Batman over was the fourth show set in the DC Animated Universe. The show ran from 1999-2001 and was set in a futuristic Gotham, with a retired Bruce Wayne (still voiced by the great Kevin Conroy) mentoring a new Batman: high school student Terry McGinnis (voiced by Will Friedle, who is most will recognize from either). Boy meets world or Kim possible). Despite a mixed reception when it was first announced, the show became a critical success. Batman over also explored some seriously dark territory, with some of the places it led to some of the show’s very best episodes. Let’s watch some of those episodes today. Here are some of the best episodes of it Batman over.
8/8 The call
In this two-part episode, an elderly but still active Superman (he’s slowly aging thanks to his Kryptonian DNA) recruits Batman into the Justice League and gives him a special assignment: find out which member of the League is trying to kill the others. The other members of the League are rather cold to Batman, with the possible exception of Aquagirl, though Batman saves her life after it appears that she is the next target. The investigation uncovers a disturbing revelation: Superman is the one trying to kill the League, and part 1 ends with Bruce handing Terry a shard of kryptonite. Part II reveals that Superman is under the control of the alien, Starro, and has been for years.
Once the League realizes this, they team up to thwart Superman, a difficult task as Starro has been breeding and starting to infect the other members of the League except Batman. It’s a wonderful episode that ends with Batmn turning down full-time status in the League, saying he may have more in common with Bruce Wayne than he thought. Superman can only reply, “More than you think, son. More than you think.” An episode of Justice League unlimited would later show exactly what Superman meant.
7/8 From the past
The episode opens on Bruce Wayne’s birthday with Terry taking him to see a musical based on Batman. Bruce hates the musical and retreats to the Batcave, where a more welcome gift awaits: Talia al Ghul, still youthful thanks to her immersion in the Lazarus Pits. She offers to let him take a dip in the pits, saying advances in science have made the process much safer. Bruce is hesitant, but after an incident where he is too slow to save a girl in the middle of the road (luckily Batman saves both), he agrees and goes to Talia’s estate in New Cuba to receive the treatment.
It’s all a plan, of course, and Talia herself is hiding a terrifying and disturbing secret. There’s a wonderful moment where a now-younger Bruce and Terry team up to beat up some thugs while an electronic riff plays on the Batman: The Animated Series theme plays, and a sadder, poignant moment at the end where Bruce looks through photos of his old flames. A fantastic episode.
6/8 The egg baby
One of the show’s more humorous episodes, “The Eggbaby” is still a great episode nonetheless. It even won an Emmy! Terry McGinnis fails his Family Studies class, but luckily for him, there’s a special project that could save him if he gets a good grade on it. He and his classmates must care for computer-controlled “Eggbabies”, which simulate real babies. If the egg falls and hits the ground, it’s an automatic fail. Instead of pairing Terry with his girlfriend Dana or confidant Max, he is paired with Blade Sommer, who keeps dumping the baby on Terry and forcing him to take him with him while he goes about his Batman duties.
There’s a lot of humor in this episode, especially Bruce’s reaction when he initially thought Terry had a real baby in the Batmobile. The twist at the end is really hilarious. Most kids barely make it because they didn’t give their babies enough stimulation, with one exception: Terry and Blade’s baby. The look Dana throws at Terry after he takes the one pass is priceless, as is the implication that Batman makes you good dad material.
5/8 Dead man’s hand
The Royal Flush Gang, an aristocratic family of criminals, begins to wreak havoc on Gotham. At the same time, Batman’s duties strain Terry’s relationship with his girlfriend Dana. However, another girl named Melanie seems to understand Terry’s problem. It’s no surprise that she does. She is Ten, a member of the Royal Flush Gang. This episode is great for the dynamic between Terry and Melanie, whose affection for Terry is genuine, as is his for her. Of course, being a hero comes first, and Batman must take down Melanie and her family. The episode ends with Terry watching the police lead Melanie and her family away, with both Terry and Melanie looking heartbroken. On the bright side, it ends in a very heartwarming moment between Bruce and Terry, who tell him all about a woman named Selina Kyle.
4/8 Rebirth
The two-part series debut begins with Bruce Wayne’s last night as Batman, where a heart condition forces him to use a gun on a criminal. He declares “Never again”, and hangs up the hood for good. 20 years later, Terry McGinnis’ father is murdered after a friend gives him damaging information about Derek Powers, the corrupt CEO of Wayne-Powers: Powers makes nerve gas and sells it to a nation under an arms embargo. Terry takes the information to Bruce and accidentally discovers that Bruce is Batman. Seeking revenge against Powers for ordering his father’s death, Terry steals the Batsuit and The Dark Knight is reborn!
There are a few rough spots. Bruce is understandably furious about Terry stealing the suit, but allows him to continue when Terry talks about how he lost his father the same way Bruce lost his. There’s even a humorous moment at the end where Bruce visits Terry’s mom and puts on a kind old man act while offering Terry a part-time job as his assistant… and as the new Batman.
3/8 Meltdown
Derek Powers struggles to hide the radioactive skeleton monster he has become. A doctor named Stephanie Lake (voiced by terminator actress Linda Hamilton) offers to build a new body and transfer Powers’ mind into it, but she wants to test it on another person first. Fortunately, there is a willing volunteer: Mr. Freeze, who is still a head in a pot. At first the new body seems to work, but Bruce suspects that Freeze will become a criminal again, something Terry disagrees with after seeing Freeze genuinely trying to make amends for his criminal past. Unfortunately, Freeze’s new body begins to collapse, and Powers and Lake want to biopsy his organs to find out why.
The betrayal is enough to make the criminal Mr. Freeze, now with an updated suit. It also sees Powers debut his supervillain character, Blight, for the first time. It’s a dark episode, where Freeze commits an on-screen murder and his ultimate plan is to blow up a lab with him in it. It’s a wonderful episode, a conclusion to one of Batman: The Animated Series’ most tragic villains.
2/8 Ascension Day
In the season finale of the show’s first season, Derek Powers brings in his son Paxton, who is just as horrible as his father, to become the acting CEO of Wayne-Powers. At a board meeting announcing the change, several protesters storm in and shout complaints at Paxton, causing Derek and revealing to the world that he is, in fact, the supervillain, Accursed. It’s an episode full of great moments, like the revelation that some of the protesters were on Paxton’s payroll and the exchange between Batman and Blight aboard Blight’s hideout: a nuclear submarine.
Blight demands to know why Batman wants him so badly, to which Batman replies, “You killed my father.” Blight’s response? “Do you have any idea how little that narrows it?” That’s an all-time villain quote right there. The episode ends with Paxton succeeding his father after his apparent death, but Batman isn’t so convinced. Unfortunately, this is Blight’s last appearance on the show, so at least he’s got a fantastic final episode to go out with.
1/8 Eyewitness
Commissioner Barbara Gordon is angry with Batman after he disrupts a sting operation. She is even more upset when Mad Stan crashes an event for her husband and sees the unthinkable: Batman kills Mad Stan in cold blood. Thus begins a manhunt led by someone who knows all of Batman’s tricks. However, it soon becomes clear that something is not right. For example, Mad Stan’s body isn’t in a morgue, so why is Gordon convinced that Batman is a killer? It turns out it was all an illusion by the criminal Spellbinder, who played on Gordon’s prejudices to get her to believe the worst in Batman. It’s a great episode, which really puts Batman in a tough spot. Definitely a must see episode.