Wednesday, October 06, 2010

Batman: The Animated Series Re-Watch: Episode Seven: P.O.V.

Plot: when a police sting goes wrong and Batman's involved, three cops tell three stories about what went wrong. But can they get their stories straight in time to stop the criminals, and save Batman?

Seven episodes in and already they're playing with story structure in this Rashamon-inspired episode.

When we hear each officer, Detective Bullock, Officer Montoya, and the rookie Wilkes, tell their version, we see what really happened, which allows us to understand where their stories and reality diverge; that Bullock self-aggrandizes his version, shifting blame for his mistakes onto Batman and switching who saved who at the end, and the rookie attributes magical powers to Batman that can be explained away with darkly colored weapons.

Montoya's account and reality-line up exactly, and I think that's a mistake. The show could have gone further and show that everybody remembers events differently, and subjectively, but Montoya's account is flawless, AND she's the only one to put together the clues correctly.

Maybe showing her off in her best light is a good idea for her real introductory episode. Renee Montoya was created for the show (though, due to a quirk of timing, she actually debuted in the comics a few months before the show premiered). Generally, she plays foil to Harvey Bullock, as a cop who supports Batman, but is more conflicted about what Batman does than say Commissioner Gordon. According to the story bible, she has a fairly rich backstory, including being the widow of another officer, that I believe is never actually explored in the series.

In the comics, Montoya has gone on to a fairly impressive career, becoming Bullock's partner, making Detective rank, starring in the fantastic series Gotham Central, developing an emotionally complicated relationship with Harvey Dent/Two-Face, quitting the force, and becoming the superhero The Question. Bigger than that, however, was the revelation, in Gotham Central, that Montoya is a lesbian, which caused some fan-consternation at the time. She remains one of the most high profile gay characters in comics. She hasn't appeared outside of the comics or the cartoon series, making her only the second most popular character created by the show.

Interesting to note, she is not called by her first name in the entire show. She is always referred to as "Montoya." Her gender or ethnicity are never brought up or play into the plot at all. Which makes Bullock's grumbling "thank you" at the end a lot less problematic. He could have come across as sexist or racist, but instead he's just having a hard time accepting help from anyone, especially a lower ranking officer.

And why does Montoya go out of her way to get Bullock his badge back? We know and SHE knows Bullock lied to the internal affairs officer and pinned the blame on the failed bust on her and Wilkes (and Batman). And we know Bullock blew the sting by going in early. The best I can tell is that it's an attempt to have Bullock "owe her one."

Some interesting voice-work in this episode. Robert Costanzo does his usual great job as Bullock and Ingrid Oliu is pretty good in her major debut as Montoya. Robbie Benson (the Beast) plays the bedazzled rookie Wilkes, but I don't think he shows up again. The strange stand-out is Ron Perlman, who plays the head hood (credited as "Driller"). He only has a few lines, but the character design and line delivery give a minor character a real sense of menace.

"Driller" is the closest this episode comes to having a supervillain. Otherwise, there are no fantastic elements at play, no transforming man-beasts, no carnivorous vagina plants, not even alligator henchmen that attack on command. Just a safe, a drill, and an escape boat. Even Batman is on his best behavior, keeping the more science fictional tech at home.

There are some fantastic visual gags in the final fight scene where the major action happens just off camera (appropriately enough for an episode titled "P.O.V."), like the hood who charges forward, only to stumble back onto screen now wearing a table for a hat, or Driller trying to climb onto the dock while bodies fall behind and then on top of him. The hood who can only be seen in the dark by the explosion of his machine gun, or the unnamed boss hiding in the shadows except for his monocle.

I'm a little unclear about what the actual crime was. According to the Lieutenant, the sting was a on a drug lord, but Bullock interrupts a safe robbery. Was the safe bait for the criminals they were looking for? Or did a separate gang rob the targeted drug lord? It would be useful to know because it might answer the central question of the episode, why didn't Bullock wait for Montoya and Wilkes? We see him enter the warehouse, but we never see why. Maybe that's just one of those things we can never know.

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