Welcome to this weeks installment of Five Thoughts on Batman: The Animated Series. This week we’ll be taking a look at the fourth episode The Last Laugh which feature Batman stopping one of Joker’s schemes on April Fools day.
1. April Fool’s Day
The fourth episode of Batman: The Animated Series is set during April Fool’s day, which allowed the show to go lighter with its tone than it had been in the previous three episodes. Batman, Alfred, and the Joker all make jokes within this episode and for the most part they all land. The score is a little different, but we’ll touch on that later. The whole plot is set around April Fool’s a Joker apparently playing an April Fool’s prank which serves as a smart frame and reason for The Joker to attack.
2. The Joker
This is the second time in four episodes that the series has used the Joker as the villain. This isn’t usage to develop him as a supporting characters, but just a second use for him in the “villain of the week” role. While we all love the Joker and Mark Hamill’s interpretation is iconic, this seems unfair to other great villains and it’s something that could get boring if it continues at this rate. This worry is counterbalanced by the fact that this is an April Fools episode and honestly there’s no other character that could be the April Fools villain. If that’s the main reason for Joker appearing again so soon then my worries would be assuaged. The Joker is amazing but he shouldn’t be in every other episode.
3. The Batarang
This I believe is the first appearance of the batarang in the show. It really caught me off guard, both because I realized it’s the fourth episode and we’re just now really seeing a batarang as well as because it looks so different. As fans we’re used to the traditional bat shaped, boomerang like Batarangs. The one seen here is just like a shuriken with a little bat head sat between two of the prongs. It seems like a much more realistic interpretation and if they’re going to go with the cool realistic depiction then I’d really like the batarang to show up more.
4. The Score
I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the score throughout this show, however, this episode it gets a little weird. Throughout most of the episode the score sounds like the music that would come on during in a montage in a super-patriotic boxing movie. It just doesn’t really fit the look or tone of the show or anything that’s actually happening. It’s still really well produced and fun to listen to but it’s distracting throughout most of the episode.
5. Mark Hamill and Kevin Conroy
The voice acting in this episode is atrocious. They’re consistently monotone and completely off from the way you’d expect Batman and the Joker to sound. Conroy’s Batman is nasally and high pitched while Hamill’s Joker just sounds like a bad Luke Skywalker impression. The two actors have no chemistry and they make the extremely interesting conflict between these characters seem so mundane. April Fools! I truly mean the opposite of everything I just said. Conroy and Hamill are great and they have amazing chemistry. They’re staples of the characters and continue to prove with each episode why their performances have become so iconic.
