CREDITS: Written by Stan Berkowitz and Robert Goodman; directed by Kyung-Won Lim.
REVIEW: Terry's old friend Charlie broke out of prison and is now working with the Major, a scuzzball who treats him like a dumb beast on account of his monstrous appearance. Bruce counsels against Batman taking him on, which creates resentment - Terry thinks Bruce doesn't trust him to bring a friend to justice, but it's probably more true to say he worries Terry won't be to prevent his emotions from interfering. It's not that Terry would go easy on Big Time (in fact, their first encounter features fierce action), but that he would let his own guard down by leading with anger and - time to punch the title - his sense of betrayal. For the second episode in a row, it feels like Terry comes out of a story a darker shade of black, waving off trauma and bottling it in. He's getting to be more and more like the traditional Batman persona.
Big Time pulls the same shtick he did in his first appearance, by approaching Terry and trying to recruit him in his crimes, again with no result. In fact, Terry finds that Charlie is still a grand manipulator who engineered the present crisis to take over the Major's crime operation, that he likes his new look and the way people look at him "with respect", and that he's more than happy to kill Terry if his boyo won't come around. It's more or less a retread of his first episode, except his descent into evil is complete.
Some good non-Batman bits for the heroes I should mention include Babs getting her licks in, Max considering wearing the Batman suit (I WANT TO SEE THAT!), and Bruce driving a car into Big Time a couple times, buying time while Terry gets dressed. Speaking of Terry, he does quite well for himself without the suit or gadgets in this, proving he could be the Bat without them. Especially now that he's adjusting his attitude beyond his youthful naivety...
SOUNDS LIKE: Stephen Baldwin is replaced by Clancy Brown (Highlander, Lex Luthor's voice on STAS) as the voice of Big Time Bigelow. The Major is played by (and drawn like) Jon Polito who also was in Highlander, but is perhaps better known for his roles in Coen Bros. films like Miller's Crossing and The Big Lebowski.
REWATCHABILITY: Medium - Some good beats, but emotionally, more or less repeats what "Big Time" already put across.
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