Big Time
Episode #38 - Big Time
Original Airdate - October 7th, 2000
When a friend from Terry's past returns, "Big Time", he tries to stop
him from making the same mistakes and going back to jail.
Media by Bird Boy
Review by Bird Boy |
Credits:
Story by Robert Goodman, Tom Ruegger
Teleplay by Robert Goodman
Directed by James Tucker
Music by Michael McCuistion
Animation by Koko/Dong Yang
Voices:
Will Friedle as Terry McGinnis/Batman
Kevin Conroy as Bruce Wayne
Stephen Baldwin as Charlie Bigelow
William H. Macy as Karros
Robert Patrick as Richard Armacost
Cree Summer as Max
Lauren Tom as Dana Tan
Sean Donnellan as Virtual News Anchor
Chad Einbinder as Guard
Gary Sturgis as Captain Ruebens
|
Review
The big news here is that we learn a little more about Terry's past in
"Big Time." We all knew the kid ran with some law breakers before he met
up with Bruce Wayne but now we know the details -- one of Terry's chums
was an older kid named Charlie "Big Time" Bigelow. When Terry was 14 and
Charlie was 18 they both took part in a robbery. While Terry was slapped
on the wrist and sent to juvey, poor Charlie spent the next three years
in the big house -- prison. Now that Charlie's out and Terry's Batman,
well, it's safe to say that things have changed. When Charlie tells
Terry that he's hooked them both up for a big job, you know Charlie
ain't talking about something their mothers will be bragging about when
they meet up in the dairy aisle.
The big job turns out to be robbing Wayne Powers Research of a new,
high-grade genetic plant growth fertilizer. The stuff's highly toxic,
though... so you just know that some of it's gonna spill on Big Time
Bigelow. When it does, Charlie becomes Gotham City's newest freak -- a
bad guy short on brains but long on angry muscle.
I've got to mention that the voice actors on "Batman Beyond" are really
impressive. Not just because they're name actors but because they're
really cast to perfection. I've already noted the change from Stockard
Channing playing Barbara Gordon to this season's Angie Harmon. "Big
Time" featured three actors who played their parts perfectly. Stephen
Baldwin gave Charlie just the right amount of "friendly loser" to make
us feel for Terry when he realizes his old pal hasn't gone been scared
straight by his time in the pen. Robert Patrick guests as Richard
Armecost, a man Charlie shared a prison cell with who masterminds the
plan which has Charlie attempting to steal the plant food. And the
highly respected, and always in demand, William H. Macy plays Karros, a
merc with Wolverine-like steel claws who Armecost counts on to make sure
things run smoothly. That's an impressive cast for a show which airs on
Saturday mornings, eh? "Two Guys, A Girl, A Slice Of Pizza and Whatever"
wishes they had a cast that good. But I digress...
Overall, "Big Time" was good without becoming great. The story's a bit
too typical and once Charlie becomes a freak it ends after one big
fight. I would have liked to have seen one more scene between Charlie
and Terry but without Charlie realizing his friend is the Bat, well, it
probably wouldn't have done much anyway.
That final fight, though, between Charlie (who's now a mutant freak),
Batman and Karros was pretty intense. You gotta love three guys brawling
when none of them are working together -- it's a three for all! Karros
winds up going for a long, painful dive off a high-rise office building
and Batman gets lucky when Charlie seems to just run out of energy while
standing in the rain. It's something Terry must have remembered from
horticulture class -- never overwater your mutant plants. Ross Brooks
once killed a cactus. Now he only grows sea monkeys.
|
[ Back to Episode Reviews ]
|
