DC TV Update: TBU Links # 19

Greetings and salutations, dear Bat-fans. I apologize for the lengthy delay. I was called away to Gotham. The Sons of Batman had a meeting and I needed to be there. I’ve already said too much. Anyway, let’s get down to business. As always, there are SPOILERS AHEAD!

Episode 22 – All Happy Families Are Alike (aired May 4)

• Maroni is dead! He’s dead! I guess he won’t be spilling acid on Harvey’s face anytime soon. Or at all.

• Bruce found the Batcave! I mean, it’s not the Batcave yet, but he found the cave. And it’s already a secret entrance. The question what did his father keep down there?

• Falcone retires?! Really?! The Roman just retired. Wow. So much for “Batman: Year One.”

• Penguin, the King of Gotham? A kingpin, maybe. We shall see who comes out on top in the underworld by next season. I will say that Penguin has shown the type of cunning he demonstrated in “Batman Returns.”

• Bruce is already the world’s greatest detective. He tore that room apart Sherlock Holmes style. Just tore it apart, without any regard for the state of the room. Alfred tried to maintain some order, but Bruce’s youth seems to have won out in the end. Oh and when he finds it he would’ve made Jeremy Brett (a really awesome actor who is thought of as the quintessential Sherlock Holmes) smile at his reaction. This is one aspect of Bruce that I do like seeing.

Episode 21 – Grodd Lives (aired May 5)

• Grodd! Some of you may remember that Bruce took on Grodd with Clark in Jeph Loeb’s “Batman/Superman: Public Enemies.” It’s still a good read.
• Eiling – as some of you may remember, General Eiling becomes a super strength-wielding mutant that tries to take on the League all by himself.
• Barry and Bruce follow a similar plan-of-action regarding any villain that defeats them, at least initially. With villains like Mad Hatter, who also utilizes mind control, Bruce has been able to build jammers with Hatter’s hat-tech. Also, he, and Barry too, have utilized their own mental willpower to overcome mental attacks.

Episode 22 – Rogue Air (aired May 12)

• As Wells hid under everyone’s very noses in S.T.A.R. Labs, so too did Joker (and others) find a sewer entrance into the Batcave. This surprises the hell out Batman. (This occurs in “Dark Victory,” by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale.)

• Barry isn’t the only one who’s employed a bad guy’s help before. Batman paid off Mirror Master in order to infiltrate Luthor’s bad guy team, in “JLA: Rock of Ages.”

• Oliver’s tactics used to fight Reverse Flash were very reminiscent of the Bat. He even had a device that essentially killed his power temporarily. Bruce has been known to pull out small devices from time to time, that can incapacitate a metahuman’s abilities.

• Oliver, Ronnie and the Professor, and Barry all team up to take down the Reverse Flash. Though he dislikes it, Bruce has teamed up many times before, including training several Robins as his partner. A specific incidence (similar to this episode’s team-up) occurs in the third volume of the “Starman Omnibus.” Jack, Batman, Alan Scott and others travel into a dream-like place to fight for the soul of their friend Solomon Grundy (who was friendly and kind in the version they knew him as).

Episode 23 – Fast Enough (aired May 19)

• As Barry is presented with the opportunity to save his mother, rather than get justice by Wells/Thawne/Reverse Flash, I’m reminded Bruce once took one such an opportunity and did save his parents. He undid his very existence, by doing so. Clark was lucky and found a way back to him (though he’d never been Batman, but had a nagging sense that the life he was living was all wrong). This happened in “Batman/Superman: Absolute Power.”

• If there’s one thing that Barry and Bruce share, it is taking every opportunity (with some dramatics for effect) to deny a villain getting what they want. Not for spite, but because it’s right (yes, that rhymed). They will do what it takes to do the right thing and know better than to cross the line.

• Barry and Bruce put on the masks one day because they both experienced loss before their eyes (at least for Barry in this incarnation). And they spend the rest of their days making sure to spare as many people from experiencing that loss as they can.

Episode 22 – This Is Your Sword (aired May 6)

• Roy passed the “Red Arrow” costume to Thea, telling her that red suited her better than him. Like the “Speedy” torch, the mantle of Robin is one that has been several times. Twice that post has been held by a woman: Stephanie Brown and Carrie Kelly.

• With the impending nuptials of Oliver and Nyssa, Ra’s mentions them producing an heir to his line. It just so happens that Bruce and Talia produced such an heir: Damian Wayne. Also, a Robin. Also, awesome.

• Katana is seen in full hero gear for the first time. The only thing missing are the Outsiders and Batman.

• Ibn al Ghul means Son of the Demon. The graphic novel, “Son of the Demon,” by Mike Barr, depicts a time in Bats’ career when he also became betrothed to Ra’s’ daughter and became his heir apparent. He even took over leadership of the League’s assassins, utilizing his own training regiment instead of the assassins’ regiment.

Episode 23 – My Name Is Oliver Queen (aired May 13)

• Though Katana disproves, Oliver tortures Shreve for Akio’s death. Bruce once told Clark he was willing to cover up Clark killing Lex. At the end of the story arc of “Batman/Superman: Public Enemies,” Bruce’s inner monologue reveals that he’d been in a similar situation with the Joker, and that Jim Gordon had talked him down. “But I’m not Jim Gordon,” he thinks.

• Thea is seen in Roy’s costume having assumed his mantle. Both Carrie Kelly and Stephanie Brown have been Robin (Just in case you forgot. Oh yeah, and there’s a Batwoman. Boom!)

• Oliver faces and defeats Ra’s. Batman has also done this, in Mike Barr’s “Birth of the Demon.” He’s also defeated him several other times.

• Nyssa now follows her path as she does in “Death and the Maidens.” In short, she makes a concentrated effort to stop her father’s terrorism.

• As Oliver leaves heroes in Starling in his absence, so does Bruce when he leaves for a year following the events of Infinite Crisis. In fact, he leaves Gotham’s protection in the hands of a then renewed Harvey Dent. Poor Harvey.

Whew. Wow. That’s a lot, right? Well, kids, I’m sorry to report, for those who hadn’t heard, that Constantine has indeed been cancelled. I hope those cameo rumors become true. That would be amazing. See you next season of everything and we will also have the “Legends” and Supergirl show to look forward to.