"Once they're hookred, they stay hooked..."
We get another first appearance here from another traditional member of Batman's rogues gallery, and on the strength of this two parter it certainly promises to be another good one. Matt Hagen is a sympathetic figure and the script (by Marv Wolfman, no less!) is clever, effective and surprisingly complex for a twenty-minute piece of television, but it works.
Particularly effective is the opening set piece, with "Bruce Wayne" apparently betraying Bruce Wayne, but the appearance of Batman showing us that all must not be as it seems. There are a number of different characters here, and the unfortunate Matt Hagen has become dependent on a substance which can remove his disfigurement for awhile.There's a clear subtext here, of substance abuse and addiction arising from tragic experiences.
The episode is interesting in otherways, though. Batman's use of the Batwing to interrogate Bell is...edgy, to say the least, and clearly earns the disapproval of Gotham's police. It all feels very dark, very noir.
So far I'm very impressed.
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