Batman: TAS, episode #61: The Demon's Quest, part 2

This episode is a fine example of the difference in writers utterly changing the nature of a production. In the same way that writers are more than just "the guys who put the words in the bubbles" in comics, screenwriters do an enormous amount to shape the final product, often by pacing, sequencing, and, yes, dialogue. In this case, Denny O'Neil was unable to write the screenplay for The Demon's Quest, part 2 as he had done with part 1, so the credits ended up being Story by Dennis O'Neil and Len Wein and Teleplay by Len Wein. Just like part 1, this is an adaptation of an O'Neil story from Batman #244 ("The Demon Lives Again") but the fact that Wein receives a partial story credit leads me to believe that much of the degradation in delivery is down to him. It's worth mentioning that, as we've noted multiple times before, Wein isn't a bad writer. But he's also not a great one like O'Neil has often been. We see that right from the outset as the maddened Ra's al Ghul (the still-excellent David Warner) approaches and The Batman steps forward to throw down with him, only for Talia (Helen Slater) to step in as if she's going to do the "beauty and the beast" thing... and instead just uses her own form of violence by cracking dad a good'un across the face. Not exactly subtle storytelling. Wein's also prone to one of the oldest villain clichés in the book: drastic exposition in the form of villain monologuing. How would our heroes have any clue as to where Ra's is going or what he's doing if he didn't blab about how they were escaping to their "desert stronghold"? It's an exposure of how Wein's stories tend to be more paint-by-number superhero stuff, whereas O'Neil's are rooted in more classic adventure prose.

It was still veteran Kevin Altieri on the director's reins so, again, I'm pretty confident in thinking that the utter abandonment of the noirish tone that suffused part 1 is down to Wein's desire to play up the action. It has to be said that there are a couple odd directorial moments, though, such as Robin casually being left behind in the plane without explanation (a moment of explanation that was cut, perhaps?), as well as a pretty strange moment for a commercial break that doesn't focus on our hero or a villain, but just an open parachute over the Sahara. To the animation studio's credit, though, seeing The Batman's costume still slashed by the panther from the last episode as he and Robin attempt to survive over the Lazarus pit was a nice touch. In contrast, Ra's' men "searching" The Batman resulting in half his costume being torn away was kind of ridiculous. It's an obvious setup for him and Ra's to do the manly sword duel later, which is about as Doc Savage as you can possibly get. And then we get to the funniest moment, where our hero insists to Ra's that "You have nothing to lose by telling me what you're doing here!" He's not even letting him monologue on his own! He's using the hero to demand that he monologue! Woof. So, after a block of exposition detailing the master plan, we fall right back into the action. It just lacks the panache that O'Neil wielded in the first half. Credit for the one Ra's response, though, when The Batman shouts: "That will cost countless lives!" "Actually, detective, we have counted."

And, despite my seemingly derogatory tone, I don't object to action if it feels appropriate to the story. These are superhero comics/cartoons, after all. I just want it to fit the style that the story began with. As a case example, after all of their frustrating encounters for both hero and audience, the final confrontation between Ubu (George Dicenzo; odd that this was a different actor) is extremely unsatisfactory. We needed an epic beatdown and we got the bad guy tossed against a wall and crumbling. And, of course, after the grand showdown between Ra's and The Batman, the latter not only stops the signal to destroy/reshape the Earth with two seconds to spare, but that signal interruption also de-orbits the satellite...? Even as a kid, I'd have been arching an eyebrow at that one. The very Casablanca-like kiss in the sunset seemed mildly appropriate, if corny, and I'm still not sure whether concluding with the mad laughter of the still living Ra's (Spoilers!) was the way to end it. By default, most comic readers know that villains of that stature won't just disappear off-camera but I guess it does kind of play up his immortality by doing the hand-over-the-edge-of-the-pit-plus-laughter scene. I could go either way on that one.

But, yeah, a very lowbrow conclusion to one of the better episodes of the entire series. Next time, we're back to the computers with His Silicon Soul.