"I Am the Night" Rewatch: "Zatanna" and "The Mechanic"

Batman: The Animated Series

Sometimes it feels like B: TAS takes place in a vacuum. A place where no other DCU heroes exist. It's just the Dark Knight in his never ending battle with his various rogues. That's fine. The early '90's were a simpler time. There didn't need to be all the interconnectivity that we see now. But it is nice to see some familiar faces from outside the Bat universe and that's just what happens in the first episode we deal with in this post.

Zatanna: "What do you care about some leggy dame in nylons? Or did I just answer my own question?

Bruce Wayne gets a blast from his past when famous magician Zatanna Zatara arrives to perform in Gotham City. When Zatanna makes the Gohtam City Mint disappear and then reappear sans all the money inside she's arrested. Batman knows that Zatanna is innocent so he springs her from the GCPD and together they go after the real culprit, supposed magic debunker, Montague Kane. Can Batman exonerate Zatara and keep his lingering feelings for her in check?

Collector's Item

It has to be rough being a prolific writer in any genre. When you consistently hit it out of the park, expectations are so high that you are bound not to hit the high bar you've set for yourself eventually. This episode doesn't reach the staggering heights of "Heart of Ice" or "Almost Got 'Im" but Paul Dini delivers a fun episode that introduces a character that really wasn't getting much play back in 1993.

I really like when the show fills in some of the gaps as far as Bruce's history before he took up the mantle of the Bat even though they can be a mixed bag. Even as a young man, Bruce is taciturn and somewhat sullen, singularly focused on the mission to come. It's fun to watch Zatanna try to pull him out of himself and their connection is apparent and feels real in the short time allotted to it. I'm not sure why Bruce gives the Zatara's the lamest fake name in history, John Smith, when he was totally fine giving sensei and everyone in Japan his real name.

Zatanna's characterization is spot on. She's on and personable on stage. Her banter with Batman is top notch and it's fun to watch Batman sort of be off-balance. I especially loved when he tried to determine if she was married. In the comics, Zatanna can do all sorts of magic by saying spells backwards. The show downplays that which makes sense. Magic isn't super prevalent in the B: TAS universe, but we do get "abracadabra" backwards for the fans.

The weakest part of the episode is villain, Montague Kane. From the jump, when Zatanna introduces him as a magic debunker, it's pretty obvious that he'll turn out to be an evil magic user. I get the impression that Dini intended to Kane to be campy fun over the top, but it veers to far on the wrong side of that line and Kane just comes off as mustache twirling caricature.

Dini will be writing prolific episodes sooner than you think but I'm fine also fine with an above average romp featuring a character that he obviously has a large affinity for.

Grade: B

The Penguin: "I wanted the rare ones! The reverse audobon! These aren't even worth enough to pay for the repairs to the limousine. Give me one good reason why I should have Percival here peck out your eyes."

After a high speed chase with the Penguin's limousine results in the Batmobile taking massive damage, we meet Batman's personal mechanic, Earl Cooper, assisted by his daughter, Martha. When Penguin finds out about Earl, he blackmails him into sabotaging the Batmobile. Can Batman and Robin escape their armored death trap and save Martha?

One episode wonders.

I feel like the B: TAS writers were sitting in the writer's room, brainstorming ideas and then suddenly, one of them remembered that "Batman Returns" existed. It's such a rip-off and so lazy. They tried to make it less of a blatant rip-off by introducing Earl and his daughter, who doesn't get a name until after she's been kidnapped and the episode almost over. But where did they come from? And we haven't we seen Batman and Robin working on the Batmobile at one point or another? Isn't this treading a fine line? It can't be that difficult for Earl to think really hard and figure out the only person in Gotham City who could possibly afford all this.

Earl's back story leaves a little to be desired too. I can buy that he worked for a big bad car corporation with crooked bosses, because let's face it, that's all that's in Gotham, but to be black balled from the ENTIRE auto industry? There's not one decent auto manufacturer anywhere who would appreciate someone who cares about their consumers? 

The Penguin is kind of a non-entity here too. He was the villain because he was the villain in "Batman Returns." He does have some nice one-liners and I did like the sequence with Arnold Rundle, who learns an important lesson about dirty dealings with bird men who live in the sewers. 

All in all, it is just ho-hum and I really can't get behind the lack of originality.

Grade: C

Two more in the books. I'd love to hear your thoughts. Do you wish Zatanna had been more magical? Am I being too hard on old Earl? Let me know in the comments.

Next time, Harley leaves Joker behind and Batgirl begins.