1The Cat and the Claw: Part 1
2On Leather Wings
When a horrifying bat creature terrorizes Gotham City, police conclude that it is Batman. Batman's investigation leads him to the laboratory of Kirk Langstrom a scientist, who has been experimenting with a formula serum that turns him into a Bat-like creature. Not only does Batman have to capture Man-Bat in order to save Langstrom, but also to clear his name from the police.
7Joker's Favor
Charlie Collins is having a bad day. His boss turned down his request for a raise, his kid needs braces, and he's most likely coming home to a dinner of meatloaf prepared by his wife. While on the freeway, he has an altercation with a driver. When Charlie begins yelling, he quickly shuts up when it is revealed who the other driver is: The Joker!Charlie detours off the road, only to have the Joker give chase and confront him. Pleading for mercy, Charlie promises to do anything if the Joker will spare him. The Joker considers this, and after taking Charlie's I.D. card, promises to call upon him when he needs his 'favor.'A couple years pass, and Charlie and his family have moved out of Gotham City, relocating elsewhere under a new alias. However, this isn't enough to keep the Joker from finding Charlie's whereabouts, as he calls him up with the intention of collecting on his 'favor.'Charlie flies to Gotham where the Joker happily greets him like an old friend. The Joker then explains his plan. At a ceremony honoring Commissioner Gordon, the Joker's assistant Harley Quinn will wheel a cake into the room. Charlie's part of the plan? The 'simple' task of opening the doors for her, after which the Joker promises that Charlie will get to go home.Charlie does as he's instructed, and Harley wheels the cake into the room, which releases a nerve gas that freezes the Commissioner and his guests in place. The Joker then enters the room, planting an explosive device on Gordon, before exiting. Charlie attempts to flee, only to find a strong glue-like substance on the doorknob holding him in place! Apparently, the Joker planned for Charlie to go home...just not alive.Shortly after the Joker leaves, Batman enters the room, and gets rid of the explosive device. After being freed from the doorknob, Charlie explains to Batman about how he got mixed up with the Joker.Batman then goes to confront the Joker, who then seems to have escaped his clutches. However, he soon runs into Charlie, armed with the same type of explosive device that was planted on Gordon. Charlie with a mad gleam in his eye, promises to blow himself and the Joker up...destroying his life like the Joker wanted to destroy his.The Joker frantically tries to get away, only to be stopped by Batman. Desperately looking for a way out, the Joker surrenders all the information he has on Charlie, only to have the device thrown at his feet...where it sets off only a minor explosion more akin to a firecracker. Apparently, the device's reworking was a scheme by Batman and Charlie to get the Joker to leave Charlie alone. As Batman takes the Joker away, Charlie heads for home.
8The Cat and the Claw: Part 2
11Be a Clown
An offhand remark by Mayor Hill on television spurs the Joker into sneaking onto his estate disguised as a clown at the birthday party for Hill's son, Jordan. Joker plants a bomb, but Bruce Wayne, who is attending the party, manages to defuse it. However, Jordan, who is angry at his father, runs away hiding in Joker's van.
12Appointment in Crime Alley
20I've Got Batman in My Basement
25The Cape and Cowl Conspiracy
29The Strange Secret of Bruce Wayne
34I Am the Night
This episode shows us a frustrated Dark Knight, frustrated that the crime in Gotham never ceases and that the justice system is releasing criminals as quickly as Batman is locking them up. It does not seem to be a coincidence that this episode shows Batman mourning his lost parents in "Crime Alley". This is one of the rare episodes in this series that shows the darker side of Batman. His feelings are compounded when Gordon is shot by "The Jazzman" and his gang, a good old fashioned mob type villian. "The Jazzman" is after Gordon for locking him up six years prior. "The Jazzman" here is involved in a nice nod to "Escape from Alcatraz". Batman hangs up his cowl for a short time in this episode, only to come back stronger. He realizes that not all of his efforts are for naught, overall an excellent episode with a very good balance of classic Batman action while also providing a glimpse of his angst.
35Almost Got 'im
The episode begins with a poker game at the Stacked Deck Club, between the Joker, the Penguin, Two-Face and Killer Croc (with Poison Ivy eventually joining the game). All of them are hiding out at the club, being on the run from the law and particularly their common foe the Batman. Inevitably, they begin to discuss Batman, and each of them claims to have nearly finished him off at some point or other...Poison Ivy begins with her tale: On Halloween, she had set up a special treat for Gotham: pumpkin bombs laden with toxic gas. She had expected the Dark Knight to turn up, and when he does she attacks him with pumpkins laden with explosives and gas. She nearly succeeds in bringing him down, but as she is about to pull his mask off he kicks her in the head. He then remote-controls his Batmobile to bring him a regenerative gas mask, and then to destroy Ivy's pumpkins. Ivy herself is captured as she tries to escape.Naturally, Two-Face is second up. He and his henchmen, the Two-Ton gang, were in the midst of robbing a bank; when Batman shows up to stop them, he is caught and subdued. Two-Face removes Batman's utility belt, but decides to give him a 50-50 chance; but for him this means strapping Batman down to a giant coin and send it flipping through the air, making him choose between being squashed flat or having his bones broken! However, Batman manages to filch Two-Face's scarred coin, and even as the coin turns in mid-air, he cuts himself free with the coin. He then captures Two-Face and the gang. Two-Face disgustedly concludes his story with the fact that not only did his own coin fail him, but Batman actually took the giant penny as a souvenir!Next, Killer Croc boasts about having been stuck in a quarry, where he threw a rock at Batman. No one is impressed.Then, the Penguin brings up his tale: he had trapped Batman in a bird conservatory, and then attacked him with booby-trapped birds. First, he sprayed Batman with honey and then unleashed on him a flock of hummingbirds with poison-tipped beaks; drawn to the honey, the birds attempt to impale Batman with their beaks. Batman dispenses of the hummingbirds by activating a sprinkler system, which douses the birds and renders them immobile. Then the Penguin brings in a vicious cassowary to attack Batman, but he incapacitates the cassowary with one of the hummingbirds. He then gives chase to the Penguin, but is unsuccessful as the Penguin gets away.Finally, the Joker, who has scorned all the others' stories, tells his tale: he had captured Batman and tied him to a specially-built electric chair in a comedy show. The chair is powered by laughter, so he makes the audience laugh (with laughing gas) to increase its voltage and grill the Dark Knight. He was extremely close to grilling Batman; however, Catwoman breaks in and diverts the Joker's attention, allowing Batman to get free of the chair. However, the Joker captures Catwoman, and he now announces to his horrified audience that there's more than one way to get someone: hes going to chop up Catwoman at a pet food factory and deliver her remains to Batman...At this point Killer Croc attacks the Joker, and reveals himself as a disguised Batman. When everyone gangs up on him, he reveals that everybody in the Stacked Deck Club is an undercover policeman, as part of a sting operation to capture them. Having subdued them all, he rushes to the factory to save Catwoman. Afterwards, Catwoman makes an advance on Batman in gratitude for rescuing her, only to find him gone. She then smiles to herself, having almost got 'im...
38Christmas with the Joker
On Christmas Eve, Joker broadcasts a pirate Christmas special on television. Batman and Robin have until midnight to fight their way past Joker's traps hidden all over town and rescue Commissioner Gordon, Harvey Bullock, and Summer Gleeson.
41If You're So Smart, Why Aren't You Rich?
42Joker's Wild
While in Arkham Asylum, The Joker sees a television report on the opening of a splashy new casino by businessman Cameron Kaiser. The casino is based entirely on Joker's persona, which angers the Clown Prince Of Crime, and also irritates visiting billionaire Bruce Wayne. Joker escapes Arkham and makes a bee-line to The Joker's Wild casino to blow it up, while Bruce Wayne dons his cape and cowl and discovers Cameron Kaiser's real motive for building it. When Joker arrives he gets duped out in a card game by Bruce Wayne, then dodges Batman via his old Jokermobile before getting to work in earnest to blow up the casino. Batman meanwhile confronts Kaiser, but is knocked out via electric shock and dumped into the Joker's lap. Now tied to a gigantic roulette wheel, Batman recovers enough to warn Joker that Kaiser intends for him to destroy the casino for a massive insurance payment, causing Joker to go after Kaiser while leaving behind enough explosive to finish off Batman.
45What Is Reality?
Gotham is under a cyber attack by none other than Edward Nygma aka "The Riddler" in this quirky episode. We last saw Nygma in the classic "If you are so smart, why aren't you rich?" Nygma has hacked into computer mainframes across Gotham, causing them to output his riddles to the public. It is all a game to Nygma, where each riddle leads Batman and Robin closer to Nygma. I found the riddles to be pretty good for the most part, all of them requiring associating the correct double meaning e.g. from crazy intent you get loco motive.. watch out! Nygma's motive is to erase all his records from every database and cease to exist on the grid, he has also connected to the police department computer lab new virtual reality computer. Robin introduces commissioner Gordon to this virtual reality world, however Nygma has control of the machine and traps Gordon in the virtual world, and sets him spinning in a virtual centrifuge. Batman must enter the virtual world to save Gordon, which he does while maintaining contact with Robin in reality through an earpiece. Batman must solve many riddles on his way to save Gordon, which leads to an ultimate showdown that is well done. There are some references here to Dali's "Melting Clock" and "Alice in Wonderland". One of the better episodes.
49The Man Who Killed Batman
One rainy night, crime boss Rupert Thorne receives a visitor, Sidney Debris, who begs for an audience. Thorne has picked up the underworld gossip and knows of Debris's alias: Sid the Squid, the man who killed Batman. However, Sid, a portly and mild-mannered man, claims he doesnt want or enjoy his newfound reputation, as he now has crooks and cops alike out to get him. An intrigued Thorne settles down to listen to Sid's tale...Sidney Debris was an ordinary unimportant man, who entered the underworld only so to make a name for himself, to have others look up to him and respect him. He is hired to act as a rooftop lookout at a warehouse, where a drug run is in progress. During the drug run, the Batman appears and frightens Sid, and a scuffle follows. The shadows from their confrontation are distorted to resemble a brawl, which the gangsters see and assume Sid is a fair match for the Dark Knight. Sid stumbles off the roof, and Batman grabs him, but as Sidney struggles back onto the roof, he accidentally knocks Batman on top of a gas tank, which explodes. As no one could survive such an explosion, the gangsters believe Sid has done the impossible: he has killed the Batman.Everybody hails Sid the Squid as the man who killed Batman, but at a banquet being held in his honour a tough guy wants to pick a fight with Sid. A huge punch-up breaks out and everybody ends up in a prison cell (although Sid survives without a scratch). There, police officer Rene Montoya and detective Harvey Bullock discuss batmans death, and about Sid the Squid, the criminal genius responsible for the catastrophe. A frightened Sid realizes his new reputation means crooks and cops alike will be looking for him. Luckily, Sid is released from prison without the police learning about him, thanks to the bail from a female lawyer... who reveals herself as Harley Quinn, the Joker's henchwoman.A terrified Sidney meets the Joker, who has tracked him down. He is delighted to hear about Batmans death, but needs to confirm that he is truly gone. To this end, the Joker's gang robs a jewelry store, and waits for the Dark Knight to appear and save the day. Time passes, but Batman does not appear. Finally, the Joker sadly declares that Sid really did destroy Batman, and the group leaves, keeping the loot back (the Joker violently threatening Harley when she tries to take some jewels).The group heads to the Ace Chemical Plant, where the Joker holds a funeral for Batman, suspending an empty coffin above a vat of chemicals. At a pulpit, the Clown Prince of Crime gives a solemn eulogy, in which he expresses how his fondest desire was to defeat Batman for good. He denounces Sid for having done the job before him, and for stealing his dream from him, but promises to get over his feelings... by locking him in the coffin and dunking it into the vat. In another stroke of luck, the coffin gets pulled through a pipe before the acid can seep through, and ends up on the bank of the Gotham River. From there Sid made his way to Thorne's home.Sidney ends his story with an appeal to Thorne to get him out of Gotham. Unfortunately, Thorne doesn't believe the tale, because no one who defeats both Batman and the Joker could be as lucky and stupid as Sid says he is. He instead assumes Sid is a devious mastermind trying to take over his criminal empire, and tries to shoot him. At the last minute, a very alive Batman appears and knocks Thorne out. He explains that he rolled away from the tank before it exploded, and decided to follow Sid to find out about Thorne's drug operation; he also reveals he got the coffin safely out of the factory. Sid, as a member of Thorne's drug operation, will have to go to jail, but Batman reasons with him that such a move could work in his favour...Sid the Squid is last seen arriving at a penitentiary. Though now a convict, he is cheered by all the prisoners as the man who nearly killed Batman, tricked the Joker and made Thorne look a fool. In short, he has achieved his dreams of respect and popularity at last.
51Robin's Reckoning: Part 1
53Robin's Reckoning: Part 2
57The Demon's Quest: Part 1
58The Demon's Quest: Part 2
