"I Am the Night" Re-watch: "Old Wounds" & "The Demon Within"

 The New Batman Adventures

"The New Batman Adventures" can veer wildly from dark and broody to wacky and crazy and more in line with what you'd think of when you're watching a show aimed at children. These two episodes demonstrate that pretty well.

[Batman knocks away Joker's pet hyenas]

The Joker: "Hey! Do I hit your kids?... Oh, actually I do. Ha-ha!"

When Nightwing helps out Robin with a couple of muggers, he ends up telling the new Boy Wonder why he ended up leaving his mentor and guardian's side. 

Robin said knock you out.

Ever since "Batman: The Animated Series" transitioned to "The New Batman Adventures," Nightwing has not been the Dick Grayson we remember. He's sullen and zero fun and it all seems to stem from his issues with Batman. Tim is irritated that neither of his partners will tell him what their beef is, but Dick finally gives in and tells him the story of his demise as the original Boy Wonder.

This episode give some necessary back story to the current situation between Batman and Nightwing and I kind of wish we had gotten it a little earlier in the season. That being said, this episode does a great job of establishing tension between Bruce and Dick in a relatively short amount of time. It could have felt rushed and unrealistic but there are just enough things that happen along with voice acting of Kevin Conroy and Loren Lester. Bruce not showing up to Dick's college graduation is awful. I feel like B: TAS sort of downplayed that Bruce was a pretty garbage father figure but they are not shying away from it here. Bruce is completely unapologetic and when Robin joins his mentor later on, you can feel that the straw is getting ready to break.

The scene where Bruce roughs that guy up in front of his kid is pretty harrowing and again, shows a side of Batman that you don't really think about. It makes complete sense that Dick would not be on board for this. Thus begins, Dick's unraveling, and again, Loren Lester plays all of this just right. I completely forgot that Barbara didn't know that Bruce and Dick were Batman and Robin when B: TAS ended so Bruce revealing his secret to her was a legit moment and something I was happy we got to see. Robin's final confrontation with Batman was pretty harrowing and the punch got me. I was fully clutching my pearls Batgirl style.

I really like this episode but not everything works. The Joker sub plot feels like a throwaway. Nightwing finding out that Bruce ended up giving Connor, the thug he threatened in front of his family, a job at Wayne Enterprises, feels almost too tidy. That was all it took to get you to reconsider holding a grudge against Batman? I'm not buying it.

Grade: B+

Batman: "You've done enough damage for one night, young man."

Klarion, the Witch Boy: "You think you're going to stop me?"

Batman: "Yes."

Klarion, the Witch Boy: "No one's talked to me like that in so long."

Batman: "Get used to it."

At an auction, Bruce bids on a brand that was once owned by the witch, Morgan Le Fay. He gives it to his friend Jason Blood who is trying to keep it out of the hands of his rival, Klarion. Klarion won't give up that easily and sends his familiar, Teekl, to steal it. Teekl is successful and Klarion separates the Demon Etrigan from Jason. Can Batman free Etrigan from Klarion and re-bond him to Blood before it's too late?

Behold the Demon Etrigan.

This episode is a lot of fun. The last episode was pretty heavy, so it is nice to just have twenty odd minutes of Batman basically going after a petulant magical teenager. 

We don't see Batman really go up against the fantastical or the magical very often, so its a nice change. It's a bit more whimsical, which isn't a word I would usually associate with Batman or even "Batman: The Animated Series." It's crazy to think that kids in the late '90's were being introduced to characters like Etrigan and Klarion through this series. Eat your heart out, Grant Morrison. 

There isn't a ton to this episode. Klarion gives me teenage Loki vibes. He's a brat. You know how Batman deals with teenagers so a magical teenager really gets under his skin, so it's very entertaining to watch. This is an interesting interpretation of Etrigan. I'll be honest, I'm not super familiar with his history, but from what I do know he's just a rhyming demon who doesn't really like being bonded to Blood. This Etrigan hates Klarion for some reason and seems to miss Blood being his host.

This episode is pretty slight so there's not much to say about it. I do kind of wish they had done a bit more fleshing things out. How did Bruce and Jason Blood become good enough friends that Bruce would drop $1 million bones for that brand? Why is he so non chant about this? What's the point of Tim being there? 

Grade: B

Next up, we get the Dark Knight from the perspectives of some common street thugs and Livewire and Supergirl pay a visit to Gotham.

As always, I want to hear your thoughts. Were you satisfied with Dick's reasoning for ditching the Robin identity? Did you enjoy Batman clashing with Klarion? Let me know in the comments.