"The only things gaining now are the laughing stocks..."
A second Joker episode in quick succession, and... it's a rather straightforward tale in which Batman foils the Clown Prince of Crime's very basic plan to use laughing gas as a cober for a spree of robberies. Indeed, this is all action in a way that, plot-wise, it would have worked well as an episode of the '60s series.
There's a nice bit of rapport between Bruce and the wonderfully sardonic Alfred here, though, as well as the dramatic moment where we're told that the laughing gas can eventually lead to permanent insanity, immediately before Alfred is revealed to have been affected,
There's a nice bit of peril, too, in which Batman is chucked into a barrel which is thrown down to the bottom of the river. It's fun seeing his Houdini act, although a utility belt and boat-cum-submarine are perhaps not the methods Harry would have used.
Overall, then, a basic episode, but an entertaining one. The early 90s are a long time ago, though. The newscaster speaks of people "turning into lunactics" and a "wave of foolish hysteria". Attitudes to mental health are... not quite the same now, which is very much for the best.
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