Though Batman: Caped Crusader‘s tumultuous first season hasn’t exactly been a noir-soaked return to form for Bruce Timm and the Dark Knight, the first nine episodes have certainly had its moments, both with traditional one-off stories and its more serialized offerings. It certainly has had its issues with consistency – and of course, the incredibly disappointing “Kiss of the Catwoman”, which we are not going to rehash here – but as the season centered itself on the plight of Harvey Dent and the ascension of “The Batman” in the final three episodes of the season, Caped Crusader seemed to be finding a bit of a groove. Unfortunately, this required sidelining so many other aspects of the series – everything around Gotham PD and its characters, the mob conflict teased in the season premiere, characters like Harley Quinn – “Savage Night”, as the season finale, feels like a bit of an unfinished thought, even as it brings a satisfying, tragic resolution to the tale of Harvey Dent (thanks to the season’s epilogue-ish tease, which we’ll talk about in a bit).
“Savage Night” opens where “The Killer Inside Me” ended, with Barbara Gordon visiting a recently imprisoned Harvey Dent. Though Barbara’s presence, like her father’s, in this season has been wildly inconsistent, her telling Dent someone “needs” to help him puts a bit of warmth into a series that has, at times, been one of the coldest, most unfeeling Batman adaptations I’ve ever seen – and narratively, smartly brings back the Gordon family and the corrupt people around them back into the fold (unfortunately, Renee Montoya’s post-Harley benching continues through the finale).
The highlight of “Savage Night” (which does not live up to its title) is the same as “The Killer Inside Me”; as the lines between the private and public Harvey Dent melt and twist together, Caped Crusader poises itself to make an incredibly poignant contrast between the show’s protagonist, and their more-controlled split personality syndrome (which, given Bruce and Batman’s limited appearance in most episodes, is mostly defined by Hamish Linklater’s vocal inflections). When Bruce comes to visit Harvey in prison, we finally see a bit of inner conflict with this iteration of Batman, as he begins to grow visibly angry with him, telling him “don’t start growing a conscience now, Dent!” in the tone mostly reserved for his spandex-laden hours of the night.
From there, “Savage Night” never really tries to make the connection again or develop the contrast between Wayne and Dent; it immediately backs out for a fairly conventional finale, where Dent and the Gordon family play a game of cat and mouse with the rampant corruptive forces of Gotham City (led by the ever-arrogant and inept Flass and Bullock) as they try to chase down an increasingly unhinged, split-personalitied Dent. The one time it does, it’s way too late and disconnected for it to matter; as Harvey resigns himself to his fate, taking Flass’s bullet aimed at Barbara in an attempt at redemption, Caped Crusader tries to have its big, defining moment when Batman picks up Flass’s pistol and points it at him.
It’s here where Caped Crusader‘s wandering mind and resistance to engaging with its protagonist all season come back to bite it; the moment feels lazy and trite, as Batman fires five bullets around Flass’s head before punching him out and throwing the gun in the ocean (littering? really?). Not only is the point “Savage Night” trying to make abundantly obvious and played out – but it was never part of the story. Gotham PD’s lame task force was revealed to be a stooge from the moment it began (and disappeared immediately), which meant there were never any moments exploring the violence Batman was willing to engage in, and whether the ends justified the means – or as the pilot hinted towards, would even make a difference about anything at all.
To further this thoroughly rote take on Batman, “Savage Night” ends the season with Batman staring down Rupert Thorne from a building away in the rain, as if anything that happened throughout this first season worked towards establishing any sort of meaningful conflict between the two (Thorne’s takeover of the city was just assumed at the end of the pilot, and that was mostly that). It also comes after a scene where Pennyworth tells Bruce “he’s made friends, in his own way” and Batman laughably fumbles through calling his lifelong butler by his first name (again, with so little time spent on Bruce Wayne’s supposed detachment, everything emotional in this finale is implied, even though none of it was ever depicted or explored beyond an occasional nod here or there) – a confusing, disappointing end to the season in its own right, which “Savage Night” only further complicates with its head-scratching decision to tease the Joker in the season’s final 30 seconds.
That’s right – the Joker is back baby! For those hoping Caped Crusader wouldn’t immediately dip back into Batman’s familiar bag of tricks, season one’s epilogue certainly isn’t going to endear you to the show’s eventual return for season two. His introduction is incredibly brief – the camera panning across a shed full of twisted, smiling faces to briefly reveal Joker’s pale face as he purrs a growly “Perfect” – but certainly sets a more morbid tone for his expected debut next season.
I’m not against another Joker adaptation, of course – especially one based on what Three Jokers called The Comedian, the original interpretation of the character (who was mostly a serial killer with some good planning skills in the first dozen issues of Batman‘s 1940 debut). But it feels like Caped Crusader was just getting to a place to start exploring the limits (and limitations) of Batman’s morality and nascent attempts to connect to the outside world – to immediately bring in a character with such influence and iconography could help let these ideas really develop, or the season could quickly devolve into a violent, empty masquerade, one struggling to find meaning in the life of Bruce Wayne as it indulges in some grim-dark storytelling about a serial killer running rampant on civil and criminal life in Gotham.
The arc of Harvey Dent in the season’s final three episodes at least gives some hope for a decent interpretation of the Joker – really, most of season one does a pretty good job of telling stories about other characters that aren’t the main cast. And that’s really the problem with Caped Crusader, and the balance it desperately needs to find in season two; its characterizations have had about as much life in them as the show’s incredibly disappointing visual imagery (at least the season finale is the most visually consistent episode of the series since the premiere); both have been, at times, stunted, disappointing, and criminally underserved, as the series constantly distracted itself with side story after side story.
I certainly have appreciated Caped Crusader‘s attempts at building out Batman’s gallery of rogues – however, there’s no denying Batman often felt awash in his own series at points, to give way for stories (like Gordon’s career, or Barbara’s moralism, or just about anything involving Renee or Alfred) that ultimately are underserved themselves, and are utterly absent in the season finale. Like much of the season before it, anything outside of Harvey Dent’s story feels scattered at bast – and at worst, woefully underdeveloped, something the show’s 10-episode season order certainly doesn’t help.
Caped Crusader is not a bad series – but it definitely isn’t the standout Timm-led adaptation fans had hoped for from the get-go, a handful of intriguing ideas held back by some poorly paced storytelling, and some of the most disappointing animation I’ve seen in 2024. Disappointing as it could be at times, its promise clearly hasn’t been fully realized yet – episodes like “Night Rider” and “The Killer Inside Me” offer glimpses of what could be, providing a creative momentum I’m crossing my fingers season two is able to build on.
Grade: C+
Season 1 Grade: C+
Other thoughts/observations:
- One interesting note about season two: due to the 2023 WGA strike, Ed Brubaker will no longer be involved as head writer and executive producer. In theory, this means season two will be a more holistic vision of what Timm is looking to do with the series – whether that is a good or bad thing, only time will tell!
- Caped Crusader definitely feels like a show that needs to air its next season in the next 8-12 months, if possible. If this show gets stuck in the 2-3 year long production cycle of most streaming series, season two will be absolutely dead on arrival.
- Assuming we’ll see more Penguin, Catwoman and Harley Quinn in season two, which could make for a busy season alongside a Joker story – and may not leave a lot of room for side stories about characters like Clayface, which would be a loss.
- Can we get some of the World’s Greatest Detective next season? Was an element thoroughly missing from this series, and would really help give the show some tonal and pacing consistency in season two.
- Thanks for reading along with season one reviews! Fingers crossed season two will be along sooner rather than later – whenever it is, I’ll be here writing about it!