The love the design of Clayface, what with his Grimm demeanor and evil stares, but I do think it's kind of funny that his love interest was talking down about his acting! I mean, even with her life in peril, she still has enough SASS and commentary to put the man down when he's already on his lowest!😂
@@michaelandreipalon359 that's actually a pretty sweet detail! Btw what did you think of Two faces voice actor being Batman from Brave the Bold? He does a great Harvey!😆
(Minor spoilers for upcoming episodes) It's interesting you mention you liking the ones where Batman isn't in it as much, as I felt a similar way, too. Oddly, it sort of reminds me of Columbo, a spin on the detective formula. In Columbo, the focus isn't so much on the mystery, but how Columbo unveils it and how other characters react to it. The show takes what you know and allows it to play out - It's no surprise that Batman defeats Clayface or the Penguin. That's what Batman does. But the show has more to say about that. In most episodes of BTAS, Batman would have defeated Penguin and that would be that. But it's recognized that's not a true victory - towards the end of the episode, he mentions he's just opened things up to make another gang more dangerous. In the Firebug episode, the "villain of the week" character is defeated, but we can see that's a net negative for Team Batman. They were able to save the people inside the destroyed building, so it wasn't a complete disaster. But it gives the bad guys a leg up on them. The show isn't purely about Batman fighting bad guys. It's about how Gotham as a whole is shaped by Batman and the people around him. Lots of focus is given to Bullock, Montoya, the Gordons. They have much more room to breath than in BTAS and it gives us a more grounded view of Batman as well. For example, in this episode, we see things primarily from Montoya's POV for the most part. Batman is present, lurking in the shadows. In fact, he seems to be roughly a step ahead of her. There are chunks of time where Batman is probably doing detective work and uncovering information, but we don't see most of it. He swoops in at the end to help in the fight, when it matters most. But the end of her interaction with him is finding the bug. Yes, he helped her out, but he did so by planting a bug on a police officer and violating her privacy, operating outside of where he should be.
As a massive Columbo fan I love this idea. Interestingly, my main gripe with this series is that there wasn't enough time with the characters. Columbo (and BtaS in a way) was fortunate to have a surfeit of time to explore these interactions. CC does not with just 10 episodes of 25 minutes. I would love to just watch these character do life stuff for episodes.
Been meaning to re-watch Columbo for a while now. I wonder how well it holds up. Yeah, I think my only serious complaint about the show is there just isn't ENOUGH of it to explore all the characters and dynamics I want. But as they say, leave them wanting more.
I must have realise before and forgot or something, but I can't remember actively noticing that Basil Karlo's a play on Boris Karlof until I watched this episode. I love this episode but I was thinking how much more thrilling it would be if I knew nothing about Clayface, certain twists would genuinely be shocking if I didn't.
Yes that’s a common complaint I’ve seen. Fans of the characters knew what was happening almost immediately. And Basil Karlo is a play on both Boris Karloff and Basil Rathbone. Funny to think that when he was first created those two actors were at the top of their game. I suppose it’d be like calling your Hollywood star character Evan Downey or something like that? I really don’t keep up with more modern films…
When Karlo whinged about always being cast as "the heavy" it confused me too as Karlo isn't a big guy, he's quite thin and slender, even in his face. Reminds me of Vincent Price or Peter Cushing. Made me wonder if "the heavy" means something else too. Or if whether the script was written and dialogue recorded before the character designs were confirmed; maybe Karlo was originally going to be drawn as a bigger guy.
I really enjoyed the interview scene and how this episode (not my fav but not bad!) Didnt insult our intelligence with the detective work. Especially I'm liking how Montoya is fighting to keep her job and earn respect thru hard work and tough coworkers. I couldnt believe she went in without backup tho. So dumb. And i was surprised when Yvonne was on rhe table witg her feet and 1 hand unbound why she didnt roll out of the way of the pendulum
Your selling on seeing this show mostly for Rene Montoya 😃 Love her so much as fhe question in the comics . But this Clayface episode sounds interesting funny how he Sounds like Vincent Price ( ❤ Vincent price movies )
@@michaelandreipalon359 Tony Jay had a very dynamic Memorable voice , he could have played a Clayface like Preston Payne ( he melts people and that Clayface hadn't been adapted yet )
@@A1ml33y Yeah, he did. A shame he passed away a bit too early. ReBoot Season 4 sorely needs closure, but since his role as Megabyte was as definitive as Kevin Conroy's Batman was to the DC Animated Universe... *(sighs)* all the more why I prefer ending that show on Season 3 and that Modern Major General parody.
I just watched the second episode and it was definitely an improvement over the first episode which I felt was just okay. However, that being said, it was not a great episode but just quite good. The mystery element and the reveal were painfully obvious and the attempt at a misdirect was a complete failure for me. It didn't help that they revealed months ago while promoting the show that Clayface was going to be Basil Karlo and as soon as they showed the dead Basil I went "That's clearly going to be revealed not to be real Karlo". So far the pacing for both episodes has been extremely all over the place and it feels very abrupt. For me the episode really started to get going after the second half when Basil was revealed and we got to hear Dan Donohue's AMAZINGLY theatrical voice for Basil Karlo. His voice fits the original Golden Age and in general pre-New 52 Basil Karlo perfectly. When I think of the clay monster version of Clayface, my mind immediately goes to the amazing performance by Steve Harris as Ethan Bennet in The Batman and Ron Perlma in the DCAU, but for the more Golden Age inspired Clayface, Dan Donohue is the voice I hear from now on when I revisit that era (although he still clearly has elements if the modem Clayface). Aside from Dan, the rest of the cast is really not blowing me away at all. So far one thing I've noticed is that I'm really not that interested in Batman as a character at all two episodes in. I'm honestly more interested in seeing the supporting characters and not because I think they're extremely interesting, it's because so far I find the show's Batman thoroughly uninteresting. And for anyone saying "It's just the 2 episodes, you can't expect to be attached to Batman already", My Adventures With Superman hooked me to their Superman in less than a minute so did every Batman show to their Batman (except maybe Beware the Batman). I am more than willing to accept a different take but I just don't feel like he is exactly a scene stealer and he is the main character. Strangely enough I think he is more compelling when he is just being Bruce Wayne. The animation is still not spectacular in any way but it was a bit of an improvement over the first episode which I guess will be the standard for the show. After watching the first two episodes in a row I'm going to take a break. I hate binging. Also a small side note, I want to say that I am definitely a fan of what they're doing with Harvey Dent both in terms of the different approach and doing something people say BTAS did but I always disagreed which is establish Harvey Dent as a character before the episode of his transformation. People say that in BTAS Harvey was established before the Two-Face two-parter but in reality he had a blink-and-you-miss-it cameo in "On Leather Wings" and had a glorified supporting role in "Pretty Poison" half of which he was unconscious for. Looking forward to seeing more of the show's Harvey.
I was actually hoping the marketing was deliberately falsified, so to give off a surprise that, no, Basil was actually just a red herring. I was thinking that this Clayface would have been a great role for Tony Jay. Now that guy was a legend. To each our own on binges. Am one of those folk disillusioned by the StevenBombs of Steven Universe years ago. I don't mind not having more Batman spotlights. Meantime, I really should catch up on MAwS Season 2. In DCAU Harvey's defense, there's also the tie-in comics.
I totally agree the animation was distracting, and Harvey comes out as unexpectedly interesting in this show. I never cared more for Harvey than two-face before now. As for this episode and clayface, yeah, it wasn't my fav either. Easy to read twists and herrings. Batman should really be at its best with old movies. I liked the swordfighting tho. I also thought his switch to villainy just so weak. Yes, throw away your thriving career to stab a few people, ok sure. This episode deserved the most Easter eggs.
Surprising how the Clayface ep isn't at the middle of the season. Also the fact that it's a breather from the last ep's drama. Sidenote: interesting how the grapnel gun sounds like a real gun in this show. First hearing it in the last ep made me initially think it was a stray gunshot. 7:40: Noticed how that guy is voiced by Yuri Lowenthal. 10:46: And leaves a concussion mark on Montoya for the rest of the ep. Bullock sure was a chew toy to Flass and Dent, hehe. Felt like Zoidberg with no pickles and damsels to rescue. Batman with guns? Heresy! Batman with swords? Divine as him riding horses! Psycho is great, that's a given. However, what are your thoughts on the sequels, especially 2? Sure is nostalgic, seeing a pendulum trap. Seems the showrunners are into Edgar Allan Poe and Roger Corman. All that was missing's a darkened room with a long hole or a steaming Toledo furnace. 19:43: I sympathize. Thought she was big boned there, Renee. Curious how Bruce is pretending to be sleazy on the beginning, complete with bribes and a conniving big name like Lucius Fox. Anywho, love the time accuracy and concealed tracker bits. 26:32: Did not notice that, so I'm with Smears. 29:41: B: TAC is still Elseworlds. The DCAU canon Montoya at the very least should have been once married to a good man who unfortunately passed away, though that admittedly shouldn't discount her possibly being bisexual. Won't lie, I was somehow expecting Jack Ellman to be the real Clayface, with Basil being a red herring that was intentionally falsified by the marketing. Anyways, pity there's no second surprise Clayface though, as was theorized by SL. Ah, wish I was savvily sassy as Yvonne during the big reveal. I was actually awed by Basil's monologuing that her response was a quick surprise. (Didn't expect her to be voiced by Young Justice/Justice League Action's Zatanna too.) Seems wrong to say it, but the lack of racial and sexual politics somehow feels... comforting due to lack of better terms. X-Men '97, and by extension The Animated Series predecessor, just felt like it was hitting heads with too many nails and hammers via anvillicious mutant rights and not giving "strawman has a point" arguments for folk like Bastion. Getting Detective Yin vibes with Detective Montoya at the end. Well, many apologies from me commenting lots for this ongoing binge as of this writing and typing.
@@SerumLake Not that huge on Psycho 2 myself, but man, it's actually not a bad film in retrospect; it's just that the first Psycho was simply one tough act to follow up on. I'd argue it's worth watching alongside The Exorcist III and the TV cut of Child's Play 2.
I haven't finished listening to this episode as of posting this comment 😅 but, during Batman and Clayfaces 2nd fight, did they use parts of Schumacher and Goldenthal's score?
@@SerumLake I think I just confused it with the piece of score that they used for the interrogation clip! 😅 that's why it sounded so familiar to me. Lol!
On your point about the women, Bruce Timm finally broadened his women beyond just Tex Avery's Red lmao
I wonder if someone else designed them… hopefully there’s a big art book at some point!
True that.
James Tucker was the lead character designer IIRC from the credits
@@SerumLakehey luke
The love the design of Clayface, what with his Grimm demeanor and evil stares, but I do think it's kind of funny that his love interest was talking down about his acting! I mean, even with her life in peril, she still has enough SASS and commentary to put the man down when he's already on his lowest!😂
Helps that she was voiced by Zatanna from Young Justice and Justice League Action, which I didn't notice until I saw the credits.
@@michaelandreipalon359 that's actually a pretty sweet detail! Btw what did you think of Two faces voice actor being Batman from Brave the Bold? He does a great Harvey!😆
@@LowellLucasJr. I thought he was great as Dent.
(Minor spoilers for upcoming episodes)
It's interesting you mention you liking the ones where Batman isn't in it as much, as I felt a similar way, too.
Oddly, it sort of reminds me of Columbo, a spin on the detective formula. In Columbo, the focus isn't so much on the mystery, but how Columbo unveils it and how other characters react to it.
The show takes what you know and allows it to play out - It's no surprise that Batman defeats Clayface or the Penguin. That's what Batman does. But the show has more to say about that. In most episodes of BTAS, Batman would have defeated Penguin and that would be that. But it's recognized that's not a true victory - towards the end of the episode, he mentions he's just opened things up to make another gang more dangerous.
In the Firebug episode, the "villain of the week" character is defeated, but we can see that's a net negative for Team Batman. They were able to save the people inside the destroyed building, so it wasn't a complete disaster. But it gives the bad guys a leg up on them.
The show isn't purely about Batman fighting bad guys. It's about how Gotham as a whole is shaped by Batman and the people around him. Lots of focus is given to Bullock, Montoya, the Gordons. They have much more room to breath than in BTAS and it gives us a more grounded view of Batman as well. For example, in this episode, we see things primarily from Montoya's POV for the most part. Batman is present, lurking in the shadows. In fact, he seems to be roughly a step ahead of her. There are chunks of time where Batman is probably doing detective work and uncovering information, but we don't see most of it. He swoops in at the end to help in the fight, when it matters most. But the end of her interaction with him is finding the bug. Yes, he helped her out, but he did so by planting a bug on a police officer and violating her privacy, operating outside of where he should be.
As a massive Columbo fan I love this idea. Interestingly, my main gripe with this series is that there wasn't enough time with the characters. Columbo (and BtaS in a way) was fortunate to have a surfeit of time to explore these interactions. CC does not with just 10 episodes of 25 minutes. I would love to just watch these character do life stuff for episodes.
Been meaning to re-watch Columbo for a while now. I wonder how well it holds up.
Yeah, I think my only serious complaint about the show is there just isn't ENOUGH of it to explore all the characters and dynamics I want. But as they say, leave them wanting more.
I love how Batman wasn't the main character. It was really cool to have more minor character devlopment.
I wish the episodes were an hour long.
I must have realise before and forgot or something, but I can't remember actively noticing that Basil Karlo's a play on Boris Karlof until I watched this episode. I love this episode but I was thinking how much more thrilling it would be if I knew nothing about Clayface, certain twists would genuinely be shocking if I didn't.
Yes that’s a common complaint I’ve seen. Fans of the characters knew what was happening almost immediately.
And Basil Karlo is a play on both Boris Karloff and Basil Rathbone. Funny to think that when he was first created those two actors were at the top of their game.
I suppose it’d be like calling your Hollywood star character Evan Downey or something like that? I really don’t keep up with more modern films…
At least Boris had a fair share of moments where he got past typecasting. Case in point, him playing as an assassin in Peter Bogdanovich's Targets.
When Karlo whinged about always being cast as "the heavy" it confused me too as Karlo isn't a big guy, he's quite thin and slender, even in his face. Reminds me of Vincent Price or Peter Cushing.
Made me wonder if "the heavy" means something else too. Or if whether the script was written and dialogue recorded before the character designs were confirmed; maybe Karlo was originally going to be drawn as a bigger guy.
I really enjoyed the interview scene and how this episode (not my fav but not bad!) Didnt insult our intelligence with the detective work. Especially I'm liking how Montoya is fighting to keep her job and earn respect thru hard work and tough coworkers. I couldnt believe she went in without backup tho. So dumb. And i was surprised when Yvonne was on rhe table witg her feet and 1 hand unbound why she didnt roll out of the way of the pendulum
haha, yeah I thought she could've at least rolled over once her legs and her right arm was freed. Maybe she feared losing her arm?
@@SerumLake too preoccupied with sass, perhaps
Your selling on seeing this show mostly for Rene Montoya 😃
Love her so much as fhe question in the comics .
But this Clayface episode sounds interesting funny how he Sounds like Vincent Price ( ❤ Vincent price movies )
While I haven’t seen every Vincent Price film, of the ones I have seen The Last Man on Earth is my favourite. Second place goes to Dr Phibes though!
@@SerumLake I liked Price in the Raven , The Tingler , The Fly , Mask of the Red Death
For some reason, I imagine this iteration to have been a good fit for Tony Jay of Disney's The Hunchback of Notre Dame, ReBoot, and Fallout 1 fame.
@@michaelandreipalon359
Tony Jay had a very dynamic Memorable voice , he could have played a Clayface like Preston Payne ( he melts people and that Clayface hadn't been adapted yet )
@@A1ml33y Yeah, he did. A shame he passed away a bit too early. ReBoot Season 4 sorely needs closure, but since his role as Megabyte was as definitive as Kevin Conroy's Batman was to the DC Animated Universe... *(sighs)* all the more why I prefer ending that show on Season 3 and that Modern Major General parody.
I just watched the second episode and it was definitely an improvement over the first episode which I felt was just okay. However, that being said, it was not a great episode but just quite good. The mystery element and the reveal were painfully obvious and the attempt at a misdirect was a complete failure for me. It didn't help that they revealed months ago while promoting the show that Clayface was going to be Basil Karlo and as soon as they showed the dead Basil I went "That's clearly going to be revealed not to be real Karlo". So far the pacing for both episodes has been extremely all over the place and it feels very abrupt.
For me the episode really started to get going after the second half when Basil was revealed and we got to hear Dan Donohue's AMAZINGLY theatrical voice for Basil Karlo. His voice fits the original Golden Age and in general pre-New 52 Basil Karlo perfectly. When I think of the clay monster version of Clayface, my mind immediately goes to the amazing performance by Steve Harris as Ethan Bennet in The Batman and Ron Perlma in the DCAU, but for the more Golden Age inspired Clayface, Dan Donohue is the voice I hear from now on when I revisit that era (although he still clearly has elements if the modem Clayface). Aside from Dan, the rest of the cast is really not blowing me away at all.
So far one thing I've noticed is that I'm really not that interested in Batman as a character at all two episodes in. I'm honestly more interested in seeing the supporting characters and not because I think they're extremely interesting, it's because so far I find the show's Batman thoroughly uninteresting. And for anyone saying "It's just the 2 episodes, you can't expect to be attached to Batman already", My Adventures With Superman hooked me to their Superman in less than a minute so did every Batman show to their Batman (except maybe Beware the Batman). I am more than willing to accept a different take but I just don't feel like he is exactly a scene stealer and he is the main character. Strangely enough I think he is more compelling when he is just being Bruce Wayne. The animation is still not spectacular in any way but it was a bit of an improvement over the first episode which I guess will be the standard for the show. After watching the first two episodes in a row I'm going to take a break. I hate binging.
Also a small side note, I want to say that I am definitely a fan of what they're doing with Harvey Dent both in terms of the different approach and doing something people say BTAS did but I always disagreed which is establish Harvey Dent as a character before the episode of his transformation. People say that in BTAS Harvey was established before the Two-Face two-parter but in reality he had a blink-and-you-miss-it cameo in "On Leather Wings" and had a glorified supporting role in "Pretty Poison" half of which he was unconscious for. Looking forward to seeing more of the show's Harvey.
I was actually hoping the marketing was deliberately falsified, so to give off a surprise that, no, Basil was actually just a red herring.
I was thinking that this Clayface would have been a great role for Tony Jay. Now that guy was a legend.
To each our own on binges. Am one of those folk disillusioned by the StevenBombs of Steven Universe years ago.
I don't mind not having more Batman spotlights. Meantime, I really should catch up on MAwS Season 2.
In DCAU Harvey's defense, there's also the tie-in comics.
I totally agree the animation was distracting, and Harvey comes out as unexpectedly interesting in this show. I never cared more for Harvey than two-face before now.
As for this episode and clayface, yeah, it wasn't my fav either. Easy to read twists and herrings. Batman should really be at its best with old movies. I liked the swordfighting tho. I also thought his switch to villainy just so weak. Yes, throw away your thriving career to stab a few people, ok sure. This episode deserved the most Easter eggs.
Surprising how the Clayface ep isn't at the middle of the season. Also the fact that it's a breather from the last ep's drama.
Sidenote: interesting how the grapnel gun sounds like a real gun in this show. First hearing it in the last ep made me initially think it was a stray gunshot.
7:40: Noticed how that guy is voiced by Yuri Lowenthal.
10:46: And leaves a concussion mark on Montoya for the rest of the ep.
Bullock sure was a chew toy to Flass and Dent, hehe. Felt like Zoidberg with no pickles and damsels to rescue.
Batman with guns? Heresy! Batman with swords? Divine as him riding horses!
Psycho is great, that's a given. However, what are your thoughts on the sequels, especially 2?
Sure is nostalgic, seeing a pendulum trap. Seems the showrunners are into Edgar Allan Poe and Roger Corman. All that was missing's a darkened room with a long hole or a steaming Toledo furnace.
19:43: I sympathize. Thought she was big boned there, Renee.
Curious how Bruce is pretending to be sleazy on the beginning, complete with bribes and a conniving big name like Lucius Fox. Anywho, love the time accuracy and concealed tracker bits.
26:32: Did not notice that, so I'm with Smears.
29:41: B: TAC is still Elseworlds. The DCAU canon Montoya at the very least should have been once married to a good man who unfortunately passed away, though that admittedly shouldn't discount her possibly being bisexual.
Won't lie, I was somehow expecting Jack Ellman to be the real Clayface, with Basil being a red herring that was intentionally falsified by the marketing. Anyways, pity there's no second surprise Clayface though, as was theorized by SL.
Ah, wish I was savvily sassy as Yvonne during the big reveal. I was actually awed by Basil's monologuing that her response was a quick surprise. (Didn't expect her to be voiced by Young Justice/Justice League Action's Zatanna too.)
Seems wrong to say it, but the lack of racial and sexual politics somehow feels... comforting due to lack of better terms. X-Men '97, and by extension The Animated Series predecessor, just felt like it was hitting heads with too many nails and hammers via anvillicious mutant rights and not giving "strawman has a point" arguments for folk like Bastion.
Getting Detective Yin vibes with Detective Montoya at the end.
Well, many apologies from me commenting lots for this ongoing binge as of this writing and typing.
I quite liked Psycho 2. I don't think I've watched the other Psycho films, but I may have just blanked them from my mind.
@@SerumLake Not that huge on Psycho 2 myself, but man, it's actually not a bad film in retrospect; it's just that the first Psycho was simply one tough act to follow up on. I'd argue it's worth watching alongside The Exorcist III and the TV cut of Child's Play 2.
So for been surprised how good the show is.think clayface was good here and like how he looked
I’m really looking forward to talking about him more in a couple of weeks!
Hope he won't be a one-shot as the show progresses on.
@@michaelandreipalon359 gulp
I haven't finished listening to this episode as of posting this comment 😅 but, during Batman and Clayfaces 2nd fight, did they use parts of Schumacher and Goldenthal's score?
I’m going to have to listen again to double check!
@@SerumLakeWill wait to see if there's confirmation or debunking.
I went back and listened to it, and it isn't the same. The must've had similar inspiration though!
@@SerumLake I see.
@@SerumLake I think I just confused it with the piece of score that they used for the interrogation clip! 😅 that's why it sounded so familiar to me. Lol!