Batman Caped Crusader — Episode 8 Review
Two boys are sneaking out of their orphanage late at night to venture through the woods. One of them wants to show the other something: a row of large tents set up in the middle of a clearing. “The circus?” asks one. “Better…the carnival!” says the other.
I wasn’t aware of a difference, but a third kid now joins them who says carnivals are superior to circuses because “they’re magic. Those tents hold secrets you’re only brave enough to uncover if you step into the dark.” This person is dressed in all black, with black hair, and mysterious grey eyes to top it off — and we’ve already seen a ghost on this show, so we can assume this girl’s comments about “magic” are literal and she’s of the supernatural variety…from the look of her, a vampire. The truth isn’t far off from that, but she doesn’t turn out to be one in the traditional sense…
The first kid, named Jason, chickens out at this point, but the other, Dickey, is all too willing to run inside a dark cir—I mean, dark carnival tent with a spooky-looking stranger. Meanwhile Bruce Wayne happens to be at this carnival on a date. He tries his hand at the “show your strength” hammer, but can’t put his entire Bat-arm into it or someone might connect the dots. The press notices Wayne, and he takes the opportunity to endorse his friend, Harvey Dent, the mayoral candidate. One of the reporters is that woman everyone theorized was Fleischer Lois Lane a few episodes ago. She has a speaking role now, and doesn’t SOUND like Lois. A speaking role means she’s supposed to get a voice credit where her name is posted. But whatever her character is, it’s…not listed. This is an uncredited role. The plot thickens.
Man, if that kid had waited just one more day….Leslie Tompkins, the manager of the orphanage, approaches Wayne and delivers some exposition about how he’s her biggest donor and the kids were all invited to the carnival on his treat. Dent gets his photo taken with the orphans, seeing a political opportunity, and then tells them to tell everyone to “Vote Dent.” Watching Dent with glaring eyes is Rupert Thorne, the mob boss who’s entered a shady deal with him to boost his sagging poll numbers, It’s a deal Dent wasn’t sure about before, and he still isn’t sure now. Part of it involves helping one of Thorne’s buddies avoid a conviction in court — a case he’s the opposing lawyer on.
We switch to elsewhere, inside a packed tent, where Anton, a man in a cheesy mad scientist getup is talking up his amazing machine and its supposed ability to enhance your strength. He first asks a man in the front row to lift a heavy barbell, which he cannot. Anton has a plant in the audience, the gothy girl we saw earlier. She’s his sister. She steps into the machine, some electrical crackles happen, she steps out and easily lifts the barbell. The audience is amazed and applauds.
After the show, Jason catches up with the girl (who said her name was Natalia) and says “Hey, remember me? My friend Dickey snuck into the carnival with you last night. Do you know where he is? He never came home.” Natalia tells him, “I saw him earlier….he’s still here. He was sneaking into one of the trailers. Want me to take you there?”
Oh no, Jason, don’t….too late. Once Natalia has Jason in the room alone with her, she opens her mouth to atypical proportions and reveals her vampiric tendencies — they being to suck the life energy out of others to sustain her own. She has Jason half-drained when Anton busts into the room and interrupts her. “YOU SAID YOU WOULDN’T DO THIS! That other boy was supposed to be the last one from this town!”
“That carnival took a lot out of me!” Natalia tells him. She was peckish, what more can she say? Also, even though the machine was fake, looks like there was no trickery with the barbell. Natalia has super-strength when she’s at max power.
Tompkins runs up to Bruce and tells him one of her kids is missing. Not Jason, not Dickey, but a little girl named Steffie. Evidently she doesn’t keep track of all of them, but she did notice THIS one. Looking around the tents, Wayne spots someone who matches Steffie’s description being led away by Natalia. He hot-foots it after them, right into the Hall of Mirrors….and a classic cinematic sequence where he can’t tell which kid is real. Gotta love the homages.
For his trouble Wayne ends up breaking clear through a wall into the carnival’s back alley. The staff of bearded ladies and alligator men (that’s gotta be Killer Croc, right?) get furious at the apparent vandalism and gang up on him. Again, he’s not Batman, he’s the other guy, which means he just has to take the punches. They throw him in a ditch, where he immediately gets back up, runs to Alfred’s car and prepares to suit up.
Anton knocks on Natalya’s door. “Just a minute!” she calls from inside, and then he hears this vacuum noise. “OH COME ON….” Anton yells and throws the door open to see Natalia just finishing up with Steffie. Well, that does it. How are they supposed to keep a low profile at this rate? They have a huge argument, which ends with Natalia pushing Anton so hard that some shelving breaks on top of him. He’s trapped, and tells Natalia to get help.
Batman finds him instead. Anton weakly tells Bats that Natalia’s just a little girl, to go easy on her, and warns him if she doesn’t return before the sun rises, it will burn her to dust. With that, he fades away. Batman heads into the woods.
Natalia is roping in her next orphan target, a girl named Kelly. Kelly knows kids have been disappearing and is offering herself as bait so that when the killer shows up, “I can nail him in the kisser with my slingshot.” She has no idea she’s talking to the wanted one. Natalia might have gotten to her next snack if Batman hadn’t arrived to interrupt.
Immediately, Natalia is taken. “So much ENERGY….” Batman would power her for a solid week! Even with her super-strength, Batman might have the advantage….if this wasn’t just a kid. Batman doesn’t want to hurt someone so young, so there isn’t much he can do. He actually loses the fight and Natalia prepares to drain his life stuff when a slingshot pellet hits her face.
Kelly’s braver than she thought. And when Bats informs her Anton is dead — because of HER actions — she looks shocked and regretful for the first time in her life. But this is when the sun begins peeking through the branches. It’s too late — this is the end of her! ….Or it would be if Batman weren’t there. He cradles Natalia in his cape, to the protest of Kelly: “You can’t, she’s a monster!” But as the pair walk back to the carnival grounds, she doesn’t say a word.
The last scene is a different one entirely, of Harvey Dent in court. He’s expected to be dropping the charges against Thorne’s goon, but instead he stands up and says “We’re moving forward on this case and we want the defendant held in custody until trial.” Dent stuck to his principles, but Thorne has his revenge…as he’s washing up, another mobster busts into the public bathroom and throws acid in his face! Betcha can’t guess what happens next…
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