"I Am the Night" Rewatch: "Appointment in Crime Alley" and "Mad as a Hatter"

Batman: The Animated Series

Hey everyone! I hope you had a great Christmas! Sorry for the delay. I'm planning on getting back on a more regular schedule after the new year. I hope you enjoy this last B: TAS blog post of 2017!!

"Good people still live in Crime Alley."

Batman has a date with Dr. Leslie Thompkins in Crime Alley. It's a date that he keeps every year. This year, evil businessman/developer, Roland Daggett, is trying to make him late. Daggett wants to turn the former Park Row now Crime Alley into luxury apartments and he's not above using coercion and force to get the people of Crime Alley to see things his way. It's up to Batman to stop Daggett and help the citizens of Park Row all while trying to keep this important appointment.

Took You Long Enough.

This is a powerful episode born out of a relatively simple concept. One of the things that I love about B: TAS, is the fact that they don't feel the need to re-hash Batman's origin over and over and over again. The origin of Batman is one of the best known comic book origins of any super hero out there. There really isn't anything new to be drawn from that particular well no matter how hard you try. "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice" I'm looking squarely at you and that Martha bullshit. Up to this point, B: TAS has found interesting ways to weave the elder Waynes into the story without directly referencing their murder ie Batman's visions of his father in the Scarecrow's debut episode or the flashbacks to Bruce bonding with his dad during "Gray Ghost" episodes.

The titular appointment in the title of the episode is an appointment with Leslie to lay two roses at the spot where his parents died. This would easily lend itself to a flashback of the Waynes death and give the show an opportunity to revisit that, but they don't. Instead,  writer Gerry Conway chose to tell a story about Batman trying to save the residents of the neighborhood that took everything away from him. The forced gentrification story is handled exceedingly well. When the show goes the true life route, it can get a bit heavy handed, but the episode avoids a lot of that, mainly by casting known scumbag Daggett as the villain. 

This episode also introduces Leslie Thompkins to B: TAS. Leslie was a colleague of Thomas Wayne and served as a surrogate parent to Bruce after his parents died. Aside from Alfred, she's one of the few people who know about his double life. Leslie isn't given much to do besides be a badass broad, but that's really enough. In her scenes, you get a great feel fro who this woman is and how she influenced Bruce. It's a great example of  Conway showing rather than telling. 

There is some killer action sequences in the episode. I'm a big fan of the climax where Batman uses the Batmobile to stop a runaway trolley. The ending of the episode where Batman is finally able to honor his parents with those two roses and the closing black and white shot of Leslie holding a young Bruce is deeply affecting and a great note for the episode to close on.

Grade: A-

"You're mighty in Gotham, Batman, but in Wonderland, the Mad Hatter reigns supreme."

Jervis Tetch works for Wayne Enterprises. He's working on a mind control device while also pining for a co-worker named Alice. When Alice breaks up with her boyfriend, Tetch feels like it's his chance to finally get the girl of his dreams. Tetch uses his obsession with "Alice in Wonderland" to woo Alice, dressing up as the Mad Hatter and taking her out on the town to lift her spirits. He also uses his mind control tech, modified as cards, to get two muggers to attempt suicide and to manipulate the people at the various stops on his whirlwind romance of Alice. When Tetch discovers that Alice has taken her boyfriend back and they are now engaged, he doesn't take it well, deciding if he Alice won't love him of her own accord, he'll make her love him.

She loves me not.

Re-watching these episodes I'm continuously surprised about how ahead of it's time B: TAS was. In recent years, there has been a lot of talk about being "friend zoned" or the "toxic nice guy syndrome." In 1992, when B: TAS was first airing, these things existed but there weren't really names for them. Yet, Paul Dini, writer of this episode, shows the inherent dangers of both using the insipid figure of Jervis Tetch. 

Tetch pines for Alice, firmly believing that they are meant to be despite the fact that he has no idea who she really is. Tetch latches on to the generic kindness that Alice shows him, the same kindness she would undoubtedly show any co-worker and concocts a story in his mind that only he is privy to. It certainly doesn't help that Alice shares a name with the title character of a story that he has latched on to with a manic obsessiveness. 

When Tetch shows up at Alice's house, uninvited, her initial reaction is bewilderment. She goes along with him because she believes he is harmless. After her shock at finding someone she has not seen out of work on her doorstep, she believes that he is there simply as a friend. Nothing in Alice's actions or reactions show that she has any sort of romantic feelings for him at all. Let's not forget that the idea that Alice would be ready to fall into Tetch's arms almost immediately after a break up is absurd. 

Tetch believes that since he is a "nice guy" and will treat Alice right that he is owed something. So, when he finds out that Alice has reconciled with her boyfriend and they are now engaged he is quickly able to justify robbing her of her free will. His true colors come out (colors to be fair we knew were there all along.)

This is another example of the show kind of rehabbing one of Batman's more ridiculous rogues and it works so well. I've spent a lot of time gushing, but there is a lot of great stuff in this episode. I love the imagery. The mice having tea. The mice bringing Tetch his tea later in the episode. Kimmy Robertson (Lucy of "Twin Peaks" fame) voicing Alice. Gotham having a Wonderland themed park.

It's all great and the social critique that Dini throws in works wonderfully. This was an episode that I hadn't really given much though to outside of it's initial conceit and introduction of the Mad Hatter, but it's an episode that I thoroughly enjoyed and have a new appreciation for.

Grade: A

That's it for 2017! I'd love to hear any thoughts you guys have in the comments. Thank you so much for reading and if you've shared with friends, thanks for that!

In 2018, Batman finds himself in Arkham Asylum and Alfred gets a girlfriend!