DCAU Review: Harvey and Pals, Part 2: "Almost Got 'Im." Plus, rare art!

[about_faces]

Welcome to the next installment of my three-part review series which I have dubbed "Harvey and pals!" Why? Because calling it "Harvfield and Friends" probably wouldn't have flown with anybody. That said, now the theme song is stuck in my head...The first uniting of the Unholy Three ended, unsurprisingly, with defeat and arrest, but this doesn't

Comments

[lego_joker]

The about_faces ongoing is packing backup features now? Eh, I suppose there had to be something to justify the 3.99 price-tag. :P

(That's 3.99 minutes - to read through the post; not 3 bucks and 99 cents. Chuck Dixon help us all if you decide to start charging for these - it might actually be the first time in my life I've actually been driven to pay for something.)

That aside... I knew that you'd probably take issue with Harvey's depiction in this episode - especially when it's his turn to deliver the story.

On Batman's depiction of Croc: Joker's comment on the "robot" theory implies that the rogues are already familiar with Croc - for whatever reason - acting like a moron. He's just going along - and even if that weren't the case, the other four strike me as self-absorbed enough to not care about (and indeed, perhaps even be comforted by) the presence of a total idiot in their group

[about_faces]

... the other four strike me as self-absorbed enough to not care about (and indeed, perhaps even be comforted by) the presence of a total idiot in their group.

All the better a disguise for Batman to go undercover without arousing suspicion. Still, now it just makes me want to see a story where Croc rises to the occasion and--against everyone else's expectations--does something awesome or terrifying to make them all go, "Hmmm... perhaps it would be wise to never make fun of Croc again." Preferably, he could do it in some way other than cannibalism.

Joker has something of an excuse, in that the "twist ending" to his tale means he won't lose face as much as Harvey (hurr!).

Owwww. That was so bad, it was worthy of me.

It's all incredibly shallow and incredibly cynical, and those who like to cuddle up with a good character study are apt to swoon more out of boredom than pleasure...What? No. Wow, that's so wrong, I can't even begin to articulate why. It... NO. Shit, this whole episode is FILLED with character moments that we wouldn'

[akselavshalom]

Considering the fact that Croc replaced Rupert Thorne in the comics, I say that it shouldn't be too difficult giving him a little stroke of genius.

[barcavolio]

Aw, I liked the giant penny! Then again, I also have an inexplicable love for Batman Forever... I do see your point about it, though.

MegaPenny? Great, now I'm imagining a giant, robotic British secretary. WTF, my brain?

It is a little-known fact that our entire Cabinet is made up of robots, cleverly disguised with layers of ham.

I love this episode, and reading your review of it reminded me how much I would love a sitcom featuring all these rogues and their wacky/gruesome hijinks:

So no one told you life was gonna be this way
Your only friends are crooks, you can never get away
It's like the Bat is set to keep you here
When your heist screwed up, the tenth one of the year

But, I'll be there for you
When your plan's doomed to fail
I'll be there for you
When you're destined for jail
I'll be there for you
'Cause the cells are built for two...

(Yeah, okay, so I just did a terrible rewrite of the Friends theme song. You would too if you'd had the day at work I have.)

[about_faces]

While I critique, I really do it with love. If I ever do tear into Batman Forever properly, you bet I'll be squirming about all the ways it's bad and wrong, but I still genuinely do love it despite (because of?) the badness. You're in good company here! :D

Like a dummy, I forgot to actually link to my incredibly obscure reference in the "Harvfield and Friends" bit, but it's just as well because now you've just made me want to see a wacky Arkham sitcom happen. Yay, my forgetfulness actually worked out for the best!

[barcavolio]

Ahhhh. See, I only get about a quarter of your references anyway, because I didn't see much American media growing up and now I only ever watch three TV channels, none of which tend to show the kind of stuff you reference... Well, they probably do, but I can't be bothered.

Wacky Arkham sitcom complete with laughter track, I hope? That really would be one TV show I'd go out of my way to bother to watch. And there could be Very Special Episodes, just because, and the fact that it's set in a psychiatric hospital/prison would just be interpreted as ironic dissonance or whatever things the cool critics are using.

[martin_l_gore]

I've got very little to add, the two small things I might have done differently is a bit of added raving on Joker's deathtrap for Batman as it's so god damn outstanding and easily my favorite deathtrap of all time as well as some criticism on Catwoman's last "Almost got 'im" line, which is hideous. B: TAS is still unrivalled when it comes to the voice acting of the ensemble, but the delivery on that particular line always makes me cringe and ruins a small bit of the ending for me.

Also, now that I think about it, I have a vague memory of Harvey's poker playing being a bit irrational. Doesn't he trow away aces for a two-pair of twos or something like that, right at the beginning of the episode?

[about_faces]

Man, if I had the time and energy, you can bet that I would have spent at least half this post raving about how much I adore both the Penguin and Joker segments. Especially the Joker one. SO many great lines and moments in that sequence. That said, I can't argue with Barbeau's delivery of "Almost Got 'Im." I mean, I wouldn't go so far as to call it hideous, but yeah, it wasn't exactly nailed. But eh, it worked well enough for me.

As for Harvey's actual poker-playing, I still don't know how the game is played (Henchgirl has been vowing/threatening to teach me for years now), but it wouldn't surprise me if his playing is irrational. He probably uses the coin to help him decide how to play.

[martin_l_gore]

Henchgirl has been vowing/threatening to teach me for years now

I need to actually make good on that threat and then, Vegas, baby!

[martin_l_gore]

I just rewatched it, and I might have said too much on Harvey's poker playing. It's not as blatant as I remembered it, but he does keep a 2 of spades (in addition to a pair of kings) for no good reason, which might be a semi-clever thing from the writer concerning the obsession with 2's, duality, 50/50 and all that stuff. Speaking of which, what is the "Half & Half" stuff Harvey pours into his coffee? I guess it's some kind of cream, but is it some sort of classic brand or anything like that?

[batmanfangirl17]

Another one of my favortie episodes! Twoface is one of my favorite villians! Another good review, about-faces!

[about_faces]

Thank you! :D

[mothy_van_cleer]

I'm the first guy willing to concede that this episode isn't near as perfect as it could have been. While the dialogue does sparkle for the most part, Harvey is stuck once again being the curmudgeonly wet blanket of the group - he's just as nakedly hostile as everyone else, only without the redeeming qualities of his friends (mannered loquacity, sultry charms, comedic timing, and boulder-chucking, respectively). Ironically, his problem arises from not being wholly committed to the whole "evil" thing; if he was written as, say, the cackling one-dimensional mustache-twirler of Dixon and Moench, he'd probably be having more fun. And using more puns in conservation, to boot.

Because calling it "Harvfield and Friends" probably wouldn't have flown with anybody.

"And now, for no reason other than this episode ran short of 22 minutes, it's time for Screaming With Two-Face." "HEEEEEEY, DEATH PENALTY!"

Also incidentally, Reed once wrote an incredibly callous and tasteless comic about Bill Finger just after the Batman co-writer's lonely,

[about_faces]

Sadly, I fear you've absolutely nailed the problem with B:TAS Two-Face (and to some degree, Two-Face in general, even at his best). Sometimes, I think the very best balance of both fun and tragedy with Two-Face has been achieved best by Batman: The Brave and the Bold, which is the only time I've ever seen the flamboyant, enjoyable Two-Face pulled off while still being true to the somber, tragic, complex nature of the character. For all of B:TAS!Two-Face's many merits, he really is kind of a wet blanket.

That's the most vile, disgusting thing I've ever read.

Ain't it, tho? Man, I wish Reed were still alive just so he could explain what the fuck he was THINKING, even though there's really no excuse.

[akselavshalom]

Perhaps the problem could be solved if he, depending on the setting, allowed one of his sides to take almost full controll for a while, then switch back to co-existing personalities, then let his other side come to show? I don't know what stream of decisions/coin-tosses could lead up to such a thing, but somehow Nightwing: The great leap comes to mind.

[about_faces]

That could be entirely possible, although it does raise further questions, considering the already-fuzzy nature of Harvey's mental illness in the show. We'll have to see if that theory fits as we get further on in some of the other episodes and comics, especially once his illness takes a turn for the considerably worse. It doesn't quite get to the point of Nightwing: The Great Leap, which was one of the only explicit cases of one side entirely taking over from the other rather than both more or less coexisting at the same time, but still, it's something to keep in mind over the upcoming posts in the B:TAS series.