The Top 10 Batman: The Animated Series Episodes

It's my one year anniversary, and since my blog started off with the top fifteen Batman villains and Batman Live, I HAD to do something Batman related this month. Yes the Nostalgia Critic did his top 11 list and, let's be honest, some of my favourite episodes are the same ones, most of which are different numbers, but anyway, I feel I can do this list now.

So ladies and gentlemen, here are my top ten episodes of Batman: The Animated Series, a show so awesome it doesn't need a title card.

10. Feet of Clay

I could have started off this list with so many other villain origin stories, 'Two Face', 'The Clock King', 'Nothing to Fear', 'If You're So Smart, Why Aren't You Rich?', but I decided to go with the origin of Clayface. Here, Matt Hagen impersonates Bruce Wayne to get hold of some incriminating evidence on/for Roland Daggett. Daggett has a hold of Hagen since Daggett has a chemical, Renuyu which can temporarily heal Hagen's disfigured face. However when Hagen fails in his tasks, Daggett tells his men to kill him, which they do by pouring the Renuyu onto Hagen. Instead of killing him however, the Renuyu chemical turns him into Clayface, a shapeshifter.

What really attracts me to this episode is the Matt Hagen character. I've said it before, I love tragic villains. Hagen was a famous actor before being involved in a car crash which disfigured his face, and the way the episode shows his fall from grace was great. The pain and suffering Hagen goes through in trying to get his life back, the soul draining addiction to the Renuyu drug, it's brilliant storytelling.

Then the second part of the newly turned Clayface now consumed by rage and revenge and now wants to kill Daggett, and subsequently his clash with Batman, shows how much of Hagen's humanity has been lost, which makes his next appearance even more sad.

This episode was praised for it's dark tones, and that's really what attracts me to this episode. The downward spiral of Hagen, plus the fact that he actually can't control his powers, they tend to overcome him. In fact, it's kind of like 'The Batman' version of Clayface, where the powers create a twisted and cruel personality. In fact, the way Batman defeats Clayface is a great example of this, when he constantly shifts, causing him great pain.

This episode truly is fantastic.

9. It's Never Too Late

The rivalry between mob bosses Rupert Thorne and Arnold Stromwell is escalating, but when Stromwell learns that his estranged son is missing, he decides that Thorne has taken it too far and demands to see him. Batman learns that Thorne plans to assassinate Stromwell at the meeting, and saves his life. Batman then takes Stromwell on a journey, so to speak, on how Stromwell's criminal activities are hurting everyone around him, including his loved ones.

This version of 'A Christmas Carol' is a really well thought out story line, it shows how Batman is willing to give people, even mob bosses, a second chance to redeem themselves. Batman showing Stromwell that his drug ring is harming his son, bringing him to his brother (Who had lost a leg which Stromwell never forgave himself for being the indirect cause of), his marriage, Hell, his life is falling apart. Initially Stromwell refuses to change, his life seemingly gone too far to turn back, but the heartfelt reunion with his brother, Michael, is what finally persuades him.

The story, the colours, the characters, pretty much everything is fantastic. It teaches us that, no matter how hard life hits you, you can always turn it around and redeem yourself, you can enrich your life. And boy do I need that now. Anyway, this is a brilliant story of redemption.

8. Beware the Gray Ghost

Bruce loved watching an old television show called The Grey Ghost, and distinctly remembers the episode concerning the Mad Bomber when someone starts using the same MO. Bruce/Batman turns to the star of the Gray Ghost, Simon Trent, for help.

This episode featured in the Nostalgia Critic's list, and, like what he said, is mainly because of the voice actor who plays Simon Trent, Adam West, who has since featured in most Batman related stuff. But what this episode, and what every other Batman franchise does, is that it doesn't make that joke or make it ridiculous. Like the 'Feet of Clay' episode/s, this episode features an actor in a downturn, though the Trent's downfall is due to age and lack of activity. This episode isn't just about stopping the Mad Bomber copycat, it's also about Trent finding purpose again in a world that has apparently forgotten him.

Seeing Batman joining forces with his childhood hero was great, and the passion that was put into this episode was just as good.

7. P.O.V.

Here Rene Montoya and her rookie partner Wilkes, go to a warehouse to back up Harvey Bullock. However when they arrive they find the warehouse on fire, Bullock outside, and the suspects escaping. Back at headquarters all three are investigated by internal affairs, and all three give their account on what happened.

This is the first episode I believe where the villain isn't one of the main Batman villains, in fact, the villain's name isn't told. But what really stands out are the flashbacks, seeing the episode from different perspectives; Bullock's recklessness, Wilkes' wonder, and Montoya's professionalism. Really, Bullock's account is the more interesting one since he tries to put himself in a good light, while the episode actually shows the opposite. Not only is this more entertaining, but I actually thought that Bullock fighting off multiple criminals was him making it up. It wasn't. Yeah, this episode showed that, while Bullock may not be the most patient or the smartest, but he is a damn good cop, heck, a future episode shows he managed to take down Killer Croc.

In all accounts Batman showed up, but he was captured by the criminal gang, and Montoya, using the stories told to piece it together, finds Batman and saves him. While I do like the fact that Batman is saved for once, showing that the police aren't incompetent in the DC universe, but I thought it would have been better if Wilkes and Bullock had some impact as well.

It was actually a nice touch for an episode where Batman didn't feature that much, but the other characters made this episode really entertaining.

6. Birds of a Feather

Another episode which featured on the Nostalgia Critic's list. Here the Penguin is being released from prison for the fiftieth time (Yes, from prison, unlike any of the other main Batman villains, the Penguin is perfectly sane), but this time he decides to actually turn over a new leaf, he is going to put his criminal business behind him and focus on a good, honest life.

The Penguin however finds that no-one is particularly happy to see him, especially Batman, who does give him the chance but says he'll be keeping a close eye on him. The Penguin is invited out by yuppie Veronica Vreeland (and her...acquaintance Pierce), who plan to use him to achieve some publicity. The Penguin, true to his word, tries to live a good life, even fending off muggers who attacked Veronica, which makes her (Almost) see Penguin in another light. Penguin however finds out what she and Pierce were planning, snaps, and goes back to his criminal ways.

Really the Penguin trying to rejoin society is what makes this episode brilliant. He is 100% serious about leaving behind his criminal life and I believe that no-one being at the prison or his home (Save Batman), showing how truly lonely he was, was what truly drove him to doing this. His relationship with Veronica really did help, he was even going to propose to her. Finding that she was using him, finding that he was just a joke to them (Or initially to her), made him believe that if this was what "honest" life is, then he was happier as a criminal.

Making an established villain sympathetic is a hard task, but this episode managed to pull it off with brilliant results.

5. The Forgotten

Like P.O.V. this is another episode where the villain isn't one of the main villains. Here Bruce finds that homeless people are disappearing, but the police aren't looking into it. Bruce disguises himself as a homeless man and is captured, losing his memory in the process.

What appeals to me in this episode is the psychological aspects to this, namely Bruce remembering his true life, and being terrified of it. He hallucinates the Joker, getting mobbed by homeless people seeking handouts and smothering him, and the loss of his parents. Although the memory of losing his parents was what helped him regain his memory. Kind of sad actually that what restores his memory is the most depressing thing that has ever happened in his life.

It's interesting to see Bruce resolve a situation, for the most part, dealing with the situation without his gadgets, and interacting with people who we would normally never see Bruce talk with. And it has one of my favourite comedic moments in this series:
Alfred: This must be the place. Bring us down.
Batwing computer: Negative.
Alfred: But Master Bruce is down there, we have to land.
Batwing: Impossible, area too confined.
Alfed: Land you bucket of bolts!
Batwing: Your funeral.

4. Joker's Favor

After a long day, the thing Charlie Collins could have dealt with is someone cutting him off. Charlie pulls up and yells at the driver, realising too late that the driver is the Joker. After failing to escape, he manages to persaude Joker to spare him, but Joker says that Charlie owes him a favour. Years later the Joker gets in contact, Charlie has to open a door for him, that's all. But with the Joker, nothing is ever that simple.

Basically the Charlie character is what makes this episode for me. He is just a normal guy, and one bad day got him into a whole heap of trouble with Batman's most dangerous foe. That and the Joker is always brilliant. His chemistry with Charlie is great and the role reversal towards the end was just as good.

This episode was automatically awesome because of the Joker, but this episode was particularly good.

3. Heart of Ice

Someone has been steeling equipment from GothCorp companies, all using some kind of freeze gun. Batman lies in wait at the last company and finds Mr. Freeze, a man wearing a cold suit and, apparently, has no emotions. Mr. Freeze plans to have revenge against the man who killed his wife and turned him into the icicle he has become, Ferris Boyle.

This episode became famous for reinventing the character, turning him from the joke character he was into a serious, tragic villain with such a complex and emotional past. That's the main aspect behind this episode that I love, the reinvention of Mr. Freeze. It was so popular the origin used here was effectively used from this point on. Except 'The Batman' where he became a bank robber, but I digress.

I just love this episode for making Freeze a hugely popular character, while the episode itself is practically flawless.

2. The Man Who Killed Batman

This is another episode which Batman rarely features in, this time Sid the Squid, a newcomer wanting to make a name, is taken to Rupert Thorne to tell his story of how he killed the Batman and managed to become the number one target in Gotham.

Yeah, you'd have thought that the guy who killed Batman would become both the most feared and most respected criminal in Gotham, and in a way he is respected. He is immediately honored at a table full of gang members. But then a biker says that if he kills the guy who killed Batman, then HE becomes the big dog, showing that he must suffer the consequences of his actions, by killing Batman and becoming the big name he always wanted to be.

Sid runs into the Joker and his gang, and here we see how dependent the Joker is on Batman. Oh yeah, we see Joker try and kill Batman more than once, but here we see that the Joker lives for Batman. Without Batman, there's "no punchline". And so the Joker becomes depressed. For five minutes before throwing Sid into a vat of acid.

Wonderfully written, brilliantly performed, why wouldn't this be on this list?

1. Almost Got 'Im

Okay, what else was going to be my number one?...Except maybe the 'Heart of Ice' episode. Anyway, Penguin, Killer Croc, Poison Ivy, Two-Face and the Joker all meet up in a bar to play cards, causally discussing how they almost killed the Batman.

Seeing the main villains playing something normal is quite a laugh, as well as seeing the villains bounce off one another, as well as reference their history with one another, for example, Poison Ivy and Two-Face:
Two-Face: Half of me wants to strangle ya.
Poison Ivy: And what does the other half want?
Two-Face: To hit you with a truck.
Poison Ivy: We used to date.
Joker & Penguin: Aaaaaah.
And of course the infamous 'rock' line.

We also get five stories in one, the main episode plot, as well as the four stories told by Penguin, Joker, Two-Face and Poison Ivy. No, I did not include Killer Croc's. They're all entertaining and thought out and the episode as a whole allows us to see some development with five of the main villains. 'Trial' kind of upstages this by having pretty much every villain (Except Penguin) involved, although I do feel that it backfired a little since there were now too many villains to interact with and a couple of their voice actors weren't available, leaving two of them (Scarecrow and Riddler) with no dialogue.

So of course this episode was number one! There's virtually nothing wrong with it.


And there's my top ten animated Batman episodes, coming up next to finish the month off, my favourite films.