The second season of Batman: The Animated Series was almost
as good as the first. Maybe the overall episodes weren’t as good, but
individually it had some spectacular moments. Whether it was seeing Robin’s
origins, how Bruce Wayne received his martial arts training, introducing Dr.
Hugo Strange to the series and learning how he discovers Batman’s secret
identity or the introduction of the Riddler, this season had it’s highlights.
So here are the highlight episodes, the top 5 of season two.
5. Laughing Fish
Having no episodes in
the top 5 of season one there was no way I was going to leave this character
out of season two’s best moments. This particular episode gives us “classic
Joker”. An evil scheme involving fish with his twisted smile, poisoning his victims
with his infamous Joker toxins and, of course, trying to kill Batman. Like I
said, Joker was at his best in this episode, beginning with one of his classic
plans and ending with his apparent death. If you ask any fan of the show they’ll
tell you that the biggest reason why Joker was as favorable a character as
Batman himself was because of the tremendous voice work by Mark Hamill. In a
way, it is part of the reason why the character has become such a fan favorite.
Who ever thought Luke Skywalker would end up as the Clown Prince Of Crime
(figuratively speaking).
Favorite Moment: The greatest showdowns between Batman and the Joker are the
most intense ones. A rooftop battle laced with a horrific thunder storm, which
eventually ends with the Joker falling to his seemingly demise in the tides
below, but we all knew he’d be back.
4. Almost Got’em
Along with action,
comedy and a diverse number of Batman adversaries and adventures, Almost Got’em
will go down as one of the best Animated Series episodes ever. It begins with a
little “get together” of Batman’s rogues, including: Poison Ivy, Penguin,
Killer Croc, Two Face and The Joker. One aspect of the show that made it
interesting was the different interactions between the five villains. When else
are we going to see these villains playing an unfriendly game of poker? The
conversations between them made for some great comedy. The action came from the
four different stories of almost killing Batman, and one weird comment made
from Croc about hitting him with a rock. The twist came at the end when they
discovered that Joker currently had Catwoman captured and was about to kill
her. Turns out that Batman was disguised as Killer Croc the whole time, so as
he goes to the rescue of Catwoman, police officers surround the four villains
at the poker table.
Favorite Moment: After the villains share their “Almost Got’em” Batman
stories, Killer Croc shares his, which was that he hit him with a rock, leaving
an uncomfortable silence between the rest of the criminals. Not as creative as
Poison Ivy’s toxins, Two Face’s giant coin or Joker’s electric chair, but
effective nonetheless.
3. If You’re So Smart, Why Aren’t You Rich?
I never expected the
series’ creators to skip on the Riddler during season one, but it was worth the
wait to see his first appearance half way through season two. Edward Nigma,
recently fired, takes revenge on his ex-employer by becoming the Riddler and
leaving him clues to follow. His ego sparks when Batman attempts to capture
him, so the Riddler decides he must prove his intellectual superiority by
leaving complicated riddles for the Caped Crusader. The challenge for Batman
and Robin came when they faced the Riddler’s giant maze, but since Robin had
played a videogame version of the maze, they finally managed to pass the many
obstacles to save the Riddler’s ex-boss. This episode was important for Batman
and for the Riddler. Nigma had become one of the Batman’s greatest rivals for
being one of the few who could outsmart him from time to time, and Batman
gained a villain who was his intellectual equal, well, maybe not quite, but he
was pretty damn smart. Unfortunately for our heroes, the Riddler escaped via
plane at the end of the episode to plan his next move.
Favorite Moment: Batman purposely travels down the wrong tunnel in the maze
to hitch a ride on “ The Hand Of Fate”. After disarming and rearming it and
picking up Robin, he cheats his way to the center of the maze to face the “Riddle
of the Minotaur”.
2. What Is Reality?
Turns out the Riddler’s
“next move” topped his first. The second episode featuring the Riddler was much
better then the original because now he has set his revenge on the Dynamic Duo
for foiling his plan to kill his ex-boss. The Riddler sends a giant computer to
the police station. As Commissioner Gordon logs on to the computer, his mind is
transported into its virtual world. This episode was very original and unique
having Batman travel into virtual reality to save Gordon with Robin as a guide,
but not even Robin could help Batman face the virtual creations of the Riddler,
creations that may be fake in the real world but very real in the virtual one.
The episode ends with the Riddler accidentally overloading his mind due to
having to control an entire virtual world.
Favorite Moment: Its always great to see Batman trump the Riddler and prove
that he is just plain smarter. At the end of the show Batman enters the digital
world and forces the Riddler to create too many virtual objects to sustain it
all. The Riddler’s fake reality comes crumbling down on him.
1. Perchance To Dream
A dream is a powerful
thing and the Mad Hatter knows it. Never one of Batman’s more popular foes, but
even so, The Mad Hatter proved to be a very formidable opponent for The Dark
Knight in Perchance To Dream. After a car chase with the Batman, The Mad Hatter
is able to capture our unconscious hero and trap him within a dream world of
his greatest desires. In the dream he is married to Selina Kyle, his parents
are alive and he isn’t Batman, but the biggest shock comes when he witnesses
another Batman stop some criminals outside Wayne Tower. It was right then and
there that Bruce realized it was all a lie, and that he must return to
reality. This episode was one of
the most enjoyable to watch. With all the mystery and suspense about whether
Bruce Wayne had ever really been Batman at all kept me on the edge of my seat,
especially at the end when Bruce risked his life to escape the dream, but once
he did, the Mad Hatter was surely defeated. Lucky for Batman, The Mad Hatter
had no idea what he was dreaming about. I don’t think him seeing Batman dream
about Bruce Wayne’s personal life would have been good for the whole “secret
identity” thing.
Favorite Moment: Bruce Wayne takes on of the biggest risks of his life.
After a skilled fight between the other Batman he leaps off the top of the bell
tower in an effort to escape the dream world. Luckily he woke up, but if he
were wrong it would have been the end of Batman.
These five episodes
are my personal favorite of the season. But there are still two seasons left
and they are full of just as many classic moments as the first two. So stay
tuned for the top 5 episodes of season three, same “Bat”-website, same “Bat”-blog.
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