Plot summary: When a hit is put out on Jim Gordon the GCPD struggle to keep him safe while Batman hunts down the culprit.
Notes and Trivia
Episode: 7(S1.E7)
Original Air Date: August 1st, 2024
Directed: Christina Sotta (3)
Written: Adamma Ebo (2) & Adanne Ebo (2)
Animation: Studio GRIDA (3)
Music: Frederik Wiedmann (7)
This story may be partially inspired by ‘Officer Down’, a story where Jim Gordon is shot and falls into a coma, which itself was almost certainly lifted from the BTAS episode ‘I Am the Night‘
The unsuccessful assassin from the beginning of the episode was Floyd ‘Deadshot’ Lawton.
There are a number of winks and nods to Batman ’66, from Dozier Road (William Dozier executive produced the show), to the prison guard O’Hara (Chief O’Hara was a character in the show), and most obviously Onomatopoeia’s choices of fight scene sound effects.
Another street name is “Wheeler and Nicholson”, named for DC founder Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson. There being a secondary nod to Jack Nicholson is just a fun coincidence.
I’m not convinced it’s a deliberate reference, but Muller shares a name with Joseph Muller aka ‘Bat-Cop’ from Grant Morrison’s Batman run that saw a villain manipulate a policeman into becoming a trigger-happy ‘dark Batman’.
Recap
The GCPD get wind that there’s a hit out on Jim Gordon, who initially refuses a security detail, but Barbara is eventually able to convince him to hide out in a safe-house.
Batman learns the hit originated from ‘Muller’ inside Blackgate Prison, and that some heavier hitters from out of town will be arriving shortly to try and claim the bounty, led by the enigmatic Onomatopoeia.
The Gordons are attacked on route to the safehouse and forced to take refuge in a model home of a housing development, where Onomatopoeia’s crew descend upon them.
Batman arrives to help fight them off, having also gotten the hit cancelled… but it turns out they were after Barbara all along, and she narrowly avoids execution by one of the cops.
Episode Ranking
For as much as I like about this show, I am a little disappointed in the broadly small roles of Jim and Barbara Gordon, so much like Alfred last time, they’re getting a focus episode! And I think it’s good stuff for their characters, between Jim’s steely determination not to cow from his attempted assassination, and Babs working with Batman, building off their two previous encounters. I think the real strength is when they’re directly interacting though, with their spirited debates (more on that to come) that test the limits of their stubbornness. Barbara appealing to her father through the potential collateral damage of hit-men coming after him in the suburbs is solid writing, as we see later in the episode he cares more about the safety of others (such as the injured Driver) than himself.
I’ve mentioned a few times how they’re making a more concerted effort to delve into social issues surrounding economic disparity and the criminal justice system than most Batman adaptations, and how difficult it can be to walk that line given the time constraints. The same holds true here, as Barbara and Jim Gordon get into a spat about mitigating circumstances, actions vs intent, and the effectiveness of prison as deterrent/punishment (especially when you consider the impetus for this episode originated from inside prison!) It’s purely surface level for the most part, but I did like Barb’s line about how cops are allowed to make mistakes but citizens aren’t. That’s a good punchy little line that cuts through anything too subtle for some to pick up on. Likewise the police’s inability to keep their top cop safe because they don’t know who they can trust on the force. I do admire their commitment to little passing comments though, such as Flass’ belief cops should be a protected class and the two Blackgate guards gleefully talking about murdering and extorting inmates like it’s office gossip.
There’s also more of that subtle serialisation, with the Gordons et al taking refuge in the unfinished Wayne Gardens, first mentioned last episode. This also made for a fun setting for the second half of the episode. I guess I have a thing for both abandoned locations and seeing ‘behind the curtain’ of everyday places, as I got an even greater kick out of the mystery and action on the movie sets of Episode 2. It combines quite nicely with the social commentary, as Bruce is building the 40s idea of a utopia, with white picket fences and smiling white families that the characters acknowledge feels nothing like Gotham… only for mayhem and gun violence to descend upon it (but with no innocent bystanders to get shot of course.)
The best moment from this sequence has nothing to do with any of that though, as we see a return of one of my favourite BTAS tropes: Depicting a fight through shadows. It’s blink-and-you’ll-miss-it quick, but Batman arriving to save the day works really well when our point of view has mostly been with the Gordons. Implication can be more effective than an explicit action, and having Bats cut through swaths of criminals around the periphery works every time, giving him a mythic feel.
Unfortunately it lacks a strong enough villain presence (more below), and I think they ended up going around in circles a bit on their argument. Barbara begins the episode arguing in favour of small-time criminals who aren’t truly evil and just made mistakes, advocating that prison can often create lifelong crooks so isn’t always the answer. But by the end she’s opening fire on hired goons (ostensibly killing at least one), and then condemns Muller and saying he belongs in jail. Is she wrong? Ehh, I guess not really, as the guy claims he isn’t like the other people in Blackgate but then hired hitmen to murder a public defender. But still! But still! But still! I think that’s the thing here, they never really come to a conclusion on any of this stuff, but rather just point towards it all. Whether that’s better than ignoring these themes entirely is up to you.
Overall I like the vibes and visuals, but there’s just not quite enough juice to take it to the next level.
- … And Be a Villain
- The Stress of Her Regard
- Kiss of the Catwoman
- The Night of the Hunters
- Night Ride
- Moving Target (NEW ENTRY)
- In Treacherous Waters
Best Performance
Tough one because I don’t think anybody was overly compelling. The legendary Roger Craig Smith was solid as Corrigan, but just doesn’t have many lines. Peter Jessop made for a great weasel in Muller, but similarly isn’t in it a huge amount. This is another episode that shifts Batman to the side a bit (which some people hate but I think is fine), so Hamish Linklater is out too. Michelle Bonilla is perfectly fine but not a patch on her previous work.
I guess it really comes down to the Gordons, and I’d give a slight edge to Krystal Joy Brown, as Barbara passionately argues her points, pleads with her father to listen to reason, and has a grim reckoning at the end of the episode.
Rogues Roundup
Onomatopoeia (Reid Scott) (first appearance)
It was a cute touch to use his gimmick to pay tribute to Batman ’66, but I fear the character just doesn’t work outside of a written medium. He’s a little cooler in the comics anyway, hunting masked heroes without the aid of superpowers and keeping trophies, rather than the more generic hired assassin he is here.
He gets a pretty strong intro, with his crew stepping off train together, all dressed identically save for his mask. In fact I would say his visual presentation is great throughout, as he is given utter deference by his goons, always standing in the middle, separate from them as he quietly plots. My favourite of these short moments is him studying Batman curiously as he takes out his henchmen.
But then they start actually fighting and it’s all either generic or falls flat. He boils down to a mobster with a cool mask and nothing more. There isn’t really room for him to be more interesting than that, but at least he looked cool along the way!
Jim Corrigan (Roger Craig Smith) (second appearance)
Does he really count as a villain? This was his second appearance after he barely did anything in his first, and he’s mostly just an opportunist. But I guess he was trying to murder one of the main characters, and was going to make it look like one of the goons did it, which is yet more police corruption, so here I am ranking him last and not bothering with Muller who originated the hit. Send your complaints to the moon.
Given his secret villainy in Gotham Central (spoilers I guess!), I shouldn’t have been surprised, but it was a cool little twist at the end IMO.
- Clayface
- Harley Quinn
- Catwoman
- Flass & Bullock
- Firebug
- The Gentleman Ghost
- Rupert Thorne
- The Penguin
- Onomatopoeia (NEW ENTRY)
- Harvey Dent
- Jim Corrigan (NEW ENTRY)
Title Card
The Matt Signal 
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