"I Am the Night" Rewatch: "Dreams In Darkness" and "Eternal Youth"

Batman: The Animated Series

Happy New Year blog readers! I'm excited to continue on our journey through B: TAS in 2018. On the off chance that you are watching along, these two episodes close out the "Volume One" DVD's and open the "Volume Two" DVD's. We've also gotten to the point where we are going to start repeating villains (I mean, besides Joker), which is kind of cool. So, here we go!

"Isn't that why I'm here? Because I'm... disturbed?"

Batman is trapped in Arkham Asylum. He runs afoul of a goon slipping something into Gotham's water supply. After a pitched battle, Batman stops the thug, but not before getting dosed with whatever he was trying to put in the water. After visiting the hospitalized thug, Batman learns that what he was dosed with was a potent fear toxin, that will start causing debilitating hallucinations. There is a cure that will put the Dark Knight to sleep for two days, but Batman can't risk it. After a crashed Batmobile lands him in Arkham, Batman must convince the doctors that the Scarecrow is escaped and overcome his fear based hallucinations before all of Gotham befalls a similar fate.

This straitjacket clashes with my cape!!!

As I mentioned earlier, now that we are close to 30 episodes deep, B: TAS will start repeating various villains, which is why we get a second Scarecrow appearance four episodes after his last one. 

Scarecrow works mostly behind the scenes in this episode. That works really well, because this episode is all about Batman. A lot of time, Batman gets pushed to the background. He's always integral to what's going on, but he's not always the most interesting thing. This episode puts Batman front and center, using a pretty common trope: Main character in an insane asylum. 

Most sci-fi/fantasy/superhero shows have an episode like this. Off the top of my head I can think of the "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" episode "Normal Again." There was a first season episode of "The Magicians" where Quentin is in an asylum. It's normally a hallucination, but B: TAS turns that on it's head (this time). From the beginning, Batman tells us that this is happening. He is indeed in Arkham and uses that as a framing device.

One of my biggest gripes with Scarecrow's first appearance, aside from his costume, was how easily Batman overcomes the effects of the fear toxin. This episode rectifies that and is all the better for it. The best moments of the episode come from Batman's hallucinations. We get the most explicit reference to his father's death yet and a cavalcade of his various Rogue's, which suggest that though Batman wants to be the thing criminals fear most, those same criminals unnerve him. At least to a certain extent. The sequence where Batman goes from his cell at Arkham to where Scarecrow is going to poison the water supply is a trippy, visual feast. We get Joker's head on a rat's body, a giant Penguin whose head explodes revealing Two-Face, Poison Ivy with vine arms reaching out for him. It's great to see Batman struggle, because that makes the moment where he foils the villains scheme feel that much more triumphant.

Kevin Conroy deserves mad props for this episode. He is the unsung hero of B: TAS and this episode gives him a lot of stuff to do and he kills it. 

I really enjoyed this episode, but if I have one gripe it's Batman's narration. I don't have a major issue with characters narrating episodes, as long as it's adding something to the story. This is Batman basically just telling us what we are seeing on screen. It feels pointless and the episode abandons it after ten minutes. I just didn't understand the point. 

This is another episode that kind of faded into the background for me but was another nice surprise.

Grade: A-

"This dog of a dogwood leveled enough trees to shade a small state. And weep not for this willow. She destroyed an old growth forest to produce cardboard, CARDBOARD!"

Gotham's wealthy industrialists are going missing shortly after visiting the new spa, Eternal Youth. Bruce Wayne is sent an enticing videotaped invite but passes the invitation to Alfred and his girlfriend, Maggie Paige. While there, they are exposed to Doctor Demeter's miracle tonic, Demetrite.  Alfred and Maggie are so enthralled after their stay that they are compelled to go back. When Batman learns of the Eternal Youth connection to the disappearances, he makes his own visit and finds Doctor Demeter is really Poison Ivy. She is punishing these industrialists for their crimes against the environment by turning them into trees! And Maggie and Alfred are next.

Come and get it, Alfie.

The three things I remember most from this episode are: 1. Alfred's girlfriend. 2. The tree people. 3. The image of said girlfriend in weird green mud bath that you see to your left. After watching it again, those are still the things that I will continue to remember, which isn't great news for the episode itself. 

As a nine-year-old, I remember thinking that image was very risqué. I mean, she's obviously naked. I really fixated on it and did again as 34-year-old man. Is it though? I definitely feel like this episode has some sexual undertones in this episode. Alfred and Maggie were totally getting it on more after their visit to the spa. Poison Ivy's henchwomen, Violet and Lily, are definitely using their jiggly bits to entice wealthy men like Bruce Wayne to come to the spa to get their comeuppance. 

Ivy's scheme rides that fine line between comically unhinged and sort of understandable. That's important with Ivy. She is a homicidal fanatic, but you still want to empathize with her goals, even if they do involve turning people into trees. 

Poor Maggie. She is introduced out of nowhere to give Alfred a life. Browbeats him into going to this spa. Is almost murdered by Poison Ivy and then is never seen again. You'll be missed Maggie. But we will always have your naked body covered in green goo.

A fun episode that brings back a classic Bat villain.

Grade: B

There we go. First B: TAS blog of 2018 in the books. What'd you guys think? Should Maggie have stuck around? Should Alfred be getting laid more?

Next up, Batman gets the life he's always wanted and someone really wants his cape and cowl.