Beware The Batman
#6 - Toxic
Original Airdate - August 17th, 2013
Responding to a break-in at Stagg Industries, Batman rescues a security guard named Rex Mason (Adam Baldwin) who had been exposed to a weaponized toxic gas called Project Metamorpho. Soon, Rex begins to mutate, with the ability to control the elements in his own body. Terrified and unable to control his new abilities, Rex becomes a fugitive. Realizing that this metamorphosis is slowly killing Rex, Batman sets out to find a cure. But Rex is only concerned about the woman he loves – Sapphire Stagg (Emmanuelle Chriqui) – and he'd risk all of Gotham to be with her. But her father – Simon Stagg (Jeff Bennett) – holds secrets of his own and will do anything to keep them apart.

Written by Erin Maher & Kathryn Reindl
Directed by Curt Geda

Images:

Analysis by Yojimbo:

An enjoyable episode. The part when Metamorpho sees his reflection made me think of the Batman: The Animated Series episode "Two Face, Part 1," but overall I'm really excited to see more of this version. The one in Batman: The Brave and The Bold wasn't my cup of tea.

Bruce's line about trying to cut down from 4 to 2 hours of sleep made laugh, as I just got 3 hours of sleep prior to getting up and watching this episode.

That was a tantalizing tease with Dr. Ravencroft at the end. Must be related to that Argus Club from the first two episodes. Remember, she had a key from the club in her officer desk drawer.

Additional Commentary by Lerkero:

I wonder if there is a person for touch-up dialog. There seems to be a line in every episode that lends itself to decent comedy: "I hope you packed my Batsuit"

The animation is looking better, but the environments are still uncharacteristically empty for a big city. I guess we'll just have to deal with the setbacks of CGI until it becomes cheaper to add more things to the environment.

I'm also glad that Batman didn't find an antidote in 5 minutes. I know Batman is supposed to be cool, but the Beware the Batman version comes off as much more grounded yet still likable.

Weird things in the episode:
- The expository dialog between Sapphire and Rex at the beginning. The way Sapphire referred to Rex by his full name seemed much too formal and awkward for what was clearly a casual conversation. The viewers would have learned his name eventually.
- Batman letting Sapphire touch Metamorpho while he was electrified. Any other time Batman seems compassionate to not let people get harmed. The writers could have found a different excuse for Metamorpho to kidnap her.
- Shoot to kill, Stagg! Why would you wait until after explaining your plan to shoot at the intruder?