Plot summary: Harvey Bullock and Renee Montoya clash over who is to blame for a sting operation gone awry. There are three sides to the story, but who is telling the truth?
Originally published on The Reel World August 1st, 2020
Notes
Original Air Date: September 18th, 1992
Directed: Kevin Altieri (3)
Written: Mitch Brian (1) (Story) and Sean Catherine Derek (2) (teleplay) & Laren Bright (1) (teleplay)
Animation: Spectrum Animation Studio (2)
Music: Shirley Walker (6)
The initial version of the script was said to be more complex, with flashbacks to the youth of Renee and Harvey. Business standards and practices had a field day with it, cutting around 9 minutes of content that required the addition of an extra action scene at the end to pad for time.
First episode without an unmasked Batman. In fact, Batman doesn’t even speak until near the end, and only has five lines when he does.
Don’t let ANYONE tell you the plot of this episode follows that of Rashomon. That stone cold classic presents each account as factual, whereas Bullock’s here is shown as an overt lie.
Ron Perlman’s first ever voice acting credit.
Recap
Renee Montoya and her partner, Wilkes, race to a sting operation, only to find the building on fire and Harvey Bullock shaken up nearby. Montoya heads inside while Wilkes gives chase to two escaping crooks. Harvey woozily looks to the roof and sees the silhouette of Batman.
We move ahead to the trio being dressed down by Hackle, presumably an internal affairs agent, who blames them for ruining their months-long operation, suggesting they may be taking bribes from the mob. Jim Gordon objects, while Harvey suggests Batman is to blame.
Hackle invites Bullock to tell his side of the story. Harvey’s narration states he saw Batman enter the warehouse so he followed to stop him ruining the mission, but what we see doesn’t reflect this, as Harvey enters BEFORE the familiar silhouette of Batman appears behind him.
Harvey trips on a metal can, alerting the criminals to his presence, though he claims the noise came from out of nowhere, suggesting it was Batman. In the ensuing chaos the warehouse catches fire. Batman swoops in and gets Harvey to safety, though Bullock of course claims it was the other way around.
Hackle is dismissive of Harvey’s story, demanding to know the real reason he went inside without his backup, but Bullock deflects, so Wilkes tells his story next. He gave chase to the escapees per Montoya’s orders but ended up fleeing for his life from their getaway vehicle.
Batman suddenly appears and tosses caltrops to burst the car’s tyres and then takes down the driver with a batarang. Wilkes describes all of this in a far more supernatural manner.
Wilkes finishes his story by saying the crook said something that sounded like “Doc” when Batman grabbed him, but Hackle feels Wilkes is leaving something out. Montoya defends him and gives her own story.
Entering the warehouse, Montoya overhears the name “Hathcock” from the mobsters still inside. They set upon her but Batman comes to her rescue. Montoya attempts to make arrests, but the ceiling collapses and Batman shoves her aside, seemingly perishing.
Having heard all three stories, Hackle suspends them in lieu of a final verdict!
Montoya later realises “Doc” was actually dock, and heads to the Hathcock Shipping Company warehouse, where she finds Batman tied up. Batman frees himself and he and Montoya take the thugs down together.
There are tommy guns, giant crates and forklifts. It’s a decent enough little action set piece. Montoya ends up grabbing the group’s boss with a crane.
Gordon commends Montoya for her work and tells Hackle to go spit, physically taking the three suspended cops’ badges back in what is surely a massive breach of protocol. Bullock thanks Montoya, initially begrudgingly and then more sincerely.
Best Performance
Not having Kevin Conroy to fall back on for the first time feels strange. I love Renee Montoya in the comics, but Ingrid Oliu’s performance is a little wooden in this episode. Bob Hastings’ Jim Gordon is excellent throughout the series, but he’s a minor player here.
I’m going to give this one to Robert Costanzo for Harvey Bullock. It’s a distinct voice and a memorable character, with this episode giving him a spotlight for the first time. While his role is primarily to be the cop who doesn’t trust Batman, the little moment of thanks towards Montoya at the end offers a glimpse of a more likeable version.
Ranking
For an episode so light on Batman this actually works surprisingly well. There are interesting GCPD stories that can be told (please read Gotham Central if you haven’t), and shifting Batman from his central role to one where normal people are reacting to him is almost always fascinating, playing into the idea he’s more of a symbol than a man. The script just isn’t QUITE there.
In a perfect world they would have stylised each flashback to match the tone of the narrator. For instance, the Gotham Knight animated film features a group of kids swapping stories about times they saw Batman, with each tale done by a different animation studio and presenting the hero in a variety of hyper-stylised ways, including a monster and a robot. But I understand they had 65 episodes of this show to make, and while their budget was high for this type of show at the time, I’m asking for too much.
I lament the loss of those extra 9 minutes, which would have fleshed Harvey and Montoya out more, but as filler action scenes go, that dock brawl is decent. Bullock’s flashbacks would have been his days playing high school football and being scolded by his dad for not being selfish enough, while Montoya’s were about people not believing her as a child.
While this episode isn’t a banger, it certainly has a structural hook more sophisticated than most cartoons were trying at the time. If episodes without one of the rogues gallery disinterest you then you’ll likely be outraged by me giving it the edge over ‘Christmas with the Joker’, but hey, feel free to go make your own list.
- On Leather Wings
- Pretty Poison
- P.O.V. (NEW ENTRY)
- Christmas with the Joker
- Nothing to Fear
- The Last Laugh
- The Under-Dwellers
Rogues Roundup
No major villains this episode as it’s just a routine mob plot, though Ron Perlman does voice a character called Driller who… has a huge drill. He doesn’t really do much, but if I were ranking him I’d probably put him ahead of Sewer King.
There’s also a dude credited Scarface… who has a big scar on his face. Not to be confused with the long-time Batman villain of the same name who will appear later in the series. Even so, if I were ranking him I’d probably put him ahead of Sewer King.
Finally they have an unidentified boss (The Boss) who remains in the shadows until he’s caught. If I were ranking him I’d probably put him ahead of Sewer King.
- Joker
- Poison Ivy
- Scarecrow
- Man-Bat
- Sewer King
The Matt Signal 
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