Batman: The Caped Crusader Season 1 Episodes Ranked
A new Batman tv show has dropped on Prime Video titled Batman: The Caped Crusader. I’ve watched all ten episodes of the season, so here’s my ranking of the 10 episodes. Let’s get started!
- Season SPOILERS Review (Quick Thoughts): If you know me, you know that I’m a massive Batman fan. Batman is my favorite superhero. Naturally, when a new Batman project is announced it’s on my radar. Having seen the entire season, I really dug it. It told a Batman story that was interesting, it felt fleshed out and developed. It feels like Batman, but also feels different with some of the villains involved and how they’re used. Everything I’d want from a Batman tv show like this, it delivered. One thing people have said over the years is they think Batman should get a tv show, a proper tv show. He’s the world’s greatest detective and detective stories are great ways to tell season long arcs. It’s a detective show where it deals with the criminal underworld and how the criminal underworld would influence the mayor elections, mainly Harvey Dent. And how that would cause Harvey Dent to turn to Two-Face. It all fits together nicely, it puts the pieces together so it feels cohesive and makes sense. They build out a large supporting cast of characters for the show, all of them are prominent and have something to do. The big stand out for me would be Harvey Dent. Harvey Dent I think is a character that lends himself really nicely to being in one of these tv shows. Because you can spend time with him as Harvey Dent so feel something when he becomes Two-Face. I thought it worked really nicely and I liked how they handled it in the show. And how they showed the downfall of Dent then in the next episode showed the uprise of Dent. I think this show is an example of how a Batman TV show can work with a season long story with lots of supporting characters and story arcs. As far as negatives go, I think at points Bruce Wayne, Batman can feel like a side character. He’s very prominent, he is given a character arc. Both Batman and Bruce Wayne have a lot to do. But there’s certain episodes where it feels like Commissioner Gordon or Barbara Gordon are more front and center then Batman is. Maybe that’s part of the problem when telling a 10 episode season, but each season is only 25 minutes. Maybe these episodes needed another 5-10 minutes to balance out the characters a little bit better. But overall, I really dug this season. I hope they greenlit season two. The little tease of Joker at the end, excited to see where that goes. If you’re a Batman fan, you have to check this show out.
10. Night Ride (Episode 6): I thought this was an interesting episode that had a lot of very cool elements about it. First things first it’s cool to see The Gentlemen Ghost as a villain in this show. He’s a villain we haven’t seen adapted very often, so getting to see him in here is very cool and I think it works. The episode gets very supernatural at points, it feels a bit different but still has the same tone as the rest of the season. It was nice to see Alfred get in on the action and make a bit of a sacrifice in the back half of the episode. They even set up Harvey Dent’s arc for the back half of the season here. Where this episode gets held back, is some of the logic in the episode didn’t quite make sense. They introduce this idea of Lucius Fox buying a piece of land that so happens to be the land that The Gentleman Ghost has connections to. When he buys the lands so happens to be around the time when The Gentlemen Ghost shows up in Gotham. Some of that stuff didn’t quite work for me. There are some problems with the episode, but still a solid episode.
9. In Treacherous Waters (Episode 1): This episode did a nice job of laying the groundwork for the rest of the season. This episode sort of drops you right in the middle of Gotham where we understand that it’s filled with crime bosses and that’s the conflict of the season. Batman says a line early on that suggests that a large portion of Gotham is corrupt and establishes the type of Gotham this is. This episode also sets up the tone and vibe for the season, it feels like Gotham City but also like something just a little bit different. Batman is also known for being the world’s greatest detective and this episode focuses on Batman being a detective. Bruce Wayne goes to Penguin’s party to investigate what’s going on and through that we learn more about the city and the conflict of the season. I do think this episode felt a bit rushed, it felt like certain scenes happened a bit too quickly and I wish they were able to flesh some things out more. But overall, a solid episode that I did enjoy.
8. Kiss of the Catwoman (Episode 3): I thought this was an interesting way to introduce Catwoman into the show. One of the key dynamics in the Batman lore is his relationship with Catwoman and this flirtatious dynamic they have together. I thought they created an interesting dynamic between the two of them where they’re both these rich people, but very different in terms of being rich. Because of action in this movie, we see Bruce Wayne go to therapy, so we see how the death of parents affects him. Which I thought was an interesting and clever way to explore Bruce Wayne that wasn’t just showing it via flashbacks. Catwoman fits nicely into this story they’re telling. This was another episode that I felt was a bit rushed, I feel like it needed another 5-10 minutes just to flesh out who this version of Catwoman is. I don’t feel like this episode did a great job of setting that up properly.
7. …And Be A Villain (Episode 2): This is another investigation episode but it tells a very different type of investigation. Episode one was focused on an investigation regarding Penguin and crime bosses. This episode focused on an investigation regarding Clayface and the movie business. I like that they are doing investigation episodes, but each episode is something different. The nature of Clayface and his abilities allow them to do some clever things with the whodunnit aspect of the episode. Adding in Detective Montoya into the mix as another person trying to investigate what’s going on is a nice touch. She’s more of the lead of the episode and I think that’s ok, because Batman is still prominent in this episode. This was an episode that had a lot of different elements and ingredients in it, I thought all of them worked very well.
6. Nocturne (Episode 8): This was a dark and creepy episode that went in some dark directions that I wasn’t expecting for a kid to go. But I very much appreciated that they went for it with this episode. They set up this idea of a carnival attraction showing off a mad scientist’s skills but we realize that it’s part of this evil plan between this brother and sister. The sister is taking the energy from the children's bodies in order to regain her strength. It’s weird, it’s creepy but I like it when the Batman lore gets a little bit supernatural. It also focuses on Harvey Dent’s final push for The Mayor election and what his relationship with Throne is and how he's being pulled in different directions about what to do. All of it is leading up to this final moment where a very important yet unfortunate event happens to Harvey Dent that changes the course of his run for Mayor.
5. Moving Target (Episode 7): This might be a stand alone episode, but this was a stand alone episode done right. Inherently, I think it’s interesting to have an episode where Gordon is the target of an assignation and trying to figure out who did it and why. Barbara as well as other officers are trying to get Gordon into hiding. I feel like it ties into some of the other themes being explored in this season about the corruption going on in Gotham. They set up earlier in the that Bullock and Flask might be corrupt, but they pull a fast one on you and subvert your expectations here. Plus, you have the nice little twist at the end of Gordon not actually being the target, but rather Barbara. I did think it was a bit weird they used Floyd Lawton, Deadshot at the beginning of the episode but not anywhere else. Besides that, I really dug this episode.
4. Savage Night (Episode 10): The season finale of the season was a very solid one in fact. As the season finale, it was responsible for pulling all of the plot lines together and paying them off. I thought the episode did that rather well, everything felt properly paid off and concluded. I especially like how they treated Harvey Dent and what they did with him. Where episode nine saw the downfall of Harvey Dent, this episode saw the reception of Harvey Dent. We’ll talk about this later, seeing how Harvey Dent’s mind-set would change when he becomes Two-Face was very interesting. We get this war in Gotham between good and evil that feels earned because the season has been building towards it. Batman gets some great moments where you think he’s about to do something bad, you know it’s bad but you don’t want it to happen. It sets up directions for season two with the cliffhanger. All around, this was a solid season finale to season one.
3. The Stress of Her Regard (Episode 5): This episode started to bring the show together where all of the plot lines set up in the previous episodes started to merge together. This is a Harley Quinn focused episode where we see what she’s been up to and realize what she’s trying to get out of her patients. It’s fun to see Harley Quinn as a villain, that’s not Joker’s number two. Seeing Harley Quinn as the main villain of the episode was very cool. We see the heartbreak of Barbara Gordon as she realizes what her friend is up to. You of course have Batman as part of this investigation and we see the working relationship between him and Barbara start to form. That’s really one of the best aspects about this season is seeing the different relationships between the characters and this show is doing a great job of fleshing them out.
2. The Night of the Hunters (Episode 4): For me, this was the first great episode of the season and I thought on every single level it was going for, it worked. Where we see what Gotham’s reaction to Batman is and what The Mayor and the GCPD think about him. This causes a task force to be created to stop Batman and from there it goes in some wild and crazy directions. Where we see just how corrupt Bullock and Flask are and what they do to try and stop Batman. Because of their actions, it causes the Mayor to appreciate them even though Gordon knows that they’re wrong. It’s an episode that shows you how complex the relationship between Batman and Gordon is. As you’re watching the episode, you feel this sense of dread as you know what each character is trying to do but you know certain people don’t have the best intentions.
1. The Killer Inside Me (Episode 9): This episode very much picks up where episode eight left off. In this episode, we get Harvey Dent’s turn to being Two-Face and how that would affect him mentally. We’ve gotten different versions of Two-Face in movie form, but the way he’s treated in this show I think is very well done. Simply because, we got to spend a lot of time with Dent before his turn as Two-Face. With him wanting this mayor election, but it being taken away from so last minute. We see how that affected him and how that changed him as a person. It also explores how when different people try to help, how he rejects it and how Harvey Dent views their help. It’s interesting to see such different versions of Two-Face that feel fleshed out and properly developed. You can feel this tension all throughout the episode related to Two-Face.
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