Fun geek fact; this episode was written by Alexx Van Dyne, whose last name is interesting because it is also the maiden name of Marvel's Wasp. Coincidence, but it caught my eye.
So far, this season has been somewhat predictable, focusing mostly on Batman and Robin teaming up with a random superhero of the week, usually ones Batman already knows from the Justice League (save for Superman). Said hero either knows Batman's identity or discovers it very quickly, meets with him in the Batcave, and Batman will usually be instrumental in defeating their own rogue. The only diversion from this formula are episodes where Batman, Robin, and occasionally Batgirl battle the Joker.
That's it. Either Superfriend team-up or Joker episodes. The only bump in this pattern was the Phosphorus episode.
This episode marks the second time Joker ended up getting a super-power to battle Batman with; the first time was BRAWN in Season 3, and thankfully this episode is superior to that rubbish. That doesn't mean it is fantastic, but it is better than last week's episode with Hal Jordon.
Despite the synopsis, this episode was actually hardly like "WHAT IS REALITY?" at all. The beginning reminded me of "IF YOU'RE SO SMART, WHY AREN'T YOU RICH?" (another Timm-era Riddler episode, the first in fact) in which Robin is playing a video game on the Batcomputer which ends up serving a purpose at the end. This time instead of some dungeon crawler, the game is some VR sim where Robin's avatar, Nightwing, battles the nefarious Captain Slash, and loses. By sheer coincidence, Capt. Slash is played by Harry Slash (or "Slacker"), the newest of Joker's minions. All of them are here; Harley, Punch & Judy. The newest gimmick is employing Slash to allow Joker to rob money from banks digitally. It is interesting that in earlier seasons, Joker seemed more obsessed with causing random dangerous pranks or chaos, but in both of his episodes here, he is thinking more like a crook and seeking quick cash. I don't think it is a bad thing, Joker starting to get practical, but felt it was worth noting.
Naturally, Jerry O'Connell reprises his role as Nightwing from last season, only this time Robin's avatar sports the 70's era Perez design, complete with light blue jacket with the collar, and amazingly...it didn't look terrible. Not that I don't prefer Nightwing's current costume, and the last that was animated, but considering how cheesy this costume looked on paper, I was susprised that it didn't look nearly as bad in motion. Considering Bruce Timm will be making a DTV of the Teen Titans's JUDAS CONVENANT story for a future DTV, in which Robin first became Nightwing and donned that costume, it may be a hint of the future.
The rest of the episode is typical Saturday morning fare. Bruce Wayne unveals his technology of the week, which are a set of nanobots that can shift into any form, which reminded me of NANO from the 2k3 era TMNT. When Slash's cyber-helmet short circuts the Joker's psyche into the digital network of the bank during his fight with the Dynamic Duo, the Slacker is able to help him download into the nanobots, thus creating a superpowered Joker. Unfortunately, the real Joker eventually recovers from his injury and competes with his dopple. I did get annoyed at all the "Joker 2.0/Joker 1.0" lines, but Hynden Welch does another good job as Harley, and Patton Oswald's Slacker character was interesting. It was the first time Joker seemed to get a minion who wasn't clown themed or in training to be insane (even Prank was in a clown get-up). Some of Joker 2.0's antics did get a bit ridiculous and reminded me of THE MASK's own cartoon series of the 90's. And sadly, the episode had the one thing that all underwhelming episodes of THE BATMAN seem to have; the Bat-bot. To be fair, the Bat-Bot made sense, and it was used well here, but I just don't care for it, and every time I see it, it reminds me of how much like a generic superhero, and how less like a dark knight detective, that this Batman is. And it still faces the same issue that it did in Season 1; if Batman has this tough Bat-Mech, why not just use that every night and effortlessly beat any criminal? Plot convience, that's why. Hence, best to leave the dopey armor to Iron Man.
Still, despite the corny and dopey bits, I found myself more entertained by this episode than with last week's predictable and generic Green Lantern outing, despite myself. Still, I am getting tired of the Joker. He gets the most episodes and unlike B:TAS, the majority of them are NOT very good. This was better than some, but not his best.
THE BATMAN seems to be playing the Silver and Golden age stories straight and modern. Now, some writers actually like that kind of thing; Grant Morrison is doing that on BATMAN right now. I don't feel it fits for Batman, but it was a part of his era for decades. But it was amusing seeing what ridiculous thing Joker 2.0 would morph into, and a Giant Joker has that sort of 1950's cheese appeal to it, like the sort of idea a kid would imagine is "cool".
Still, if LEGION OF SUPERHEROES has taught me anything, it is that two of the same character in one episode isn't always so hot.
This hasn't been THE BATMAN's worst season by far, but it is a step down from the 4th and hopefully the finale will redeem it somehow.
