Batman: TAS, episode #21: Vendetta

Right from the opening, we get the steady rain, down by the docks, at night. We know our noir atmosphere has returned. There will be no junior sleuths, caped or otherwise. This is just The Batman and his perfect environment. We have all the proper elements for a great Batman (and great noir) story: potential police corruption, Gotham crimelords (including Rupert Thorne), bad weather, and actual detective work. This really can't get much better if it doesn't involve The Joker. It instead involves Killer Croc, who was one of a newer generation of Batman foes created in the early 80s by previous series writer, Gerry Conway. There was always an element of tragedy that accompanied Croc's appearances, given his mutant origin and the general public distaste that came with it (not overly dissimilar to The Penguin, by the by...) But that came with a general sense of savagery that is unusual among The Batman's regular foes. The sense of danger that came with Croc was physical and brutal, even beyond what could usually be implied by menacing thugs with guns that are regular parts of any noir story (whether you get your nose sliced or not.)

That physical element is part of The Batman's nature, as well, and it's on full display here, as he not only threatens Thorne, but tosses him over the edge of a building, not to extract a confession, but simply because he can. This is a harder Batman; a darker one. In my mind, it's the ideal approach to the character and this episode had every inch of it and is a refreshing change from the more normalized version of the previous two episodes, in which this kind of behavior in front of the junior partner or the local children just wouldn't have worked. Batman the Upstanding Citizen wouldn't have used Thorne as a body shield, even though that's a perfectly natural reaction when facing the latter's henchmen armed with Tommy guns, including the comment that "You better hope your men are good shots!" This is the terror of the underworld. The Batman also turns the screws on Commissioner Gordon with his suspicions about Harvey Bullock, perpetual 'bad cop', but Gordon's character shines through here as he defends his man. We also get a proper insight to Alfred, who expresses the incredulity of a toothpick proving anything, one way or the other. But this is proper storytelling, right? The Batman is carrying a bias and following clues that confirm it, when the real culprit is elsewhere. However, it is something of an eyebrow-raising moment when he immediately jumps to a conclusion about crocodiles from Alfred's casual "microwaveable crock" comment. After studying the "human substance but reptilian structure" scale and then immediately running to the zoo for confirmation about crocodiles living in underwater caves (not actually true, since they tend to dig their own burrows), we get a little too plot jumpy but, as always, 22 minute episodes, yo.

The fight scenes with Croc are, of course, supremely reminiscent of this moment which was actually released right around the same time (1992) as this episode, so no borrowing really possible. Sewer fights just must have been on the collective consciousness at the time. Of course, that final scene also begins from The Batman starting a fight with Croc from the back of a moving car, which is perhaps not the wisest course of action for genius, Bruce Wayne. While that final scene hits the right notes of tension and fisticuffs, it's at least mildly disturbing to see a few bricks lead to what looks like a major cave-in of Gotham's sewer system (Infrastructure week!), but that's still just part of our atmosphere: the crumbling city, abetted by its corrupt cops and significant crime networks. That's why we need The Batman to protect us! Of course, as it turns out, Bullock's character is in question, but not an issue here. A significant element to our overall story is watching his reaction to the absence of his file which is, of course, illegally obtained by our hero. There are ethical layers to this, which are key to any kind of noir storytelling. "We may have different ways of enforcing the law, but we both believe in it!" says the vigilante to the actual police officer...

On top of all that, we have our minor characters that continue to be key threads in our overall tapestry. Not only does Alfred continue his advisory and mildly acerbic role with Bruce, but Renee Montoya also makes a couple appearances (seemingly always with Bullock around) as a routine presence in the force. This is part of an ongoing story, not just a one-off Batman adventure. Thorne and even thugs like Spider Conway (voiced by the same actor as Killer Croc, Aron Kincaid) are living breathing parts of Gotham, which Bullock is, as well (despite him being the occasional master of the obvious: "It ain't him getting to the hearings that's got him spooked, commish! It's somebody else getting to him before then!") This is an ideal BTAS episode, even if the major threat isn't a cerebral challenge for The Batman, as much as it is a more physical and visually bizarre one. My one note of complaint about those visuals is that they chose a more fish-like color for Croc, as opposed to his original olive green and, thus, more crocodilian one. But that minor complaint aside, it has to be said that this ranks right up there among the best episodes we've seen so far; for atmospherics, for storytelling, and for simply getting the main character right.

Next time, we encounter a strange cult in Prophecy of Doom.