Favorite Batman: The Animated Series Episode Challenge

General Discussion Television
#1

On Black Friday I got the complete Batman: The Animated Series Blu-Ray set for dirt cheap. I’ve been going through them again and it got me wondering what were people’s favorite episodes. Then an idea came to me: I could ask you all here, but seeing as I know what the standard answers are going to be, I figured I’d make it interesting…

Name your top five answers…BUT…I taking five off the table: On Leather Wings, Mad Love, Heart of Ice, Almost Got ‘Im and Over the Edge. They’re almost too easy an answer.

Here’s mine:
Beware The Gray Ghost
Two- Face pt 1
Trial
The Demon’s Quest pt 1
I am the Night.

Take a look and see which episodes from the shows run really speak to you.

9 Likes
#2

“Two-Face: Part 1”
“Two-Face: Part 2”
“Mad as a Hatter”
“The Demon’s Quest: Part 1”
“Time Out of Joint”

5 Likes
#3

Mad as a Hatter
Two-Face part 1 & 2 (sue me)
It’s Never Too Late
House & Garden
Double Talk

4 Likes
#5

Honorable Mentions

  • Feat of Clay P1/P2 (Great tragedy and always gets me at the end)
  • The Demon’s Quest P1/P2 (Improvement over the 70’s story it tells and makes Ra’s a better villain)
  • Two-Face P1/P2 (Still great to this day, have a soft spot due to this being one of my first episode)
  • Robin’s Reckoning P1/P2 (Has most clean animation in the whole show and solid story to boost)
  • The Man Who Killed Batman (Joker steals the show and well told)

Top 5

  • Mad as a Hatter (Best version of the Mad Hatter’s origin)
  • Beware the Grey Ghost (Love the respect for Adam West, biographical bits, and Bruce Timm being in the story as The Mad Bomber)
  • Second Chances (Best Two-Face story and highly underrated)
  • The Laughing Fish (Joker at his funniest and menacing, plus great adaption of the 70’s comic)
  • I am the Night (Most emotional episode for me and best story, often look to this episode to prove superheroes are more human than just fiction)
4 Likes
#6

Joker’s Favor
Harley and Ivy
Perchance to Dream
The Man Who Killed Batman
Dreams in Darkness

5 Likes
#7

Purely out of nostalgia, my favorite episodes are:

S1E29 - Eternal Youth
S1E47 - Birds of a Feather

These were the episodes that I would watch on repeat during family road trips. They just hold a special place in my heart.

4 Likes
#8

Feat of Clay
Feat of Clay, Pt. 2
Joker’s Favor
Pretty Poison
The Clock King

Honorable mention to the Leslie Thompkins and Harvey Bullock episodes. Dishonorable mention to the Kyodai Ken and HARDAC episodes.

6 Likes
#10

Here’s my faves:

Shadow Of The Bat Pt.'s 1 and 2
Torchsong
Harley And Ivy
The Cat And The Claw Pt.'s 1 and 2
The Demon’s Quest Pt.'s 1 and 2
Harlequinade
Babydoll
Batgirl Returns
Girl’s Night Out
Cult Of The Cat

(had to go more than 5- too many fantastic episodes to list)

4 Likes
#11

I really like this unreleased/lost episode of BTAS

4 Likes
#12
  1. Harley and Ivy (duh :heart::green_heart:)
  2. Holiday Knights
  3. Girls’ Night Out
  4. Harley’s Holiday
  5. The Man Who Killed Batman
4 Likes
#13

Oh man… this is tough… okay… tries not to panic

I think that The Gray Ghost is an absolute must as Adam West himself stars in it (and after watching his documentary on Reelz about his autopsy report and health history, I learned that him and his animated character in the episode were very similar, and it makes me sad).

HOWEVER, I think I for absolute favorite picks, I think

Robin’s Reckoning, Babydoll, Trial, Shadow of the Bat(1&2), annnnnnd (oof this is hard), I suppose Harley’s Holiday…

Seriously, this is hard. To save my soul, I’m also gonna choose my top 5 picks for The New Batman Adventures (if that’s alright)

Holiday Knights, Sins of the Father (I got attached to Tim Drake immediately before I knew who Jason was), Girls’ Night Out, Growing Pains, and (oof, this is hard too) Love is a Croc.

This… this was too hard. So many good episodes, so many good memories…

Not you Sewer King of the Underdwellers, I’m still emo about you!

3 Likes
#14

:pleading_face: Such a great pick and wonderful explanation! :black_heart:

I combined BTAS and TNBA in my top 5. :no_mouth: I guess I assumed the OP preferred them to be combined in our answer since Mad Love and Over the Edge were excluded as possible choices. Sins of the Father is a good one, too! :star_struck:

4 Likes
#15

Thanks, I had asked my mom for the boxed set for Christmas one year when I found out about Harley’s origins (I was just getting into her at the time and I did research on her). At the same time, I knew there were about 3 Robins but I didn’t know about Jason Todd at all, so during my freshman year of high school, Tim Drake was my favorite Robin (and we all know how much I love my Robins on here :see_no_evil:). When I did my research on Tim, I was shocked to see that there was a significant difference between the animated version and the comic book version. Even as a Jason fan now, I still enjoy seeing Tim in the show, hence why I listed two of his more centered episodes.

4 Likes
#16

They are so many great episodes it’s hard to pick, but here goes:

Showdown - Ra’s tells the tale of his son guest starring Jonah Hex.

The Demon’s Quest I & II - A fun adaption of the O’Neil and Adams classic.

Old Wounds - Nightwing tells Tim about his break from Batman in a touching tale.

Growing Pains - Tim tries to rescue a young girl that leads to a heart rending twist ending.

4 Likes
#17

Wow! This got one hell of a response! Thank you all for sharing!

You know, I’m glad to see Two-Face and The Demon’s Quest getting so much love. I was a big fan of both as a kid, but rarely did I ever hear of anyone else liking them. Two-Face pt 1 had such a gut-punch of an ending when I was a kid. From the visual of Harvey standing over grace, to the tragic music when he leaves, I felt so bad. With The Demon’s Quest, this episode ignited my love of Ra’s Al Ghul stories.

One that keeps getting closer and closer to my list but always falling short is Baby Doll. When she’s in the house of mirrors with Batman and see’s her ideal self, it breaks your heart.

And yes, @Hiraeth and @TheWifeOfJasonTodd, The New Adventures qualify. I don’t love a lot of those episodes and the animation style leaves a lot to be desired, but there are a few gems in that season.

4 Likes
#18

Perchance to Dream
Read My Lips
It’s Never Too Late
Feat of clay (parts 1&2)
Jokers Favor

4 Likes
#19

Zatanna
Tyger Tyger
I’ve Got Batman in My Basement (Has a Home Alone similarity).
Pretty Poison
The Cat & The Claw . Two-Parter tho? If that’s allowed?

3 Likes
#20

Damn. On leather is up there. My other 5 are:

  1. Beware the grey ghost (Adam West, R.I.P)
  2. Feet of clay pt. 2 (best cliffhanger)
  3. See no evil (chills me to the bone)
  4. Christmas with the Joker (intro to Hamil’s take on the character)
  5. Harley and Ivy (this one throws my nostalgia card in. First episode of BTAS I ever saw)
2 Likes
#21

I personally enjoyed “Soul of silicon”. It does take itself too seriously, but when you first see robot Batman, damn.

3 Likes