[7.8/10] Neat concept to this one. I enjoy bringing back Shirek and finding more creative uses for his sound technology, and I also like having another of those moments in the show where Terry shows how he’s truly become Batman, not just a kid in Bruce’s suit. The combination of a quality villain threat and a good moral dilemma makes this one a winner.
The creative uses of Shirek’s technology help elevate this one. The idea of using sound waves to make tons of animals go crazy is an interesting, Bond villain-esque plan. His idea of a tuning fork that triggers the pleasure centers of the brian is a little implausible to me (though I don’t know why it’s more or less implausible than any of the other science-as-magic stuff on this show), but it works as a fun detail. And him using buildings as giant tuning forks and making it so that people can no longer understand one another is a really unique way to pose a threat to the city. I definitely liked the show’s execution of all of these, and each provided Batman with specific challenges to save the day and keep everyone calm and safe.
But I also liked how it forced Terry to make a moral choice. Shriek not wanting ransom but really just wanting revenge on batman for making him deaf gives him an interesting drive here. And Terry wrestling with whether to potentially hand himself over to save the city, especially when various citizens are taking Shriek’s side, makes for an interesting dilemma.
There’s a lot of nice moments there. For one thing, it was low key heartwarming when Bruce basically rebukes Barbara over Terry handing himself over, saying that Terry’s “done so much for this city, it can do something for him.” Max reminding Terry that he’s not just making this decision about self-sacrifice for himself, but would also be creating a loss for his friends and family is really good writing. And I like Terry remembering his trauma over losing his father as a reminder of why he does this.
Of course, in the end, Terry goes to face Shriek at the appointed time and place and survives anyway. But his willingness to walk into a scenario he knew he might not walk out of, just like Bruce told him about in the opening of the episode when the pair were repairing the batsuit, affirms Terry as a worthy successor and genuine inheritor of the Dark Knight mantle. The ensuing fight is pretty good, with Shriek’s deliberate lack of hearing working against him in an ironic way, but the real fireworks in this one are psychological and thematic, which works for me.
Overall, this is a good episode, an important one for cementing Terry as carrying on the spirit of Batman, fighting not for gratitude but because no one should have to go through the losses like he and Bruce did, and doing both of his fathers (real and surrogate) proud.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2020-05-23T23:21:03Z
[7.8/10] Neat concept to this one. I enjoy bringing back Shirek and finding more creative uses for his sound technology, and I also like having another of those moments in the show where Terry shows how he’s truly become Batman, not just a kid in Bruce’s suit. The combination of a quality villain threat and a good moral dilemma makes this one a winner.
The creative uses of Shirek’s technology help elevate this one. The idea of using sound waves to make tons of animals go crazy is an interesting, Bond villain-esque plan. His idea of a tuning fork that triggers the pleasure centers of the brian is a little implausible to me (though I don’t know why it’s more or less implausible than any of the other science-as-magic stuff on this show), but it works as a fun detail. And him using buildings as giant tuning forks and making it so that people can no longer understand one another is a really unique way to pose a threat to the city. I definitely liked the show’s execution of all of these, and each provided Batman with specific challenges to save the day and keep everyone calm and safe.
But I also liked how it forced Terry to make a moral choice. Shriek not wanting ransom but really just wanting revenge on batman for making him deaf gives him an interesting drive here. And Terry wrestling with whether to potentially hand himself over to save the city, especially when various citizens are taking Shriek’s side, makes for an interesting dilemma.
There’s a lot of nice moments there. For one thing, it was low key heartwarming when Bruce basically rebukes Barbara over Terry handing himself over, saying that Terry’s “done so much for this city, it can do something for him.” Max reminding Terry that he’s not just making this decision about self-sacrifice for himself, but would also be creating a loss for his friends and family is really good writing. And I like Terry remembering his trauma over losing his father as a reminder of why he does this.
Of course, in the end, Terry goes to face Shriek at the appointed time and place and survives anyway. But his willingness to walk into a scenario he knew he might not walk out of, just like Bruce told him about in the opening of the episode when the pair were repairing the batsuit, affirms Terry as a worthy successor and genuine inheritor of the Dark Knight mantle. The ensuing fight is pretty good, with Shriek’s deliberate lack of hearing working against him in an ironic way, but the real fireworks in this one are psychological and thematic, which works for me.
Overall, this is a good episode, an important one for cementing Terry as carrying on the spirit of Batman, fighting not for gratitude but because no one should have to go through the losses like he and Bruce did, and doing both of his fathers (real and surrogate) proud.