[7.9/10] I had a friendly debate with an acquaintance over what makes a good villain, and my argument was that many of the best villains are characters with sympathetic motivations or good points, but whose methods go too far. I don’t know if I won him over, but maybe my impulse in that direction comes from Batman: The Animated Series, a show that almost always gave its baddies a tragic past or fair reason to pursue their life’s work, even if their villainy means Batman inevitably has to collar them.
That’s particularly true for this episode. Poison Ivy is pretty familiar to B:TAS watchers at this point in the series, and that helps the episode work. On the one hand, it makes us share Batman’s skepticism that she’s truly reformed. On the other, the time spent seeing her more laudable aims helps us root for her when it seems like she really may have turned a corner in her life. And on a third, genetically-created hand, it makes it tragic when the show suggests she really did just want to settle down and have a family, even if her warped way of getting it went way too far.
That once again gives her pathos. The reveal that as a result of her transformation, she’s sterile, is a pretty heavy one for a kids’ show. That adds weight to the tears when she looks at a photo album (replete with pictures of Harley!) and genuinely mourns the life she might have had. Much of the episode works like a horror movie, but the reveal of how twisted her efforts to create a loving family for herself were, in a certain way, only amplify how tragically misguided and futile her efforts to fulfill that ache are. As bad (and creepy) as her actions are here, you feel for Ivy, which is an achievement.
But like I said, this episode also works as pure horror. The design of the brutish plant monsters is cool and a little freaky, and likely gives us the closest thing to seeing Batman fight The Hulk on screen. The reveal inside Ivy’s secret basement is particularly disturbing in the science fiction-y way, from the unnerving plant babies, to their quick growth and attack, to all of them, including Ivy’s plant clone(!) melting into goo. The show goes big on the freaky factor here, and that’s another part of what makes this one a winner.
It also makes its bones on the question of whether Ivy’s behind all these kidnappings and ransom or not. In the middle portion of the episode, there’s a legitimate question of whether she’s given up her old life of crime, and is just enjoying this new phase of her life. I’ll admit, there’s something a little discomfitingly stereotypical about the “my biological clock was ticking” subtext, but the show takes it and her wants seriously, which I appreciate.
Overall, this is an episode with great horror, superb action, a compelling mystery, and a nicely tragic villain story at its center, which all work in concert together.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2020-01-25T23:38:49Z
[7.9/10] I had a friendly debate with an acquaintance over what makes a good villain, and my argument was that many of the best villains are characters with sympathetic motivations or good points, but whose methods go too far. I don’t know if I won him over, but maybe my impulse in that direction comes from Batman: The Animated Series, a show that almost always gave its baddies a tragic past or fair reason to pursue their life’s work, even if their villainy means Batman inevitably has to collar them.
That’s particularly true for this episode. Poison Ivy is pretty familiar to B:TAS watchers at this point in the series, and that helps the episode work. On the one hand, it makes us share Batman’s skepticism that she’s truly reformed. On the other, the time spent seeing her more laudable aims helps us root for her when it seems like she really may have turned a corner in her life. And on a third, genetically-created hand, it makes it tragic when the show suggests she really did just want to settle down and have a family, even if her warped way of getting it went way too far.
That once again gives her pathos. The reveal that as a result of her transformation, she’s sterile, is a pretty heavy one for a kids’ show. That adds weight to the tears when she looks at a photo album (replete with pictures of Harley!) and genuinely mourns the life she might have had. Much of the episode works like a horror movie, but the reveal of how twisted her efforts to create a loving family for herself were, in a certain way, only amplify how tragically misguided and futile her efforts to fulfill that ache are. As bad (and creepy) as her actions are here, you feel for Ivy, which is an achievement.
But like I said, this episode also works as pure horror. The design of the brutish plant monsters is cool and a little freaky, and likely gives us the closest thing to seeing Batman fight The Hulk on screen. The reveal inside Ivy’s secret basement is particularly disturbing in the science fiction-y way, from the unnerving plant babies, to their quick growth and attack, to all of them, including Ivy’s plant clone(!) melting into goo. The show goes big on the freaky factor here, and that’s another part of what makes this one a winner.
It also makes its bones on the question of whether Ivy’s behind all these kidnappings and ransom or not. In the middle portion of the episode, there’s a legitimate question of whether she’s given up her old life of crime, and is just enjoying this new phase of her life. I’ll admit, there’s something a little discomfitingly stereotypical about the “my biological clock was ticking” subtext, but the show takes it and her wants seriously, which I appreciate.
Overall, this is an episode with great horror, superb action, a compelling mystery, and a nicely tragic villain story at its center, which all work in concert together.