The episode was a delight. Possibly the best directed so far, though Double Talk would give it a run for it's money. It's just so impeccably directed, and the script was really good throughout most of this episode. In the first half there was a mystery and horror-ish vibe that just worked so well. The story was interesting, the characters were so in-character and doing things that felt at their most realistic.
I guessed it was Clayface early on, and i thought when Batman found the "clay" that had confirmed it, but then later he said it was dirt, which felt a bit like a misdirect, because you would think of dirt from a shoe, so it was nice it was later revealed to be clayface, and we got great visuals from him in his scenes. Thinking back on the episode, some of the things the villain did make more sense now, like traversing great heights and going into a sewer grate.
I liked the dyanmic between Tim and the girl, and Tim and Batman this episode. There's a lot of cool and interesting little moments, like when Alfred calls Bruce after Tim gets out of the car to go after the girl. The talk from Gordon about teenagers and how that related to Tim throughout the episode. Even just Batman straight up saying "What?" to Tim's disobeying an order. The great visual of the black bat as he swoops down to defend Tim in his gruff voice. When Clayface throws Tim at Batman and he catches him while still standing, such a good realistic moment for Batman, whereas in another episode he probably would have been knocked over.
However, where the episode falls down for me is the ending. The reveal is kind of nice, but doesn't make enough sense, and the ending is too much of a downer.
I was thinking that the girl was a manifestation of a part of the guy's personality, that of his childhood and/or the feminine side within him (the psychological duality of the masculine and feminine in every human). So it kind of made sense like that... But then why is it a girl? Wouldn't it make more sense if it was a boy? Yes, it would. And then there's the matter of the girl having consciousness and her own kind of personality, which doesn't make a lot of sense. Why was she disconnected from Clay Face in the first place? Because he was too weak? Well no because he was connected to her, he was her, and he wasn't, i guess. Maybe Clayface wasn't conscious yet and his unconscious created this being, i guess.
So there's some silly things going on to try and make things more tragic, and i don't fully buy it because while i can suspend my disbelief, i won't break it. I won't accept that, and i'll judge, critique and rate it appropriately. That's why this episode gets a 7 instead of an 8. The lack of sense in logic or psychology in the reveal of who the girl is and how she came to be, and too much of a downer ending. A better ending would be you see a bit of the girls personality mix with Clayface, and you audibly hear that, which also ties back to the plot point of her supposedly having her own consciousness, but then at the end you have a disconnect where she was just part of Clayface and nothing more. What i just suggested would solve that disconnect.
Review by WardVIP 8BlockedParentSpoilers2023-09-15T13:51:03Z
The episode was a delight. Possibly the best directed so far, though Double Talk would give it a run for it's money. It's just so impeccably directed, and the script was really good throughout most of this episode. In the first half there was a mystery and horror-ish vibe that just worked so well. The story was interesting, the characters were so in-character and doing things that felt at their most realistic.
I guessed it was Clayface early on, and i thought when Batman found the "clay" that had confirmed it, but then later he said it was dirt, which felt a bit like a misdirect, because you would think of dirt from a shoe, so it was nice it was later revealed to be clayface, and we got great visuals from him in his scenes. Thinking back on the episode, some of the things the villain did make more sense now, like traversing great heights and going into a sewer grate.
I liked the dyanmic between Tim and the girl, and Tim and Batman this episode. There's a lot of cool and interesting little moments, like when Alfred calls Bruce after Tim gets out of the car to go after the girl. The talk from Gordon about teenagers and how that related to Tim throughout the episode. Even just Batman straight up saying "What?" to Tim's disobeying an order. The great visual of the black bat as he swoops down to defend Tim in his gruff voice. When Clayface throws Tim at Batman and he catches him while still standing, such a good realistic moment for Batman, whereas in another episode he probably would have been knocked over.
However, where the episode falls down for me is the ending. The reveal is kind of nice, but doesn't make enough sense, and the ending is too much of a downer.
I was thinking that the girl was a manifestation of a part of the guy's personality, that of his childhood and/or the feminine side within him (the psychological duality of the masculine and feminine in every human). So it kind of made sense like that... But then why is it a girl? Wouldn't it make more sense if it was a boy? Yes, it would. And then there's the matter of the girl having consciousness and her own kind of personality, which doesn't make a lot of sense. Why was she disconnected from Clay Face in the first place? Because he was too weak? Well no because he was connected to her, he was her, and he wasn't, i guess. Maybe Clayface wasn't conscious yet and his unconscious created this being, i guess.
So there's some silly things going on to try and make things more tragic, and i don't fully buy it because while i can suspend my disbelief, i won't break it. I won't accept that, and i'll judge, critique and rate it appropriately. That's why this episode gets a 7 instead of an 8. The lack of sense in logic or psychology in the reveal of who the girl is and how she came to be, and too much of a downer ending. A better ending would be you see a bit of the girls personality mix with Clayface, and you audibly hear that, which also ties back to the plot point of her supposedly having her own consciousness, but then at the end you have a disconnect where she was just part of Clayface and nothing more. What i just suggested would solve that disconnect.