The Dark Knight returns to Prime Video with another season of the golden age inspired "Batman: Caped Crusader." In following the escalation theory prevalent in the Batman mythos, this season ramped things up as our hero's war on crime reaches levels beyond common mobsters and murderers that test him physically and psychologically.
Much of what made the first season work carries over here, particularly the "Villain of the Week" format. Though I will point out there's more serialization involving two main villains. The first is the Riddler, who takes over Rupert Thorne's operations after the mob boss disappears. Riddler's way of running things leads to more chaos and death, especially when he goes full "Bonnie and Clyde" with who I would consider this show's version of Poison Ivy. But Riddler can be seen as a bridge between the traditional crime boss in Thorne and the super criminal best personified in the biggest enemy any Batman would face.
The Joker was teased in a post-credits scene at the end of last season and is seen throughout season two preparing his ultimate plan in the shadows before making a hell of a public debut at the start the two-part season finale. This has to be one of one the creepiest versions of the Joker put to screen. While carrying the character's anarchistic and nihilist traits, this is a much more subdued version in line with his first comic appearance. He hardly smiles and when he does it's more of a slight grin, which makes the moment we get a full-on laugh more significant. The way the Joker Venom is depicted is also unsettling as it draws out the victim's death and you can see the pain in their eyes and voice.
The Joker was teased in a post-credits scene at the end of last season and is seen throughout season two preparing his ultimate plan in the shadows before making a hell of a public debut at the start the two-part season finale. This has to be one of one the creepiest versions of the Joker put to screen. While carrying the character's anarchistic and nihilist traits, this is a much more subdued version in line with his first comic appearance. He hardly smiles and when he does it's more of a slight grin, which makes the moment we get a full-on laugh more significant. The way the Joker Venom is depicted is also unsettling as it draws out the victim's death and you can see the pain in their eyes and voice.
But there are plenty more bat-villains to enjoy this season. Much like last season, there's a mix of golden age villains, like Hugo Strange and the Mad Monk, and villains who came later like Roxy Rocket reinterpreted to fit that era (along with some other modern comic plot elements). I would say they even go further by taking villains who technically debuted in the golden age like Scarecrow and Mr. Freeze but redone in a more pulp style of the first year of Batman comics.
Along with the Scarecrow episode where Batman has to team up with Harley Quinn to stop him, another highlight episode for me was Jim Corrigan's transformation into the Spectre. Unlike the supernatural route that led to the misstep of the Gentleman Ghost last season, the Spectre comes out of a science experiment to extend one's life expectancy gone wrong. Targeting those the law failed to put away, he's essentially a ghost taking care of unfinished business; add in that the episode takes place on Christsmas Eve and it's a BTAS caliber twist on Dickens' classic.
While not a villain per se, this season introduces the character of Hattie Tetch, a gender bent version of the Mad Hatter. Unlike how they depicted the Penguin last season, Hattie shows real effort from the creators in differentiating her from her male counterpart. Instead of using hats or playing cards to control people though, she's a news personality who has some warped views on who the good guys and bad guys are. You can make your own cable news connotations there.
Along with the Scarecrow episode where Batman has to team up with Harley Quinn to stop him, another highlight episode for me was Jim Corrigan's transformation into the Spectre. Unlike the supernatural route that led to the misstep of the Gentleman Ghost last season, the Spectre comes out of a science experiment to extend one's life expectancy gone wrong. Targeting those the law failed to put away, he's essentially a ghost taking care of unfinished business; add in that the episode takes place on Christsmas Eve and it's a BTAS caliber twist on Dickens' classic.
While not a villain per se, this season introduces the character of Hattie Tetch, a gender bent version of the Mad Hatter. Unlike how they depicted the Penguin last season, Hattie shows real effort from the creators in differentiating her from her male counterpart. Instead of using hats or playing cards to control people though, she's a news personality who has some warped views on who the good guys and bad guys are. You can make your own cable news connotations there.
As you can probably guess, the villains kind of overshadowed our protagonist this season. Bruce does still get some development though as he slowly accepts he doesn't have to work alone. This mostly involves forming a partnership with the Gordons, but we also get a follow-up appearance by Carrie Kelley that highlights the benefits and pitfalls of the kid sidekick.
Those who enjoyed the first season of "Batman: Caped Crusader" should have no worries going into its second and most likely last season. "Caped Crusader" was always a holdover from a previous WB regime that we were lucky still got to see the light of day. But with the announcement of the Absolute Batman animated series, the writing's on the wall. "Caped Crusader" was nonetheless a great adaptation of one of the premiere superheroes. If there's one takeaway I got particularly from this season, it's a similar feeling I had rewatching the Nolan trilogy recently, that Batman's fight against corruption and chaos is a timeless one that we should feel inspired by.
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