BATMAN-17-TRUE OR FALSE FACE and 18-HOLY RAT RACE

 

BATMAN-TRUE OR FALSE FACE

 

Okay, Blaze is the first hench woman to make a mark so to speak. She’s a good villainess in her own right and one of the first to make a turn around other than Suzie last episode but Suzie almost had to die herself. Here, Blaze makes the turn around at the end of part one because she does not want Batman and Robin to die. She also has a few daring escapes herself and a few disguises as well. She seems to be in love with Batman from the start and fools Robin with a hug.

 

Most of the camp here is played down (though the secretary adding, “…and if possible in body, too, is quite campy and funny). One thing I found odd is that…the police captured False Face’s gang and then…the one called Midget seems to be free again as is another henchman. What? Did the False Face version of O’Hara let them go?

 

I have to admit that other than Joker in his clown outfit, FALSE FACE is probably the only BATMAN villain that totally scared me and even today, his image sends chills down the spine. The sight of him laughing in that candy machine with that fake face on is really creepy. He’s really creepy all throughout to be honest and intent on killing Batman and Robin from the start. I also like the fake cars and vehicles he used such as the fake armored truck, though how did the other driver not know?

 

Uhm, also when tied to the train tracks in the cliffhanger, Burt Ward might have a bit of a problem that he wrote about in his book MY LIFE IN TIGHTS.

 

Despite the show’s main fault: being basically the same format every story, this one works its way out with a series of bat twirls and a few good set pieces. The stand in for Burt is once again noticeable as he …climbs the steps and enters the printing factory. I’m also afraid the plan of False Face seems a bit…well, all over the place. He’s stealing a crown, he’s using counterfeit money, he’s robbing an armored truck, etc. It all is a trap for the Dynamic Duo? Despite that, the episode has a scary, strong villain, an even stronger hench woman, and some good action sequences.

 

I also like that a “?” is used for the credit for False Face at the start of act one and the end credits as well. We start to hear small snatches of music that will be later used again and again, mostly in CATWOMAN episodes. 

BATMAN season one: ep 18: HOLY RAT RACE

 

Well this episode is a rat race and hardly lets up the pace! One does grow tired of the constant alliteration in this episode though and the finale is one long chase…and it’s both fun and tedious, sometimes at the same time. Blaze’s redemption is a nice one: she’s going to help out her brother on his sheepherding farm in New Zealand! The fake Bat Mobile sequence is silly: a frame is used to show the blown up Bat Mobile? Robin, clearly the stunt man, is seen moving his head in the “fake” Bat Mobile. The run around in the studio set is nice but sort of tired, too. And it’s clear False Face will impersonate the cowboy and the Commissioner. Not much else to say about this episode except that something done here would never be done today I believe, though False Face seems to call the midget Finkle, he’s really named Burns, I think and the subtitles call him something entirely. Brinks is the other guy. AND more importantly…and maybe offensively, the credits call the midget MIDGET? Not sure what’s proper anymore. By the end, the whole thing is more than a bit tedious. It is funny that Batman facing death by train has a morality discussion with Alfred, asking him to destroy his bat transmitter. And…if Blaze wanted to stop False Face while delivering the message…was she being watched (?) or followed (?), how was she away from the others and if so why not just go the police? All in all, not a bad episode but not a great one either. The novelty of False Face wears off somewhere in the middle of this one.

 

Next Week: Batman faces the CATWOMAN!