We’re almost halfway through the first season of Batman: Caped Crusader. Will we see any other notorious villains from his rogues gallery?
SPOILER WARNING! The following contains spoilers for Batman: Caped Crusader Episode 4 titled “The Night of the Hunters”. Do not proceed if you wish to avoid spoilers!
MAJOR POINTS
- Commissioner Gordon is tasked with apprehending Batman.
- Gordon realizes Batman is not just a mere vigilante, but is also saving lives and helping expose the corruption in Gotham City’s Police.
- Bullock and Flass use underhanded tactics to one-up Gordon
Gotham City Mayor Jessup announces a task force headed by Commissioner Gordon to apprehend Batman after the Gotham Gazette publishes photos of him attacking police officers. Gordon then puts Renee Montoya in charge of accomplishing the task. However, Batman foils every plan. Gordon even sees Batman inside the police department but fails to catch him. Harvey Dent criticizes Jessup, stating that he would do a better job as Mayor.
Dr. Quinzel suggests using a “weirdo” as bait to catch Batman. Bullock and Flass allow a pyromaniac named Firebug to escape and set fire to an apartment complex. Batman saves several people and evades police fire. Bullock and Flass corner Firebug, who tries to surrender. They shoot him in cold blood, and he falls from the building to his death.
Gordon finds Batman saving children from the fire and realizes he is not a mere vigilante. He helps Batman free the children and allows him to escape. He then denies seeing Batman in the building.
The following morning, the papers herald Bullock and Flass as heroes. Mayor Jessup puts them in charge of the Batman task force.
MAJOR QUESTIONS
- How long will Bullock and Flass get their way with this Batman Task Force?
- Does Montoya still have Batman’s radio bug? And if so, why hasn’t she told Gordon?
EASTER EGGS
- A newspaper headline reads “Bat-Man” Bob Kane and Bill Finger originally called him The Bat-Man before shortening the name to just Batman.
- The opening stinger voiced by Corey Burton sounds like a tribute to the legendary voice actor Paul Frees, who used a similar voice to narrate cartoons like George of the Jungle.
- One Gotham police officer is referred to as “Corrigan” which could be a reference to Jim Corrigan, aka The Spectre, a murdered policeman who becomes a supernatural antihero.
- Montoya mentions Dracula.
- The photographer for the Gotham Gazette is named O’Brian, which is also the last name of the superhero Plastic Man.
- Harley mentions her college professor Dr. Crane, which is a likely reference to Scarecrow
FINAL GRADE: B
This wasn’t quite as good as the Clayface episode but it was still pretty darn good. It’s a perfect example of a show being dark and gritty without going over the top. Yes, Bullock and Flass are corrupt and killed Firebug in cold blood, but the shooting was not explicitly shown.
As for Firebug, I don’t recall him being a major player in comics. That may be why they killed him off in a single episode. It was a bit creepy to see him envisioning children running around in flames like it was a birthday party.