TITLE: “Moving Target”
EPISODE DETAILS: Season 1/Episode 5
PREVIOUS: “Night Ride” (S1E6)
AIR DATE: Thursday, August 1, 2024
WRITERS: Adamma Ebo and Adanne Ebo
DIRECTOR: Christina Sotta
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Bruce Timm, James Tucker, J.J. Abrams, Matt Reeves, Bruce Timm, Ed Brubaker, Sam Register, Jase Ricci
OFFICIAL SYNOPSIS: In the aftermath of a botched assassination attempt on Commissioner Gordon’s life, Montoya vows to do everything in her power to protect Gordon. Batman’s investigation into who was behind the hit leads him down a rabbit hole with only one clear answer: trust no one.
CAST: Hamish Linklater as Batman/Bruce Wayne, Jason Watkins as Alfred Pennyworth, Michelle C. Bonilla as Renee Montoya, Krystal Joy Brown as Barbara Gordon,
John DiMaggio as Harvey Bullock, Gary Anthony Williams as Arnold Flass, Reid Scott as Onomatopoeia. Roger Craig Smith as Corrigan.
REVIEW
After an episode that featured a ghost as the main villain, we’re back on track with a grounded, good guys vs. bad guys episode that didn’t include any supernatural or superpowered characters.
After a failed assassination attempt on Jim Gordon (by a character named Floyd Lawton — a nod to Deadshot in DC Comics lore), Rene Montoya vows to do anything and everything to protect the police commissioner. Montoya, Barbara Gordon, and Det. Corrigan convinces Com. Gordon to go into hiding and be surrounded by police protection as we also discover a hit has been taken out on him.
As Gordon and his entourage leave town, Batman discovers that the price of the hit has doubled which leads to a group of professionals from out of town led by this episode’s main bad guy, Onomatopoeia — an unknown man in a mask who communicates only by making sounds of the things he hears around him. (There’s a nice homage to “Pow! Zap! Wham!” of the Adam West 1960s TV series during Batman’s confrontation with Onomatopoeia which works really well.)
The episode’s climax features Onomatopoeia’s gang descending upon the model home used as Gordon’s safe house. A big shootout occurs and Batman covertly appears to aid Gordon and company. There are a couple of twists at the end which involve the target of the hit and one of Gordon’s protectors. I won’t spoil it for you and will leave it for you to discover for yourself in case you’ve yet to watch this episode.
Two things to note about “Moving Target”. One, the events of this episode have a profound effect on the idealistic Barbara Gordon. Secondly, in Gotham, trust no one. – Bill “Jett” Ramey
