Sneak Peek
Episode #32 - Sneak Peek
Original Airdate - March 25th, 2000
A gossip reporter acquires the technology to become incorporeal and walk
through walls. Becoming the ultimate peeping Tom, he discovers Batman's
identity and threatens to reveal it on national television.
Media by Bird Boy and James Harvey
Review by J.Chen, aka The Overseer |
Credits:
Story by Alan Burnett
Teleplay by Stan Berkowitz
Directed by Dan Riba
Music by Lolita Ritmanis
Animation by Koko / Dong Yang
Voices:
Will Friedle as Terry McGinnis/Batman
Kevin Conroy as Bruce Wayne
Michael McKean as Ian Peek
Paul Winfield as Sam
Teri Garr as Mary McGinnis
Ryan O'Donohue as Matt McGinnis
Clyde Kusatsu as Jimmy Lin
Marcelo Tubert as Ortiz
Dave Walsh as Stage Manager
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Review
HIGHS: Pretty interesting concept, Terry/Bruce interaction, good
all-around dialogue, mob makes a (brief) return, and the peek scenes are
hilarious!
LOWS: Somewhat abrupt ending, the secret identities part could've
been played even more.
OVERALL: The good eps are back again!
Alright, the last couple of Batman Beyond eps haven't exactly been
groundbreaking material. "Final Cut" was OK for action but not great,
"Last Resort" was at best average, and "Armory"...ugh. (My opinions may
differ from Zanna's shown previously). Thankfully "Sneak Peek" makes up
for all that with an ep that's got a cool plot, plenty of Bruce
screentime, and a bit of humor to boot.
A boxing trainer caught with the champ's girlfriend. A rock star who's
illegally spliced her genes. And Paxton Powers seen at a private party,
where we can tell by the women he's not too interested in Batman. All of
these stories are broadcast on "The Inside Peek", a tabloid show hosted
by gossip reporter Ian Peek. The stories are indeed hot material, and
even Terry's hooked. How does he obtain all that up-close footage? By
walking through walls.
By using some sort of strange device (which is explained later), Ian
Peek can lose his solid state and go virtually anywhere. The first
stories are mostly harmless small talk, but when he spies on a Tong (an
Asian mob of some sort) member cutting a deal with D.A. Sam Young,
things get pretty serious. Batman catches Peek while escaping from the
meeting, and is shocked to see his punches go right through. As long as
Peek is incorporeal, Bats can't touch him, but Peek can certainly hit
back. The reporter easily escapes Terry. When Terry sees the Tong
footage on the Web (that's their TV equivalent in BB time), he pays Peek
a visit at the studio. The Tong bursts in to kill Peek, and Terry is
forced to fight them off. Peek slips out, and notices the batmobile.
Seeing the chance, he secretly places a video camera inside. We can see
where this leads very easily. Peek catches both Bruce and Terry in the
act, and plans to broadcast it to the world. Unfortunately for him, the
reporter's got bigger problems to worry about...
This ep was definitely better than the last few. Not only is the plot
refreshingly new, but Bruce gets some real airtime in this one. All the
characters here are given good lines as well. Bruce's relationship with
Terry is made quite clear here. When Bruce gets exposed, Terry flies
into Peek's office to plead on his behalf.
Peek: "He was the original Batman, wasn't he? Wasn't he?"
Terry: "I don't care what you do to me, but he doesn't deserve this.
He's done too much for this city to wind up in the middle of a media
circus."
Peek: "He means a lot to you, doesn't he?"
Terry: "Yes...he does."
The broadcast part isn't all of the story...that takes a back seat in
the end to a major problem of Peek's caused by overuse of the
technology. This episode ties up the loose ends quite nicely before it
closes, giving us some new insight into Peek's character. The ending
itself was rather sudden, and it causes me to think of Peek as a
one-shot villain. In any case, this ep was probably the most enjoyable
BB episode in a long time.
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