Dead Man's Hand
Episode #06 - Dead Man's Hand
Original Airdate - March 20th, 1999
The Royal Flush Gang returns to Gotham, complicating Terry's life when
Dana dumps him and he falls in love with the King's daughter, Ten.
Media by Bird Boy and James Harvey
Review by Tim "Two-Face" Leighton |
Credits:
Written by Stan Berkowitz
Directed by Curt Geda
Music by Shirley Walker
Animation by Koko / Dong Yang
Voices:
Will Friedle as Terry McGinnis/Batman
Kevin Conroy as Bruce Wayne
Olivia D'abo as Ten
George Lazenby as King
Amanda Donohoe as Queen
Scott Cleverdon as Jack
Lauren Tom as Dana Tan
Brian George as Samir
Candi Milo as Nicole
Joe Lala as Sailboat Captain
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Review
Batman vs. The Royal Flush Gang, a gang so obsessed with playing cards,
they make the Queen of Hearts look sane.
An old group of villains return to Gotham - the Royal Flush Gang, a gang
from the upper echelons of society (a la "The Terrible Trio") who have
existed for generations, and have a fetish for anything relating to
playing cards. Meanwhile, Terry is having problems with his girlfriend,
Dana Tan; she has officially broken up with him because he is never
around, do to the errands he is constantly running for his boss, Bruce.
After they break up, Terry encounters a girl named Melanie, and
instantly falls for her; soon after the viewer, and Terry himself,
learns that Melanie is a part of the Royal Flush Gang, which makes
battling them a lot more personal for Terry.
Basically, that's it. There are many good things about this episode:
Terry insists that he wants to actually have a life, and Bruce does his
utmost to force him to work for him.
The action sequences are terrifically done - constant movement of the
camera gives it a very "The Ultimate Thrill" type feel. As corny as the
romantic subplot is at times (that cheesy rock music when Terry and
Melanie meet for the second time is a bit much), it works well.
The sequence where Terry and Melanie are fighting each other in costume
but always checking their watch to make sure they make it to their date
was kinda cool.
It's odd, though - in the future, whereas wristwatches should be the
size of a penny (or a certain scarred coin, if you will), they're half
the size of your arm?
I guess Batman still does have his famous grappling hooks at his
disposal, huh? That was nice to see.
The idea of a gang with a playing-card theme isn't as cheesy as I first
thought. Hmmm - is there a Joker reference here though?
The scene in which Bruce relates Terry's love relationship with Melanie
with his earlier tangles with Selina Kyle was a nice touch - it's always
nice to see the past being brought up now and again.
There are only a couple problems with this episode -
Only two members of the Royal Flush Gang are developed at all. The
reluctant Melanie, known as "Ten" in the group, is the obvious focus of
the gang (she looks like a Two-Face/Harley Quinn hybrid if you ask me).
The King is somewhat developed, too, as he is the one that provides the
history of the gang. With all the others, it's like, "wow, there's the
queen - the old girl member", "wow, there's the Jack (ass?) who is not
very nice at all", and "wow, there's that mute Bane wannabe with a big
spade slapped on his chest". There's a lot of room for development here.
The only other problem was that this otherwise fine episode wrapped up
way to quickly. If this episode were given as little as 2 minutes more,
it would have been fine. All in all, it's enjoyable, if you can manage
through the occasional cheesy musical sequence.
PS - Melanie never returned Terry's coat, did she? I originally thought
that was gonna lead to Terry making the connection between Melanie and
the gang, but it looks like it just turned out to be a blooper.
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