Batman Beyond, Season 2, Episodes 22-24
Episode 22: April Moon
The opening of this episode is deceptively simple, too. A bunch of gangsters who's gotten cyborg implants? The visuals are neat -- metal arm-whips, retractable suits of armour, retractable knee-chainsaws... fun visuals, if nothing else, even if most of the gang members are interchangeable. They fight Batman while trying to rob a bank or something, and as Batman goes off to investigate, we get to see that Bullwhip's gang is in cahoots with an old doctor specializing in artificial prosthetics called Dr. Corso -- something that Terry and Bruce figure out in record time because, just like "Armory", this episode isn't necessarily about their fight or crusade against crime. They're secondary characters here, almost.
Corso manages to blindside Batman and escape, but Max later points out that Corso could've done much worse under those circumstances, so it's clearly not black-and-white. It's kind of interesting that between "Zeta" and this episode, Max is basically playing an ally of Terry's that's far, far more willing to see the good in others, whereas Old Man Bruce is a heavy cynic. Max poses as a potential patient who's lost two legs, setting up a meeting between Batman and Corso... but Corso ends up being loyal to Bullwhip, noting angrily that they're going to "kill her now", and gives us some exposition about his pretty wife April, the only good thing in his life. A hostage situation is interesting, and it's even more interesting where Corso really doesn't even entertain the idea of working with the superhero to get her back, and actively aids Bullwhip's gang when they show up to fight Batman.
Batman ends up tracking Bullwhip's gang and meets Dr. Corso outside of their base, with Corso trying to undermine Batman's attempts to take down the gang. They end up finding out that not only is April with the gang, she's not a hostage but rather a member of the gang, even kissing Bullwhip. So she's probably a honey-trap, sent by Bullwhip to seduce the doctor... or, depending on the timeline, Bullwhip and his gang ended up cooking up the plan with April after she's married the doctor. I'm frankly not sure which is worse, but it sure is a pretty surprising twist.
The actual fight is pretty simple, with Batman using the 'April Moon' code to cause all of the cyborgs' machines to self-destruct. The gang member who's gotten both arms and legs replaced with robotic limbs... yeah, that poor guy. Bullwhip escapes, but when Terry returns to Bruce and tells the whole story to him, we get a pretty chilling delivery from Bruce about how "he may not be coming back after all".
And the implication of Bruce's line is probably enough to be creepy, but the episode actually ends up showing Dr. Corso meeting Bullwhip, with Bullwhip wanting one more upgrade, promising to let April go after that upgrade, while Corso ominously says "no holding back..." as the grief-stricken doctor, who has lost everything in his life, prepares to kill (and/or torture) the man who destroyed his life. Ominously dark! I like this one. Perhaps a good part of why I like this one is that I didn't see the twist coming at all... but honestly, it's a pretty solid story with a very solid twist at the end.
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Episode 23: Sentries of the Last Cosmos
Mmmm, yeah, I'm not feeling this one either. It's not as eye-rolling as "The Eggbaby", but I still felt like this was kind of a boring one. Again, I think it's because I simply can't take the concept of this episode really seriously at all.
The idea is that a VR game, "Sentries of the Last Cosmos", got pretty popular. And people run around pretending to be copyright-free Jedi Knights with VR, and one of Terry's friends Corey Cavalieri is a huge fan. Except turns out that the Sentries are real, and they're using the VR game to recruit members. Corey gets invited into the game's creator, Simon Harper, and he meets a whole lot of other fans... all of whom are basically recruited into a weird cult where Harper shows up in Fake Jedi robes, tells them that Sentries of the Last Cosmos is a game that is actually a way to screen and recruit for real Sentries, and that they're going to beat the 'Dark Regent'.
All of this, by the way, is a plan for Simon Harper to brainwash a bunch of youth to kill the original writer of the Sentries franchise, a writer called Eldon Michaels who sued Harper for stealing his script. Let me recap -- Simon Harper has a successful VR game, and somehow is also able to replicate the technology in said sci-fi VR game, equipping a bunch of his kids with hover-discs and fire swords... and he's worried about a copyright suit? Even if he's someone who is willing to resort to murder, like, hire an assassin or something.
I dunno. I guess it's supposed to be a pastiche on MMORPG's or people who get too much into video games and fictional worlds and whatnot, but the whole episode kind of just fell flat on its face for me. And... I dunno, I guess if Simon Harper's motivations are a bit better? Corey as a guest star also really didn't have much to him beyond being a huge fanboy.
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Episode 24: Payback
A simpler one, but also one that I kinda like. This is also an episode that relies on a twist, just like "April Moon", but while I saw the twist for this episode a mile away -- it's basically Anarky, but transplanted to 2029 -- it was still kind of enjoyable. I'm not a big fan of yet another "TROUBLED TEENS" plot, which kinda feels shoehorned in... but the fact that it leads into some genuine Terry character development and actually leads into the villain's more personal motivations compared to, say, "Last Resort", I feel like this episode flows a bit better.
So Payback is introduced to us as this shrouded man with a lightsaber whip, who attacks a boss that's particularly abusive to a teenager, forcing him to work overtime. Payback also introduces himself as essentially a hero and Batman's ally, and we learn that he's a serial attacker who's been targeting parents, teachers and bosses that are abusive to teenagers.
Learning that all the teenagers that Payback 'protected' are enrolled in Gotham Youth Counseling Center, Bruce sends Terry incognito there, and sure enough, Terry gets a couple of leads. A potential next victim (an asshole boyfriend), and what initially seemed to be two suspects -- the head Dr. Stanton (it's not said, but I guess the encounter with Dr. Wheeler had left Terry suspicious of him) and the quiet, towering genius Howard Lewis (who's the initial red herring). We're also introduced to Stanton's son Kenny, who keeps asking his father to talk with him and stuff. While downloading the computer, Terry gets whacked and left unconscious by an unseen assailant, but he manages to seemingly deflect suspicion.
While they confirm that Payback is related to the Center, Terry is very quick to insist that Payback's identity is Howard, while Old Man Bruce admonishes him and says that there isn't a clear motive. Terry attacks Howard anyway, causing a huge fight in the center, but turns out that Howard isn't Payback, who's out attacking another victim. Terry fucked up, and Bruce is very, very quick to scold Terry for not only wasting time and allowing Payback to get away, but also because he assaulted an innocent man.
Terry, meanwhile, jumps into the conclusion that Payback is Dr. Stanton, while Bruce is angry and insists that they do things 'his way' from then on... cutting perfectly into Terry complaining about Bruce as a shitty boss in the Center, ranting about how Terry's never going to be ever good enough for Bruce. Again, as the episode itself explains, this is supposedly a trap to lure in Payback to attack Bruce at a certain hotel, but as Terry himself points out at the end of the episode it's not necessarily an act. It's kind of interesting, and I'm not sure whether the third season will follow up on this, but Bruce Wayne fighting against one of his proteges because of an ego thing? That's certainly a fun plot.
Payback, of course, attacks Bruce Wayne, leading to a pretty cool confrontation on an elevator that shows us how badass Old Man Bruce can be. He doesn't suddenly pull out any Old-Man-Batman-fu, but his simple presence and gravitas does make him pretty damn badass. Terry shows up, fighting Payback in a pretty neat battle, but when it's over turns out that Payback is... Kenny, the young kid, in an armoured suit. And the motive is, well, basically wanting to solve all of the problems of the patients in the Counseling Center, so that his dad will have more time for him. At least Bruce's words to Stanton senior seems to have an effect, but, well, between the real Terry/Bruce conflict and the tragic Kenny story, it's honestly a pretty neat episode overall.
DC Easter Eggs Corner:
- In addition to a lot of other Star Wars references (like the 'Wise One' robes, finger lightning-bolts and the talking gate camera), Terry specifically references Jar Jar Binks ("is Jar Jar lame?") and Eldon Michaels lampoons the franchise's opening dialogue ("it all started a long, long time ago in a cosmos far from Earth" instead of "a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away").
- In a trick that they used in Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (and later in Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker), Payback is voiced by the same voice actor with the red herring character, Howard Lewis.
- I'm not sure how intentional it is, but the Batman villain Anarky was also originally introduced with him being a much younger person being overlooked by Batman as a potential suspect as the secret identity of a supervillain.
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