Monday 23 September 2024

Batman: The Animated Series- Pretty Poison

 "She's not right for you..."

This is, perhaps, a simple episode: Harvey Dent is poisoned by his girlfriend, one Pamela Isley, the poison administered by a kiss, and all done in revenge for the flowers made extinct by the building of Gotham's new prison, Harvey's dream. And so we have some detective work and a showdown involving a splendid Venus flyutrap.

That's it.

Except... there are so many little things, so many nuances. I'm loving how we're starting with Dent back in the days when he used be more, er, singular, and Harvey's rapport with his friend Bruce Wayne is fun. I also like the script's wry commentary- what kind of man has a prison as his dream? The caption "A better, safer, Gotham" as we fast forward to the finished prison is delicious.

Then we have the juxtapostion of Batman recapturing an escaped prisoner to Harvey's description of rich businessman Bruce, who has, er, no secrets from Harvey. Incidentally, are they going for businessman Bruce, 70s style, with Lucius Fox, back in the days when Steve Engelhart did his run, as opposed to Bruce the playboy? We'll see.

Bullocks and the donuts is a delicious touch, though. As is the plot, the revelation, Poison Isley's personality and the conclusion. Even if, like me, you know who Pamela Isley is from the start, this episode is particularly good.

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