Five thoughts after watching the seventh and eighth episodes of The Batman
1) Okay, Alfred, you know what? You've got to stop calling him "Master Bruce" when he's out patrolling the city. You know what's super-not-secure-at-all? Wireless communication systems. You know who would be a big freakin' target for obsessive, unemployed, disenfranchised criminal hackers? The dude who prowls around a major metropolitan area with a giant yellow target on his chest intentionally pissing off criminals. You know who else would make a good target for said obsessive, unemployed, disenfranchised criminal hackers? An aloof billionaire playboy who goes out of his way to make sure everyone thinks he's kind of an idiot. Now, even though I'm only 38 seconds into this episode*, I've already caught on to what they're doing with the titles, and I'm 95% sure "The Big Heat" isn't going to have anything to do with The Batman taking down a hacker who has learned his secret identity. But, REALLY, Alfred, you need to stop that right now before there IS an episode like that.
1a) Sorry, no, gotta pause it again. Let me get this straight, Alfred: You call Batman in the middle of an investigation while he is hanging from a rope off the side of a skyscraper so you can first identify him by name, then infantilize him with a "school nights" reference while chastising him for being out past midnight (when he's the goddamn Batman; staying out past midnight is what he DOES), and THEN advertise that he will be meeting with a prominent local politician in a matter of hours? Presumably in said politician's office? Which is a fixed location that is common public knowledge? WHAT ARE YOU DOING HOW HAS BATMAN BEEN DOING THIS FOR THREE YEARS WITHOUT HAVING BEEN EXPLODED OR BLACKMAILED OR HELD FOR RANSOM OR CAUGHT BY THE POLICE YET?
1b) To be fair, Bruce is being just as dumb and referred to Alfred by name, as well.
1c) Dude, that is a bank of smoking computers he is investigating. Maybe this will turn out to be about a crazed hacker after all.
1d) Or just a guy who shoots fire, like I originally assumed. n/m. Excuse me for thinking I had predicted something interesting.
1e) Um...is Firefly a Batman villain that pre-dates this show? Because I have never heard of him. Not that that really means anything.
1f) Please ignore all of the negative comments above, because IT IS JASON FREAKING MARSDEN AND I AM HAPPY THE END.
1g) I totally dig that he's not doing any of the usual Jason Marsden Neurotic Spaz/Geeky Villain/Cheerful Little Buddy voices, because the guy has range, he just never gets to show it off. I mean, I love those voices, don't get me wrong, but I also like being surprised by actors I think I know.
1h) ...That made it sound like he was doing something *way* out of his usual wheelhouse. It isn't *that* different, but enough that it did take me a minute to figure out it was him, which is not something I usually have to think about at all.
1i) Don't let my excitement over Marsden take away from the fact that the mayor of Gotham is played by Adam West.
2) Um...is this the Gotham City Council or the Wizengamot? The council members are way the hell higher than the lectern. Also, "Your father would be proud of you today"? For not firebombing his competitors? From the council's point of view, Bruce literally did nothing; the only reason he got the contract is that the competition is facing felony charges. So...what about that would make Thomas Wayne proud? Did he just have really freakin' low standards?
3) Suddenly, I'm very much reminded of Powerpuff Girls with all the zooming around cityscapes with multi-coloured neon contrails.
4) What do you mean the episode called "Q&A" isn't about Riddler? How is that even possible? And did Oogie Boogie steal the voice of the Mayor of Halloweentown? Cause what's what it looks like happened.
5) This show needs female characters. Like, the kind with more than three lines of dialogue. I know I got on Yin's case about being an Elisa clone, but I didn't want you to fix the problem by getting rid of her. Although, hey, look, he finally rescued someone he didn't know personally.
Bonus thought) "What is pi?" is your last-ditch, life-saving super-stumper question? Wot? Also, "Name the identity of the Batman?" YOU'RE STANDING RIGHT THERE. You're not going to look so sphinx-like and tricksy when he just rips your cowl off and throws everyone into the acid. THIS EPISODE WAS KIND OF DUMB.
* Okay, so that's four thoughts after watching the seventh and eighth episodes of The Batman and one while I paused the seventh episode before the title sequence.