THE REVIEW
The latest new installment of
BATMAN: THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD -- “The Vile and the Villainous!” -- is probably the best episode of Season 3 to date. Of course, that’s not saying much since the last two sucked and was OK respectively. Plus, this one is the first "Batman-centric" episode of the Season 3 which is always a good thing. Though, "Joker-centric" may, ahem, be a better description. Anyway...
After a Batman-less opening segment that will put a smile on fans of the original PLANET OF THE APES films (It’s ridiculous, but the ending is hilarious -- LOVE that Joker!), the title sequence begins as usual. However, this time something is, well, different…it’s been Jokerized!
Instead of Batman, The Joker is featured and the show has been renamed JOKER: THE VILE AND THE VILLIANOUS.
If you are thinking “WTF?!” as I did, you will quickly understand why once the main story of the episode begins. In a clever twist by the writers, “The Vile and the Villianous!” is presented through the POV of The Joker. While The Joker is still evil and Batman’s still good, the story plays out the opposite way -- you know what I mean? For example, a headline from a Gotham newspaper is shown briefly that says “Batman: Public Hero #1.” OK, get what I’m saying now?
I’m not going to get into the plot too much because it’ll definitely spoiler the fun of watching the episode. But basically, The Joker teams up with this character called “The Weeper” (Yes, I had to Google him), the two team-up to take down The Batman, and the entire thing plays out in that aforementioned reverse POV.
I’ve got to hand it to the show-runners and writer to Jim Krieg for coming up with yet another cool and clever way to present an episode of this great show. Just when I think, “Man, they’ve got nothing left,” the B:TBATB guys deliver one like this.
I figure Joker fans (I’m one of ‘em) and DCU enthusiasts will get the biggest kick out of “The Vile and the Villainous!” It’s darn good and certainly is a proud addition to what will go down as a classic animated Batman TV series.
