Beware The Batman
#14 - Darkness
Original Airdate - August 9th, 2014
With Batman a prisoner – and the League of Assassins now in control of Gotham – it's up to a small band of heroes to save the city. Still wary of Alfred, Katana goes with him to meet Gordon. Together, they plan to hack into the Ion Cortex, defeating the League's plans and pulling Gotham out of darkness. Unfortunately, the best person for the hacking job is Gordon's own daughter, Barbara. Meanwhile, Batman finds himself in the same cell as his old nemesis Silver Monkey. Agreeing to an uneasy truce, the Monkey and the Bat break out, with Batman determined to destroy the Cortex.

Written by Mitch Watson
Directed by Rick Morales
Media by The World's Finest

Analysis by Frontier:

I was a little disappointed that we didn't get to see more of the effect the blackout had on Gotham, most of the chaos caused by it just being referenced by Gordon and the other officer. It would probably have been more effective to show people panicking in the streets or criminals running rampant, emphasizing just how dire things are, but I guess that would require a lot more models to create. Still, the back and forth between Gordon, Barbara, and that officer was pretty funny, along with another donut joke for the GCPD.

It looks like Barbara's computer skills are going to prove vital to saving the day and stopping the Ion Cortex, though she should probably try and be a bit more tight-lipped about her accomplishments in the future since I don't think some of what she's done is exactly legal. And I see what they did with that password.

And it looks like Ra's ultimate plan is to use Gotham, a monument to sin and excess, as either his new throne or as a demonstration of the type of "rebirth" the League advocates and will bring upon the rest of the world. I'd say this episode cemented, in my mind, this depiction of Ra's as an accurate portrayal compared to the last episode with his lines and demeanor. That line of his about Bruce Wayne must've really stung.

Batman teaming up with Silver Monkey was unexpected and neat, and even moreso Silver Monkey coming back to help him up later in the episode. He never struck me as the honorable type, so I have to assume that the real reason he came back was just to get revenge on Shiva for locking him up.

Tatsu practically losing it after Alfred revealed that he killed her father could be indicative of what got her so far into the League when she was undercover. While Alfred tried very hard to avoid Tatsu learning or believing the truth, once it was revealed he did make it sound as though he had no other choice but to kill Edogawa. And while he did betray him, Alfred does seem have truly cared about Edogawa as a friend. It'll be very interesting to see how the events in that tent ultimately played out.

Ra's releasing all of Batman's Rogues Gallery, Anarky and Humpty Dumpty aside, from Blackgate is probably going to bring a lot of trouble in the future. I imagine it's an attempt to distract Batman from coming after him, and coupled with the blackout I'm definitely getting some "No Man's Land" vibes. I wonder if Simon Stagg might use this opportunity to escape? And wait... weren't the charges against Tobias Whale dropped? So why is he still in Blackgate?

Overall, a really enjoyable episode and I'm definitely looking forward to the next part in the storyline!