"I Am the Night" Rewatch: "Blind as a Bat" and "The Demon's Quest" Parts 1& 2

Batman: The Animated Series

Yowza. I have been super lax here. I'm determined to get back to it. So, I won't spend a lot of time blathering on. We've got episodes to criticize! Here we go.

Dr. Leslie Thompkins: "It's too soon to know for sure, Bruce, but it looks like it's only temporary. It might last two, maybe three times at the most - assuming, of course, you actually follow my instructions for a change.

During a test for WayneTech's experimental new stealth aircraft called The Raven, Penguin shows up to hijack it. While trying to save civilians, a flash fire blinds Bruce Wayne. Dr. Leslie Thompkins concludes that the blindness is most likely temporary as long as Bruce can take it easy. But, he refuses, suiting up as Batman to find Penguin and take him down. Can the Dark Knight succeed when he's down a sense?

What's this go to?

I feel like I've talked a lot about how B: TAS sometimes struggles with how badass to make Batman. Don't get me wrong. Batman is a bad dude. He's the world's greatest detective. He knows a lot of martial arts, but he's still just a man. The show sort of likes to ignore that last part when it is convenient. They like to portray Batman as some Superman level beast who can barely be beaten. This sort of goes hand to hand with the show's Penguin problem. It seems like the show goes out of it's way to portray Oswald Cobblepot as a non threat. I don't have a problem with them sort of playing up his ineptitude or his delusions of grandeur. That can work really well. Look at "Birds of a Feather." But more often than not, a Penguin-centric story finds Ozzie being trounced by children or mechanics or in this episode a blind Batman.

Yes, the show decides to pull a classic "hobble Batman so poor weak *insert bad guy here* has a fighting chance." Don't get me wrong, there is a great story to be told where a vision less Batman is at the mercy of one of his Rogues, but this is not that story. 

The whole thing is super predictable. First, Batman gets his robot eye helmet, because of course he has a robot eye helmet. The whole thing is vaguely explained and it falls apart if you think about too hard. It starts flickering once the Batwing crashes. Penguin of course figures out Batman is blind and goes for him. This should feel tense, but the stakes never feel that high. The episode never feels like Batman is in any real danger so why should we care or even pay attention? 

Grade: C

Batman: "You still have me at a loss, Ra's al Ghul. Just how did you learn who I am?"

Ra's al Ghul: "I control a vast global organization, Detective. Obviously, Batman's activities require certain costly implements. It was a simple matter for my people to learn which wealthy Americans were amassing what Batman might require. The one who matched my daughter's description of you was Bruce Wayne.

Batman: "Next time I'll have to glue my mask on."

When Robin is abducted, Batman finally comes face to face with Talia's father, Ra's al Ghul. It turns out she has also been taken. When he finds Ra's and his manservant, Ubu, in the Batcave, he agrees to join him on a worldwide search for the abductees. After locating Robin & Talia, Ra's reveals that he was being the kidnappings and the search was a test to see if Batman was worthy of leading Ra's organization. Things go south when Batman refuses and Ra's takes a dip in the life extending Lazarus Pit. Can Batman stop Ra's from unleashing his plot to curb the world's population?

Bat-DSM

From the beginning, you know this two-parter is going to be different than past episodes. There is a cold open. For those of you that don't know, a cold open is like a tease before the credits of the episode. It's a great way to signal that we are about to see something that we haven't seen before without it being super heavy handed.

The whole thing really fires on all cylinders. There is a surprising amount of comedy in the episode. Batman and Ubu's rivalry is very entertaining, with Batman counting the times that Ubu disrespects him before unleashing on him. It's little details like this one that really make the episode tick and make it something special. It takes the Dark Knight out of his comfort zone and away from Gotham City and it helps the viewer realize just how much they needed that.

Hot

The first part of "The Demon's Quest" is sort of Batman as Indian Jones. Ra's, Ubu and Batman travel around the world to try to locate Robin and Talia. There are cultists in Malaysia, panthers attacking and it comes as zero surprise when Batman finds out that the whole thing was orchestrated by Ra's al Ghul himself. Batman, of course, has already figured this out and is not surprised when he finds out that Talia was in on the plan the entire time.

There is an innate mysticism with Ra's al Ghul and it's not something we see very often in B: TAS or in the Batman mythos in general. It makes sense that the writers would move the setting somewhere else to make it work well within the context of the show. The introduction of the Lazarus Pit is great and the part one ends on a pretty chilling cliff hanger with Ra's ready to kill his own daughter in a fit of Pit induced madness.

Part two is a little less than part one. It's still entertaining but it's a bit paint by numbers. Ra's lets Batman in on his plan to ignite the Lazarus Pits around the world in order to murder half the world's population. It's his way of saving the Earth. I sort of wish more time had been spent on this. It's sort of glazed over as much as it can be. That's not to say that Batman and Ra's sword fight is pretty bad ass, as is Ra's dive into the Lazarus Pit, never to be seen again. Or is he?

Things are left up in the air, as Talia takes over her father's organization. She plans to continue to follow in her father's footsteps. It's an interesting way to leave things and it sort of leaves a bad taste in my mouth. So, Talia plans to still thin the herd, but Batman is cool with it? And parts with a kiss? It's a clumsy resolution to a very entertaining two-parter.

Grade: B+

Sorry for the delay all! Apparently, I decided to take June off. I'm back at it again, so be on the look out for more.

Next up, HARDAC returns and Batman has a brush with the gods.