Disappearing Ink, A Touch of Curare, and Ascension, and Splicers Review

Hi, this is Loren Lester and you're listening

to the GeekCast Radio Network. Hello and welcome

to Legends of the Dark Knight. I'm your host,

Steve Megatron Phillips, and joining me in this

adventure into Gotham City is none other than

TFG1 Mike. Hello, sir. That's right. Hello. Hello.

We are back yet again. Yes, continuing on in

the Beyond universe. Yes, that's right. That's

right, that's right. We're also in full swing

of getting year five preparations done for GCR.

Steve nearly killed himself attempting to get

all the first annual GCR awards stuff done. Yes,

which should be out shortly around this time.

Yeah, by the time this episode is up, they'll

be out. Why is it when I said that last line?

I'm like hmm. That's not funny. That's not funny

at all The bang when kids junior shoots his dad

yeah Yeah, so we've got more Batman Beyond this

time around as I said last time this is a Multi

parter kind of episode because we've got the

end of season one with disappearing ink a touch

of curare and ascension and then the first two

seasons first two episodes of season two which

is Splicers and Earthmover so It's going to be

very very interesting I do also want to bring

attention To one thing that has popped up since

we last recorded the Arkham Sessions This is

Dr. Andrea Oh God, I'm gonna screw her last name

up so bad. I don't know. It's it's Arkham Asylum

doc on Twitter and Brian Ward from Shout Factory

They are reviewing BTAS episodes, but they're

doing it because she's a clinical psychologist

They're doing it from the psychological like

psychologically as far as examining it that way

I actually listened to the first episode and

she said this is how I would handle the first

episode they talked about On Leather Wings. It's

a 30 minute show, so it's not going to take too

much time out of your day to listen to it. She

basically said if this had really happened or

if this was a patient of mine, this is how I

would deal with it, this is how we would go about

this. It's a really interesting take. It's an

interesting take for an animated review podcast.

Something I've never seen done at all With anything

so I'm interested to hear more episodes It's

been out for a little while, but go check it

out the Arkham sessions. You can find it on iTunes

welcome to the madhouse Batman and With that

I think we're going to get to the first episode

of the day What's this little toy do careful,

it's an exosuit It amplifies effort and increases

endurance. And? When I tested it, it put too

much strain on my heart. You'd let a little thing

like a heart problem stop you from being Batman?

I don't believe it. Would I lie to you? No. But

you hold things back. Lots of things. It'd take

me, what, six months just to get you to show

me around the cave? That's because we've had

a lot of distractions, haven't we? Someday you're

gonna tell me the real reason why you stopped

being Batman. What's that It's an alarm system.

I set up I've got it hooked into the prison in

a few other places Helps me keep track of certain

friends of ours. So which one is it? Downtown

Gotham cryogenics On my way Terry just in case

Got some bad news. Let me guess she got away

and broke the freeze gun while she was at it

But that wasn't the bad news. It gets worse.

Uh -huh. She knows where the entrance to the

cave is remember Now do you believe me about

why I retired not entirely but tonight I'm glad

you didn't stay retired First up today is disappearing

ink which is the 11th episode of Batman Beyond

it depicts the return of ink after being turned

down for a raise Aaron Hurst becomes disgruntled

and releases ink from her icy prison Having had

to listen to him for months ink decides that

he'll make a suitable partner for the time being

and uses him to get the Mutagenic chemicals she

needs to heal herself and after being healed

ink captures batman and tries to lure bruce into

her trap too now ink has both batman to deal

with um i's it's not my favorite ink episode

but i did enjoy it um when i was watching it

uh my first note was well that guy isn't creepy

at all crazy fanboys Because Aaron's a little

out there Yes, yeah Let's see I really liked

how they Terry's basically Stated how long he's

been Batman Because it's one of my other notes

was nice seeing more of the cave these days because

he says in the episode it's taking you what six

months to show me around the cave so by that

point we can tell at least it's been six months

since he became Batman so that's kind of a nice

little nod What I do like most about this one

is how Bruce and Terry each approach the problem

of ink getting loose. Terry wants to prevent

her from getting in the cave again, while Bruce

wants to learn about why she hasn't yet tried.

I thought that was cool. Bruce trying to analyze,

you know, the one aspect of it where Terry is

trying to prevent the brute force. It's interesting

too, because Bruce is trying to psychoanalyze,

kind of like you were saying with, you know,

wondering why she's not coming in again. But

it's more so because she can lure him away from

his toys. Not all the way. Well, she doesn't

know. No, I know that, but... yeah um i had a

problem with the fight between batman and ink

this time around i know the suit provides terry

with a lot of protection but she threw him through

a steel vat he should be severely injured and

there are several times in that fight where he

hits his head or hits his chin uh as she's throwing

him around the room so Don't think he even even

with the suit. I don't think Terry would have

been alive after that fight Well, there's a lot

of stuff Bruce should have never survived and

he did that's true So I guess we can use the

example of Terry is the goddamn Batman you could

say that I Thought it was really cool. It was

an amazing animation effect how they had Batman

blasting out of inks insides Thought that was

awesome. I love the animation there because you

can You can see that he's got ink all over him

as he blasts out and the music in the background

of that chase scene was Really really intense.

I thought that was great And then ink later says

what is he your father your grandfather ink guessed

it before it was ever revealed I Do like that

Bruce has to come to Terry's rescue Mm -hmm,

which this will be the first of a few That this

happens, but I I love the fact that you get to

see Iron Batman Yeah, it's Bruce and Bruce in

that bad suit is awesome. Yeah, I mean it's kind

of like a cross between his original BTAS like

at least on the top part Mm -hmm, and then he's

got almost like a Hulkbuster armor with like

some beyond aesthetics to like the belt area

and that kind of stuff and it was kind of nice

seeing him actually back in In battle at least

temporarily Yeah when he When he first walks

into the place before he puts the suit on I'm

like, hey, it's the clock King because his outfit

Reminded me at least the glasses part of the

outfit reminded me of clocking Maybe that's what

he did Because he was he used great ghost at

I at some point too. Yeah Yeah, it could have

been more great ghosting clocking, but yeah,

you're right Again the the animation is so well

done in this show the animation on ink as she

gets wet that is just great the water hitting

the ink and basically saying that hey it's oil

and water and they don't mix and the effects

of the raindrops on ink were just great it's

like venom yeah it yeah it kind of is wow that's

kind of creepy um and of course the episode ends

as it began but instead of ink being captured

it's erin and he has a new caretaker uh... role

reversal don't we just love it and she runs her

mouth as much as he did but he isn't completely

uh... encapsulated in ice uh... since she think

never getting basically double -crossed there

never gave him the whole treatment she only gave

him half of the whole she was a lot of them there's

that overall i really didn't enjoy the episode

uh... you know I kind of wish there was more

of the cave stuff a little bit. But of course,

you know, hey, the bat alarm goes off. You really

have to go pay attention to it. It's not like

they have a red phone that they can just have

a direct line to the commissioner or anything.

Yeah. What else did you like about this one?

I just I like seeing Bruce come out of his shell

and have to come help despite his health issues.

And like I said, it was just nice seeing him

come back out of retirement to try and attempt

to save the day for what little he was able to

do. Yep. It was pretty darn interesting. So for

Disappearing Ink, we have several continuity

bits. This episode makes several references to

Blackout. Bruce gives Terry a Mr. Freeze's gun

before he goes after Ink because that's how he

had defeated her before. Sadly, Ink destroys

the gun and asks Terry, what are you going to

do now? And of course, as I said before, Terry

reminds Bruce that Ink had broken into the Batcave

before and she refers to the previous assignment

by powers to kill them. Some production inconsistency.

Bruce gives Terry an electrical discharge battering

and indicates it is the best defense device against

ink that he could construct on short notice.

However, Terry had previously employed that type

of battering in episode blackout, meaning he

had such gadgetry in his suits case already.

Terry is reinforcing the Batcave with a metalloid

alloy called Plasti Steel, which is described

in its canister as being industrial Belant. This

is likely an animator's typo with Belant, probably

intended to have read as sealant. For trivia,

we've got... I already mentioned the father or

grandfather bit as we find out later. Oh yeah,

that's right. Ink's attempt to kill Batman by

smothering him within her body was a tactic also

used by Clayface in Mudslide. When Bruce activates

his armor, a version of the Batman anime series,

Light Motif starts playing. At the end of the

episode, Bruce looks at Ink and says, poor, deluded

fool. He could also be saying, deluded, which

means to add water to liquid to weaken it, but

Terry looks at him in surprise, implying that

he was playfully insulting Terry for underestimating

him. See, I thought that scene, I thought he

was talking about Aaron, not Ink or Terry. I

thought he was talking about Aaron. Yeah. And

I still hold that that's what it is. Yeah. Despite

being destroyed, Mr. Freeze's gun later reappears

on display in the Batcave in future episodes.

It's possible that he rebuilt it after its destruction.

I don't know. Bruce is a genius, don't get me

wrong, but I don't know if he's gonna rebuild

Mr. Freeze's gun. I don't think he rebuilt it.

I think he has enough of them over the years.

Yeah, that's, that's true. You gotta figure how

many times he's taken down these guys. He's gotta

have remnants of, like, multiple times that they

get captured and thrown in Arkham. Very true,

very true. For casting notes, we have Shannon

Kenny as Ink. I don't know if she's any relation

to Tom Kenny. And William H. Macy was Aaron.

So that's interesting to see that William H.

Macy, one of the great, one of the better actors

of our generation or previous generations was

on this show. Do you know who voiced Chandler,

the boss, without looking? KMR. Yep, Kevin Michael

Richardson. That's right. Alright, I think we

are gonna move on to the next episode. You warm

enough, hon? Sam, I'm never cold. You know that.

My warm -blooded wife. I heard the DA's office

is plea -bargaining the Densmore case. Do you

know how hard my men work to... No shop talk

after hours. You want to discuss my shortcomings

as a DA, call my office and make an appointment,

Commissioner. Did you hear? Sam, get back! Shots

fired. Gotham Park, Central Drive. Repeat, Gotham

Park. That's her. Kinda blurry. It's the only

photo Interpol has. It was taken at the airport

assassination in Berlin. Who is she? Curare.

She's as lethal as her name. A member of the

Society of Assassins. No one knows her original

name anymore. Or her face. What about the sword?

A scimitar. Sharpened by lasers to an edge no

thicker than a molecule. Guess you'll want me

to keep an eye on the Commissioner. No. Barbara

Gordon's not the target. Her husband is. How

did she? Ma 'am, what do we do? Hello, Barbara.

Long time, Bruce. How's Sam? Holding up. He's

scheduled to testify Wednesday at the trial of

Fyodor Davich, the international arms dealer.

Without the testimony, Davich will walk. So he's

arranged for my husband to be hit before the

deposition. I see you sewed up the bullet holes.

You're Batgirl. She's Batgirl. Was Batgirl. That

brand of costume justice went out with a Tommy

gun, kid. I appreciate what you did tonight,

but I want you to stay out of police business.

Of course, maybe I'm talking to the wrong guy.

Hard to believe you're still remaking your image

at this late date. I never forced him. It's what

I wanted. That's what we all thought, at the

beginning. I've looked the other way so far,

but I'm not my father. I don't want to have to

come back here again. Capiche? Does this mean

you won't be wanting the information I have on

Kirare? I mean it, Bruce. Stay out of it. Wasn't

me who set off the alarm. I did the best I could.

This is the last warning you get. If I see so

much as a pointy -eared shadow anywhere near

police business, I'll drag you and Bruce to jail.

You got me? Why do you hate him so much? Ancient

history, McGinnis. History's my favorite subject.

So you and Dick Grayson like dated In college

puppy love later on we just never talked about

it people should communicate more Dick finally

got fed up living in Batman's shadow He decided

to leave He was hurt when I chose to stay behind

with Bruce as his partner His girlfriend Whoa

On the street, it was like ballet. We were the

perfect duo. But for Bruce, Batman, there was

nothing but the street. Eventually, that gets

old. Time comes when you gotta hang up the cape.

But Bruce wouldn't. Or couldn't. So I left. And

never looked back. No, I don't hate him. I hate

what he's become. Such a great man. So alone.

Coffee's on me, kid. I guess you never lose the

touch. How'd it feel? Like old times. You better

go. It wouldn't look good if... Like old times,

all right. Next up is A Touch of Kirare. This

is the first appearance of Kirare, and it is

covering Jenis... Gotham City District Attorney

Sam Young. who has been marked for death by the

Society of Assassins, which kind of leads me

to think that it's the next evolution of League

of Assassins, but never know, it never connects

the dots, who have sent their best member, Kyary,

now Batman must face off against one of the world's

deadliest fighters, and making things worse is

the fact that Commissioner Barbara Gordon...

Young's wife isn't as liberal as her father was

when it comes to costume vigilantes despite having

been one herself. This could probably most likely

be my, not to tip my hand, but this most likely

might be my number one when we get to the final

tally here later on because this episode has

all kinds of awesome. First of all, before we

even get into any of the trivia or any of the

cast or anything else, I already wrote down a

I remember watching City Confidential all the

time, and he was the narrator on there. Paul

Winfield is the voice of Sam Young, Barbara's

husband. I love Terry's. You can tell Terry is

still so green as Batman. This whole... you know,

taking on the mantle of the bat. You're bad girl.

She's bad girl. Was bad girl. That custom justice

went on a long time ago with the Tommy gun kid.

I love the I love the history in this. I really

do. With Kirari, I loved how when she was advancing

on the house, how she they were figured they

were going to trap her in a net. She basically

sliced it in half and it actually caught the

the guards behind her. I know that was great.

um now I know that Barbara has probably amassed

her own small fortune but being Bruce's sidekick

and other significant other for a time I'm sure

he's taken care of her over the years but good

lord do they have a huge house mm -hmm That house

is friggin huge! I mean, it's not like Wayne

Manor size, but like, wow. Um... And of course,

you pull the ol' switcheroo, you leave the dummy

behind and take the DA with you. Um... And the

history in this. Oh, man. She basically tells

the story of how Dick left... And she went after

Bruce. And, well... Yeah, uh... Oh, God. She

wanted to play with Bruce and Bruce said no.

History of the Batwoman is not in continuity.

I don't care what anyone says. It is in continuity.

No, it's not. Yes, it still draws to that. But

yeah, she and Bruce became an item, became a

couple. And on the street, it was like, you know,

like she says it was like ballet. But it was

it was it's interesting to see how how she cares

for him and i just i i do enjoy it i just don't

enjoy a mystery of the rat woman because the

age difference is so far off uh she because she's

college age and that and he's at least is the

late 30s early 40s um curare even though she

is a killer i i think she's really tried not

to Like, I don't know, I know that sounds weird,

but there's a point earlier in the episode where,

sure, she's killing folk, but she's not, like,

running them through, like a gauntlet, and then,

in this, in part of this scene, she just runs

through them all. Later on, she makes Terry blind

as a bat. Take that, bat flack! And that ending

it sure felt like old times Would you like about

this one um Well, I mean I for one I love the

the history lesson I Always love when they draw

back to the original continuity and try and explain

The things that happened in the decades long

gap between BTAS and here. So it's nice seeing

that slowly get chipped away at as it goes on.

Although it still makes me sad that you never

see Dick Grayson in the show, even though he

gets mentioned numerous times. But I like the

natural progression of Barbara Gordon in place

of James Gordon, and I like the They almost took

a different approach with her character when

when she aged it's almost like Commissioner Yendle

from Dark Knight Returns Won't stand for any

costume vigilantes won't stand for anybody Interfering

with police matters, although she has a soft

spot only because it's Batman And it's not burst

Right so So that's kind of a nice comparison

there, but Yeah, it's Not one of my favorites,

but it's not bad either it's it's got a lot of

action. It's got a lot of Pertinent content,

and then I love the fact that it's it's you know,

everybody's kind of up against this vigilante

curare. Yeah. And I will say this throughout

the rest of the show before we finish up. If

you really want to see Dick Grayson in the Beyond

Universe, read the current comics. I will forever

be pimping that out because... As I've said before,

Kyle Higgins loved this show and he is currently

working on Batman Beyond Universe slash 2 .0.

And he's drawn back to like his run, actually

the whole run of Batman Beyond currently from

2012 to now. I would love to see them turn into

a new animated series for Batman Beyond. I would

love to see them bring it back with like the

continuity that they're doing in the comics currently.

That would be so awesome. I know they won't since

they're past the DC animated universe but it

would still be awesome if they did. A touch of

Kirari. I liked it. Like you said, for the action,

for the history, for the lines. Did you notice?

I noticed more in this episode than most of the

other ones to this point that because of the

history lesson here the animators, and I don't

know if this was Bruce Timm telling them to draw

it like this, but the animators drew Barbara

like her father. What I mean by that is the coat,

how her hair is as far as the color, and just

the way that she overall looks. She was meant

to look like the female version of Jim Gordon.

Even though he she is his daughter. You don't

I mean it's like there earlier times when it's

like She doesn't look like an old Barbara Gordon

at all in this episode. She really did Yeah No,

I can I can definitely see that night again.

It makes sense that they made her look that way.

Oh, yeah And yeah that yeah, and and that's the

other thing they have in this episode They have

the same moment Barbara and Terry have the same

moment that Jim Gordon and Batman had in BTIS

Because they go for coffee and in the end of

holiday nights waiting for the yearly tradition

of Gordon meeting Batman for coffee and Gordon's

like one of these years I'm gonna be able to

get the check It doesn't happen until now and

Barbara gets it for Terry. Yep. Terry's just

a kid though. Well, yeah. You can't pay the bills.

Okay, that's the other thing and we'll bring

this up as we go along. Bruce did tell his mother

that he was getting a job. So I can only assume

that Bruce does pay him. Maybe it's only Maybe

it's only ten dollars and fifteen cents per criminal

wrapped up, but I don't know maybe that's the

new minimum wage I'm not sure for superheroes

in the future, but We'll have to wait and see

with the season one finale Ascension after this

All these people are anti powers I don't feel

so alone Paxton Derek Powers son word is he's

being promoted today As you can see, not everyone

was happy with him in his last job. While you're

in there, ask Daddy about his connection at Glowboy.

Love to finally nail this guy on something. I'll

see if it comes up. I apologize for the abruptness

of this announcement. Unfortunately, my health

demands that I take a temporary leave. Emphasis,

I hope, on the temporary. Therefore, effective

midnight last night, I've signed full proxy over

my majority stock holdings to my son, Paxton.

What did he say? He's putting his son in charge?

Out of the blue? I trust that you'll grant him

the same respect as you would me. We must be

heard! The board must know! I said you can't

go in there! Senor Powers! Members of the board,

we have come all the way from Verdeza. Please

hear us out. Get these men out of here. Dad,

your eyes. Our people are fishermen. It is our

livelihood. But your son has dumped so much poison

that he has killed our rivers. What's going on?

How did they get in here? What's this about poison?

Get rid of them! Dad, all the people. This is

all that's left. Dad! This is disgusting. Powers

is Blight. Powers and Blight. Just think, you're

both of my two favorite people. A trace here

and there, but nothing fresh. He might have been

on the move earlier, but now he's holed up somewhere

good. I think I know another way to find him.

Come back and I'll explain. Actually, something

else just came up. What? Look out your window.

This one you have to see for yourself. You don't

wanna - I gotta say a nuclear sub was smart.

That's why I couldn't find your radiation trail.

This whole tin can is still hot with rats. It's

about to get warmer. Turn right at the next hatch.

Can't let you run around like this. We've got

rules about radioactive waste and besides this

is personal Are you? You really want to know

yes You killed my father Do you have the slightest

idea how little that narrows it down? Next up

is Ascension It is the first season finale of

Batman Beyond depicting Derek Powers' final moments

as head of Wayne Powers, and the rise of his

son Paxton Powers. Well, he's had enough. He's

tired of having to hide behind the skin and running

from his clients every time the skin starts to

crack. So Derek Powers decides to make his son

Paxton acting chairman of the board however during

the introductory meeting Derek is angered to

the point of shutting his skin therefore Revealing

his condition to the world Paxton calls in Batman

to help him find his father, but Batman eventually

learns that Paxton has ulterior motives Dun -dun

-dun Yep For this one, I don't have too many

Terry Yeah Oh Wait something else just came up

what look out your window you've got to see this

for yourself the bat signal it still works or

at least one of them does You got to imagine

that can't be the same bad signal that they've

used since the original show Since it was destroyed

several times Yeah, I Yeah, I can Fathom how

that's still around Yeah, no somebody evidently

wanted it in case somebody needed it I guess

Maybe it's nostalgia. Who knows if it's still

mounted at the original GCPD building It would

have been but shriek knocked it down Maybe powers

bought it Hmm, maybe. I don't know why, but maybe.

You killed my father! No, Terry, I am your father.

Oh, wait, wrong movie. You killed my father!

Do you have any idea how little that narrows

it down? I love Terry saying the line, the, you

killed my father line, and then Powers just be

like, um, yeah, so? What do you want from me?

Yeah. I don't know why I liked it. Oh, I know

I know I did this At the end of the episode Batman

standing with the moon behind him reminds me

of dancing with the devil There is no pale moonlight

There isn't this show and there will be in the

post What did you like about Ascension? I like

the fact that The backstabbing runs in the powers

family Yeah One's trying to, you know, regain

his throne and the other one's like, nah, screw

you, dad. Go to hell. But no, it's kind of interesting.

And then if you look at his son, it's funny because

it's just Derek Powers without white hair. Yeah,

that's true. Yeah. Wow. Holy crap talk about

reuse of animation. I mean, there's a slight

difference in and there's a yeah the thing with

the hair But it's it's the same face But no,

it's it's nice seeing that and then and then

you get The fact that Batman's having to deal

with this domestic dispute Yeah So, for the continuity

bits, Terry refers to his father's murder in

Rebirth Part 1, and Bruce mentions Derek Powers

being exposed to the nerve gas in the end of

Rebirth Part 2. Paxton finally gets his comeuppance

in King's Ransom. Let's see here. Trivia. Despite

Batman's warning, this episode marks Derek Powers'

blight's final appearance on the show. It is

unknown if he was killed when the submarine sank

or not. The episode features the final use of

a bat signal. The episode also hints that Miss

Winston harbors romantic feelings for Derek Powers

that is later elaborated on in Batman Beyond

Number 8. where she survives an assassination

attempt and becomes vendetta seeking revenge

on batman and paxton for derrick's demise um

casting for this one uh we have robin hood in

batman steve men in tights that's right carrie

elwes is the voice of paxton powers very awesome

um Yes, it was a really good season one finale

Because it basically even though we don't know

in the show if Paxton or not if Derek actually

survived But it was a really nice way You know

you start with rebirth. Well. It's it's almost

like having a trade paperback you know of the

comics because it starts off with This storyline

yeah, there's a few other characters kind of

mixed in there, but This is mostly about about

the transformation of Terry into Batman because

of Derek Powers and because of Terry becoming

Batman because of Derek Powers He caused him

to become blight who also meets his own end due

to his own son. So essentially it's it's one

big full circle Yeah Continuity complete Well,

for this season, yes. Well, yeah, I mean, for

this story arc, it's wrapped right up. And I

do remember on the DVD sets that people ask them,

oh, why are you not doing any more of the corporate

stuff for season two? Because season two, when

we get to season two, majority of the episodes

are going to be focused on Hamilton Hills High

School and all the stuff that goes on there,

basically taking Batman out of the corporate

world. for a while. And then season three is

just kind of like a mishmash of everything. Because

they wanted to go in a different direction for

season two. They wanted to... And that's one

of my complaints. Honestly, for these last episodes,

these last three episodes of the season, I don't

remember seeing Dana once. I don't remember seeing

her at all in these last three episodes. I mean,

she'll come back at the beginning of Season 2,

but it's like, hey, what happened to that? I

don't know. So, alright, let's start Season 2

after this. I don't believe it. Chelsea, you

got spliced! Crazy girl, your dad must have had

a spiz fit. I don't know, Chelsea. Is it messing

with your DNA a bit drastic? Even for you? Please.

Well, then why is the city trying to shut it

down? Lighten up, Terry. The law's against practically

everything we're into. You gotta keep an open

mind. Here's all the info. Personally, I'd jump

on it if I were you guys. Because if you're not

the first, then you're the worst. They call it

splicing, the new high -tech teen rage that has

taken Gotham's youth by storm. But outraged parents

and lawmakers call the use of genetic animal

augmentation a crime against nature. Some say

it's a matter of choice. Splicing is like establishing

myself as an individual, you know, just like

all my friends. At the center of the controversy

is the director of the Chimera Institute, Dr.

Abel Cuvier. I want to assure everyone that splicing

is safe, reversible, and more importantly, utterly

beautiful. I was the first test subject, and

as you can see, I'm perfectly fine. Perfectly

creepy is more like it. What did you just do

to me, Cuvier? Why, you've been spliced, of course.

With a little something I prepared just in case

Gotham's self -appointed defender ever fluttered

into my business. You see, splicing isn't just

style, Batman. It's lifestyle. Something that

will literally change the world. Have you considered

checking in Arkham for a little R &R, Doc? Because,

quite frankly, you're nuts. You're welcome to

your opinions. For the short time, you'll be

human enough to have them. Alright, Cuvier! Call

your freaks off DA Younger, so help me out. What's

the matter, Batman? Not feeling quite yourself?

Don't worry about the DA. He's dead meat. And

so are you. Save Young or yourself. Can't be

helped. Putting Cuvier out of business is going

to mean a lot of long nights. Right now I just

can't relax knowing that Cuvier and his guinea

pigs are out there doing god knows what. I bet

I could relax you. Hey, Commissioner, looking

good. But not for long. Whoa, Sammy. Your honey's

got some hectic moves. Too bad she can't stop

us any more than you can stop Dr. Cuvier's dream.

Break him in half! Is Terry there? No. I've been

trying to raise him all night, but... Bruce,

listen to me. There's something wrong with him.

Something terribly wrong. Bruce? Bruce, are you

there? you too can't say I blame him you roughed

us up before I could cure you cure me Cuvier

he spliced me in his lab with a massive overdose

of vampire bat serum I figured we'd be needing

a new supply of the mutagen antidote although

it was sooner than I had expected thanks Barbara

told me about the attack After Batman foiled

the assassination attempt on D .A. Young, police

raided the Chimera Institute, but Dr. Cuvier

and his followers had already gone into hiding.

I can assure you Cuvier will be found and prosecuted

for this attack. Cuvier will be deadlier than

ever now that he's being hunted. Terry? I'm okay

now. Listen to experience, kid. I appreciate

what you've done tonight, but ditch the costume.

You can't live a life of narrow escapes forever.

It's a thankless existence and the rewards are

small, if any. Well, sometimes the small rewards

are the best ones. Alright, Splicers is the first

episode of the second season of Batman Beyond.

It depicts the troubled Gotham faces when a new

fad arrives in the form of splicing. After a

scientist, Dr. Abel Cuvier, introduced a system

of combining animal DNA with human DNA, it becomes

a trend amongst people of Gotham. However, DA

Sam Young works to outlaw the practice and is

marked for death by Cuvier. Now Batman must deal

with people enhanced with Animal capabilities

dun dun dun Have you ever seen an episode of

law and order special victims unit no, okay Have

you ever seen the movie higher learning? Who's

in it? Kristen Fishburn. Lawrence Fishburn. My

point here is the ramrod, the bull, is voiced

by Ice -T, who is known for being Detective Finn

Tutuola on Special Victims Unit. So I thought

that was kind of cool that he did a voiceover.

I think it's the only time I've ever heard him

do a voiceover in animation. So basically this

is an updated and Expanded version of on leather

wings Yes, I splicing it's it's The splicing

is basically Langstrom's formula just change,

you know mutated to do other stuff And I said,

well I do like the story it's the same old same

old when it comes to the plot Terry Terry and

Ace get some good continuity here because they

both look out for each other and at the end of

this they finally do like each other and I love

Terry's line which will come back. Good bad dog.

Other than that, you know this episode is average

for me. I mean I guess they had to start the

second season off somewhere and an homage to

On Leather Wings I guess is okay. Don't know

what would you think I I liked this more than

on whether on leather wings I Ultimately, I don't

care for it It's it's not it's not the story

because the story is not it's not that bad it

again it offers growth Where there wasn't before

so it's not my beef is not necessarily with that

is the fact that again it's one of those DNA

type things and i don't particularly care for

it because again you're getting the the wolf

DNA you're getting the on leather wings you know

man batting you're getting it all i i never cared

for the episodes that had the DNA splicing kind

of stuff in bt s so to have it here Although

it's infinitely used much better than it was

in BTAS, I still don't care for it. Yep. Yeah,

I'm the same way. Like I said, it's an okay season

premiere. It sets up. A couple of things like

specifically with ace and Batman. I thought that

was great Let's see I do like the continuity

of Terry suggesting to Cuvier to check himself

into Arkham Thought that was kind of awesome.

It's a nice night. Yeah According to the episode

commentary, Wilfredo was given a copy of Unloaded

Wings to help his performance as another man

bat. So I do kind of like that, even though I

don't really care for Unloaded Wings. At least

they're showing him, hey, this is what we need.

Well, and not only that, but it was kind of nice

to see something happen to Batman. Specifically

Batman, because... Let's face it, for the most

part, nothing really happens to the guy. Yeah,

that's true. Very, very, very true. Um, this

is the first time we see Max. Uh, no it's not.

Haven't we seen Max before? Uh, no. We haven't?

No. Really? No. Huh. Thought it was kind of interesting

that she finally showed up I Must be getting

my episodes mixed up then cuz I could have sworn

she showed up before this you and your damn wires

Yeah, I know It's just crazy So yeah as far as

other stuff some trivia some trivia uh... portrait

james gordon hangs over the fireplace in sam

and barbara's library it's a very nice touch

terry calls ace wonder dog obvious reference

to ace the wonder dog the german shipper that

acted in several films and films from nineteen

from nineteen thirty nineteen thirty eight nineteen

forty six uh... casting here uh... let's see

here uh... Terry Gar is Mary McGinnis. Ryan O'Donoghue

is Matt McGinnis. As I already mentioned, Paul

Winfield. Ian Buchanan was Cuvier, and of course

just your regulars. Overall, Splicers, it's okay

for a season opener, and I guess they're kind

of setting up with the whole home life for Terry

and stuff. I kind of like that. That'll get set

up more in this... next episode that we talk

about here in a few minutes but um splicers was

an all right homage to on leather wing on leather

wings so i think we're gonna get the final episode

of the day after this i wasn't listening yeah

for a change something wrong jackie i think i

think somebody's been following me following

you who i don't know but i get this feeling sometimes

that I'm being watched. Yesterday it happened

in the backyard. Today it was on the soccer field.

But when I look around, no one's there. Jackie?

Sorry to interrupt the homework, but I'm trying

to work on my expansion plans and I can't concentrate.

We're being as quiet as we can. That's why I

can't concentrate. I get nervous when kids are

too quiet. And maybe we'll even bang some pots

and pans together. Anything to help you concentrate?

I knew I could count on you. Anytime, Bill. Bill?

That's what you call him? That's his name. You

know what I mean. Oh. Well, it's kind of a long

story. Terry? Somebody's out there. Where? Interesting?

That's all you can say? It was unbelievable!

A word I rarely use. You think I'm crazy, don't

you? Terry, the sample you gave me was just soil.

Plain old dirt. It was alive! Alright, supposing

it was. Do you really think last night will be

the end of it? And in local news, there was a

whole lot of shaking going on in Gotham tonight,

thanks to a swarm of small earthquakes. Seismologists

give it a 3 .5 because it had a good beat and

you could really dance to it. This stuff can

turn a person's DNA inside out. It's toxic industrial

waste. Probably buried several years ago. That's

where Wallace fits in. You're getting a little

ahead of me. Don't you read the news? It was

only ten years ago. I was seven. Oh. Well. Back

then, the DA accused Wallace of dumping this

kind of chemical. Nothing was ever proved, though.

What did you find out from your friend Jackie?

Not much. Only that Wallace isn't her real father.

Not her father. Now that's inter - uh, promising.

Now help me get your stuff together. Those -

those things that came about at the ground, what

were they? I - I don't know. You know. Otherwise

you wouldn't be leaving like this. It's not like

you. Come on! I have a right to know! Now's not

the time to - You isn't it it had to be Tony

that was my father's name, but this can't be

Get away from here as fast as you can go no,

I want to know what this is about Jackie do what

I say Tony Please I didn't know I didn't know

Tell me everything, now! I... I can't. Better

tell her. Unless you want me to. I was just starting

the company. I didn't have much money. I couldn't

afford to dispose of my excess chemicals the

way I was supposed to. I found this abandoned

mine shaft. I don't know about this, Bill. The

shaft's totally sealed. No way for a bleed -through.

What if there's a quake? Tony, listen to me.

We may be cutting corners now, but someday...

This company's gonna be very, very big. Don't

you want a share of that? You talking partnership?

I am. Think of Jackie. No mother, just you. You

want the best for her, don't you? Looks like

I'm gonna need a rope. Partner. It didn't take

us long to get most of the barrels into the shaft,

but then... there was a problem. Lower! Lower!

Come on. It's snagged. Give it a tug. What? You're

still here? Go home. Go on. Go home. Anyway,

uh... Earthmover is the final episode we'll be

talking about today. It's the 15th episode of

Batman Beyond. It depicts the emergence of a

villain known only as the Earthmover. One of

Terry's friends, Jackie Wallace, continuously

feels like she's being watched and Terry soon

comes across a man made entirely out of dirt.

Things start getting worse as more and more of

these dirt men start showing up soon Terry learns

that the real culprit is Jackie's father who

is out to get his daughter back and Revenge on

Bill Wallace who he blames for his condition

to save them both Batman must face one of the

most powerful beings he's ever encountered um

Yeah, no dirt is not one of your most impound

most powerful beings that you've encountered

I'm sorry ink and curare and even the splicers

are more powerful than a piece of dirt it's like

justice league uh episode one i'm gonna fight

uh secret origins you mean yeah yeah the aliens

yeah even they are more powerful than dirt i

like dirt Notes for this one that I had. This

episode is basically a villain of the week. It's

nice to see Terry out of the suit and that he

and Dana are still together. They hang out with

actual friends, but the plot for the villain

here is just lame as all hell. The one cool thing,

I actually have one cool thing and a question.

The bad sub. That is so cool. I thought that

was great. An updated bad sub. That's awesome.

At the very end of the episode when the Earthmover

is close to dying, I swear I heard a tinge of

the BTIS theme or part of that composition. I

could be wrong, but I swear I heard something

like that. What did you think of this other than

it sucks? Other than delete it. Don't particularly

care for the episode. I think it's a throwaway.

Yeah, I mean ultimately it's just Some creature

and It's I don't know it's like dirt Hulk. Yeah

That's pretty much all I can sum it up as yeah

Production and consistency it seems odd that

Bruce would have such a hard time taking Terry

seriously about the dirt monsters considering

all of the unusual and supernatural beings He's

encountered when he was Batman After the second

attack Bill drove away with Jackie and Terry

flew off his Batman is unclear of how Dana got

away Yeah, they just leave Dana right there Hey

Dana, figure out your own damn way home. For

trivia, this episode reveals that Terry's age

is 17. On the commentary to the Egg Baby, Bruce

Tim reveals that Earthmover is one of his favorite

episodes. One reason for this, he says, is that

it is more ambiguous in its morality. Quote -unquote

villain Bill is not thoroughly an evil man and

has tried to make up for his past misdeeds while

the main antagonist Tony has understandable motives

for his acts, but is irredeemably destructive

Do we have let me see here no way please tell

me this is yes I know I know only oh wow haha

the voice for bill is Dan Loria Dan Loria for

those who don't know was in wonder years I believe

let's see yeah he was the okay maybe not yeah

don't yet jack arnold the wonder years 1988 to

93 yep the dad from wonder years is a voice in

batman beyond that's kind of awesome that guy's

done a lot of stuff though i've seen a lot of

stuff more recently too very cool cool all right

so that's it for earth mover thankfully that's

over with um Guess we're gonna throw it to an

ad or something Sounds good to me. We'll be back

with final thoughts and where we're gonna place

the episodes after this weekend Look wonder dog,

I don't like you and you don't like me, but how

about cut me a break this one time? Bad guy you

find me stop got it Yes, that's right. We have

traveled to Eternia to enter Castle Grayskull.

Join Optimus Solo and TFJ Mike as they find themselves

telling tales of Eternia. We cover all things

He -Man in this 45 episode long podcast. You

can find us on iTunes and www .geekassradio .com.

By the power of Grayskull, we all have the power.

Good bad dog. And welcome back to Legends of

the Dark Knight, so... What are your top five

episodes of the night? Coming in the last place

is Earthmover. I just... I get the morality between

the two characters, between Bill and Tony, but

just... Just don't care. Splicers is coming in

after that. Wish the second season started off

a little stronger with the first two episodes

and sadly This is what we got for the first two

episodes of season two I'm gonna put disappearing

ink next. It's a middle -of -the -road episode.

I really do enjoy it, but it's just the circumstances

of Aaron and all that are just too weird for

me I'll put Ascension in second place Really

solid season one finale wrapping up the whole

blight Storyline very cool and touch of curare

Because of the continuity gets the top spot.

What about you for me? I'd put Earth mover at

the very bottom because it's like dirt to me

I Would put splicers just after that Following

that I would put a touch of curare because despite

The continuity I don't care for here already

Then I would put disappearing ink because I love

the fact that ink is Basically one -upping since

the last time actually learning from the mistakes

on like half of versus rogue's gallery who repeat

themselves Especially when she broke freezes

gun, what are you gonna do now? It's nice thing

Bruce come to the rescue and come out of retirement

even though temporarily which he'll do a few

more times throughout the series and then I would

put ascension because like you said it kind of

ties up that loose end of the entire first season

and puts an end to the the blight saga So what

else is Coming up for legends Well, next episode

we have Joyride, Lost Soul, Hidden Agenda, Bloodsport,

and Once Burned. I can already tell you I only

like three out of the five of those. I'm not

gonna say which three, but I like three out of

the five of those. I have a pretty good idea.

Yeah, I also want to let the listeners know I

am working on getting a interview with Christopher

Carter, the composer for the show. So that's

going to be interesting once we eventually get

that. I think that's it. I think so, too. So

thank you for joining us here on Legends of the

Dark Knight. If you'd like to leave feedback

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So for now, I'm Steve Megatron Phillips with...

Dave do and Mike stop twiddling that hander and

That's the end What no vengeance nope just the

night Good night everybody