1x28 Night of the Ninja

[6.3/10] I’m disappointed by this one. The title is evocative, and having seen it on the docket, I was intrigued by what it could mean. My first thought was the training Bruce Wayne received in Batman Begins. And while there’s a touch of that here, right down to the revenge plot, “Night of the Ninja” turns out to be a pretty generic tale that descends into some rank orientalism in places and feels out of tone for the show in others.

There’s a few things to recommend it. For one, some of the ideas are good. While the notion of Batman having an old martial arts foe who’s the one person he’s actually afraid of just feels off, I do like both Robin and Alfred acknowledging that Batman never admits to his fears. The story of the dishonored ninja thief going after the guy who caught him is pretty stock, but I do appreciate that they complicate Kyodai’s motivations a little, implying that he resents Bruce because he’s wealthy whereas Kyodai has to steal to support himself.

But man, the episode’s pretty dull and languid for a ninja story. Few of the scenes have real action or excitement, and I found myself checking my watch waiting for the episode to get to its climax. Plus, “Night of the Ninja” goes overboard in underscoring every single point it’s trying to make, with no subtlety whatsoever.

This is also perhaps the first episode where they try to make Summer Gleason an actual character and not just a hostage or bystander and...it doesn't go well. She still seems pretty unoriginal in the “plucky reporter” guise. On top of that, while I like the idea that Bruce has to fight with one hand tied behind his back when going up against Kyodai since Summer’s in the room, the fact that Robin is able to ameliorate that by throwing a carpet or something over her head borders on the absurd.

Overall, this one’s still perfectly watchable, but it’s a real step down from what this show is normally capable of.