Caped Crusader

So far Batman: The Caped Crusader is more than I had hoped for. Now admittedly I had set the bar really low because the overwhelming amount of Batman media is sexist and subpar at best as a whole. There are very few redeemable projects and honestly most aren’t worth the watch. Thus far, this one is worth the watch. Between the introduction of pretty much everyone interesting in Gotham City, and the different focus every episode the show seems to not only understand its roots but rely on them. The creative team clearly understands what made the original animated series successful and they are taking the best parts of that formula and applying them here.

Harleen and Barbara being friends gives me so much joy. We have yet to see her as Harley but I think that is coming this episode. Barbara is having a hard time and Harleen says “you’ve got to learn to laugh it off”, already kind of blurring the lines between Harleen and Harley. We get to see her be Harley for the first time in one of her sessions. They put her in one of her original designs, with a very wrong color scheme so I am not sure how I feel about that. The approach that they have taken with her is someone who takes a very psychotic approach to “healing” her patients. She forced punishments (very fitting ones) on men who are horrible to the people around them. I really don’t know if I like this approach to Harley…it's definitely different, but that does not mean better. They DID make her gay though, and they made her exist without tying her to the joker so I suppose I can give this a chance. I think this is supposed to be a “before she went completely crazy” version of her, but I kind of hate it. No accent, wrong colors for her suit, feels wrong.

We finally have the first real “supernatural” threat in Gotham. DC is actually very magic based and though that doesn’t always seep into Gotham City a fair amount does. You can’t really avoid magical enemies for too long in comics. That is the most entertaining when they go up against Batman, who is just a man. So I am not surprised that they take so long to introduce a ghost. Batman has to actually go ask for help because he really doesn’t know how to handle magic beings. Alfred has just so much sass and is such a good balance for Bruce. He performs a whole magic ritual and Alfred is like “yeah here is my noble blood”, what a good friend. Batman getting his ass kicked by a ghost is exactly what I needed to see today.

These isolated episodes are great, but would be more conducive to network TV. Cause honestly if something is on a streaming service and you can’t be bothered to watch from the beginning, that’s a you problem. Easy entrance points are only necessary for season breaks at this point, not episode ones. Also an actual problem because a lot of these episodes have loose ends and the season just isn't long enough to resolve them. 10 episode seasons do not allow for opening a storyline up and leaving it for a few episodes. Things need to be tied up quickly, especially in an era of creation that we don’t know if we are getting another season. As a writer you need to do your best to wrap things up as if you are never going to get to write that thing again.