Plot summary: When the nefarious Hugo Strange learns of Batman’s secret identity he puts in a call to Gotham’s most wanted to try and sell the information.
(Originally published on The Reel World November 14th, 2020)
Notes
Original Air Date: October 29th, 1992
Directed: Frank Paur (8)
Written: David Wise (story) (2), and Judith Reeves-Stevens (2) (teleplay) & Garfield Reeves-Stevens (2) (teleplay)
Animation: Akom Production Co. (9)
Music: Lolita Ritmanis (4)
This is the first episode of the series to feature multiple villains working together after previously being established as separate acts. Bruce Timm doesn’t like doing this as he feels it dilutes them.
Based on ‘The Dead Yet Live’ and ‘I Am the Batman’, stories from the late 70s, as well as the Batman ’66 episode ‘Minerva, Mayhem and Millionaires.’
Hugo Strange makes an offhand comment about Alfred’s resistance to truth serum, something that’ll be explained in ‘The Lion and the Unicorn’
Michael Reaves wrote a sequel episode that was never produced.
Recap
Judge Maria Vargas meets with some goons on a bridge, handing over a briefcase full of cash, intending to trade it for a tape with her name on it. Unfortunately she’s $20,000 short, so not only doesn’t she get the tape, but the price is raised by another hundred thousand.
Thankfully Batman was watching and swoops in to take out the crooks, causing the tape to go flying. Vargas is so desparate she crowls out onto a beam to try and get it, with Batman barely able to stop her from falling.
Jim Gordon refuses to believe Maria would would give in to extortion, having known her for 20 years and seeing her recently following a vacation to the Yucca Springs resort.
You’ll never guess where the crooks’ car is registered to… Yes, Yucca Springs, which turns out to be owned by Roland Daggett! Batman has heard enough, telling Robin he thinks he needs a break.
Checking in at Yucca Springs, Bruce tells Alfred – who he brought with him to the spa!!!! – that he plans to look into Hugo Strange, a doctor Judge Vargas name-dropped during the attempted handover. He also brought the Bat-Suit.
Bruce begins a session with Strange, who straps him to a mad-science machine that he claims will lower his mental defences to allow greater relaxation. Only this damn machine projects his thoughts onto a huge screen!
We see Alfred comforting a young Bruce following the death of his parents, and then the closest thing to their murder in Crime Alley that the show can get away with. Strange asserts Bruce felt responsible for their death, becoming consumed by a need to channel his anger.
Bruce can’t resist the machine any longer, with bats flying across the screen and then a familiar gloved fist covering the Batman logo. He rapidly excuses himself, unaware Strange saw everything.
A phone rings in the Joker’s hideout (his answer machine features a person screaming for their life rather than a beep), with Strange informing him of an auction.
Bruce sneaks into Strange’s lab and finds Vargas’ tape, which depicts her burning down a factory as a child. This is apparently an infamous event in Gotham history, explaining her desire to hide it.
Strange and his goons collect Joker, Two-Face and Penguin from an airfield. Realising what Strange is planning, Bruce asks Alfred to track the villains while he straps himself back into the machine…
After finishing Bruce smashes the machine, destroying it. Strange’s thugs take him hostage, having captured Alfred and used drugs to get him to talk.
Two-Face begins the bidding at half a million, which Penguin immediately doubles. Harvey raises to two million. Joker tells them to cool it, and then for some reason they combine their funds, buying the tape for $51m and change. Literally.
Strange rolls the tape, unaware Bruce has escaped bondage and hooked up his new recording to the projector, which is a false memory of Strange plotting to trick the villains.
The trio are naturally furious, easily ploughing through his henchmen and beating Strange to the airfield, forcing him onto a plane with Joker at the helm.
Strange screams that Bruce Wayne is Batman, but Harvey calls the idea absurd, going as far as to say if that’s true then he’s the King of England. But before they can throw him out, Bruce sabotages the plane.
The plane lands safely, so Batman’s rule about no killing remains intact for another day. He disarms the villains as a GCPD blimp puts a spotlight on the scene.
Batman and Jim Gordon agree Judge Vargas had nothing to fear in the first place as it was all an accident. Strange tries again to reveal Batman’s secret, but Bruce freakin’ Wayne rocks up to permanently discredit the idea! After Gordon takes Strange away we of course learn that “Bruce” is Robin in disguise, complete with stilts and a rubber mask!
Best Performance
In many ways this is a greatest hits episode, with more excellent voice work from the show’s three best performers to date: Kevin Conroy, Mark Hamill and Richard Moll. Heck, in a weaker episode I might have finally given it to Bob Hastings as Commissioner Gordon.
But Ray Buktenica’s take on Hugo Strange is fantastic; the right blend of squirmy weasel and menacing mad scientist. It’s a distinct vocal performance that goes in completely the opposite direction to B.D. Wong in Gotham and Corey Burton in Arkham City, who both opt to give him a deeper, more calculating timbre. I don’t know if this version is better, but it does fit with the original comic iteration who was more of a generic nefarious scientist.
Episode Ranking
I don’t know what this writing staff had against spas, but this is the second episode in recent memory to feature a Batman villain getting up to no good while using a luxury resort as a front. This one is a bit better than ‘Eternal Youth’, though.
At times it even seems like it’s going to be one of the best episodes in the whole show, with an excellent opening scene, the always fun trope of a villain discovering the hero’s secret, and then bringing together three of the most iconic villains in the Rogues Gallery. Unfortunately it’s missing either an emotional through-line or commanding vocal performance to tie the whole thing together in the same way as the best episodes. Strange learning who Batman really is should be an enormous deal, but Bruce remains almost entirely nonplussed by the whole thing, concocting a quick and easy fix. That you can essentially think really hard about anything and the machine turns it into a tape seems a huge flaw in its reliability, sucking the life out of this idea.
We don’t even have the looming threat of Strange lurking in the shadows ready to spill the beans at any time, as the ruse with Robin dispels the whole thing. An older Dick has shown the ability to pass for Batman in the comics before, but this is the first time I’ve seen them go the whole hog and put him in a Bruce Wayne mask and… stilts.
I will say though, the scene with Batman chilling on the edge of the bridge, cape blowing in the wind, drawn entirely in shadow except for the bright white eyes is basically all I’m ever looking for from the art in this show.
Ultimately it doesn’t fully bring its interesting ideas together, and the charisma of the villains steps in to do some heavy lifting when things are lagging, so it’s kinda fun, but not super good.
[Note: This episode’s ranking was lowered as part of taking stock after Episode 50]
- The Laughing Fish
- Heart of Ice
- Robin’s Reckoning Part I
- Perchance to Dream
- Two-Face Part I
- Joker’s Favor
- Feat of Clay Part II
- Robin’s Reckoning Part II
- Beware the Gray Ghost
- Mad as a Hatter
- Vendetta
- Appointment In Crime Alley
- Two-Face Part II
- On Leather Wings
- Pretty Poison
- Feat of Clay Part I
- It’s Never Too Late
- See No Evil
- The Clock King
- The Strange Secret of Bruce Wayne (NEW ENTRY)
- Eternal Youth
- The Cape and Cowl Conspiracy
- The Cat and the Claw Part I
- P.O.V.
- Christmas with the Joker
- Fear of Victory
- Be a Clown
- Night of the Ninja
- The Cat and the Claw Part II
- Nothing to Fear
- Prophecy of Doom
- Dreams In Darkness
- The Last Laugh
- Cat Scratch Fever
- The Under-Dwellers
- The Forgotten
- I’ve Got Batman in My Basement
Rogues Roundup
Hugo Strange (Ray Buktenica) (first appearance)
I go and say something silly like we have a crowded house (for ‘Cat-Scratch Fever’) and then BAM, four major villains. Strap in. Strange makes a strong debut, with his operation appearing very successful until it draws Batman’s attention, but even then he’s able to ascertain the hero’s secret identity.
It’s not just the machine that figures it out for him though, as Strange demonstrates how dangerous his psychiatric training can be if pointed in the wrong direction, correctly deducing Bruce’s state of mind following his parents’ death.
His place in relation to the other villains is one of humour, looking down on but ultimately being terrified of them. Once again, I begrudge none of the antagonists who want to get rich quick, but the fact that he poses zero physical threat once rumbled knocks him down a peg or two, as he’s treated as an ordinary civilian who stands no chance against the Murder Clown.
The Joker (Mark Hamill) (sixth appearance)
We’ve seen Joker deployed in cameos a few times outside of his feature performances, none of which I’ve counted as an appearance. They’re nevertheless interesting and often powerful, serving to keep him firmly established as the top dog in the Rogues Gallery. That position is reflected in the episode, as he’s the only one we see Strange calling, leading to the fun voicemail scene. He’s the first to step off the plane, and he takes charge of the other two in the climax without a hint of challenge. He continues to be well written and better acted, and there’s not much I can say here you haven’t heard already. He remains number one.
Two-Face (Richard Moll) (third appearance)
Following on from his towering two-parter, Harvey slides into the role of common criminal, treated as important enough to be on Strange’s call list (as opposed to Rupert Thorne as it was in the comics), but focused more on money than anything else. It was good to hear Moll’s voice again, and he doesn’t do anything to drop him in the rankings.
Penguin (Paul Williams (second appearance)
After the single worst showing of a major Batman adversary, Penguin finds himself on the back foot trying to climb past pedestrian foes such as Nostromos and Kyodai Ken. So it’s not ideal that he’s a bit of a non-entity in his second outing. Sure, he’s treated as a big deal by being one of three to be invited to the auction, but one could easily look at the material and say it’s more to do with his wealth than villainy. Personally I’m still not convinced by the show’s take on him yet.
- Joker (-)
- Mr. Freeze
- Two-Face (-)
- Clayface
- Mad Hatter
- Poison Ivy
- Catwoman
- Clock King
- Killer Croc
- Rupert Thorne
- Lloyd Ventrix
- Josiah Wormwood
- Scarecrow
- Roland Daggett (and Germs & Bell!)
- Tony Zucco
- Harley Quinn
- Hugo Strange (NEW ENTRY)
- Red Claw
- Arnold Stromwell
- Mad Bomber
- Man-Bat
- Nostromos (and Lucas!)
- Kyodai Ken
- Penguin (-)
- Professor Milo
- Sewer King
- Boss Biggis
The Matt Signal 
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