Plot summary: Batman races to discover who kidnapped Harvey Dent moments before he was to undergo surgery to reverse his physical condition.
Each Saturday and Sunday Matt Waters recaps an episode of the legendary Batman: The Animated Series, building an overall ranking along the way. Plus best performances, the ever-popular Villain Watch and more!
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Notes
Episode Title: ‘Second Chance’
Original Air Date: September 17th, 1994
Directed: Boyd Kirkland (20)
Written: Paul Dini (20) & Michael Reaves (14) (story) and Gerry Conway (2)
Some feel this episode is laying the groundwork for Dick Grayson’s split from Batman and breaking out as Nightwing.
Two-Face being undone by his coin landing on its edge was a key component to his debut comic appearance, only that was a happy accident rather than a deliberate deception by Batman.
The final appearances for Two-Face, Penguin and Rupert Thorne in the series.
Recap
Batman & Robin watch over a hospital where Harvey Dent is taken for surgery to fix his face. I’m not saying doctors should postpone surgeries on supervillains when there’s an ominous thunderstorm raging outside, but I’m not not saying it either.
After a brief flashback to the events of Dent’s disfigurement (which I believe is actually a recreation rather than a re-use of old footage), Harvey is put under while babbling about Bruce Wayne being his best friend. Brucey of course paid for the surgery.
Suddenly a masked crew burst in with tommy guns and kidnap the unconscious Two-Face. The Dynamic Duo give chase, splitting up to go after the two getaway vehicles. Robin’s gets away from him.
Batman fares better, running the second vehicle off the road thanks to some insane motorcycle stunts. Unfortunately, Harvey was in Robin’s car, leading to some minor tension between our heroes.
Dick looks into a lead to Rupert Thorne and is quickly captured. The mobster laughs off the notion he was behind it (despite the getaway van being in his name) and has his men dump Robin in the river. Thankfully the Boy Wonder is able to free himself and kicks their asses.
Meanwhile Batman investigates Stonegate Prison, as Two-Face undercut Penguin in the recent past. Cobblepot also denies his involvement and then sets some pigeons on Bruce, who nearly falls to his death.
Returning to the hospital, Batman discovers a suspicious footprint and then dumps Robin in order to close the case alone. Dick ain’t too pleased.
Batman heads for the derelict remains of a swanky club he and Harvey used to frequent, and sure enough it’s revealed Two-Face himself was behind the job. Bruce is quickly captured by Harv’s men.
Two-Face plans to leave Bruce in the dynamite-laden building, but of course flips a coin to decide. Batman insists he let it hit the floor to ensure no tricky, but when Harvey does just that it lands on its side! He repeats the toss twice to the same result.
This provides Batman the time he needs to escape bondage and begin taking down Dent’s men while the villain continues frantically flipping the coin and chasing it around the remains of the building, even chasing it over the edge!
Bruce grabs Harvey’s hand and reveals he switched the coin for a trick one during their tussle and demands he choose life or death for himself. While he seems to choose the former, Two-Face regains control and punches Batman, accepting his fatal fall!
Luckily Robin swoops in and saves him (after first saving his thugs as the building is about to explode). Bruce sees Harvey back to Arkham and they exchange some sombre words. Bats thanks his sidekick for always being there for him.
Best Performance
Richard Moll usually waltzes calmly into this honour given how well he characterises Harvey’s two personalities, but I’m actually going to go with Kevin Conroy. Ya know, for a change.
The Two-Face persona is in control for almost the entire episode, and even when Harvey has his little moments, Moll only slightly softens the voice. Conversely, Conroy deftly handles Batman’s tense bickering with Robin, making sure to pull back on the blame and offer a heartfelt apology, only to later sternly declare he’s going it alone the rest of the way. It’s a performance that hits every note of the script’s intentions for Bruce’s emotional journey.
Loren Lester is pretty good here too, pouting about Bruce’s attitude, yet managing to not come across as obnoxious.
Ranking
This might as well have been called ‘Two-Face Part III’, as it heavily invokes his debut two-parter. I would say it’s better than part two but not as good as part one. There’s plenty to like, but it somehow ends up being less than the sum of its parts.
In theory this is a compelling story about Bruce watching the redemption of his best friend slip through his fingers, only to realise Dick has filled the void left by Harvey. In practice it feels like it doesn’t quite stick the landing, devoting a lot of time to the red herrings, which aren’t all that fun despite seeming it on paper.
I like the idea of Dent leaving two fake-outs to fit his obsession with duality, and they split Batman & Robin up to further the B-plot of trust issues. But the Penguin one in particular is bad, and neither of our heroes came away looking tremendously capable. Dick immediately gets captured only to dramatically escape, and Bruce nearly suffers death via pigeon. It felt like a missed opportunity to try and demonstrate the difference between the two, but perhaps the opposite was the point; they are more successful together than apart.
The final showdown is powerful, and had the rest of the episode matched its level of quality, this would land many spots higher, but ultimately it ends up being the least interesting version of a compelling idea.
- The Laughing Fish
- Mask of the Phantasm
- Almost Got ‘im
- Heart of Ice
- Harlequinade
- The Trial
- Riddler’s Reform
- Shadow of the Bat Part I
- I Am the Night
- Robin’s Reckoning Part I
- Baby-Doll
- The Man Who Killed Batman
- Perchance to Dream
- Two-Face Part I
- Bane
- A Bullet For Bullock
- Joker’s Favor
- Read My Lips
- Feat of Clay Part II
- Catwalk
- The Demon’s Quest Part II
- Harley and Ivy
- Robin’s Reckoning Part II
- House & Garden
- Beware the Gray Ghost
- Second Chance
- Mad as a Hatter
- Heart of Steel Part II
- Appointment In Crime Alley
- Two-Face Part II
- Pretty Poison
- Shadow of the Bat Part II
- Feat of Clay Part I
- His Silicon Soul
- Off Balance
- Vendetta
- Birds of a Feather
- Heart of Steel Part I
- On Leather Wings
- See No Evil
- The Clock King
- It’s Never Too Late
- Joker’s Wild
- Eternal Youth
- The Cape and Cowl Conspiracy
- The Cat and the Claw Part I
- Zatanna
- Day of the Samurai
- The Lion and the Unicorn
- Avatar
- The Demon’s Quest Part I
- The Mechanic
- The Strange Secret of Bruce Wayne
- Terror in the Sky
- P.O.V.
- Christmas with the Joker
- Fear of Victory
- Be a Clown
- The Worry Men
- What is Reality?
- Fire From Olympus
- Night of the Ninja
- Mudslide
- The Cat and the Claw Part II
- Nothing to Fear
- Prophecy of Doom
- Tyger, Tyger
- Blind as a Bat
- If You’re So Smart, Why Aren’t You Rich?
- Dreams In Darkness
- The Last Laugh
- Cat Scratch Fever
- Moon of the Wolf
- Paging the Crime Doctor
- Time Out of Joint
- Sideshow
- The Under-Dwellers
- The Forgotten
- Showdown
- The Terrible Trio
- I’ve Got Batman in My Basement
Villain Watch
Two-Face (Richard Moll) (eighth appearance)
It’s a shame that despite having so many appearances, Two-Face has rarely taken centre-stage, though some of this may have been part of Bruce Timm’s philosophy about holding off on over-using villains with emotionally impactful spotlight episodes.
The reveal that Dent himself was responsible for his kidnapping was a little obvious, but it’s still good character work, selling the split personality, and re-enforced by his quieter moments of reflection where Harvey is in control.
Completely ignoring Batman’s escape and battle against his henchmen, and then wandering over the edge of a building because he can’t make a decision without his coin is A-Tier character work. I’m half tempted to give him a bump over Mr. Freeze, who has another appearance coming up. We’ll see how that goes.
Rupert Thorne (John Vernon) (ninth appearance)
I’m glad Rupes made an appearance given how strongly this episode was tied into Two-Face’s initial transformation, for which Thorne was responsible. He didn’t really do anything of great merit, but it felt like a necessary check-in, and his men did capture and almost murder Robin. Let’s give him one last bump, more because I feel he’s been a little too low, rather than on the strength of the cameo.
Penguin (Paul Williams) (seventh appearance)
Not the strongest of cameos for Oswald, unless you get a kick out of him training a bunch of pigeons to do his bidding. He babbles on about the code of honour between villains and tries to get Batman captured by the prison security guards and that’s about it.
I won’t penalise him, given the brevity of the appearance, but it’s not good!
- The Joker
- Poison Ivy
- Harley Quinn
- Mr. Freeze
- Two-Face
- The Ventriloquist
- Catwoman
- The Riddler
- The Phantasm
- Baby-Doll
- Bane
- Mad Hatter
- Penguin
- HARDAC (and Randa Duane)
- Clayface
- Ra’s al Ghul
- Lloyd Ventrix
- Killer Croc
- Rupert Thorne
- Count Vertigo
- Clock King
- Nivens
- Josiah Wormwood
- Scarecrow
- Roland Daggett (and Germs & Bell!)
- Talia al Ghul
- Sid the Squid
- Queen Thoth Khepera
- Maxie Zeus
- Jimmy ‘Jazzman’ Peake
- Tony Zucco
- Man-Bat
- Hugo Strange
- Red Claw
- Arnold Stromwell
- Mad Bomber
- Tygrus
- Rhino, Mugsy and Ratso
- Kyodai Ken
- Gil Mason
- Nostromos (and Lucas!)
- Cameron Kaiser
- Dr. Dorian (and Garth)
- Mad Dog
- Ubu
- Professor Milo
- Romulus
- Arkady Duvall
- Sewer King
- Boss Biggis
- Montague Kane
- The Terrible Trio
Plugs
Eager for more long-form coverage of Batman? Why not check out my podcast with Mike Thomas, The Tape Crusaders, which reviewed every Batman movie and delved a tiny bit into the animated series.
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