Betrayal
Episode #43 - Betrayal
Original Airdate - December 9th, 2000
Big Time returns to Gotham, causing problems for both Batman and his
later-ego Terry McGinnis, who still feels guilty for what happened to
Big Time.
Media by Bird Boy
Review by J. Chen, aka The Overseer |
Credits:
Story by Stan Berkowitz, Robert Goodman
Teleplay by Stan Berkowitz
Directed by Kyoung-Won Lim
Music by Lolita Ritmanis
Animation by Koko/Dong Yang
Voices:
Will Friedle as Terry McGinnis/Batman
Kevin Conroy as Bruce Wayne
Clancy Brown as Big Time
Jon Polito as Major
Cree Summer as Max
Angie Harmon as Barbara Gordon
Rodger Bumpass as Cop
Jeff Harlan as Guard
Bob Joles as Driver
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Review
HIGHS: Good action, decent plot.
LOWS: Big Time looks corny, some predictable moments, characterization
gets a little odd at times.
OVERALL: If you didn't like BT's first episode, you won't be persuaded -
otherwise it's not a bad episode.
"Betrayal" is the follow-up to the "Big Time" episode that ran a while
back. In that episode, Terry met up with an old friend named Charlie
from his earlier years in juvenile hall. Charlie had served time in
prison, but still wanted to get back to his old lifestyle, bringing
Terry along for the ride. In the process, Terry fought against Charlie
and caused a growth chemical to fall onto him, turning him into a
deformed, hulking freak.
In this ep, we learn that Big Time has broken out of prison and is
working with a mob boss called "Major". BT's not all that happy since
the Major is making most of the decisions and leaving him as muscle. So
he approaches Terry again with another offer to join in a life of crime,
and that sets up the conflict in this story.
Now, I'll discuss the high points of this episode. The storyline isn't
all that bad, it features dissent between Terry and a former friend as
well as between Terry and Bruce. No matter how hard he tries to hide it,
Terry really has difficulty bringing himself to fight Big Time. Bruce
can sense this hesitation, and although the younger Batman denies it, he
admits it later. Big Time himself also clashes with Batman, as Terry
obviously refuses to join Big Time's gang. At one point, Terry seemingly
convinces his old friend to cooperate and go straight...but it's a
little predictable as to whether BT really does or not. The end is also
a tad depressing, watch it and find out.
Also, the action is pretty sweet in this ep. Having a physically strong
opponent like Big Time practically assures intense physical battles.
Anyone looking for lots of punches, kicks, and throws won't be
disappointed. I also want to mention the addition of a mob shootout with
the police, given the toned down nature of the show these days I was
surprised to see people being shot.
Now is there any reason to dislike this ep? It's basically just an
extension of Big Time's first appearance (wanting to go straight but not
actually doing it). So if for any reason you didn't like the one before,
there's not much in here to change your mind. Bruce's character is a bit
odd this time, he tries to discourage Terry from fighting Big Time. He's
going soft in this one, in contrast to the times he tried to prepare
Terry for tough situations. However, I did think it was a nice line on
Bruce's part when at one point Max Gibson has the Batsuit: "Don't even
think about putting it on." Since I'm against Max becoming an official
"teammate", that was the way to go.
And did I mention that Big Time himself just looks kind of dumb? He's
not exactly scary, just laughable in appearance. It looks as if the
producers said "Let's make a really, really, big tough guy" and then
threw in the story (which I will repeat isn't that bad) around it.
As a whole, this episode was good, not great. If you were alright with
the first appearance of this villain, then you'll probably like this one
better. If not, you may still want to stay for the action.This should
probably be the last of Big Time, and is an appropriate way to end the
story.
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