The second season of Amazon's Batman: The Caped Crusader (coproduced by Matt Reeves, Bruce Timm and J.J. Abrams) abides by a neo-noir, thematic thread, where crime boss Rupert Thorne goes missing, and the Richard Widmark-inspired Riddler rules the destructive roost, but within the brooding, coddling confines are other characters to keep Batman (and the vigilant Alfred Pennyworth and diligent James Gordon) on expectant edge.
In addition to the Riddler, the chemical-contaminating (Nazi-implied) Joker manifests. Harley Quinn, the Scarecrow, Hugo Strange and the artistic Mr. Freeze (reverting to his original, DC moniker, Mr. Zero, and in this case, reminiscent of Logan's Run's Box) are also there. Jervis Tech says hello in the guise of Hattie Tech, a cross between Hedda Hopper and James Jonah Jameson, in addition to the playing-both-sides Detective Arnold Flass and the rough but good-hearted Officer Harvey Bullock. Blockbuster smashes things up as a Hulk/Bane-ish Solomon Grundy sort, while the Mad Monk becomes a prominent scene-stealer (giving Ra's al Ghul and the Court of Owls a run for their money). Roxy Rocket, a Rocketman/Rocketeer/Phantasm-esque lady, and the wee but diligent Crime Smasher channel much the same fervor, with the latter acting as a budding Robin and the former seeking revenge on the corporate peers who betrayed her, summoning the Green Goblin vindictiveness of Sam Raimi's Spider-Man (2002). They're complemented by the heartbroken Thorn, who lost her former-cop father, thanks to the Riddler's bullets, and is dead set on settling the score.
Criminal defense attorney Barbara Gordon and Detective Renee Montoya are quite effective in the season's segues. I detected a lesbian subtext there, but perhaps I'm saw something that isn't really there. (Motonya's comfy relationship with Harley Quinn may be the cause.) Nevertheless, the duo's investigative prowess more than held its own with Batman's, and a spinoff series of these two delving into mysteries might be nice, particularly if such was given a Kolchak/X-Files format.
The top, horror-oriented part of the season arrives with Jim Corrigan, aka the Spectre, where he tracks down those who killed him, doing his Anton Phibes thing on Christmas Eve, no less, as Gotham's citizenry listens to Dicken's A Christmas Carol on their radios. The contrast is cozy yet eerie, nostalgic yet new-fangled, offering the best of both worlds, and by golly, it sure as heck blends in a way that maybe it shouldn't.
There's also a curious moment when Bruce Wayne goes undercover in prison as "Matches," in hopes of landing a big scoop. The setup seems a bit rash, considering that Wayne could have enlisted a proxy for the job, but at the same time, the occurrence made me recall those fun times when the Lone Ranger would alter his appearance with comparable intent. I liked those Ranger moments a lot when I was a kid (and still do), so to see Wayne pull the same tactic was (at least in my eyes) a swell salute.
On the whole, Season 2's ten episodes flowed quite well, though a better separation among the early subplots would have been preferred. In other words, some portions just dangle, only to be resumed later and as such, the connective cohesiveness does lose some of its melodramatic pizzazz.
Nevertheless, it would be great to see a Season 3. There's so much more than this revisionist version could tackle and why not? Any Batman incarnation (as long as it's respectful) is welcome in keeping the Caped Crusader's legend thriving.
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