TITLE: “The Killer Inside Me”
EPISODE DETAILS: Season 1/Episode 9
PREVIOUS:Nocture” (S1E8)
AIR DATE: Thursday, August 1, 2024
WRITERS: Jason Ricci
DIRECTOR: Christopher Berkeley
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Bruce Timm, James Tucker, J.J. Abrams, Matt Reeves, Bruce Timm, Ed Brubaker, Sam Register, Jase Ricci
OFFICIAL SYNOPSIS: After Harvey Dent’s accident, both Batman and Bruce Wayne must work to stop the DA on his quest for the wrong sort of justice.
CAST: Hamish Linklater as Batman/Bruce Wayne, Jason Watkins as Alfred Pennyworth, Diedrich Bader as Harvey Dent/Two-Face, Cedric Yarbrough as Rupert Thorne, John DiMaggio as Harvey Bullock, Gary Anthony Williams as Arnold Flass, Kari Wahlgren as Maggie Cain, Josh Keaton as Matthew Thorne, Vincent Piazza as Tony Zito

REVIEW

The penultimate episode of Season 1 of BATMAN: CAPED CRUSADER, “The Killer Inside Me,” is Harvey Dent’s story and it’s fantastic!  His partnership with and then betrayal of Rupert Thorne finally caught up with Harvey as Thorne sent one of his thugs for payback by throwing acid onto Dent’s face at the end of the previous episode.

Episode 9 begins with Harvey dreaming/having a nightmare about winning the Gotham mayoral election.  He’s holed up in his apartment angry (justifiably) and feeling sorry for himself.  When Bruce Wayne shows up to cheer up his friend and take him out to dinner, things go totally off the rails for Harvey.

Thus, Two-Face was born.  Revenge against Thorne is all he has left.

This version of Two-Face has more in common with the version of the character we saw played by Aaron Eckhart in Christopher Nolan’s THE DARK KNIGHT.  While Harvey wasn’t exactly the “White Knight” like TDK‘s Dent, Two-Face doesn’t become a mob boss — administering “justice” is what he seeks.

On the Batman front, Bruce Wayne plays a part in Harvey’s transformation as well.  His primary reason for taking Harvey was a Batman one — he wanted to get info from Harvey on who was responsible for the attack that scarred him.  Even though Batman doesn’t realize this at first, Alfred does and questions him about it.  Batman having to “save” Harvey has a lot to do with the guilt Bruce feels for what happened to Dent.

As Two-Face’s rampage against Thorne and his men escalates, the dishing out of justice leads to straight-up murder.  The big finale/action scene takes place at Thorne’s mansion and features Batman confronting Two-Face.

The episode ends with Harvey receiving an unexpected visit from someone who has come to help him.  Will Harvey find redemption or has he been lost to Two-Face forever?  We find out in the next episode and we shall discuss then! – Bill “Jett” Ramey 

GRADE: A+

BATMANIMATION Ep. 59