Batman: True or False Face & Holy Rat Race

True or False Face

"Candy? Oh, but fresh fruit is so much more healthful."

Er, that's not a word, Batman.

So far every villain we've had has been from the comics, even Zelda if you squint a bit. False Face is no exception, even if he never was any more than a one off comics baddie. He's an odd and slightly rubbish choice. No disrespect to Malachi Throne (or "?" in the credits...), who gamely does his best, but it's impossible to put in a charismatic performance as a bloke who hides behind a silly plastic mask at literally all times. It's a pity; the character gets some great lines and is a great concept, but it was never going to work.

Stephen Kandel is a new writer- you can tell as Robin is suddenly always saying "jiminy". He cerainly likes his set pieces and car chases which leads to a disjointed but constantly entertaining episode which is actually rather good aside from the utter impossibility of Malachi Throne being able to act properly. Indeed, he even gets a more active and cool sidekick than usual in Blaze, a rather kickass character, but she's thee to provide the face of villainy that False Face can't. You can see why he never comes back, despite everyone treating him as another perennial baddie.


Holy Rat Race

"Not only possible, but true!"

"Please! Not that word!"

Finally we get that most traditional of cliffhangers as the Dynamic Duo are tied to the railway track- in was bound to happen sooner or later. The resolution is at once both delightfully silly and actually revevant to the plot as Blaze, who is much cooler than False Face, slowly switches allegiance.

Never mind that False Face's plan to counterfeit loads of money, rob a bank and plant fake money there makes zero sense- the episode quite sensibly keeps moving through a series of entertaining action set pieces which almost stop you from thinking about the plot. But there's only so many times False Face can be caught, escape and be caught again.

Eventually False Face stays caught and police lead him off, never to be seen again. Ah well. Not all villans can work.