SPOILER WARNING! The following contains spoilers for Batman: Caped Crusader Episode 3 titled “Kiss of The Catwoman”. Do not proceed if you wish to avoid spoilers!
MAJOR POINTS
- This episode has Catwoman’s origin
- It also has the first appearance of Harley Quinn
The opening stinger, Selina Kyle flirts with Bruce Wayne before he slugs a guy out for insulting his mother for wearing pearls in Crime Alley. After the intro, Bruce sees psychiatrist Dr. Harleen Quinzel for therapy.
Greta, Selina’s drastically underpaid maid, wakes her the following day and indirectly inspires her to become the jewel thief Catwoman to pay her bills. She commits several robberies before Batman busts her. However, she manages to skate on the charges and is set free.
Batman catches Catwoman a second time after a chase across the rooftops. She tazes him and escapes in her Catwoman-Mobile. For the third encounter, Batman hires a Gotham Gazette photographer to take pictures of him apprehending Catwoman and knocking out police. This finally gets the charges to stick and Selina is thrown in prison. Greta refuses to bail her out since she hasn’t been paid in three years.
MAJOR QUESTIONS
- How will Catwoman break out of prison?
- Will Bruce continue his therapy sessions with Harley?
EASTER EGGS
- Catwoman’s costume looked like her classic Silver Age/Super Friends look, as did her car.
- We see flashbacks showing young Bruce’s reaction to his parents’ murders and vowing to become Batman.
- Greta is modeled after Mamacita, Jackie Hoffman’s character in the TV show Feud.
FINAL GRADE: A
Another top-notch episode! I think most fans would agree that Christina Ricci could probably play Catwoman in a live-action film. There are also more puzzle pieces in play for future episodes like the police’s increasing frustration with Batman. It’s also likely we’ll see the villains again, whether they escape individually or en masse.