Terry's Friend Dates A Robot
Episode #26 - Terry's Friend Dates A Robot
Original Airdate - January 15th, 2000
One of Terry's friends, Howard Groote, tries to impress fellow students
by dating a beautiful girl, who is actually an advanced robot. The
situation becomes complicated when her programming haywire.
Media by Bird Boy
Review by J.Chen, aka The Overseer |
Credits:
Story by Paul Dini
Teleplay by John P. McCann
Directed by Dan Riba
Music by Michael McCuistion
Animation by Koko / Dong Yang
Voices:
Will Friedle as Terry McGinnis/Batman
Kevin Conroy as Bruce Wayne
Max Brooksa s Howard
Shiri Appleby as Cynthia
Dan Castellaneta as Mr. Brooks
Cree Summer as Max
Lauren Tom as Dana
Seth Green as Nelson
Melissa Disney as Blade
Matt Landers as Louie
Yvette Lowenthal as Chelsea
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Review
I'll admit that I was skeptical about this episode like many others when
I first saw it's name. Unlike the short but meaningful titles of those
before, this one just didn't flow. Plus it sounded like a pretty corny
premise, so I cringed at the thought of reviewing this. But thankfully
the only thing ridiculous about this episode is its name.
The opening sequence was...amazing! We see Terry in the middle of an
intense training session, facing off against robotic replicas of the
Riddler, Two-Face, and Killer Croc. Bruce's voice rings in the
background, giving the younger fighter advice on how to deal with these
situations. It was cool to see Terry in a 20th century Gotham facing off
against classic Batman foes, even if it was only a simulation. However,
Terry seems to be hitting to kill here...some of those tactics he uses
are quite lethal, such as knocking a live grenade back to the Riddler,
and kicking the head off of Croc.
The story centers around a boy at school named Howard Groote. He's a
geeky overweight fellow, but seems to want attention. He's hosting a
party this weekend, and invites popular kids like Nelson, Chelsea, and
Blade. Naturally they turn him down, but he can't seem to get that.
Fortunately, Terry and Dana willingly accept Howard's offer and attempt
to remind him that popular kids aren't necessarily good friends.
Terry gives Howard a ride home, but stops by at a local factory to pick
up some synthoids (highly advanced robots). While Terry is preoccupied
with paperwork, Howard discovers a shady employee designing a robot for
a customer...except this one looks just like a woman, and a good looking
one at that. The man is willing to offer his services illegally, and
Howard jumps at the chance to get a hot girl devoted to him, even if
she's fake.
As a result, Howard's popularity rises dramatically at school. Now
everybody wants to come to his big party. Nelson Nash tries and fails to
get a date with "Syn-thia", as Howard names her.
Nelson makes an insulting comment about her, and she gets quite angry.
Later, as Nelson enters the locker room after sports practice, Synthia
uses her artificial strength to push over a row of lockers, crushing the
jock underneath. The hockey pads save his life, but he's badly injured.
The next day as the students discuss Nelson's injury, Synthia's lack of
sympathy cause Terry and Max to become suspicious. Terry and Max notice
a set of handprints on the lockers in the boy's room, but they lack
fingerprints.
From here on, several more incidents cause Terry to conclude that
Synthia is a robot. His investigation leads him to the illicit employee
and an interesting battle takes place there. Meanwhile at Howard's
party, the relationship is falling apart. Synthia's getting far too
possesive, but she can't see the problem with that, since she was
programmed to be totally dedicated to Howard. A major battle ensues and
his house is trashed before the synthoid finally goes down.
I felt that this episode was in the middle of the pack. Nothing
particularly deep or important, although it was quite funny in some
circumstances, like Max in the boy's locker room. The ep also explores
popularity issues, although way too many episodes have been about some
kind of teen problem. That trend needs to stop in my opinion. But right
now, I suppose we could use a lighthearted break from the dark
revenge-laden stories like "Babel".
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