was a great episode from start to finish. *****.
Attack of the Terrible Trio: Better than I remembered it but I still think this episode was completely unnecessary. It seemed to exist SOLEY to try and one-up Batman: The Animated Series by introducing a better version of the Trio than BTAS. They didn't even need to go there since I think there are quite a few characters in the The-verse that are better than their DCAU counterpoints (Martian Manhunter and Lucius Fox spring immediately to mind). Good to get an update on Barbara Gordon/ Batgirl though. They didn't use her enough this season. This is the only episode this year to feature Commision Gordon in a speaking role too. ***.
The End of the Batman: Face it if it wasn't for the final appearances of Penguin, Joker, Croc, and the Ventriloquist this episode would be considered only passable so I'm going to grade it accordingly. The idea of a mirror Batman and Robin is interesting but this particular duo's origin is so ridiculous and non-credible that it doesn't work in the slightest. Batman trained himself and traveled the world because he witnessed his parents' murder. Wrath and Scorn merely decided to become criminals because their parent's went to jail. And we are supposed to believe these two are Batman and Robin's equals? Not even close. **.
What Goes Up...: A fun episode because it was a Hawkman spotlight that featured James Remar as Black Mask (Remar voiced Hawkman on JLU). Everytime this show does a casting choice like that I keep wondering to myself if the actors who aren't as familar with these shows as say, a DCAU regular ever wonder what exactly happened in the different continuities and how The Batman fits in the shows they previously did the voices for. I also like the floating buildings concept. ****.
Lost Heroes: Part One: I liked this opening episode because the cliffhanger set up an "Oh, expletive!" situation and the following episode managed to top it. But for a series finale the entire enterprise doesn't sit right with me. ****.
Lost Heroes: Part Two: In any other circumstance this geekfest would be a five star episode but I'm taking off a star just because it doesn't feel like a proper series capper. A last episode in which neither Alfred nor the Joker appear? Weak. ****.
