[7.7/10] I am always fascinated by accidental series finales. To be fair, I don’t know for sure that “Judgment Day” is one. For all I know, Bruce Timm, Paul Dini, and company all thought they were going to have sixty more episodes to play with, or they absolutely knew this was the end. But what’s so interesting is how if, like me, you watched this as a kid not knowing it was the last one in production, you’d have no idea it was the last outing for this little corner of the DCAU.
And yet, at the same time, there’s something that’s fitting about this being a solo Batman’s last hurrah, that makes me suspect that Timm, Dini, and others at least suspected this might be their last time out of the gate. In some ways, the episode works as a referendum on Batman, on whether something bigger and better might come along, to render the Dark Knight obsolete.
In that way, “Judgment Day”, which features a new masked vigilante roaming through Gotham and dealing harshly (and near-lethally) with criminals who Batman simply captures and hands over to the authorities, feels a little like “Lock-Up.” Both episodes function to draw a contrast between who Batman is and what his limits and principles, versus someone who doesn't share his scruples which means swifted justice but also a host of negative consequences that come from crossing those lines.
The Judge definitely crosses those lines. He doesn't just try to capture supervillains like Penguin, Killer Croc, and Two-Face; he tries to kill them. He also takes a very harshs and exacting view of justice, viewing anyone who transgresses even slightly as worthy of his scorn and his swift brutality. That goes directly against Batman’s no-kill principle and also against his consistent empathy and consideration for the bad guys he rounds up, treating them as people who might be redeemed rather than troublemakers who need to be culled.
At first, a lot of folks are thrilled, including Councilman Corcoran. Corcoran is the latest in a long-line of corrupt and/or gloryhounding officials, but it’s also not hard to read him as a stand-in for some lame studio executive making demands of the show despite not really understanding Batman. Corcoran isn’t really interested in the morals or validity of what the Judge is doing; he just knows that aligning himself with it improves his poll numbers, raises his profile, and makes him look good to the city.
He also talks to Batman about “closure”, something which feels like a telling indication that the powers that be knew this might be the last ride. Part of the neat thing about comic book stories is that they continue indefinitely. Batman first took up the cape and cowl in the 1940s and (with several retcons and major revisions) is still fighting crime today. But people making television want finality, knowing that their target demographic will grow up and want something new to call their own. The New Batman Adventures was already a bit of a cheat there, continuing an older show under a different name with enough of a refresh to please the suits. Even that had to end sooner or later.
But Corcoran also noted that the Judge takes care of villains, rather than putting them into the “revolving door” that is Arkham, a valid criticism. One of the other conceits of the genre for comic book stories is that our heroes need to fight supervillains again and again, which means Batman can never fully win. Each time he collars the Joker, or The Riddler, or Poison Ivy, they need to be able to break free and start causing mayhem again by the time the next story calls for it. That makes for exciting T.V., but a pretty sorry version of law enforcement.
Still, “Judgment Day” suggests that the alternative would be just as sorry, if not repugnant. It reveals, not shockingly, that Corcoran is actually corrupt, using the Judge to bolster his public image but secretly participating in the sort of corruption that Batman sought to root out in Gotham. It also reveals that the Judge is not some new avenging angel, but actually another side of Harvey Dent/Two-Face, a further manifestation of his mania and mental illness.
There’s something symbolic there, in the idea that the new hero everyone’s so wild about is actually just a different shade of a known villain. I’ll confess that I remembered the twist from childhood, so it didn’t have as much of an impact on me as it might have, but there’s still something that seems appropriately pointed and twisty about unveiling the overzealous enforcer who’s supposedly better than Batman, only to reveal that he, like his council chamber champion, is part of the same core of villainy the city wishes it could do away with.
There’s also something powerful in making the last villain of the series Harvey Dent. His transformation and descent was one of the high points of the early going of Batman: The Animated Series, and his connection to Bruce, the law, and to Batman, makes him a worthy player to put at the center of this one. Despite knowing the reveal ahead of time, the episode still makes the mystery worthwhile, and puts enough little hints here and there to make the answer to the question satisfying.
This finale is just as satisfying. It works as a regular episode, but also, stealthily, as a final statement (until Batman Beyond at least), as to what Batman is and should be, and just as much what he shouldn’t be. The New Batman Adventures pushed the character forward, making him gruffer, more taciturn, and colder to the collection of allies he amassed. It advanced the show’s villains, pushing their bad acts to new, often darker levels, making them more worthy of being restrained. But it also remembered that however harsher Batman may seem, however worse his villains may have gotten, he is a good man who knows his self-imposed limits are there for a good reason, so that he doesn't become the thing he fights every night. As a last word on The Dark Knight, “Judgment Day” delivers that idea with aplomb and makes for a worthy, if perhaps accidental, capstone to Batman’s first run in the DCAU.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2020-05-03T18:27:16Z
[7.7/10] I am always fascinated by accidental series finales. To be fair, I don’t know for sure that “Judgment Day” is one. For all I know, Bruce Timm, Paul Dini, and company all thought they were going to have sixty more episodes to play with, or they absolutely knew this was the end. But what’s so interesting is how if, like me, you watched this as a kid not knowing it was the last one in production, you’d have no idea it was the last outing for this little corner of the DCAU.
And yet, at the same time, there’s something that’s fitting about this being a solo Batman’s last hurrah, that makes me suspect that Timm, Dini, and others at least suspected this might be their last time out of the gate. In some ways, the episode works as a referendum on Batman, on whether something bigger and better might come along, to render the Dark Knight obsolete.
In that way, “Judgment Day”, which features a new masked vigilante roaming through Gotham and dealing harshly (and near-lethally) with criminals who Batman simply captures and hands over to the authorities, feels a little like “Lock-Up.” Both episodes function to draw a contrast between who Batman is and what his limits and principles, versus someone who doesn't share his scruples which means swifted justice but also a host of negative consequences that come from crossing those lines.
The Judge definitely crosses those lines. He doesn't just try to capture supervillains like Penguin, Killer Croc, and Two-Face; he tries to kill them. He also takes a very harshs and exacting view of justice, viewing anyone who transgresses even slightly as worthy of his scorn and his swift brutality. That goes directly against Batman’s no-kill principle and also against his consistent empathy and consideration for the bad guys he rounds up, treating them as people who might be redeemed rather than troublemakers who need to be culled.
At first, a lot of folks are thrilled, including Councilman Corcoran. Corcoran is the latest in a long-line of corrupt and/or gloryhounding officials, but it’s also not hard to read him as a stand-in for some lame studio executive making demands of the show despite not really understanding Batman. Corcoran isn’t really interested in the morals or validity of what the Judge is doing; he just knows that aligning himself with it improves his poll numbers, raises his profile, and makes him look good to the city.
He also talks to Batman about “closure”, something which feels like a telling indication that the powers that be knew this might be the last ride. Part of the neat thing about comic book stories is that they continue indefinitely. Batman first took up the cape and cowl in the 1940s and (with several retcons and major revisions) is still fighting crime today. But people making television want finality, knowing that their target demographic will grow up and want something new to call their own. The New Batman Adventures was already a bit of a cheat there, continuing an older show under a different name with enough of a refresh to please the suits. Even that had to end sooner or later.
But Corcoran also noted that the Judge takes care of villains, rather than putting them into the “revolving door” that is Arkham, a valid criticism. One of the other conceits of the genre for comic book stories is that our heroes need to fight supervillains again and again, which means Batman can never fully win. Each time he collars the Joker, or The Riddler, or Poison Ivy, they need to be able to break free and start causing mayhem again by the time the next story calls for it. That makes for exciting T.V., but a pretty sorry version of law enforcement.
Still, “Judgment Day” suggests that the alternative would be just as sorry, if not repugnant. It reveals, not shockingly, that Corcoran is actually corrupt, using the Judge to bolster his public image but secretly participating in the sort of corruption that Batman sought to root out in Gotham. It also reveals that the Judge is not some new avenging angel, but actually another side of Harvey Dent/Two-Face, a further manifestation of his mania and mental illness.
There’s something symbolic there, in the idea that the new hero everyone’s so wild about is actually just a different shade of a known villain. I’ll confess that I remembered the twist from childhood, so it didn’t have as much of an impact on me as it might have, but there’s still something that seems appropriately pointed and twisty about unveiling the overzealous enforcer who’s supposedly better than Batman, only to reveal that he, like his council chamber champion, is part of the same core of villainy the city wishes it could do away with.
There’s also something powerful in making the last villain of the series Harvey Dent. His transformation and descent was one of the high points of the early going of Batman: The Animated Series, and his connection to Bruce, the law, and to Batman, makes him a worthy player to put at the center of this one. Despite knowing the reveal ahead of time, the episode still makes the mystery worthwhile, and puts enough little hints here and there to make the answer to the question satisfying.
This finale is just as satisfying. It works as a regular episode, but also, stealthily, as a final statement (until Batman Beyond at least), as to what Batman is and should be, and just as much what he shouldn’t be. The New Batman Adventures pushed the character forward, making him gruffer, more taciturn, and colder to the collection of allies he amassed. It advanced the show’s villains, pushing their bad acts to new, often darker levels, making them more worthy of being restrained. But it also remembered that however harsher Batman may seem, however worse his villains may have gotten, he is a good man who knows his self-imposed limits are there for a good reason, so that he doesn't become the thing he fights every night. As a last word on The Dark Knight, “Judgment Day” delivers that idea with aplomb and makes for a worthy, if perhaps accidental, capstone to Batman’s first run in the DCAU.