Episode 09

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Someone gave the hilarious "Almost Got 'Im" a perfect score. Both James and Mike are surprised by the sorrow they feel for the Penguin in "Birds of a Feather." "What is Reality?" marks the second appearance of the Riddler. Batman apparently shops at Hot Topic, as evidenced by his behavior in "I Am the Night." And two crucial Batman: The Animated Series characters are introduced in "Off Balance." [ 1:54:27 || 52.3 MB ]

The above is from: http://www.worldsfinestpodcast.com/episodes/wfp_009.mp3

[James D.]

God, the look on Joker's face is priceless. :laugh:

[Malpractice]

holy shit they got rid of all the episode cards for the episodes too ? I contributed to a couple of the Batman and Superman wiki's so i am kind of pissed about that. I stopped contributing to wikipedia after i worked really hard on the Deftones page just to have it all deleted about 2 days later, and this only further cements my problems with the site.

[Missy]

Yeah, the title cards were removed months ago. James and I had a fit then, too. Though that one was off the air.

[Malpractice]

Poison Ivy in her "Almost Got 'Im" segment was HOT!

just thought i would say that lol

[Malpractice]

that issue of Detective Comics you speak of is #833 entitled "Trust", and it's an excellent issue if i do say so myself.

[Mr. Mxyzptlk]

I don't have time to listen to the podcast today due to school work, but based on the little comment about 'I Am the Night', I hope to death that it's given a low score. I find it to be one of the most overrated episodes with an irrational Batman characterization, tons of pretentious and awkward dialogue, and a conflict that has absolutely no interest.

[James D.]

I don't have time to listen to the podcast today due to school work, but based on the little comment about 'I Am the Night', I hope to death that it's given a low score. I find it to be one of the most overrated episodes with an irrational Batman characterization, tons of pretentious and awkward dialogue, and a conflict that has absolutely no interest.

Well, then you will be elated by one of us and infuriated by the other. :angel:

Mike, the title on the mainpage for Episode 9 says "World's Finest Podcas" (missing the "t"). Just thought you'd like to know.

[Missy]

[Malpractice]

I don't have time to listen to the podcast today due to school work, but based on the little comment about 'I Am the Night', I hope to death that it's given a low score. I find it to be one of the most overrated episodes with an irrational Batman characterization, tons of pretentious and awkward dialogue, and a conflict that has absolutely no interest.

highly disagree. 'I Am The Night' is one of the highlights of the series, and easily an 8/10.

[Mr. Mxyzptlk]

I just can't understand why. A lot of people explain it with 'it sent Batman through his essential conflict of whether being Batman is hurting/helping anyone and is it truly the right thing; Gordon's shooting is so dramatic blah blah blah'. I think that it's obvious that they were going for some defining episode, but when you actually examine it, it holds no weight. I mean, think about Batman's reasoning here: 'Because I didn't do as good a job as I could have, Gordon got shot, so not doing my job at all will keep people from getting hurt in the future'. The reasoning makes absolutely zero sense and yet because Batman explains everything with famous historical and philosophical quotes, people automatically accept it. As well, we already know he's going to be Batman again by the end of the episode, so if you're going to have the hero reach square one again, you should make it interesting by having him learn something or reexamine his reasoning or what not. But no. Here, the entire reason Bruce decides to become Batman again is 'Gordon's gonna die. Why was it I dropped the mantle in the first place? Oh yeah, to save people. Well that sure backfired'. I mean, there's absolutely nothing deep or character defining about it. He just acts irrational, wallows in depression for the episode's majority, and then reaches a completely logical conclusion of 'oh yeah, being Batman does save lives'. He gives no reasoning as to why giving up Batman will be of any benefit. Nothing whatsoever.

Or maybe I'll just quote what I said on another message board (Note: it's probably a bit too mean-spirited and sarcastic):

I just have to add another negative opinion to the batch, given how overrated the episode is. It's one of those episode that tries to tell you at every given moment that its deep, profound, and completely transcending standard cartoon convention. My diagnosis: it tries too hard and fails to accomplish anything. From the beginning, Batman is acting completely irrational and contradictory to character. First off: how many times throughout the course of the series has Batman dealt with Arkham escapees and villains that just never seem to stay locked up? Plenty. But wait! The Penguin, one of Batman's most non-threatening foes, fails to get convicted! Oh the horror! How blatantly ineffective I am! Not to mention Batman must be, by this point, entirely self-aware of how impossible a one-man war on crime is. I mean, I thought the whole point was to do all that one man can to battle evil and set an example. Apparently not; Batman seems to just be figuring out the futility of a one-man war on crime which should have been obvious from the beginning. But let's move on. Another appointment in crime alley, and another scene that reeks of 'look at us! We're revisiting Batman's past and having him spout off exact historical quotes in order to make this episode appear to be intelligent! Look at the way those flowers get crushed! With a scene like that, you know this is a deep episode, even though there really is no purpose or significance to that moment aside from seeing a shocked/sad reaction on Batman's face that slightly fits into place with the rest of the episode, which is just Batman being depressed.' Yeah, rambling there. Anyway, moving along. Gordon gets shot. Oh the potential! Oh the--oh wait, it's just a cheap meaningless ploy to get Batman to suffer a nonsensical crisis. Now, we enter the bulk of the story, the part with the most character-defining moments the series has ever seen! Yes, it's what everyone's been waiting for: Batman sulking and spewing out pretentious garbage that doesn't really mean anything! Just look at how rational Batman's reasoning is here: 'I failed to do my job as Batman, and it caused my friend to get hurt. So instead of trying to do better, which would no doubt save more lives, I'll give up Batman and surely, no one I care about will get hurt ever again.' What are you talking about Batman? You're making no sense. Not doing anything is more effective when you just made it perfectly clear that your friend got shot because you didn't do enough? Wha? And then the big finale. How does Batman ever decide to reclaim his mantle after the oh so convincing reasoning that causes him to abandon it? He grows some braincells and realizes, 'Wait a minute. Gordon will surely die if I stop being Batman. Why did I ever think of giving up Batman in the first place? Oh yeah, to make sure none of my loved ones will ever get hurt. Well that sure backfired.' And then Gordon, about to get shot, right after Batman reemerges! I have no idea what's going to happen! Oh wait, yeah I do. Batman saves the day, as usual. And so Batman realizes he's inspired a kid to do the right thing in possibly the only really half-way decent part of the episode; too bad the majority of the episode wallowed in pretentious gibberish.

But yeah, I'll listen to the podcast tomorrow and see what I think.

Well, it's two days later (I slept all day yesterday), but I'm finally starting the podcast.

Almost Got 'Em- I think it's hilarious, but I think 'The Laughing Fish' and 'Harlequinade' are slightly funnier. Completely agreed about all the comments, although I'm not sure if it would make my top five. Probably my top fifteen. Killer Croc getting another chair? Never noticed that; awesome catch. I think the reason there are lot of cool tidbits in this episode is because it was directed by the great Eric Radomski. 'I threw a rock at 'em'- to me it's not the line; it's the perfect facial expressions that follow. Excellent. To me, one of the funniest parts is Batman just turning off the switch at the cat food factory. I do like the Poison Ivy line, although there is no better Ivy episode than 'House and Garden'. 'Flash and Substance' reference. Awesome. I'm a huge fan of that opening scene, with their tales of supervillainy being along the same lines as talking about your job or your home life, just how mundane they make them out to be is so hilarious. Nitpick- the name of the Justice League episode was 'Wild Cards'; 'Joker's Wild' was a BTAS episode you rather disliked. Animation-wise, I think it's average for the most part, but it gets really good in the Joker segment. I'm one of those people who believes that 'Heart of Ice' is THE GREATEST episode ever; I can buy the bat-symbol coloring flaws because it was an intentional homage to the old Filmation cartoons and the multiple camera angles on the security tape I just write off because I think it's ridiculous to knock an entire episode because of a minor flaw that helps add drama to the scene.

Birds of a Feather- I find it slightly above average. I thought they did a decent job at giving the Penguin a good characterization. It's not a stellar episode as far as sympathetic villains go; I mean, Mr. Freeze's predicament is just heartbreaking, Two-Face is a good guy at war with an evil personality who's life has pretty much been taken away from him. Penguin is just a misfit who's aiming too high, so, while I can slightly sympathize with the fact that he's being taken advantage of, it really isn't very emotionally engaging. Yeah, I love the 'that would have cost you nothing' line; very nice. What bugs me is the 'better to have loved and lost and made some cash' line, because Penguin really doesn't seem that emotionally torn apart as much as he's glad to be a thief again. And yeah, I love Gordon's frustration at Pierce.

I noticed 'Paur Street', but I didn't know about the other two. I thought that those two names meant something, but I wasn't sure.

What is Reality?- Yep. The animation is terrible, all thanks to AKOM, the worst animation company ever. I think the episode is very very bland. The one thing I love is that there are some really cool riddles. Other than that, the story is boring, the virtual reality is a waste of potential, and, as previously mentioned, the animation is bad. According to Paul Dini, The Riddler was the hardest character to write for, because not only do you have to write like a genius, but you have to be able to write away to take down a genius. Yeah, I don't really get the Riddler's motives either. Ha, stupid bomb squad. The ending was sort of stupid, with the Riddler's talking to someone and then the 'Riddler as a vegetable' which was really a bad attempt at a creepy ending. It's never explained in 'The Riddler's Reform' how he came back. I just love the fact that you hate all the movies.

I Am the Night- Here it is, the episode I've been waiting for. I love the 'goes completely emo' thing. I think I've already given my thoughts on this episode well enough, so I'll just sit back and listen. I don't think the animation is brilliant; I think it's very much above average, but it pales in comparison to any TMS or Spectrum ('Heart of Ice', 'Two-Face' pt 1, 'Robin's Reckoning' pt 1). I think the direction is what's really good (Boyd Kirkland brilliance).

YES! It was trying to hard. Exactly, completely agreed. Glad that you hated the Nietzsche line. I was expecting James to appreciate all of the historical/philosophical dialogue, because he has a thing for literary references and highbrow dialogue, but I'm so so glad he hated the Nietzsche line.

I was about to think you weren't going to point out the Adams/O'Niel reference. Good.

I'm totally anticipating the scores for this one, because I just hate it so so much.

Off Balance- Meh. I know it introduces some important characters, but I just don't enjoy it at all.

What really bugs me about this episode that I haven't seen pointed out before is that Talia, after seeing Batman unmasked, refers to the drill as 'your sonic drill' or something, but she definitely says 'your', as in, she knows that it's Bruce Wayne. In 'The Demon's Quest', Ras makes it clear that he had to use Talia's description to figure out it was Bruce Wayne. So I think it's a bit of a contradiction. I liked the animation except for the part when the chest-symbol on Batman shrinks down to just a yellow oval with no bat whatsoever. But I do love the vertigo effects. I don't think I know anymore about the wall/door thing than you do; sorry.

Oh yeah, what's really cool is that this episode is really similar to 'Tools of the Trade' from 'Superman: the Animated Series', in that Michael York plays a villain that torments the hero until the end, when we're introduced to the 'true' enemy (Darkseid and Ras Al Ghul).

Scores:

Almost Got 'Em-You: 9 and 10 (WHAT? A 10/10 from Mike; not even given to 'Heart of Ice') / Me: 8

Birds of a Feather- You: 7 and an 8 / Me: 6.5

What is Reality- You: 5 and a 6 / Me: 6

I Am the Night- You: 7 and a 6 / Me: 3

Off Balance- You: 6 and a 7 / Me: 4

Wow, one of the few times I'm more critical than you guys.

Okay, again, great job. Can't wait for the next batch (featuring two favorites of mine).

[slothian]

That was the PERFECT quote to finish with!!! I rarely actually download podcasts (my lappy preferes strems) but the WFP series is really worth my disk space!

Btw, I agree wholeheartedly about the wikipedia arseholes. I always get tetchy about a lack of information on wikipedia as it is, so why some self-important wiki users feel the need to get rid of information doesn't make ANY sense to me. I implore you guys to change shit back repeatedly just to piss them off!

EDIT: James mentioned David Nugent?!?!?? That's just surreal!!!!

[James D.]

YES! It was trying to hard. Exactly, completely agreed. Glad that you hated the Nietzsche line. I was expecting James to appreciate all of the historical/philosophical dialogue, because he has a thing for literary references and highbrow dialogue, but I'm so so glad he hated the Nietzsche line.

When it comes to Nietzsche, I either agree wholeheartedly or I hate it. There is no in between.

And that is the THIRD TIME I have fucked up on the title to "Wild Cards" on WFP. I just can never remember the title to save my life even though it is maybe in my top 5 JL episodes ever. It's embarrassing, to tell you the truth.

[Stavros]

This is a specific wiki called http://dcanimated.wikia.com/

Its a work in progress and doesn't appear to have significantly more resources than Wiki (especially regarding individual episodes) but I figured you might find it interesting.

[annericelover]

Here's my second of the day to make up for the time lost of the episode reviews.

I have had the same problem with Wikipedia. I've created a few pages and only like 2 are still available. My idea is if the pages shouldn't have been deleted, but just melded together(at least until it was expanded upon). I have done a lot of research and have enough material to bring those pages back and expand upon them(cast and crew info), but haven't because of some of the stuff that has been deleted.

Amost Got 'Em, wow, what a great episode. "I hit him with a ROCK.......it was a BIG ROCK, " lol. I love the Two-Face story which actually introduces the Huge Penny that we later see in the batcave in the future episodes(not to mention Batman Beyond). I love the fact that Batman being disguised as Killer Croc acts just like Croc and when the episode ends you understand why Croc is so dumb in this, lol. The Joker/Catwoman segmant(you could kind of say, this is also Catwoman's Almost Got 'Em story). Another case where The gas doesn't effect everyone. You could see Joker's henchman putting on gas mask from the laughing gas, but Joker, Harley, Catwoman and Batman don't seem to be effected. I didn't care for the Penguin or Poison Ivy segmants. I do agree that Poison Ivy episodes seem to get better when she begins to team up with Harley. I give this a high 8 out of 10, just for the gas part. I do love the swinging light gag, that reveals Batman's true self.

Birds of A Feather, first I need to say that this is one of my few favorite Penguin episodes. Yes, The Penguin is sympathetic in this episode. This is also the first episode in which Veronica Vreeland is responsible(or at least partly)for screwing up a villains reform(another easter egg you forgot to mention). It does show that although Batman is one of the smartest detectives alive, he can be wrong. I give this 6 out of 10.

What Is Reality? I enjoy this episode immensely. The Riddles are once again fun to try an solve. It also gives Robin a chance to show his smarts again, like he most commonly did in the original 1966 series. The next episode to feature The Riddler, never explains how The Riddler got out of the Virtual Reality game. The animation, I can say definately gets better towards the end(especially when Batman and the Riddler starts to double themselves). A thing you mentioned about how similar The Riddler is to the Jim Carrey Riddler, reminded me of another simlarity you and I both forgot to mention. The Mad Hatter in the origin episode is working on an invention for Wayne Tech dealing with mind manipulation and Bruce Wayne wants to find out more, but winds up declining and than Mad Hatter uses his invention in his first caper, just like The Riddler in Batman Forever. Anyway, here's my score 5 out of 10

I Am the Night, I enjoyed this episode, it mixes the drama of who and what Batman is, while delivering the goods. I also love how Bruce as Batman says that he isn't making much of a difference, but when he does decide to go back as Batman, Gordon tells Batman how he wishes he were younger, so he could be Batman, than he finds out that the young screwed up kid in the beginning(played by Seth Green)is going back home, because of Batman's intervention(showing that he did in fact make a difference). Definately 7 out of 10

Off Balance, it's a pretty decent episode, but I figure for it too be anymore only Comic readers would understand. I have read several comics, but none of the Ra's Al Ghoul comics. Thank you for mentioning Helen Slater, I have always wanted someone to mention that. She has recently contributed more to the comic book world appearing as Lara, Clark's Birth mother. I believe David Warner is great in this episode and the continuing series. Talia is one of those characters you know can be good, but is forever controlled in a way to her father's will. I belive that Talia already knew that Bruce was Batman, remember that as evil as Ra's is, he wouldn't bring Talia into anything uninformed(except for when he high on the pit).

I give this 5 out of 10, because the villain is just crazy and I feel like he's simply a filler to elp ease everyone into the world of Ra's Al Ghoul and Talia. The Vertigo character's powers remind me of a Superman villain, I forget his name, but I'll bring it up when you get to the episode.

[Mr. Mxyzptlk]

I'll still never understand the love for 'I Am the Knight'. If all you have to do is pretend that a few cliches and a whole bunch of character irrationality are deep by throwing in famous quotations and depressed monologues to write an episode that everyone loves, then I could do it easily.

[annericelover]

I'll still never understand the love for 'I Am the Knight'. If all you have to do is pretend that a few cliches and a whole bunch of character irrationality are deep by throwing in famous quotations and depressed monologues to write an episode that everyone loves, then I could do it easily.

What it is for me, is that we all know Batman's motivation for continuing on as The Dark Knight, but as a human being he must rethink his decisions sometimes. When his friend Jim Gordon is shot in the line of duty, he takes it like he failed him, just like how he feels for about his parents. Gordon is one of the few people who hasn't judged Batman, hasn't demanded his identity and never questioned his motives, he respects that and feels like Gordon is the real hero. Gordon feels the same way about Batman and only wishes he could be younger and be like him. We all know that he isn't quitting, but for a character who doesn't show much emotion when he's Batman, it is fun to see that side of Bruce go into Batman.

[Mr. Mxyzptlk]

I'll still never understand the love for 'I Am the Knight'. If all you have to do is pretend that a few cliches and a whole bunch of character irrationality are deep by throwing in famous quotations and depressed monologues to write an episode that everyone loves, then I could do it easily.

What it is for me, is that we all know Batman's motivation for continuing on as The Dark Knight, but as a human being he must rethink his decisions sometimes. When his friend Jim Gordon is shot in the line of duty, he takes it like he failed him, just like how he feels for about his parents. Gordon is one of the few people who hasn't judged Batman, hasn't demanded his identity and never questioned his motives, he respects that and feels like Gordon is the real hero. Gordon feels the same way about Batman and only wishes he could be younger and be like him. We all know that he isn't quitting, but for a character who doesn't show much emotion when he's Batman, it is fun to see that side of Bruce go into Batman.

That's all well and good, but his motivation to quite being Batman makes no since. 'I'm not trying hard enough, so I guess I'll quit trying all together. Surely then, none of my friends will ever be hurt again.' It makes no sense, and no one has ever been able to explain Batman's decision to me. And it doesn't help that all it takes is Robin telling Batman what he should already know (quitting Batman isn't going to help anyone, stupid!), and he's back to the job in predictable fashion. It's just a bad episode because the plot is COMPLETELY forced.

[James D.]

I'll still never understand the love for 'I Am the Knight'. If all you have to do is pretend that a few cliches and a whole bunch of character irrationality are deep by throwing in famous quotations and depressed monologues to write an episode that everyone loves, then I could do it easily.

What it is for me, is that we all know Batman's motivation for continuing on as The Dark Knight, but as a human being he must rethink his decisions sometimes. When his friend Jim Gordon is shot in the line of duty, he takes it like he failed him, just like how he feels for about his parents. Gordon is one of the few people who hasn't judged Batman, hasn't demanded his identity and never questioned his motives, he respects that and feels like Gordon is the real hero. Gordon feels the same way about Batman and only wishes he could be younger and be like him. We all know that he isn't quitting, but for a character who doesn't show much emotion when he's Batman, it is fun to see that side of Bruce go into Batman.

That's all well and good, but his motivation to quite being Batman makes no since. 'I'm not trying hard enough, so I guess I'll quit trying all together. Surely then, none of my friends will ever be hurt again.' It makes no sense, and no one has ever been able to explain Batman's decision to me. And it doesn't help that all it takes is Robin telling Batman what he should already know (quitting Batman isn't going to help anyone, stupid!), and he's back to the job in predictable fashion. It's just a bad episode because the plot is COMPLETELY forced.

Couldn't have said it any better.

[Mr. Mxyzptlk]

But this review is even funnier:

I just have to add another negative opinion to the batch, given how overrated the episode is. It's one of those episode that tries to tell you at every given moment that it's deep, profound, and completely transcending standard cartoon convention. My diagnosis: it tries too hard and fails to accomplish anything. From the beginning, Batman is acting completely irrational and contradictory to character. First off: how many times throughout the course of the series has Batman dealt with Arkham escapees and villains that just never seem to stay locked up? Plenty. But wait! The Penguin, one of Batman's most non-threatening foes, fails to get convicted! Oh the horror! How blatantly ineffective I am! Not to mention Batman must be, by this point, entirely self-aware of how impossible a one-man war on crime is. I mean, I thought the whole point was to do all that one man can to battle evil and set an example. Apparently not; Batman seems to just be figuring out the futility of a one-man war on crime which should have been obvious from the beginning. But let's move on. Another appointment in crime alley, and another scene that reeks of 'look at us! We're revisiting Batman's past and having him spout off exact historical quotes in order to make this episode appear to be intelligent! Look at the way those flowers get crushed! With a scene like that, you know this is a deep episode, even though there really is no purpose or significance to that moment aside from seeing a shocked/sad reaction on Batman's face that slightly fits into place with the rest of the episode, which is just Batman being depressed.' Yeah, rambling there. Anyway, moving along. Gordon gets shot. Oh the potential! Oh the--oh wait, it's just a cheap meaningless ploy to get Batman to suffer a nonsensical crisis. Now, we enter the bulk of the story, the part with the most character-defining moments the series has ever seen! Yes, it's what everyone's been waiting for: Batman sulking and spewing out pretentious garbage that doesn't really mean anything! Just look at how rational Batman's reasoning is here: 'I failed to do my job as Batman, and it caused my friend to get hurt. So instead of trying to do better, which would no doubt save more lives, I'll give up Batman and surely, no one I care about will get hurt ever again.' What are you talking about Batman? You're making no sense. Not doing anything is more effective when you just made it perfectly clear that your friend got shot because you didn't do enough? Wha? And then the big finale. How does Batman ever decide to reclaim his mantle after the oh so convincing reasoning that causes him to abandon it? He grows some braincells and realizes, 'Wait a minute. Gordon will surely die if I stop being Batman. Why did I ever think of giving up Batman in the first place? Oh yeah, to make sure none of my loved ones will ever get hurt. Well that sure backfired.' And then Gordon, about to get shot, right after Batman reemerges! I have no idea what's going to happen! Oh wait, yeah I do. Batman saves the day, as usual. And so Batman realizes he's inspired a kid to do the right thing in possibly the only really half-way decent part of the episode; too bad the majority of the episode wallowed in pretentious gibberish.