Today I seek to poison your pretty little heads with my five thoughts on the fifth episode of Batman: The Animated Series in which Poison Ivy attempts to kill Harvey Dent in revenge for spear heading the building of a new penitentiary that destroyed wildlife.
1. Friends With Benefits
Batman isn’t usually portrayed as a character that has a lot of friends, and even when he does they’re usually of the super variety. We don’t often see a Batman that has a normal friend. That’s a wrong this episode rectifies as we say Bruce Wayne genuinely be friends with Harvey Dent. We’re shown that they like each other and that they like spending time together. They make each other laugh which isn’t usual for Batman. This addition of a friend for Batman goes a long way to humanize his character as he feels more well rounded now. He can experience happiness and still be Batman.
2. Poisonous Pamela
As a child I remember watching this episode and thinking Poison Ivy was the prettiest cartoon character I’d ever seen. Much of this is to do with the shows depiction of the character as a classic Shakespearean seductress, which is in stark contrast to recent depictions of the character which have shown her more as a deranged woman obsessed with the environment. Diane Pershing’s voice is the perfect mix of soft and warm to make you want to love her character even as a viewer who knows she’s the bad guy. It’s a voice that sounds like it isn’t meant to be menacing so that when it is the character comes off as more hurt than deranged.
3. Smart Fights
The battle between Batman and Poison Ivy at the end of the episode is so interesting because it isn’t a brawl. The strongest character doesn’t come out on top. When Ivy is fighting Batman and she’s gaining the upper hand it’s because she’s using tricks, power, and seduction. She’s never outright trying to fight Batman. Then when Bruce wins in the end it’s because he was thinking on his feet. He threatens something Poison Ivy loves to get her to give in.
4. Donut Underestimate Little Moments
Harvey Bullock is given a couple moments in this episode to be comedic and the character makes you laugh even if he’s playing off a common stereotype. Moments like this where characters are allowed to do more than their basic premise is what makes them eventually become well-rounded. These little moments also develop another contrast between Bullock and Commissioner Gordon who have acted as foils for each other through the series so far. We see the commissioner as someone who’s always quick to respond to a need, whereas Bullock is willing to sacrifice a second to do something like get a donut.
5. Erratic Editing
Some of the editing in this episode is exactly that, erratic. There are scenes that end really abruptly and then start really abruptly. It’s not something that completely derails the episode and in some instances it gives the show energy in a really Guy Ritchie way. The other instances though lead to jarring scene switches.
