"Totally Schway" Re-Watch: "Splicers" & "Earth Mover"

 Batman Beyond

It's time for season two of "Batman Beyond." I feel like I was a little hard on the first season. It's not that I don't like it, it's just that I think it was kind of finding its footing in those first thirteen episodes and I think the show really starts to come in to it's own in season two. Let's get to it!

Dr. Emil Cuvier: "I want to assure everyone that splicing is safe, reversible and more importantly, utterly beautiful. I was the first test subject, and as you can see, I'm perfectly fine."

Terry McGinnis: "Perfectly creepy, is more like it."

The teenagers of Neo Gotham are splicing, which is a procedure that gives you the characteristics of various animals by injecting their DNA into yours. They see it as a fad, but DA Sam Young believes it is dangerous and is trying to get the Chimera Institute ran by Dr. Emil Cuvier, shut down. He may have a point since people who splice have seen upticks in aggression and violence. When Cuvier sends three of his spliced minions after Sam, Batman has to get involved.

Man-Batman Beyond

It really feels like body horror is the trademark of "Batman Beyond," which makes sense in a way. A lot of the original Batman's villain were warped and horrifically changed and "Batman Beyond" really leaned into that and if the first two episodes of season two are any indication, they aren't going to be shying away from it anytime soon. Just look at when Batman injects Cuvier in his chimera form with multiple species of spliced animal DNA. His face and body warps as it goes through multiple changes in a short amount of time. It's extremely disturbing and horrifying and it's perfect for an episode that is all about the downsides of extreme body modification. Can we talk for a quick second about how the say the word "chimera" in this episode. I don't get why they are saying it with a "ch" sound rather than a "ki" sound. I thought maybe I had been mispronouncing it, but I checked dictionary.com, and I was right. How dare they try to gaslight me?

I think that one of the issues with the first season of "Batman Beyond" was they way they tried to have a throughline throughout the season. It is ambitious to do that and I respect it, but it fell a little flat because of the general weakness of the Blight character and how they sort of would drop the thread for a bunch of episodes before picking it back up. Season two makes the smart decision to do more standalone episodes and focus on the things that make the series successful.

One of the things that "Batman Beyond" does really well is show that even though we are in the future there are some things that are universal. And one of those things is how teenagers will strive for individuality by chasing fads and doing the same things that everyone else will do. There are some cheeky moments pointing this out when they are interviewing teens on the news about splicing and Terry points out to his mother, Mary, that even she did similar things in her youth when he comments on the heart tattoo on her ankle. While I agree that altering your DNA using sus medical procedures is more extreme than getting a tattoo, the reasoning behind it is the same. 

I enjoy when "Batman Beyond" nods to the original series in subtler ways than just finding ways to bring characters from "Batman: the Animated Series" to the future. If you're a fan of "Batman: the Animated Series,'" I'm sure you know that the first villain that Batman faced was Man-Bat. I loved that "Batman Beyond" found a way to pay tribute to that here. When Cuvier injects Batman with his splicing serum, Batman eventually transforms into a lumbering, gray furred Man-Batman Beyond. It gives us more body horror too so it's a two birds, one stone situation. If I had one complaint about this it's that we didn't get enough of it. I would have loved more of it. He's cured too soon!!

The battles in "Batman Beyond" feel a bit more brutal than in "Batman: the Animated Series." In "Batman Beyond," we are dealing with someone who didn't travel around the world and train himself in multiple forms of combat. Terry is scrappier. He's more of an improviser. He gets hit a lot more than Bruce did and when he gets hit, he gets hard. I have to say that Terry's banter is getting better, too. I appreciated him telling Ramrod to "go eat a can." That's clever, Terry.

A couple minor issues with this episode. Ramrod, King Cobra and Tigress are a little generic villain wise, which is a bummer and Cuvier isn't much better. Though, shout out to Ice-T who is the voice of Ramrod. I am not a fan of Barbara consistently telling Terry to hang it up as Batman. It's already kind of old especially since it's clear that she's not going to do anything to stop him. So, why keep bringing it up? Overall though, a solid start to season two.

Grade: A-

Bruce Wayne: "This stuff can turn a person's DNA inside out. It's toxic industrial waste. Probably buried several years ago. That's where Wallace fits in."

Terry McGinnis: "You're getting a little ahead of me here."

Bruce Wayne: "Don't you read the news? It was only ten years ago."

Terry McGinnis: "I was seven."

Bruce Wayne: "Oh. Well, back then, the DA accused Wallace of dumping this kind of chemical. Nothing was ever proved though. What did you find out about your friend"

Terry McGinnis: "Not much, except that Wallace isn't her real father."

Bruce Wayne: "Not her father? Now that's intere... um, promising."

Terry's friend, Jackie Wallace, is concerned that someone is following her and Terry sees a shadowy figure. It turns out that it is a creature made of soil. It's not long before earthquakes are rocking Neo Gotham wherever Jackie and her stepfather, Bill, are. When they are dragged underground, Batman has to help them survive a long buried familial secret.

The Mummy?

In a Batman animated series, particularly one set in the Timmverse, you are definitely going to get corrupt businesspeople. I mean, the main villain of season one was a corrupt CEO. When it comes to ranking the awful business men of the Batman animated universe, Bill Wallace is on the lower end of the absolute evil spectrum. And when you are dumping toxic waste underground and you are on the lower end of the evil scale, that really says something about the other CEO's in Gotham/Neo Gotham.

I'm really digging how "Batman Beyond" is developing the relationship between Bruce and Terry. Bruce is extremely socially awkward and I love when they really push that to the forefront. It's such a small moment in the episode, but I love it so much. Bruce and Terry are talking about Bill's past and Bruce is incredulous that Terry doesn't remember the hubbub around him. It was only ten years ago, Terry. Then Terry reminds him that ten years ago he was ten. The chagrin in Bruce's voice when he says "oh" after that is hilarious. And Kevin Conroy plays it so well. I'm not sure any other voice actor could portray that. It's a great micro moment in the episode and it's those moments that are what make "Batman Beyond" so great.

It's great when "Batman Beyond" intertwines Terry's personal life with his life as Batman. This is another great way to differentiate "Batman Beyond" from "Batman: the Animated Series." Terry gets involved with this because of his and Dana's friend, Jackie Wallace. It is smart to take advantage of Terry being in high school and those connections that he has. Though, I do wonder why Jackie or Dana don't say anything when Terry just goes after a shadowy figure with no thought to his own safety. It feels like one of them should say something about that.

"Batman Beyond" hasn't always been great about introducing villains that are particularly original when it comes to their origin stories, but one thing that you can say about them, is that their designs are extremely memorable. And sometimes that is the most important thing. Look at Earth Mover. The Clayface style soil monster is just the amuse bouche to when we finally see Earth Mover in his full glory. This emaciated mummy like body that has fused with the earth and has been there for ten years being fed by these barrels of toxic waste. It's a killer visual and in an animated medium that is what you need.

This is an entertaining episode overall, but the story itself is kind of muddled. Bill tells Jackie the truth about dumping the waste and how her father died in an accident. It's clear that Tony aka Earth Mover, thinks that it was intentional. That Bill didn't want a partner so he did this to him on purpose. It doesn't feel like that is the case and that this is just the result of the toxic waste warping him. But it's not entirely clear and I don't know if that is on purpose. Jackie clearly believes Bill calling him "dad" for the first time after Batman tells her that Earth Mover wasn't really her dad. But it could be clearer overall.

Grade: B

Next up, Jokerz steal a military vehicle prototype and a ghost takes over Terry's Batsuit.

What do you all think? Is "Batman Beyond" the body horror animated series of the Timmverse? Do you agree that season two is better than season one? Let me know in the comments.