If you haven't guessed already, but "Allies" marks Tatsu's official costumed debut as Katana in this series.
Episode Synopsis (Spoilers)
Tobias Whale is arrested following a robbery at a Stagg Industries warehouse, but Whale is not going to go down easily. After Whale's lawyer demands that Lieutenant Gordon release Whale, Gordon's daughter is kidnapped. With no other options, and time running out, Gordon is forced to ask Batman for help. While monitoring Whale's men, Batman learns that Barbara has been taken to “The Cauldron” (a former industrial park that became the most dangerous part of Gotham following the city's financial crisis years ago), which is populated by a gang of criminals called “the Ghosts.” With Katana’s help, Batman stages a raid on the Cauldron, but the Ghosts aren’t the big threat here, it's the man guarding Barbara: Phosphorous Rex.The Verdict:
In terms of costumed debuts, this episode wasn't bad. I should have known that the series would fall back into the usual "one and done" villains after hitting a high note in the previous episode. I hope Katana's costume gets a overhaul for future episodes as her debut look was a bit lacking for the most part...I guess Tatsu doesn't give a flying fuck about a secret identity, given that she's just wearing a "Robin" mask. Another thing that I'm finding a bit absurd here is that the League of Assassins aren't investigating in why Tatsu was staying with Bruce Wayne in the first place? No one didn't wonder how Wayne's corpse disappeared and Batman just happened to know they were all in there? I don't know... maybe I'm thinking too much into this. I just hope whenever Ra's Al Ghul debuts in this series (it's inevitable with the League already being established), he owns Batman's detective skills and points out how easy it was to figure out that Bruce Wayne and Batman are one in the same.
Once again, this series gets kudos for introducing yet another lesser known villain into the mix. No, I'm not referring to Tobias Whale as I'm sure most DC Comics fans have heard that name one way or another. I'm talking about Phosperus Rex. He's a newer villain, much like Professor Pyg and Mister Toad, and its great to see him get some mainstream exposure here. I loved the twist that Batman, Katana, and Gordon didn't know who they were dealing with during the episode's finale.
Boy, you could tell Tara Strong was having a blast voicing the young Barbara Gordon on this episode. I loved her dialogue throughout the entirety of the episode as she was constantly making fun of the villains' cliched kidnapping plans. Too bad we can't keep Babs around on every episode doing commentary I'm positive everyone watching at home laughed at Gordon's quick refusal of Barbara's proposal of having her be Batman's sidekick like Katana. Gordon, there's nothing you can do about that, buddy... unless this series isn't going by the Batman continuity we know and love. From the way that I see it, it seems like this series will revolve around Batman and the Outsiders. I'm calling that right now. They already introduced Katana and Metamorpho, and I'm sure they will introduce more familiar themes and characters from that comic as this series pans out. Eventually, that could lead into a spin-off Outsiders animated series done in this same style of computer-generated animation while Batman continues his own solo adventures while serving as a mentor to that team in the same shared DC Universe. Hell, if Marvel can do it with that lackluster Ultimate Spider-Man cartoon and allow it to branch off into other related hero-based series, then DC can do the same.
This episode was pretty basic, but it served its purpose. Batman has established two powerful allies over the last two episodes. He has Katana now as an impromptu sidekick while Lt. James Gordon is his ally among the police force. I enjoyed the part where Gordon made the half-assed Bat-signal when he couldn't think of any other way to contact him. Batman's remark afterwards was hilarious. Speaking of quotes, I loved Batman's line about the roles that they have to play to protect Gotham. The writers were definitely rubbing off the Nolan Bat-films with that one.
One major gripe I did have with this episode was with how they portrayed the "Ghosts" in the Cauldron. They looked almost identical to some of the ninja henchmen that Batman and Katana were fighting in the previous episode that were associated with the League of Assassins. I wish they chose a better design for those characters as it's pretty easy to confuse them for the League's ninja. Speaking of that scene, I thought it was hilarious how Batman was constantly critiquing Katana's fighting style as they were fighting - "Just knock them out, that way they don't get back up." I was done after the line about she needed to check her ego at the door when it came to crime fighting. I swear Batman is a douche when it comes to his relationships to other people, but damn, you can't stay mad at the guy - he's telling the damn truth.
In comparison to "Family", "Allies" comes off as a pretty lighthearted episode that brings some humor to the table while continuing to establish the foundations of Batman's relationships with his newfound allies. I'm giving this one a 3.5 out of 5.
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