Batman: Ice Spy & The Duo Defy

Ice Spy

"Gosh, Batman. That's sure great wit all right."

Only in Batman would the above quote relate to gentle taking the piss out of Rabelais and his supposed great wit. I suspect some long-held pedagogical grudge on the part of writer Charles Hoffman.

Overall, though, this is a perfectly decent couple of episodes that has more than its share of funny moments but never really stands out. Eli Wallach gives a perfectly good performance but I think the character of Mr Freeze, on his third actor now, has outstayed his welcome somewhat. If they carry on like that they'll be casting some random Austrian bodybuilder next.

The plot is delightfully silly- use a fake iceberg to hijack a cruise ship and hijack an Icelandic professor with some formula or other. There's a glamorous moll, of course. There's a moderately interesting death trap. But the highlight of the episode, and comic highlight from the splendid Adam West, is where Gordon and O'Hara hold two phones together so Batman and Bruce Wayne can hold a conversation. It's not the first time I've said it, but being a comic straight man requires enormous talent, and West has it in spades.

Oh, and what's this window cameo from the "Carpet King"? Who he?


The Duo Defy

"A true crime fighter always carries everything he needs in his utility belt, Robin"

This second episode is just a little by-the-numbers, with a more than usually rubbish cliffhanger resolution and an ending that feels rushed, but we get more dialogue heralding the imminent arrival of Barbara Gordon, and enough wit and fun to make up for the so-so plot and mildly rubbish villain. No wonder we won't see Mr Freeze again.

The stakes, and ransom demands, are absurdly and wonderfully high. There's a nice moment in the Batcopter with the usual piece of stock footage where Robin says he can't track the bugged seal below, and Batman gently reminds him that the seal is in fact a marine mammal. We even get a slight reprise of the same Rabelais quote.

Overall, then, an average and representative story, not inappropriate to end the second season, which has had both highs and lows but notably more of the former.

A quick diversion while I blog something else (something short) over the next few days, then Season Three...