"I Am the Night" Rewatch: "Catwalk" & "Bane"

Batman: The Animated Series

I know I've probably said this a million times, but it's a testament to the strength of Batman's rogues gallery that this far into B: TAS there are still new villains to be introduced and major ones at that. When I was a kid, I was pretty obsessed with Bane. The Knightfall saga, where Bane breaks Batman's back, was the first big comic crossover that I tried to collect. I remember going to local gas stations, grocery stores, to try to get every issue. What I'm trying to say is, Bane's a big deal, even today. In the current run of "Batman," he's still making the Dark Knight's life hell behind the scenes.

Batman: "We don't have to make this difficult."

Catwoman: "But somehow, we always do..."

While at a charity function, Selina Kyle runs afoul of socialite, Veronica Vreeland. It turns out that Veronica isn't fond of hearing about her grandfather's big game expeditions and his contribution to the extinction of some of the animals being exhibited. Selina doesn't think she's made for the straight and narrow and yearns for the freedom she had as Catwoman. It just so happens that the Ventriloquist and Scarface show up to offer Selina a chance to get that freedom back and stick it to Veronica Vreeland. When it becomes clear that Catwoman has been set up to take a fall, will she chance giving up her freedom to get revenge? And can Batman change her mind?

Meow

Throughout her time on B: TAS, Catwoman has kind of gotten the short shrift. Ever since her introduction, the writers haven't seemed to know what to do with her which is very odd to me. It shouldn't be that difficult to write a compelling Catwomoan story where she doesn't end up turning into an actual cat woman. In fact, the episode where she probably comes off the best and most like her comic counterpart is in "Almost Got 'Im" where she only has a bit part. That episode was written by Paul Dini, as you all know. When I saw this episode was written by Dini, I got pretty excited. We all know that Dini is the most prolific writer that B: TAS has seen so I couldn't wait to see what he would do with a whole episode devoted to Catwoman, especially since I didn't recall this episode from it's original airing.

It's not a huge shock that the episode is entertaining. He gets Selina's voice just right. She has some great moments in this episode. Her vicious takedown of Veronica Vreeland is wonderful. Her natural reaction to laugh at the Ventriloquist and Scarface is spot on. Once she realizes she's been betrayed, she's in full revenge mode and we get to see her like we haven't really seen her since her debut. It's classic Selina and I really, really enjoyed it.

It could be seen as regressive having Selina go back to her criminal ways after all the show had done to reform her, but I say it's fine. Catwoman is more compelling when she is riding that line. She lives in that gray area and that is what makes her such a great foil for Batman.

The one thing I didn't love about the episode was Scarface's whole plot. It's difficult for me to buy that people would spend millions of dollars on these extinct, taxidermied animals. It's even more difficult for me to believe that Batman would save one of these from burning up rather than try to stop Catwoman.

Catwoman finally got her due in this episode and despite the ridiculousness of Scarface's plan, its a solid episode.

Grade: B+

Bane: "You are beaten! Beg for mercy! SCREAM MY NAME!"

Batman: "Never."

Rupert Thorne has had it with Batman. He decides it's time to call in the biggest gun out there. He hires an assassin who was part of an experiment in a Cuban prison called Pena Duro. The man known as Bane has a reputation and he's set his sights on Batman and on Thorne's gal Friday, Candice. After Bane takes out Killer Croc singlehandedly and without much trouble, Batman and Robin know that he is a force to be reckoned with. Bane has vowed to break Batman? Will he succeed?

As I said in the intro to this blog post, I was a big Bane fan back when he was first introduced. Probably because like any dumb kid, I was enticed by what was new and DC was telling me that Bane was a badass and someone I should be into, so I was. I loved this episode as a kid, but having re-watched it as an adult, I can confirm that when it comes to B: TAS and Bane, I was just a dumb kid.

"Bane" is just kind of lackluster. He's kind of a tricky character for the show to use. At this point, his one claim to fame is breaking Batman's back and him doing that here is just not feasible for a multitude of reasons. There's no way that they are going to cripple their lead. So, there is a lot of talk about how Bane is this total badass, but not a lot of showing. 

It's not all talk. The best part of the episode is probably when Bane effortlessly dispatches Croc. Croc if one of the most physically imposing of Batman's villains, so Bane taking him out so quickly impresses upon Batman and Robin that Bane is nothing to fuck with. That being said, the final battle between Batman and Bane is the very definition of anti-climactic. Batman beats Bane pretty easily. Bane Venoms up. He knocks Batman around. Threatens to break him, Batman overloads him with Venom and game over. Cool.

It's a pretty big letdown. The episode spends so much of it's time on set up and things that no one really cares about. Candice is going to leave Thorne for Bane. That really comes out of nowhere and doesn't make a lot of sense knowing what we know about Candice. Did we really need to see so much of that at the detriment of the main event? I don't think so.

Despite this lackluster first installment, I still hope that Bane will return and the writers will give us the Batman v Bane match up that we deserve.

Grade: C

Next up, Paul Dini tells the tragic story of Baby-Doll and Red Claw returns! I bet you didn't see that coming?

What did you guys think? Do you agree Catwoman finally got the story she deserved? Was Bane's debut watered down and lackluster? Let me know in the comments.