Original Airdate - September 15th, 1995 - Fourth Season Finale (end of
Batman: The Animated Series/The Adventures of Batman and Robin era)
International terrorist Red Claw has Alfred kidnapped when the butler
makes a visit to his native England. It seems Alfred once worked for
the British Secret service, and Red Claw has learned he was entrusted
with the firing code to a hidden long range missile. Batman and
Robin have to rescue Alfred before Red Claw learns the firing code, or
else she will use the missile to bring England to its knees.
Screens by James Harvey
Pans by Bird Boy
Review by Robin III
Credits
Written by Diane Duane, Philip Morwood, Steve Perry
Directed by Boyd Kirkland
Music by Brian Langsbard
Animation by Dong Yang Animation, Inc.
Voices
Kevin Conroy as Batman
Loren Lester as Robin
Efrem Zimbalist Jr. as Alfred
Kate Mulgrew as Red Claw
Adam Ant as Bert
Roy Doctrice as Frederick
Richard Doyle as Ernie
Kenneth Mars as M2
Hal Rayle as Cameraman
BJ Ward as M3
Video
Screen Grabs
Pans
Quotes
DICK: What would we do without you, Alfred?
ALFRED: I shudder to think!
--
BATMAN: Before he came to the States, Alfred did some work as an attache
in the British Security Services. More desk jobs than field work, but he
acquired quite a reputation for defusing diplomatically dangerous
situations in high security areas.
ROBIN: And I always thought he was just a nice old guy who polished the
silver and fixed me sandwiches.
BATMAN: He's fixed more than that in his time. Underneath Alfred's very
proper exterior is a highly resourceful government agent.
--
RED CLAW: Londoners, your ancient city may pride itself on having
survived plagues, fires, even the blitz, but unless five billion pounds
are delivered to me by midnight tonight there will bu nothing left to
survive. We have Blairquhan Castle and its missile installation and the
codes to operate the missle. You have one hour. Otherwise, I'll be
forced to plant this warhead in the middle of Trafalgar Square and if I
do that, well. . . [chuckles] . . . God save the Queen.
--
ROBIN ENTERS THE CONTROL ROOM TO SEE A YOUNG WOMAN HOLDING A GUN AT HIM.
HE WILLINGLY PUTS UP HIS HANDS IN DEFEAT. SUDDENLY, A CHAIR IS BROKEN
OVER THE GIRL'S HEAD AND SHE FALLS TO THE FLOOR, UNCONSCIOUS. ALFRED
STANDS OVER THE GIRL'S BODY WITH THE CHAIR'S REMAINS IN HIS HANDS.
ROBIN: And here I thought all you dusted was furniture.
ALFRED: A Louis Quinze, what a pity. Review: This episode usually
goes by as being one of the poorest, but I think of it the other way
around. We finally get to see some story behind Alfred of who he used to
be. Most believe that he was a butler all of his life, but that just
wasn't so. This episode gives us a brief hint at what he once was.
The rest of the story was great too. Red Claw was used perfectly in this
story. She was a lot more of a terrorist than the confusing 'plague /
vacation resort / killing wild cats' plot of The Cat and the Claw. This
was a typical 'we have a nuke and we want money' situation, but it was
handled well. Batman and Robin were well written too, with their
mysterious aspect to others used perfectly - ie - escaping the lava
bridge, swooping away the guards leaving one left, the waterway
entrance, and the gas attack at the end.
Alfred's friend Freddy wasn't really used, but this David Niven
look-alike was a good addition to the story for having a second half of
the code. Freddy could also be a poke at the fact that the episode has a
James Bond-ish type theme, and Niven is the master at parodying Sir
James. One of the best scenes though, is the ending in which Red Claw
manages to remove Batman's mask. Although she does not see his face
directly (she's behind him), it still leaves the possibility for a good
extortion scheme for a later episode. This scene was also a massive
shocker, for it was not her goal to find out Batman's identity.
The animation was great too, using the simplicity of the series, but
with nice movement. Some scenes include Dick's acrobatics at the
beginning, the fog fights, and the vehicles (Batwing and Double-Decker
Bus) moving with consistency. Overall, this episode is highly misjudged,
and is quite good.
