| Review: "Excuse me, I’m the conductor here and all passengers must get their tickets… punched." This was a fine, but probably only passable Joker episode and easily the weakest of the season thus far. In a season with so many strong new characters and development, this one sticks out like a sore thumb. It seemed like it was over in no time, not because time flies when you’re having fun, but because it didn’t engage me. It was a fun ride and I enjoyed some of it, but as an entire half hour, it falls very short. Quick nit-picks include the very quick cage escape (although I guess it would have been boring to watch them sit there) and Batman defeating the Joker by taking away his battery.
Effective, but both way too simplistic for my taste. On the plus side, in her more limited role, it’s actually been refreshing to see Batgirl. I like her interaction with Robin and she is actually a helpful member of the team now that she is no longer just getting in Batman’s way. By her being introduced first, it allowed her to develop and now we’re able to focus more on Robin as the sidekick. And I’d pick comic books too, Dick. It was basically a cameo, but it was also nice to see Commissioner
Gordon show up again. The Justice League has pushed Batman’s public ally almost beyond the background, which is unfortunate. There were some episode highlights as well, I always enjoy the detective work and Batman minding his surroundings and he and his junior partners did that when they when they saw the others on the train with them stealing for The Joker. There was a little bit of mystery there, but not much. There were also a few fun comedic moments with the interaction between villain and heroes about not running them over with the train, Alfred sweeping up the Batcave and then Batman blasting in, and the unique chase of the Joker train, the Batmobile and the normal subway all on tracks. "That’s it, we’re movin’." |
