My Batman the Animated Series reviews continue with episodes 46-50! My reviews will use an A(Great), B(Good), C(Ok), and D(Bad) rating system as well as my thoughts on the episode.

46. Almost Got ‘Im: My favorite episode of the series. This is probably the episode I’ve been most excited about rewatching. The Joker, Two-Face, the Penguin, Killer Croc, and Poison Ivy are playing cards in a shady bar while trading stories about their closest calls with killing the Dark Knight. Paul Dini gives us multiple vignettes about Batman and his most iconic foes while wrapped around an interesting concept of villains playing cards and swapping tales with a great twist ending. I don’t want to give much away, because this episode is a must see. The episode is such a cool way to tell a story, and has some such genuinely funny and exciting elements to it. Each of the character’s stories are absolutely brilliant, and feel like they mesh seamlessly into the tapestry of the show’s mythology. We have some great character interactions, between Batman and all his foes and between the rogues themselves. Poison Ivy and Two-Face acknowledge their relationship, they tease Killer Croc, and they all think Penguin is as ridiculous as we do. Other Easter eggs like the origin of Batman’s giant penny, and which cards Two-Face and the Joker have are really cool details to note. The animation in this episode was beautiful. The faces were all well animated and Batman’s action scenes were well done, especially with the cape. My only “complaints” are so overwhelmed by the positives that they’re almost not worth mentioning, but the background in the club was too vague and just seemed a little lazy, and I don’t love it when Batman uses disguises that wouldn’t realistically fool anyone. There were multiple twists towards the end that just make this episode so much jucier, but the simple part of the story that really pulled it all together with a neat bow was the final line of the episode. Overall, perfect episode with unique story telling and a strong grasp of the mythology. Rating: A++

47. Birds of a Feather: In order to spice up her stuffy parties, socialite Veronica Vreeland befriends the newly released and supposedly reformed Penguin. The Penguin becomes quite smitten with Veronica and once he realizes that she’s playing him for a fool, he kidnaps her and holds her for ransom, bringing him to a theatrical duel with the Dark Knight. As I’ve said before, I’m not a huge fan of the Penguin, I think it’s really hard to make him interesting, dangerous, and likable. I think this episode does a pretty good job of humanizing the Penguin and while they retain his over the top and stuffy personality, they make him sympathetic and dangerous. Veronica Vreeland is introduced here and becomes another staple in Gotham, which I like. Though Veronica is honestly kind of a bitch, you can tell she does grow fond of the Penguin, but he has every right to not forgive her. I thought the Pierce character was great, you just have to hate him because he’s so awful so I thought that was good. The scene where Batman is keeping an eye on the Penguin is smart and well done. But the episode gets a little ridiculous with the final theater battle, while I appreciate the sort of epic approach to using the drama department props, it seemed like a little much and kind of silly. It’s a good Penguin episode, but it’s still a Penguin episode, so in my opinion, it can only be so enjoyable. Rating: B-

48. What is Reality?: The Riddler returns to wipe Edward Nigma from record and challenge the Batman in a game of wits by trapping him in a virtual world. I really enjoy the Riddler as a character in the comics and in theory, but in the animated series, I feel like they struggle to make him work. This episode I’m very wishy-washy on. I think the episode started off cheesy and kind of worked itself out. The puzzles and riddles they use in the episode are clever but they get solved so quickly, it doesn’t leave much time for the viewer to think about them. I also have a problem with the Bat-God theme that runs though the Riddler episodes, where Batman knows everything and doesn’t have to really work to solve any of the Riddler’s puzzles. I think it makes Batman seem infallible and demotes the Riddler to a mere annoyance. I think that the episode had a lot of potential, and could be a story worth revisiting, especially with more modern animation or art styles. The virtual world was pretty cool! The concept of the virtual reality game and with Riddler deleting his Edward Nigma persona were both great story ideas that would be really cool, but I think they felt a little squished together. The entire story could’ve been fleshed out a little more (why was he targeting Gordon?) and the animation was not great until the scene where Batman and Riddler duplicate themselves which was very well done. Overall, a decent episode that falls just short of all its potential making it an ok but enjoyable watch. Warning, if you’re lactose-intolerant than avoid this episode. Rating: C+

49. I am the Night: A fantastic investigation into Batman’s motivations and the impact of his war on crime in Gotham. Batman returns to visit the site of his parents’ deaths with Leslie Thompkins, a great reminder of this tradition that really canonizes it into the Batman mythology, but ends up stopping a mugging and rescuing a street kid. Due to his hangups elsewhere Batman is late to help Gordon, Bullock, and the GCPD decide to begin their raid on the Jazzman’s operation. Gordon is shot and hospitalized. Batman throws himself into a pit of guilt that takes a kick in the pants from Dick Grayson to rescue him from. Batman saves Gordon from the escaped Jazzman and remembers why he does what he does. This is a great episode! It’s filled with drama, action, and mythology. It really takes a good hard look at Batman’s war on crime and who he is to the people of Gotham. It also has recurring characters that fill his universe like Jim and Barbara Gordon, Leslie Thompkins, Robin, and Bullock and nails exactly who he is to these people. The Jazzman was a good choice for a villain, though he’s really just a no-name crook, they give him a grudge against Gordon and that’s all he needs. The story is about Batman and I think it gives us a great look at the character. The animation is bizarre in this episode, sometimes it seemed the characters were drawn well but a little over drawn, but they seemed a little bulky and the movements have been done better. Overall, a deep Batman story that comes full circle. Excellently written! Rating: A

50. Off Balance: Batman investigates the Society of Shadows and their figurehead, Count Vertigo to stop their plot to steal a sonic demolition device from Wayne Tech. Along they way he allies himself with the mysterious vixen, Talia! Together they are able to defeat Vertigo and recover the sonic device. Talia double crosses Batman, taking the device to her father only to realize it’s been sabotaged. An interesting and enjoyable episode that brings us a lot of mythology from the DC Universe. Count Vertigo is a nice touch, but the introduction of Talia and Ra’s al Ghul is the most exciting part of the episode. I’m glad the plot was fleshed out enough at the beginning to give a mystery to the story and include the GCPD but it seemed to thin out towards the end. One thing that I’ve always hated is when they try to make Gotham a parallel to New York City with a Statue of Liberty. It’s just stupid and wrong and it takes away from the individuality and character of Gotham City itself. Huge pet peeve. The animation was inconsistent, with a chunky Batman and awkward movements from him and Talia, but the vertigo scenes were great and disorienting! The plot did seem to rely a lot on convenient plot holes, like Batman’s belt being cut and Vertigo happening to fall into a river. I don’t know, that bothered me a little bit. Overall, a pretty good episode that foreshadows the coming of Ra’s al Ghul. Rating: B