"Totally Schway" Re-Watch: "Golem" & "Meltdown"

 Batman Beyond

I didn't bring it up in my first "Batman Beyond" post, but the theme song is great. It is like the most late '90's/early '00's and I love it. I'm going to post it below here so you can give it a listen before we dive into these two episodes. Check it out.

Bruce Wayne: [about Nelson Nash] "Do you know anyone who has a grudge against him?"

Terry McGinnis: "The line starts with me and goes around the block... twice."

Nerdy robotics student, Willie Watt, is getting it from all sides. He is bullied by Nelson Nash for his crush on Nash's girlfriend, Blade. He's being bullied by his own father, Frank, for being a wuss. Willie snaps and takes control of his dad's construction robot, the Galvanic Lifting Machine. After using GoLeM to destroy Nash's car, Batman gets involved and the feedback from Batman going after GoLeM creates a connection between the robot and Willie that doesn't require the controller band.

Who's a wuss now, Dad?!

It's nice to see "Batman Beyond" keeping up a longstanding tradition that began with the original Batman and we saw a lot in "Batman: The Animated Series." That is Batman actually creating his own enemies. That is exactly what Terry does in this episode. He turns this nerdy guy that he kind of feels sorry for and makes him a real mental case who can control electricity? Robots? Just this GoLeM? All electronic devices? It's really kind of unclear what his actual powers are. At first, I thought it was just this mental connection he had with the GoLeM because of the backlash that happened with the headband. But then at the end of the episode, when he's in juvie, he destroys the television in the rec room because of his powers? It's really confusing and I don't think it really needs to be.

The story of Willie Watt is a story that we have seen a million times before. A nerdy kid obsessed with the pretty, popular girl. He's bullied at school. Bullied at home. I literally laughed out loud when Frank tells Willie that he isn't raising a wuss. Well, dude, you clearly did and that isn't a bad thing. I'd much rather raise a "wuss" who is clearly smart than a jackass like Frank and Nelson Nash. It's honestly pretty difficult to feel bad for the people that Willie goes after with the GoLeM. Why should I feel bad for Nash when all I've seen him be for the past four episodes is absolutely awful to literally everyone even the girl he purports to care about. He left her to fend for herself multiple times in this episode. Or the dad that verbally and probably physically abuses him? Honestly, it feels like he is giving them what they have coming. 

The main issue here is that the episode doesn't put its own twist on any of this. It all kind of goes how you expect it to. I kept waiting for a "Batman Beyond" twist on these events that never really came. I will say initially I was annoyed by Willie being so obsessed with Blade when she clearly doesn't want anything to do with him. It makes him like a giant creep. But I will say my stance softened a little bit when she uses him to make Nash jealous. Also, does anyone ever notice how bullying in shows like this quickly turns to attempted murder? Like, Nash pushes Willie into the water. What if he couldn't swim and drowned? It's just wild to me that this is treated like commonplace "bullying."

The action in this episode is great. That is one thing that you can always count on when you are dealing with a Timmverse DC animated show. The action set piece at the end is really cool. I love that the show keeps adding new cool wrinkles to Terry's futuristic Batsuit. There is the camouflage aspect that is introduced here and used multiple times throughout the episode. That is the kind of stuff that I want to see from a future Batman and I'm glad the show is delivering it.

I don't think this episode is awful, it's just very mid. I want more from the show. I see the potential and I really want the show to live up to it. Luckily, its still early.

Grade: C-

Mr. Freeze: "Stay where you are."

Batman: "You've got to get out of here, Fries! The whole place is going to go!"

Mr. Freeze: "Believe me, you're the only one who cares."

Derek Powers is still trying to hide his radioactive powers but it is getting more and more difficult. He is approached by Dr. Stephanie Lake who has an idea on how to do it. Create a new body for Powers and then transfer his neural net to it. They decide to use a guinea pig to test the process: Bruce Wayne's old enemy, Dr. Victor Fries aka Mr. Freeze. The procedure seems successful at first and it looks like Victor is embracing his new lease on life and is attempting to make amends. But when his new body starts to revert and he's betrayed by Lake and Powers, will he revert to his old ways?

Bad ass.

One of the things that "Batman: The Animated Series" is known for is the rejuvenation of Mr. Freeze. The "Heart of Ice" episode introduced us to a Mr. Freeze that was genuinely scary. He had pathos. You empathized with him. He wasn't the joke that he kind of had been up until that point. "Heart of Ice" is such a classic episode that the comics ended up adopting that origin story for the villain. So, it isn't a huge surprise that the best episode of "Batman Beyond" so far is one that brings this classic Batman villain into the mix.

This episode also connects back to the Derek Powers story who is still struggling with his radioactive transformation. The scientists working with him have developed a synthetic skin that is only lasting a day. Enter Dr. Stephanie Lake. I'm not sure if anyone else thought her hair was green, but I definitely did. I didn't initially realize that it was just the glow from Powers's radioactive skin. I kind of wish she had green hair like Polaris from the X-Men, but alas... Lake is the one who has the brilliant idea to test her transplant idea using Victor Fries.

The reveal that Fries is there is really great. If you had no idea what this episode was about going in to it, then this was perfect. Due to the circumstances of Fries's condition, he is functionally immortal. He puts it in perspective when he is approached by Lake. He has something that many people would kill for which is immortality, but he woul ddo anything to die. It's really sad actually even if Fries talks about it rather dispassionately.

The procedure is successful and it seems like Victor has a new lease on life and he is taking advantage of it. Shocking no one, Bruce Wayne is not convinced that his old enemy has turned over a new leaf. He tasks Batman with keeping watch over Victor and all Batman sees is a man who is determined to make good use of this second chance. Victor rescues a cat from being hit by a train. He is attacked by a masked assassin but it turns out to be a victim of Victor's looking for revenge. Rather than go after this man, Victor refuses to press charges and vows to do right by the people he hurt. He starts the Nora Fries Foundation with money that he accumulated to help these victims. It's all looking great and you find yourself rooting for Victor even though we all know that things are going to go horribly wrong soon enough.

And like clockwork it does. Victor's body starts reverting and he realizes that he trusted the wrong people when Lake tries to trap him and raises the temperature in the room to kill him. Victor escapes and isn't long before Mr. Freeze is back. I complained a lot about Mr. Freeze's look in "The New Batman Adventures" but I have no complaints about his new look here. It is extremely bad ass. I like how you can't really see all his face in the helmet. He doesn't have a freeze gun, there are just freeze ray gauntlets. He goes after Powers and Lake, killing Lake, which is really scary especially after seeing this softer side of Freeze in the beginning portion of the episode.

Mr. Freeze seems to have met his match when Powers joins the fight as Blight. So, not only do we get the return of Mr. Freeze, but we also get Blight making his debut in the series. Blight is the perfect foe for Freeze since he uses his radiation powers to counteract Mr. Freeze's cold. Batman fights Blight too, but he gets smacked down pretty hard. Freeze is ready to destroy this factory to finally end his life. Instead of making it explode, he lets it crumble around him. Batman tries to save him, but Freeze doesn't want to be saved. 

This is such a great episode. It shows that "Batman Beyond" can be just as impactful as "Batman: The Animated Series." We get everything that makes the latter series a classic in this new show. I've talked about how much potential "Batman Beyond" has and here we finally see that potential being realized. Here's hoping that Mr. Freeze survived.

Grade: A-

Next up, Batman goes up against the Terrific Trio and Powers hires Shriek to take out Bruce Wayne.

What did you all think? Were you a little let down by "Golem?" Do you agree that the return of Mr. Freeze brought out the best in "Batman Beyond?" Let me know in the comments.