Editor’s Note: This is the eighth episode of Beware the Batman that was not previously aired during it’s original run on Cartoon Network late last year. No official screens or videos have been released by WB for the remaining episodes.
As the 19th episode of Beware the Batman begins, a small man breaks into a software company using his strange fingers to access the most secure areas of the company. He is able to download a computer code into his fingers. Immediately after the download completes, Batman and Katana arrive to capture him. They chase him outside, where Harvey Dent and his special police force are waiting for him.
The man, known as “The Key”, surrenders to the Dent, betting that he will be able to escape. However, Batman and Katana escape. The Key is taken to Blackgate Prison, where he is placed in special Stagg Industries handcuffs that completely demobilizes his hands, making escape impossible.
Back at Wayne Manor, Bruce Wayne tricks Katana into believing he is going to bed early. After she goes to bed, he sneaks out as Batman and goes to Dent to surrender. Once placed in prison, Batman sneaks out of his cell and discovers that the prison has been taken over by Killer Croc. Batman tries to find The Key to prevent the computer code from falling into the wrong hands. Croc informs him that he owns The Key and that if Batman wants him he needs to fight for him.
Meanwhile, outside the prison, Gordon and Dent squabble over how to handle the situation inside Blackgate. While this is going on, Barbara Gordon is using her computer skills to give Katana the schematics of the prison, so she can go in and get Katana.
This episode has two glaring errors. The first of which is the situation between Katana and Batman. At the end of the previous episode, Batman stated that he was going back to Wayne Manor alone, implying that he was letting Katana go, but at the beginning of this episode, she is living and fighting crime with him. This was a situation that should have been addressed, but was not. The other is Harvey Dent. Not only does the district attorney have his own police unit, but he also is not a protagonist. In most adaptations, Harvey Dent is good man, who loses his grip on his darker side. In this incarnation of Dent, he is an enemy of Batman and Gordon. He also is not shown to be seeking the greater good. He wants Batman out of the game and is consumed with doing so. In short, Beware the Batman has botched the character of Harvey Dent.
The writers do need to be commended for beginning to include more of Batman’s Rogues Gallery. The addition of Killer Croc brought some needed familiarity to the show. There was a welcome Penguin Easter Egg in this episode, as well. The addition of Harvey Dent these past few episodes has been a good idea, but as previously mentioned, the execution of it has been poorly handled.
Furthermore, the writers should be commended for writing better stories. Early on in the show, episodes tended to be a crapshoot as to whether or not there would be an intriguing story, with no plot-holes. As of the late, the episodes (including this one) have had better and tighter story lines.
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