WEBVTT - Our Top 5 Batman: The Animated Series Episodes 0:00:00.440 --> 0:00:05.960 Warning, Today's episode contains lots of spoilers for thirty year 0:00:05.960 --> 0:00:10.119 old episodes of Batman the Animated series Dunt dunt d 0:00:11.400 --> 0:00:11.960 which is not. 0:00:11.920 --> 0:00:12.399 A big deal. 0:00:13.039 --> 0:00:14.160 Truthfully, not a big deal. 0:00:14.440 --> 0:00:16.320 You can just listen to this and then go watch 0:00:16.320 --> 0:00:19.360 the episodes. It's not gonna ruin your enjoyment. It's gonna 0:00:19.400 --> 0:00:19.919 be you. 0:00:36.520 --> 0:00:40.360 Hello. My name is Jasoncepcion and I'm Rosie Knight, and 0:00:40.400 --> 0:00:43.000 welcome back to X Revision, the podcast where we dive 0:00:43.120 --> 0:00:46.040 deep into your favorite shows, movies, comics, and pop culture 0:00:46.080 --> 0:00:49.199 with me. iHeart podcast. Will We'll bring you two episodes 0:00:49.240 --> 0:00:51.320 a week every Tuesday and Thursday. 0:00:52.400 --> 0:00:56.520 This is a very special episode. We're not gonna teach 0:00:56.560 --> 0:00:59.400 you a PSA lesson, but it is the first episode 0:00:59.640 --> 0:01:03.240 all Animation Month, and we're going to be celebrating Batman 0:01:03.320 --> 0:01:06.440 the Animated Series to kick it off, and in the 0:01:06.520 --> 0:01:09.080 back matter, we are going to be talking to some 0:01:09.120 --> 0:01:12.440 of our favorite Batman fans about the legacy and lasting 0:01:12.520 --> 0:01:15.000 impact of Batman the Animated series. 0:01:17.600 --> 0:01:20.800 First the airlock. All right, folks, were stepping out of 0:01:20.800 --> 0:01:26.520 the airlock to talk about our top five personal top 0:01:26.640 --> 0:01:31.240 five episodes of Batman the Animated series. Rosie, do you 0:01:31.280 --> 0:01:33.840 want to talk about your criteria? I love your list. 0:01:34.240 --> 0:01:38.839 Okay, so my criteria. I went for a mix of 0:01:39.480 --> 0:01:43.920 the ones that I honestly do think stand out as 0:01:44.560 --> 0:01:47.400 this is why this show is so fantastic, Like especially 0:01:47.440 --> 0:01:50.200 the first one that I'll talk about after your first pick. 0:01:50.520 --> 0:01:51.880 I think that's one of the ones where you can 0:01:51.880 --> 0:01:54.160 show it to someone and they'll go, oh, this is 0:01:54.200 --> 0:01:57.520 not why I expected from an animated series. This is more, 0:01:57.920 --> 0:02:02.080 this is deeper, this is more emotional, this is more 0:02:02.120 --> 0:02:05.640 brilliantly written. But also some of them are I just 0:02:05.920 --> 0:02:08.120 I did Pepper in a few there, and I think 0:02:08.120 --> 0:02:10.320 this speaks to the quality of the show that are 0:02:10.400 --> 0:02:12.280 just the ones that I go back to or the 0:02:12.280 --> 0:02:16.519 ones that I so deeply remember watching for the first time. 0:02:16.720 --> 0:02:19.359 I have one on there that I watch every year 0:02:19.400 --> 0:02:22.200 at Christmas. I put it in as my Christmas watching. 0:02:23.400 --> 0:02:24.040 So yeah, it was. 0:02:27.240 --> 0:02:32.840 Kind of a mix of personal things that I like 0:02:33.120 --> 0:02:36.120 and also like what I think are some of the 0:02:36.160 --> 0:02:39.040 best examples of why the show is so special. But 0:02:39.080 --> 0:02:41.160 also I do think it speaks to the quality of 0:02:41.200 --> 0:02:45.760 the show that really anyone's favorite episodes are probably some 0:02:45.840 --> 0:02:48.640 of the best episodes because they're just all so good. 0:02:48.680 --> 0:02:49.720 What was your criteria? 0:02:50.280 --> 0:02:57.440 My criteria was Landmark episodes that significantly influenced the comic cannon. 0:02:57.480 --> 0:03:00.240 So those are easy, right, There's several of them, those 0:03:00.880 --> 0:03:07.560 episodes that contained interesting like meta commentary on fandom, on 0:03:07.639 --> 0:03:12.919 the characters, on the fans relationship to the characters that exists, 0:03:12.919 --> 0:03:16.359 like on top of what is you know, always really 0:03:16.400 --> 0:03:22.639 fun and engaging Batman or Batman Rogues Gallery story. And 0:03:22.680 --> 0:03:26.480 there's so much of that, whether it's like interesting casting choices, 0:03:26.720 --> 0:03:29.840 little easter eggs in there, there's a bunch of those 0:03:30.000 --> 0:03:32.600 episodes to choose from. And the other thing is there's 0:03:32.639 --> 0:03:35.360 really I guess like people would say that a Batman 0:03:35.400 --> 0:03:37.640 in the Basement is like the worst episode of Batman 0:03:37.720 --> 0:03:40.440 Animated series. I think I think Bruce tim came out 0:03:40.440 --> 0:03:43.520 and said that they really like they missed with that one, 0:03:43.600 --> 0:03:45.360 and he's unhappy with it. I think he might have 0:03:45.400 --> 0:03:47.720 said that he's like never seen it ever since it 0:03:47.720 --> 0:03:52.360 came out. But it's really not there's it's that bad. 0:03:52.640 --> 0:03:58.760 There's there's there's no truly awful episode of Batman the 0:03:58.760 --> 0:04:01.520 animated series. The batting average is so high, and so 0:04:01.560 --> 0:04:03.800 there's really a lot to pick from, and so I 0:04:03.880 --> 0:04:06.880 really just tried to pick for stuff that I felt 0:04:06.880 --> 0:04:10.440 like had a lasting impact. And also I like the Joker, 0:04:10.480 --> 0:04:14.560 so I picked multiple Joker. Yeah episodes. Shall we get started? 0:04:14.760 --> 0:04:16.880 Yes, your first episode, I want to go on for one. Well, 0:04:16.960 --> 0:04:18.760 let's go one for one, and your first one not 0:04:18.839 --> 0:04:20.440 a Joker episode, So start now. 0:04:20.480 --> 0:04:21.960 A Joker episode. Heart of Ice. 0:04:22.400 --> 0:04:23.560 Oh ten out of ten. 0:04:24.360 --> 0:04:27.479 Mark Bernardin talked about why it's great, and it is great. 0:04:28.080 --> 0:04:32.400 You know, mister Freeze, we learn his backstory. He was 0:04:32.440 --> 0:04:37.840 a scientist doing experiments and his wife was the subject 0:04:38.279 --> 0:04:44.920 inside this cryo freeze chamber, and sadly, this like middle 0:04:44.960 --> 0:04:48.080 management executive named Boyle comes in and makes like a 0:04:48.080 --> 0:04:51.440 command decision in the middle of this experiment, and that 0:04:51.520 --> 0:04:54.600 causes mister Freese's wife to pass away inside the cry damper. 0:04:54.880 --> 0:04:59.960 And he develops this entire supervillain persona to seek revent 0:05:00.960 --> 0:05:07.120 And there's this melancholy sadness to the episode that has 0:05:07.160 --> 0:05:10.919 affected the way mister Freeze has been depicted, you know 0:05:11.120 --> 0:05:14.120 later on, like in comics and in movies, and it's 0:05:14.200 --> 0:05:15.480 just a wonderful episode. 0:05:15.720 --> 0:05:18.960 Yeah, they literally adapt this in Batman and Robin like 0:05:19.160 --> 0:05:23.600 this is what mister Freeze onnos watcheneggis mister freeze backstory 0:05:23.800 --> 0:05:27.880 is in the movie. We also get this kind of 0:05:28.160 --> 0:05:32.640 recognition of like Batman understanding where mister Freeze comes from 0:05:32.680 --> 0:05:34.719 in this episode too, where he's kind of at the 0:05:34.839 --> 0:05:38.560 end he's like sympathetically watching him as he kind of 0:05:38.640 --> 0:05:41.320 cries that he hasn't been able to avenge his wife. 0:05:41.520 --> 0:05:45.440 Also the Nora Inner snow globe that becomes like a 0:05:45.520 --> 0:05:49.320 huge part of his story, that becomes the you know 0:05:49.520 --> 0:05:51.880 that's in Batman and Robin that's in the comics. This 0:05:51.960 --> 0:05:57.240 is basically a complete reimagining of mister Freeze, you know, 0:05:58.080 --> 0:06:01.120 his actual origin story that then went on to like 0:06:01.160 --> 0:06:06.640 you say, completely changed, yes, everything comics, movies, whatever you're watching. 0:06:06.839 --> 0:06:10.200 And it's also set off like a four movie or 0:06:10.240 --> 0:06:14.280 four episode one movie arc in the animed stuff that's 0:06:14.360 --> 0:06:16.559 just about Victor Freeze, which I think is really cool. 0:06:17.120 --> 0:06:21.160 It's really cool. It's such a big swing, particularly early 0:06:21.240 --> 0:06:24.000 in the in a in the run of Batman the Enemy, 0:06:24.080 --> 0:06:26.080 I think it's like the fourth episode to take like 0:06:26.120 --> 0:06:28.800 this like massive swing like this, Yeah, it's and it 0:06:29.360 --> 0:06:32.960 and it showed you how actually deep this show could 0:06:32.960 --> 0:06:35.159 be because on the one level, it's just like a fun, 0:06:35.720 --> 0:06:43.640 very consumable little Batman's story, but on it's got all 0:06:43.680 --> 0:06:46.160 these other levels to it. The emotional level, the fact 0:06:46.200 --> 0:06:49.000 that it's kind of like softly retconning a like giving 0:06:49.000 --> 0:06:52.680 you an alternate take of a character. Uh, there's the 0:06:52.680 --> 0:06:57.240 fact that, like aesthetically, there's all this kind of cool 0:06:57.320 --> 0:07:01.880 tones blues and like mules and stuff that have worked 0:07:01.960 --> 0:07:05.719 into it to really enhance the theme. It's just great. 0:07:06.160 --> 0:07:09.320 Yeah. Also won a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing 0:07:09.360 --> 0:07:13.120 in an Animated Program. So really, like you said, big swings. Also, 0:07:13.160 --> 0:07:15.680 I will say to those listening out there who love 0:07:15.840 --> 0:07:20.440 to have the the intricate details. Batman Animated Series has 0:07:20.480 --> 0:07:23.960 a weird situation when it comes to episodes because there 0:07:24.000 --> 0:07:27.600 were multiple episode orders. Yes, so if we say episode 0:07:27.640 --> 0:07:29.600 that might be a different running order. I think this 0:07:29.760 --> 0:07:32.000 was episode four. I also think in some running orders 0:07:32.040 --> 0:07:35.640 it was episode fourteen. It was shown differently on different channels, 0:07:35.640 --> 0:07:37.760 so there may be some that's it. 0:07:37.880 --> 0:07:40.080 You bring up a good point because this was also 0:07:40.120 --> 0:07:43.240 the period of time where if you missed an episode 0:07:43.240 --> 0:07:46.720 of Batman series, then you missed it. 0:07:46.800 --> 0:07:49.679 Good luck, good one you would hear. 0:07:49.560 --> 0:07:52.960 About it and then maybe years later, you know when 0:07:53.000 --> 0:07:55.200 it was when the run was like released at Blockbuster 0:07:55.320 --> 0:07:56.600 or something, you might be able to watch it, but 0:07:56.680 --> 0:07:57.400 you would just not. 0:07:58.280 --> 0:07:58.360 No. 0:07:58.480 --> 0:08:03.160 Yeah, because they then they did the new Batman animated stories, 0:08:03.200 --> 0:08:06.360 but then they compile it, it was just, yeah, run 0:08:06.440 --> 0:08:07.840 order can be a mess. 0:08:08.000 --> 0:08:11.160 It's also really interesting because this has aired on so 0:08:11.280 --> 0:08:15.400 many different networks, and apparently when it aired on toon Disney, 0:08:15.720 --> 0:08:19.440 they actually removed two lines where Batman says, my god, 0:08:19.880 --> 0:08:23.560 they thought that was too expletative, and then mister Freezer's line, 0:08:23.600 --> 0:08:26.040 I'd kill for that, So there were also different versions. 0:08:26.080 --> 0:08:29.880 Obviously now I'd killed for that. Yeah, Michael Ansara, what 0:08:29.920 --> 0:08:33.040 a performance, just such a such a that's such a 0:08:33.080 --> 0:08:35.360 brilliant episode. I'm so glad you picked it. I mean 0:08:35.600 --> 0:08:39.920 I literally read an anthology issue of that DC does 0:08:40.000 --> 0:08:42.560 every year they do these fun like Nuclear Winter or 0:08:42.600 --> 0:08:44.920 like they have different names, and I read a great 0:08:44.920 --> 0:08:47.480 anthology issue that I believe was and it had a 0:08:47.520 --> 0:08:51.400 Bruce tim story in it. There was about mister Freeze 0:08:51.800 --> 0:08:55.720 and he, you know, creating all this snow and it's 0:08:55.760 --> 0:08:58.520 stopping people from being able to get their Christmas presents, 0:08:58.920 --> 0:09:01.640 but he allowed Robin to go and get the Christmas 0:09:01.640 --> 0:09:04.160 present that he wanted for Batman, and the real reason 0:09:04.160 --> 0:09:06.160 he made it snow is because he's thinking of his wife. 0:09:06.240 --> 0:09:10.360 So even like twenty thirty years later, it's still influencing 0:09:10.440 --> 0:09:12.440 how we see him as more of a tragic figure 0:09:12.520 --> 0:09:15.800 rather than just another wacky kind of silver age rogue. 0:09:16.200 --> 0:09:19.000 Yeah, there's something else too in this episode and a 0:09:19.000 --> 0:09:21.680 lot of the other episodes that I picked that I 0:09:21.800 --> 0:09:25.280 kind of which would wish had influenced the depictions of 0:09:25.320 --> 0:09:29.120 Batman more, which is he is such a he's you know, 0:09:29.120 --> 0:09:31.560 he's trying to bring mister Freese to justice. He also 0:09:31.679 --> 0:09:34.920 brings a boil to justice. That said, while he's this 0:09:35.120 --> 0:09:40.240 tough protagonist, he's also like very empathic towards Miss Oh. Yeah, 0:09:40.720 --> 0:09:46.360 he's he's deeply affected by mister Freeze's backstory. And there's 0:09:46.400 --> 0:09:50.480 that there's a gentleness to the Batman, the animated series 0:09:50.520 --> 0:09:53.560 Batman that I wish would carry away some of the 0:09:53.600 --> 0:09:54.280 other stuff. 0:09:54.640 --> 0:09:58.199 There's something there's a softness to him that's. 0:09:58.080 --> 0:10:01.319 Not just like a usful like I must bring all 0:10:01.920 --> 0:10:04.320 Riddle to justice, you know, like there's something there's a 0:10:04.360 --> 0:10:06.240 deeper well of emotion there with him. 0:10:06.280 --> 0:10:10.680 And also he is softer as both Bruce and Batman 0:10:10.720 --> 0:10:13.920 in this series, which I like he and you get. 0:10:14.040 --> 0:10:16.720 I think that's why you get such brilliant relationships. And 0:10:16.760 --> 0:10:22.520 also just like unbelievable casting. I mean Mark Hamier obviously 0:10:22.600 --> 0:10:25.240 known best for being the Joker, but he's Ferris Boyle 0:10:25.320 --> 0:10:28.520 in that episode, like it's a classic animated thing. Michael 0:10:28.520 --> 0:10:32.240 ansaras mister Freeze who's so fantastic, Marie Devon as Summer Gleeson. 0:10:32.679 --> 0:10:35.520 They just have really great casting. Like my next pick 0:10:35.559 --> 0:10:37.560 has one of my all time favorite actresses in and 0:10:37.640 --> 0:10:40.040 I always forget until I look up the show that 0:10:40.080 --> 0:10:44.200 she's one other people. Okay, so my first pick is 0:10:44.720 --> 0:10:47.240 on a similar vibe to yours. This is one that 0:10:47.720 --> 0:10:51.280 emotionally kind of guts me every time I watch it. 0:10:51.280 --> 0:10:54.920 It's called per Chance to Dream. It's written by Joe R. 0:10:55.000 --> 0:10:58.199 Lansdale who did the tell of play Laren Bright. Michael 0:10:58.200 --> 0:11:00.920 Reeves did the story directed by boy Curt Quinn. It 0:11:01.000 --> 0:11:04.560 has Adrian Barbo as catwoman Selena Kyle, which I. 0:11:04.520 --> 0:11:08.160 Love one of the best the B movie icon. 0:11:09.440 --> 0:11:14.160 Swamp thing the Fog. Just like so many movies. Yeah, 0:11:14.200 --> 0:11:17.520 I love her so much and in a very interesting 0:11:17.640 --> 0:11:20.080 I think this is such a classic smart thing you 0:11:20.120 --> 0:11:24.520 can do in animation. She voices Martha, and she voices Catwoman, 0:11:25.160 --> 0:11:30.480 and I think there's likely yes. But also Roddy McDowell 0:11:30.520 --> 0:11:34.600 is the Mad Hair, Diana Molders doctor Leslie Tompkins. So 0:11:34.640 --> 0:11:37.720 I think the fact that they have these characters like 0:11:37.840 --> 0:11:40.640 Leslie Tompkins is a key Batman character, but we've never 0:11:40.679 --> 0:11:43.920 really seen her explore in the movies. Mad Hair, that's 0:11:43.960 --> 0:11:46.320 such a random character. You're probably never going to get 0:11:46.320 --> 0:11:49.720 to see him in the movies, but animated series gives 0:11:49.720 --> 0:11:52.839 this space. And the best thing about this episode is 0:11:53.320 --> 0:11:57.439 it's just absolutely gutting and it's kind of a treatise 0:11:57.640 --> 0:12:02.760 on grief and how if we were really able to 0:12:02.800 --> 0:12:07.080 get what we wanted, would we actually sacrifice everything to 0:12:07.200 --> 0:12:10.959 keep it. So basically, Bruce wakes up in a world where. 0:12:10.800 --> 0:12:13.720 It's going through it. Yeah, he is going through. 0:12:13.520 --> 0:12:17.080 In this episode, like his parents are alive, someone else's Batman, 0:12:17.559 --> 0:12:23.960 like Alfred. There's no batcave. Alfred doesn't like. He basically 0:12:24.000 --> 0:12:26.720 wakes up and his life is perfect, but he remembers 0:12:26.800 --> 0:12:29.040 everything from the day before when his life was not 0:12:29.240 --> 0:12:33.000 idyllic like this, And obviously the name is taken from 0:12:33.040 --> 0:12:36.240 like the soliloquy from Shakespeare's Hamler, and the whole episode 0:12:36.280 --> 0:12:39.199 is him kind of trying to work out what's going on, 0:12:40.280 --> 0:12:42.440 why is he here? He starts to see things in 0:12:42.480 --> 0:12:44.760 the news, and he starts to realize, well, this isn't 0:12:44.840 --> 0:12:47.600 real life, but everyone else around him acts like it is. 0:12:47.960 --> 0:12:53.280 And there is this constant offer to him of well, 0:12:53.320 --> 0:12:55.320 if you just accept it, you can live in this 0:12:55.400 --> 0:12:57.800 happy world, like if you just isn't this what you 0:12:57.800 --> 0:13:01.679 always wanted? Like, you can do it. And eventually it 0:13:01.760 --> 0:13:05.400 is revealed, of course, after he has to kill himself 0:13:05.440 --> 0:13:08.400 by the way, which is like he has to literally 0:13:08.559 --> 0:13:12.560 jump off the belfry to his death to escape this dream, 0:13:12.920 --> 0:13:14.000 which is a very you. 0:13:13.920 --> 0:13:17.439 Know, shades of vertigo. You get this very like vertigo 0:13:17.760 --> 0:13:18.959 fight like at the end. 0:13:19.120 --> 0:13:21.040 And also we all know that the rule of like 0:13:21.080 --> 0:13:23.200 you can't die in a dream, so you know, you 0:13:23.280 --> 0:13:26.280 always wake up before you die in your dream. And 0:13:26.559 --> 0:13:29.040 he wakes up and finds out that Javistech has had 0:13:29.080 --> 0:13:32.320 him in this kind of terrifying dream machine attached to 0:13:32.320 --> 0:13:34.760 his head, and he the kind of takeaway he has 0:13:34.840 --> 0:13:36.480 is well, I did it, so if you have a 0:13:36.520 --> 0:13:39.400 good life, maybe you'd leave me alone to live my life, 0:13:39.480 --> 0:13:42.320 you know, live my life of crime. It's such a 0:13:42.360 --> 0:13:46.440 heart wrenching episode, and I just think that it would 0:13:46.440 --> 0:13:48.760 have made a beautiful comic book. But there was a 0:13:48.800 --> 0:13:52.960 freedom that they were getting in this era to tell 0:13:53.000 --> 0:13:56.640 these stories that. Imagine if you'd have pitched a story 0:13:56.640 --> 0:13:58.600 where you're like, it's just Bruce Wayne, it's not Batman, 0:13:58.920 --> 0:14:00.280 a lot of people would be like, well, why are 0:14:00.280 --> 0:14:02.760 you even making that? This is a kid's cartoon. But 0:14:03.000 --> 0:14:08.720 this utilizes the duality of Bruce and Batman and what 0:14:08.760 --> 0:14:11.160 Batman is fighting for. And also I think that there 0:14:11.240 --> 0:14:17.280 is something quite beautiful about the fact that ultimately Bruce 0:14:17.280 --> 0:14:21.880 would rather live his kind of broken real life than 0:14:22.520 --> 0:14:25.280 live in a fantasy. It's that matrix thing, right, It's like. 0:14:25.280 --> 0:14:29.000 Yes, you can accept the truth. Yeah, go back and dream. 0:14:29.080 --> 0:14:32.600 Mm hmm yeah, I love that one. 0:14:32.880 --> 0:14:35.720 What's your Name? My next pick is be where the 0:14:35.760 --> 0:14:40.720 Great Ghost? Yes, a wonderful episode. We get a flashback 0:14:40.800 --> 0:14:45.560 to a young television addicted Bruce Wayne, who is a 0:14:45.600 --> 0:14:50.960 big fan of a TV superhero program, The Great Ghost, 0:14:50.960 --> 0:14:55.040 who's this kind of like the Shadow esque crime fighter, 0:14:55.960 --> 0:14:58.720 and then there is this kind of story on top 0:14:58.760 --> 0:15:00.680 of it. We're in the modern day, there's bombs going 0:15:00.720 --> 0:15:05.400 off everywhere. Batman makes the connection that, oh, a lot 0:15:05.400 --> 0:15:10.840 of these attacks seem to be modeled after plots from 0:15:10.880 --> 0:15:15.360 The Great Ghost. So he tries to find episodes of 0:15:15.400 --> 0:15:18.520 the Gray Ghost to try and do his analysis. He 0:15:18.560 --> 0:15:21.920 can't find these particular episodes that he needs, so then 0:15:21.960 --> 0:15:25.840 he decides to track down the actor Simon Trent, who 0:15:25.880 --> 0:15:28.880 played the Grey Ghost, and the depiction of Simon Trent 0:15:29.000 --> 0:15:31.320 is like something you've never seen in a kids show, 0:15:31.440 --> 0:15:36.000 Like he is living on the margins of Society's an 0:15:36.080 --> 0:15:39.240 older guy, is completely alone. He can't pay his rent. 0:15:39.400 --> 0:15:43.320 He's selling off like his memorabilia. He's like sitting alone 0:15:43.720 --> 0:15:47.760 in his in his one bedroom apartment saying, well, I've 0:15:47.800 --> 0:15:50.880 sold enough of my stuff to pay the rent this 0:15:50.960 --> 0:15:54.160 month and then that's it, like I'm absolutely done. And 0:15:54.240 --> 0:15:58.600 so when Batman comes to him, he's like he's really 0:15:58.600 --> 0:16:01.360 stand off it. He doesn't like he doesn't want to 0:16:01.440 --> 0:16:03.680 engage with that part of his life. He's unhappy with it. 0:16:03.720 --> 0:16:06.880 But of course there's like a reproachment. He shows up 0:16:06.920 --> 0:16:09.800 in costume to help Batman solve this crime. You know, 0:16:10.040 --> 0:16:12.960 fucking Bruce. Wayne could give him five million bucks and 0:16:13.040 --> 0:16:15.680 just say like you're good now. But if he doesn't 0:16:15.720 --> 0:16:24.080 do that, that's a different for a different day. But 0:16:24.960 --> 0:16:27.400 and then there's the you know, and then I talked 0:16:27.400 --> 0:16:30.560 about like the meta commentary angle. Yeah, the voice acting 0:16:30.640 --> 0:16:34.680 is Adam West, who I mean, it's like a mirror 0:16:34.800 --> 0:16:39.680 image of his career. This is almost thirty years now 0:16:40.160 --> 0:16:43.840 when he appeared in this after his turn as Batman 0:16:45.120 --> 0:16:49.960 on the original Batman television show. And he brings a 0:16:50.080 --> 0:16:55.000 kind of melancholy to the role, a knowing melancholy that 0:16:55.400 --> 0:16:59.240 is like really affecting. And what's cool about it too, 0:16:59.360 --> 0:17:02.400 is you get to see Batman as a fan. Yes, 0:17:02.840 --> 0:17:06.159 Like Bruce is just a flat out fan of the 0:17:06.160 --> 0:17:11.119 Gray Ghost. Like and there's that weird like moment where 0:17:11.520 --> 0:17:15.400 Bruce realizes the parasocial relationship he has with the Grey 0:17:15.400 --> 0:17:18.040 Ghosts where he has like disappointing and when he first 0:17:18.040 --> 0:17:20.000 goes to visit him, he's like disappointed that the Grey 0:17:20.000 --> 0:17:22.640 Ghost like projects him. He's like, Greg Ghost is my hero. 0:17:22.760 --> 0:17:24.159 I don't know what I was thinking. You know, he 0:17:24.240 --> 0:17:26.720 like walks away and then at the end, like he 0:17:26.880 --> 0:17:30.760 rebuilds that wonderful vision of Simon Trent the Greg Ghost. 0:17:31.080 --> 0:17:33.480 But you really get to see Bruce grapple with like 0:17:33.560 --> 0:17:36.280 what it means to feel like you know somebody that 0:17:36.320 --> 0:17:38.720 you don't know because they were on television. It's really 0:17:38.720 --> 0:17:39.400 cool episode. 0:17:39.440 --> 0:17:42.920 Yeah. I also think that it's like so much brilliant 0:17:42.960 --> 0:17:46.520 meta text here because like a key part of why 0:17:46.560 --> 0:17:49.480 the Gray Ghost is kind of unemployed and sad is 0:17:49.520 --> 0:17:52.199 because of type costing, Like he couldn't get out the roles, 0:17:52.720 --> 0:17:56.520 and that is this really haunting kind of reference also 0:17:56.640 --> 0:18:00.760 to George Reeves, who have generally played super Man in 0:18:00.800 --> 0:18:03.479 the Superman serials in the forties, who would end up 0:18:03.520 --> 0:18:05.320 taking his own life and a lot of the reason 0:18:05.359 --> 0:18:08.159 that he struggled was because he was never able to 0:18:08.280 --> 0:18:11.399 escape playing Superman. And there's so many layers to this. 0:18:11.520 --> 0:18:14.520 I also adore the fact that the happy ending here. 0:18:14.600 --> 0:18:16.400 Look as much as I would have loved for Bruce 0:18:16.440 --> 0:18:21.040 to give him five million dollars million dollars, bro, like 0:18:21.480 --> 0:18:25.760 go to the bank, put in your piece, give him 0:18:25.760 --> 0:18:29.720 like a monthly allowance. But I do love that, as 0:18:29.800 --> 0:18:32.840 is the way with really smart TV shows. Instead we 0:18:32.920 --> 0:18:36.240 get to see that once Trent is kind of recognized 0:18:36.280 --> 0:18:38.639 not as the villain who's been doing these bombings, but 0:18:38.720 --> 0:18:41.760 as a hero who helped Batman and them they re 0:18:41.760 --> 0:18:44.840 released like all the episodes of the Gray Ghost, and 0:18:44.880 --> 0:18:48.879 then he gets money from distribution. His merchandise goes up 0:18:48.880 --> 0:18:52.000 in value of revitalized career. Kind of like you know 0:18:52.040 --> 0:18:56.520 what would happen with Mark Hamill when they would revisit 0:18:56.600 --> 0:18:59.040 the Star Wars franchise with the Force Awakens after many 0:18:59.080 --> 0:19:02.159 years of Mark being the only one who kind of 0:19:02.320 --> 0:19:05.800 kept the Star Wars love alive. Who would be going 0:19:05.840 --> 0:19:08.920 to the conventions and stuff, and even obviously Adam West 0:19:08.960 --> 0:19:12.440 and his family kind of managing to make money when 0:19:12.520 --> 0:19:16.000 CBS would or whoever now has the rights to those 0:19:16.160 --> 0:19:18.760 Batman DVDs would put them out. I just thought that 0:19:18.840 --> 0:19:22.879 was such a cool, interesting ending, but also as the 0:19:22.960 --> 0:19:26.119 best TV does as a kid actually teaches you something 0:19:26.119 --> 0:19:27.120 about the business. 0:19:27.520 --> 0:19:32.080 Yeah, no, it does. It was like it it's a 0:19:32.119 --> 0:19:34.600 lot more hard hitting than you would expect, you know. 0:19:35.000 --> 0:19:37.560 Yeah, I love that they can do that about stuff 0:19:37.560 --> 0:19:41.920 that isn't solely about Batman. You know, this is actually 0:19:41.960 --> 0:19:44.520 hard hitting, but it's about a character before this, you've 0:19:44.520 --> 0:19:45.080 never heard of. 0:19:45.560 --> 0:20:13.480 Yeah, we'll be right back after a quick break. 0:20:03.400 --> 0:20:05.400 And we're back. What's your next one? 0:20:05.520 --> 0:20:08.200 Okay, so my next pick because I think this is 0:20:08.240 --> 0:20:09.680 one of those it's. 0:20:09.520 --> 0:20:12.359 Almost like this is a great episode. 0:20:12.440 --> 0:20:14.480 Yeah, it's such a great episode. And also I think 0:20:14.520 --> 0:20:18.760 it's almost like a it feels almost like a fever dream, 0:20:19.280 --> 0:20:22.840 because when you're a kid, you tell on everyone, oh, 0:20:22.880 --> 0:20:27.600 have you seen the episode of you know, the but Men, 0:20:27.640 --> 0:20:31.840 the animated series where it's adapting The Dark Knight returns 0:20:31.880 --> 0:20:34.560 and everyone's like, what are you talking about? That definitely 0:20:34.600 --> 0:20:38.800 never happened. Aha, it did in the Legends of the 0:20:38.880 --> 0:20:41.760 Dark Knight, which I think is a really really clever idea. 0:20:41.880 --> 0:20:45.320 This is veering into an interesting different territory here where 0:20:45.640 --> 0:20:48.840 the show was relaunched in what I believe would be 0:20:48.880 --> 0:20:52.680 its third season as The New Batman Adventures, and it's 0:20:52.680 --> 0:20:55.560 still just as great. It's as it's basically run as 0:20:55.600 --> 0:20:57.480 like season three if you watch it now, I believe 0:20:57.520 --> 0:21:01.440 it's streaming on Amazon Prime, but basically it looks it's 0:21:01.600 --> 0:21:05.360 three kids who are reading the Gotham Gazette and they're 0:21:05.400 --> 0:21:10.040 reading about criminals and they basically kind of see they 0:21:10.040 --> 0:21:12.600 think they can see Batman in a photograph, and they 0:21:12.640 --> 0:21:20.600 start having this conversation where essentially they talk about different 0:21:20.680 --> 0:21:24.360 eras of Batman, and then it is adapted as they 0:21:24.400 --> 0:21:29.919 talk about them in the style of an old Batman comic. 0:21:30.000 --> 0:21:32.199 And you do get the most memorable thing here, and 0:21:32.240 --> 0:21:35.600 this is Bruce tim episode Robert Goodman, directed by Dan Reebar. 0:21:35.960 --> 0:21:40.199 You get this feeling here of a future of an 0:21:40.240 --> 0:21:43.440 animated series that never existed where this is all they 0:21:43.480 --> 0:21:46.560 do and it's so great. And obviously there's a girl 0:21:46.600 --> 0:21:48.600 called Carrie who's one of the people. There's a boy 0:21:48.640 --> 0:21:52.080 called Nick, a guy called Matt Anna. Matt's telling a 0:21:52.080 --> 0:21:55.000 story about his uncle and he's seeing a kind of 0:21:55.040 --> 0:21:59.960 more of like a Golden age sort of Joker and Batman, 0:22:00.040 --> 0:22:03.840 and then yeah, fifties, and then there's Nick and he 0:22:03.960 --> 0:22:06.160 kind of tells more of like a Silver age one. 0:22:06.200 --> 0:22:10.399 But obviously the one that we always remember is Carrie 0:22:10.600 --> 0:22:14.440 kind of telling this story about a girl Robin who 0:22:14.520 --> 0:22:18.080 is Carrie Kelly and how she gets to see the mutants. 0:22:18.119 --> 0:22:22.120 And it's adapted in this kind of Frank Miller esque style, 0:22:22.760 --> 0:22:25.600 which I think is really cool because even when they 0:22:25.640 --> 0:22:29.240 did adapt the Dark Knight Returns, which Warner Brothers Animation 0:22:29.320 --> 0:22:31.560 did a few years ago. They didn't adapt it in 0:22:31.600 --> 0:22:35.160 Frank Miller's style. They adapted it in a much more 0:22:35.160 --> 0:22:37.600 modern style. So here we get to kind of see 0:22:37.640 --> 0:22:42.080 these mutant leaders. We get this huge, hulking Frank Miller Batman. 0:22:42.680 --> 0:22:46.040 And while I feel like the memory of this is like, oh, 0:22:46.040 --> 0:22:48.480 it's a direct adaptation, it's not. But you do get 0:22:48.520 --> 0:22:50.680 to see the mute. It is a broadly but it's 0:22:50.720 --> 0:22:53.320 a badly beat, like like you will see it and 0:22:53.359 --> 0:22:55.320 you'll be like, how did they do this like this? 0:22:55.440 --> 0:22:58.320 And I think when I was a kid, this almost 0:22:58.440 --> 0:23:00.879 felt like it didn't exist. Like you talk about it 0:23:00.920 --> 0:23:02.640 and people be like, no, no, man. 0:23:02.720 --> 0:23:05.080 I did not see this live and it was one 0:23:05.160 --> 0:23:07.280 that I heard about and I was like, exactly do that. 0:23:07.400 --> 0:23:09.879 You're like, didn't do that. But I think this is 0:23:09.960 --> 0:23:15.000 a great example one of trusting a creative team when 0:23:15.040 --> 0:23:17.119 they do something different, because there was a lot of 0:23:17.160 --> 0:23:20.600