This is an episode that appeals on a number of levels. First off, it's written by Denny O'Neil, who was one of my favorite writers, back in the day. It's possible that that's a manifestation of O'Neill's original career, which was journalism, and how that colored both his writing style and the characters that emerged from it. He, of course, with Neal Adams, returned The Batman to his origins as a dark menace of the night in direct response to the goofy TV show of the 60s. Since I've always preferred that version of the character, I have great respect for their work and it, in turn, has certainly fueled some of my fiction work and approach to story and characterization. There's reference made in this episode to the fact that, despite Ra's al Ghul (the excellent David Warner) making an appearance in a previous episode (#50, Off Balance) where Talia (Helen Slater) was introduced, she only referred to him as "my father." Here his name is finally uttered, along with the slight mistranslation that O'Neill always used, which is "the demon's head." Literally, it's "head of the ghoul" (ghul), although the latter word can be interpreted as "demon" since, in the Arabic tradition that the word emerges from, ghouls were distinctly supernatural creatures. Details.
Ra's is one of the best of the long-time Batman villains, as he represents a Moriarty-like character; an intellectual rival for our hero like no other and with resources to match. In turn, those aspects do give him a bit of a deus ex machina quality, in that he always seems to have the answer to everything and his plots are so carefully constructed as to be almost immaculate, especially when it comes to enabling his (or Talia's) escape. But O'Neil alleviates that somewhat here by presenting Ra's as suffering from having been away from the Lazarus pits for too long and, then, when finally immersed in one to save his life, the process seemingly driving him mad. The "To Be Continued" immediately following the bout of mad laughter by the villain would almost make you think we're in a Joker episode and kind of extends that overall image we carry of The Batman's milder form of mental illness being used as fuel to combat the far greater madness of most of his opponents. The visual presentation of Ra's was well-done, as it served to highlight one of the inspirations that Adams spoke of when he had created the character, which was Jack Palance, whose magnetic eyes were one of the driving forces of the roles he played. That visual presentation extended to several other parts of this episode, like the shaded presentation of our hero in the temple, such that his color more closely matched that of the black panther that he was fighting or after the helicopter crash, where the blood red fading to purple of the horizon made for a compelling vision as The Batman walks toward the caves in the distance.
Those compelling visuals are matched by O'Neil and director, Kevin Altieri's, pacing of the story. We start out in a suitably noirish thunderstorm in Gotham and keep that atmosphere throughout. Indeed, that opening scene has O'Neil's sense of humor attached, since it's essentially "It was a dark and stormy night... and Robin was breaking into someone's house." We never quite find out why that's the case, but that proper pacing is maintained along the way, as we stop for a look at Alfred's chagrin when he discovers that Robin still isn't hasn't been found. Similarly, the moments for the glances and growls on the part of Ra's and The Batman, respectively, are frequent. We're seeing these figures as the contesting titans that they are, rather than just this week's puzzle to solve. It's a story, not just a chapter of one. That extends to the plot, as many could figure out what our hero does along the way, in that Ra's is behind the whole situation and the clues have been there for all to see: the attackers who know nothing more but the precise address of the kidnappers or how Ubu (Manu Tupou) denies The Batman's attempts to move ahead of Ra's, except when he's running into the temple where the panther is waiting. That's a good story, as it's being told to you on two levels, as long as you're paying attention. On top of that, O'Neil's journalistic background shows through again, when Ra's brings up the problems of deforestation and correctly blames the "overclass" for it. I'm not quite sure that Ra's is the type of ally that the "underclass" really needs, but that's part and parcel of the whole character, perceiving himself as someone who can see things that others can't, if they'd only listen to him.
Story-wise, I've always thought of this one as among the best of the entire series, even if it's only half of a two-parter. The one weak element, unfortunately, is Talia, who's presented as much less of a presence than in her first appearance and mostly an object that her father speaks for. Things are at least a little different in what comes next time, of course: Part two.
