DCAU Review: "Two Timer" by Paul Dini and Ty Templeton (1995)

[about_faces]

This has to be the single most depressingly tragic tale in all of DCAU canon. It's also, not coincidentally, one of the greatest. But I'd be lying if I said that it was one of my favorites, or that I looked forward to posting about it here.

Comments

[about_faces]

I actually read this as "Two-Face is not Harvey"...

Oh duh, I think you're right. Dang. Times like this I really need an image of Rorscach going "Hurm. Obvious, in retrospect."

Still, rereading those lines, I feel like this echoes what Dick said years later in Nightwing: The Great Leap, about how he only sees one face, scarred all over. As much as I don't like Dick's views of Harvey, he does play the valuable role of being the only one who fully accepts the existence Two-Face without being burdened by hope or compassion for Harvey. Considering how much of a monster Two-Face can be, Robin's role is crucial. But man, it's that "Told ya" that really sticks in my craw.

I can't help but wonder if part of his therapy was trying to reconcile his anger and his original personality...

Maybe so, and once again, I'm wondering how these treatments might have helped pave the way for the Judge.

I'm now intrigued by the idea that Harvey's coin flipping in the DCAU is motivated by a sense of betrayal, mistrust, and paranoia. Now if only there were some way to reconcile that with Two-Face: Part II, where the coin was already shown to be so important to him that he'd melt down without it. What could Harvey at that point have possibly been paranoid and distrustful about? That maybe everyone would hate and abandon him is the truth about Big Bad Harv would ever have been revealed? I suppose that's a start.

[mothy_van_cleer]

But man, it's that "Told ya" that really sticks in my craw.

Look at Dick petulantly glaring at Bruce during that whole hostage crisis. "Oh, my legal guardian is being pistol-whipped by the dangerous and unpredictable split personality consuming his former best friend? Whatever. He totally deserved it for not even taking me out for ice cream today." Don't pretend you care about him more than Harvey does if you're willing to abandon him so quickly, ya smug fuckin' asshole.

Tim not trusting Harvey's innate goodness, though, is actually something I can forgive in the context of the story. Because, you know, apparently Harvey really was addicted to evil like it was heroin or something. Certainly not James Robinson's failing as a writer, am I right?

[about_faces]

Look at Dick petulantly glaring at Bruce during that whole hostage crisis.

Oh god, you're right. The little jerk was just waiting for his "Told ya." Well, I suppose he's allowed, considering that he's spent all night and day in Harvey's "care," but still...

Well, Tim can also be forgiven if we take the interpretation of FTF that Batman was an asshole and unreliable narrator who didn't give Tim the full story, so there's that too.