I do agree with
November Rain a bit that Batman's martial arts prowess is relied upon far too often and about 80% of the time is how he undoes his foils, even after he figures out a given mystery. The comics have sometimes had this problem, too. With this the back of my mind, I watched "The End of the Batman".
According to a CBR interview, this episode was supposed to take place after the Hawkman episode and before the 2-part JL-teamed finale. In a way it feels like an episode that could have made a good season finale, or even series finale (as this is Season 5, and WB rarely goes beyond 5 seasons with a show regardless of ratings). Instead, though, the tone of the episode was kept too light and the writers in a way played things TOO safe. The concept of Batman facing someone who is literally his polar opposite in motivation should be a horrorifying thing. Instead, Wrath & Scorn were almost essentially "rogues of the week". Thankfully, with the endless generic team-up episodes lowering the bar for this season compared to the 4th, it still comes off as one of this season's better efforts.
In the comics, Wrath was a one-shot villain, showing up for the first & last time in BATMAN SPECIAL #1, circa 1984. While he dies in the story, it seems that Grant Morrison based his Prometheus villain during his JLA on him. Wrath had no real name and naturally, waged a caped crusade against law and order when his criminal parents were killed by a young cop while trying to duck out on rent (the cop mistook them for burglars, and they were, just not at that moment), and the cop who shot then turned out to be Jim Gordon, now the Commish. He learns Batman's identity and attacks his family, hospitalizing Alfred and taking Leslie Thompkins hostage. He later falls off a roof and dies.
This episode is a heavilly watered down version of that story, and Wrath doesn't quite work with that watering. The episode also adds a partner, Scorn, to occupy Robin. Neither he or Robin contribute a lot to the story besides wisecracks, and both could have easily been written out. In this episode, Batman & Robin first encounter the Undynamic Duo when they are chasing Penguin, allowing the foul to escape. The pair show themselves fully trying to help the Joker steal from a new lottery escapade, a favor the Barefoot Prince of Crime hardly appreciates. Wrath & Scorn seem to believe that criminals are simply trying to make a living and "it is hard enough without having to deal with The Batman". It is an interesting motivation; unfortunately, aside for Penguin and to to some extent Killer Croc, the rogues Wrath & Scorn unite are mostly insane (Joker, Ventriloquist & Scarface). Perhaps instead of Joker, who along with Penguin shows up FAR too often, perhaps Catwoman and Gearhead, two criminals who aren't insane, could have been used. Heck, Catwoman's been vacant all season. Maybe even Ragdoll.
The biggest "watering" is that Wrath & Scorn's parents are still alive, just in prison. I suppose that is enough of a motive but it takes some of the tragedy away from Wrath. I suspect that could have been BS & P at work, which is mind boggling. All the 8-13 year old kids watching at home are supposed to be aware that Batman's parents were murdered when he was a kid by a mugger. This is the iconic origin of Batman and was heavilly alluded to over the first 2 seasons. If they can accept the fact that a hero has murdered parents without melting into protoplasm, why not Wrath? Why not even TRY to imply it? That was the biggest problem I had with this episode. It had potential, and let it go by playing too safely. It isn't the only episode to do this, but it still was frustrating.
Wrath & Scorn are given real names, Will & Andrew Mallory, and they are fellas that apparently Bruce & Dick go rock-climbing with, and other assorted activities. Naturally, by introducing them this way, the audience obviously knows who they are, especially as they have the same voice. Granted, this isn't the only episode to do that, either in Batman animation or in superhero cartoons as a whole. I found it silly as a child and I still find it silly. Yes, kids aren't nearly as dumb as many adults think, and the odd thing is once people reach adulthood it is like they forget what childhood was like, hence all the BS & P coddling. Andy & Dick naturally are rivals who talk trash with each other. Using that grappling hook thing to help lead to Wrath & Batman discovering each other's identities would have worked better had it not been done in such a heavy handed way. While Scorn outright hated the dynamic duo, Wrath was at least impressed with Batman's prowess, noting how alike they were.
Wrath & Scorn organize Penguin, Joker, Ventriloquist & Killer Croc into a gang, and all seem to be aboard for it, save Joker. It was good seeing Wesker again, and it made sense that Penguin would be for organizing, considering his own "Team Penguin" (of which Croc was a member). Ron Perlman's "Southern Twang" for Croc still takes a little getting used to and always reminds me of Leatherhead from the original Ninja Turtles cartoon. Harley makes a cameo but doesn't speak. Unfortunately, it seems Batman can figure out where the rogues will strike simply by being aware of any large sort of gathering or shipment involving money, and sure enough, he hits paydirt. The rogues flee empty-handed, but Wrath deduces his identity.
However, instead of using this knowledge to organize an army of the underworld, which would be successful or at least worthy of an envelop-pushing episode, Wrath & Scorn try to ambush the duo in the Batcave themselves. They slap Alfred around a bit and to be fair, Batman & Robin literally can't beat them physically. They are too evenly matched and the odds seem to fall against them the longer they brawl. Batman has to resort to bat-summoning sonics to dispatch the pair (causing Wrath to fall about 15-30 feet and bounce off a rock on the way down, which defeats him).
The ending seems on the verge of offering a moral dilemma; Wrath vows to tell everyone Batman's secret if he is arrested. Batman is faced with little choice; it is against his code to release a criminal simply for personal gain (unless you're Catwoman, and she usually escapes on her own, although Batman seems to try less hard with her), but without his identity, his Batman identity is finished. Of course, Bruce could still be a crime-fighter without a secret identity (everyone knows Oliver Queen is Green Arrow and that doesn't stop him, for instance), it would simply be harder and his allies would be at risk. Alas for Wrath & Scorn, Joker masquarades as a cop and gases them. Batman & Robin then leave them all smiles to chase the Barefoot clown.
Now...how exactly will this settle the problem? Joker created his current gas incarnation in Season 1 or 2 and Batman has always created a handy antidote. It is presumed that anyone he gases is cured, otherwise that lottery woman just died on screen; and if THAT is allowed, why can't Wrath have dead parents mentioned? I would assume that Gordon and the police probably have stored some antidote for Joker's gas considering how often he uses it around Gotham, or Batman would keep having to send them vials. I refuse to believe that gased characters die on screen, especially as Batman shows no worry for them; they simply are immobilized and can be saved in time. So after Wrath & Scorn are cured, how does that stop them from blabbing? A J'onn mindwipe?
Another major problem is that considering Wrath is about defending criminals and trying to give cops as much hassle as possible (he tries to crush one police car with some barrels), why wasn't Gordon involved? THE BATMAN used to also have Det. Yin, who was REALLY missed here. Without any police allies to be threatened, there was no emotional involvement in the rescues or attacks.
As it was, it was an average episode with some good action, a simple plot and some good one-liners. But it had the potential to be so much more, and THE BATMAN dropped the ball. Rare, isn't it?
I hate seeing episodes that have the potential to be classics instead become mediocre, especially with using a low popularity rogue that Bruce Timm never touched (the closest he got was LOCK-UP, which was a much better episode than this). Sometimes an episode that fumbles good potential is worse than one that outright sucked, if that makes sense. Ugh.
Three more Superfriends team-up's to go.
