The Matt Signal – Episode 94: Love is a Croc

Plot summary: Baby-Doll falls for fellow ‘freak’ Killer Croc, leading to a surprisingly effective crime wave that Batman struggles to thwart.

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: ‘Love is a Croc’

Original Air Date: July 11^th, 1998

Directed: Butch Lukic (2)

Written: Steve Gerber (1)

This is comic book icon Steve Gerber’s first time writing for the show. He’s best known for co-creating Howard the Duck and a definitive run on Man-Thing, but spent most of the 90s working in animation including Transformers, G.I. Joe and Dungeons & Dragons.

There is a reference to Bruce Timm in one of Croc’s newspapers, as well as a reference to the events of Superman: The Animated Series.

One of Baby-Doll’s stuffed animals is obviously Yogi Bear.

Recap

Mary Dahl tries to live an honest life as a hotel receptionist, but some horrifically obnoxious guests push the envelope and earn a small assault… no pun intended. She slinks off to her room, understandably depressed about how others treat her.

Turning on the TV to watch the trial of Killer Croc, Dahl finds a kindred spirit in the giant lizard man, who claims he too is the victim of discrimination because of his unusual medical condition.

Croc goes on a rampage after the judge offends him, taking out several guards, but ultimately falls to Batman outside the courthouse, bringing a tear to Dahl’s eye.

Thus the former child star visits Croc in Arkham and tosses him some chickens to build trust, and then causes his prison transport truck to crash before he can be taken to old sing sing. Hurling herself into his arms, Dahl declares they’ll be together forever.

Some time later, Croc and Dahl have made themselves a cosy little home in the sewers and relish the newspaper headlines that make them out to be Bonny & Clyde after a series of robberies.

Their next job targets a riverboat casino, but Batman & Batgirl finally catch them in the act. Croc manages to overpower the pair while Dahl uses her various deadly gadgets to cover their escape.

Croc grows irritable and walks out on Dahl to pick up a couple of babes at a bar, bragging about how he’s going to ditch his partner once they secure enough swag, unaware a heartbroken Dahl followed him.

Not letting on she knows, Dahl leads Croc to a nuclear power plant, overloading its reactor before revealing her plan for them to die together!

Bruce and Barbara arrive on the scene (after discovering a child-like sketch of the plan in the couple’s hideout) and the men brawl while Barbara neutralises the reactor.

Dahl flees but her former beau catches up to her and almost murders her! Bruce of course saves her at the last second and she repays him by helping take Croc down for good. Or more accurately, Croc takes himself down by ripping open a high-pressure steam pipe.

Best Performance

Trying to replace Alison La Placa’s incredible work as Baby Doll was always going to be a tall order and while Laraine Newman made an admirable attempt, she just can’t match her predecessor’s one of a kind vocals. It’s not just the hyper-specific baby voice, she’s not as effective when she goes for the Sad Adult moments. Still, in an episode light on characters, she’s still the stand out.

Likewise, Aron Kincaid leant so much believable size to Killer Croc and while Brooks Gardner does make him sound a bit like an 80s wrestler, he just isn’t quite as menacing.

Kevin Conroy & Tara Strong have a fun little back and forth while hunting the villains down, maximising the effectiveness of their minimal dialogue. If only they had a little more, I’d give them co-honours.

Ranking

MUCH to unpack here with the odd couple relationship. Dahl IS an adult, emotionally and legally, so in theory I support them… but her leaning all the way into the baby shtick gives it a layer of ick. But then again, if two consenting adults have an unconventional kink who am I to judge? As a crime partnership they’re irrefutably awesome, with the tiny Dahl able to create distractions and supplement Croc’s massive brute force with her various explosives and other weapons.

Their ill-fated partnership is the crux of the episode, with our heroes playing more of a supporting role while we watch the pair’s relationship blossom on the foundation of their mutual persecution by society for how they look. And then their bond disintegrates because Croc is fundamentally an asshole, shattering Dahl’s already fragile emotional stability to the point she wants to kill everyone and herself, which might be a first for the show. Even Mr. Freeze seemed to want to survive his own schemes despite his nihilism.

Despite presenting itself as a tragic villain spotlight, it’s a surprisingly funny episode, in particular when Batman arrives on the scene in the climax and Croc seems to be trying to warn him that Dahl is the real threat and he wants no quarrel, but Bruce starts kicking his ass before he can finish. Their trio of brawls are all well done, but they definitely lose some points for Croc basically taking himself down at the end.

In the end there are a lot of elements to like but also some complicated things that are going to rub some people the wrong way and an unsatisfying conclusion, resulting in a middling-to-good episode.

1. The Laughing Fish
2. Mask of the Phantasm
3. Almost Got ‘im
4. Heart of Ice
5. Harlequinade
6. The Trial
7. Riddler’s Reform
8. Double Talk
9. Shadow of the Bat Part I
10. I Am the Night
11. Robin’s Reckoning Part I
12. Baby-Doll
13. Sins of the Father
14. Batman & Mr. Freeze: Sub-Zero
15. The Man Who Killed Batman
16. Perchance to Dream
17. Two-Face Part I
18. You Scratch My Back
19. Bane
20. Batgirl Returns
21. A Bullet For Bullock
22. Joker’s Favor
23. Read My Lips
24. Feat of Clay Part II
25. Catwalk
26. The Demon’s Quest Part II
27. Harley and Ivy
28. Robin’s Reckoning Part II
29. House & Garden
30. Beware the Gray Ghost
31. Growing Pains
32. Holiday Knights
33. Second Chance
34. Mad as a Hatter
35. Heart of Steel Part II
36. Appointment In Crime Alley
37. Two-Face Part II
38. Pretty Poison
39. Deep Freeze
40. Harley’s Holiday
41. Lock-Up
42. Shadow of the Bat Part II
43. Feat of Clay Part I
44. Cold Comfort
45. His Silicon Soul
46. Off Balance
47. Vendetta
48. Birds of a Feather
49. Joker’s Millions
50. Heart of Steel Part I
51. Never Fear
52. On Leather Wings
53. Love is a Croc (NEW ENTRY)
54. See No Evil
55. The Clock King
56. It’s Never Too Late
57. Make ‘Em Laugh
58. Joker’s Wild
59. Eternal Youth
60. The Cape and Cowl Conspiracy
61. The Cat and the Claw Part I
62. Zatanna
63. Day of the Samurai
64. Avatar
65. The Demon’s Quest Part I
66. The Mechanic
67. The Strange Secret of Bruce Wayne
68. Terror in the Sky
69. P.O.V.
70. Christmas with the Joker
71. Fear of Victory
72. Be a Clown
73. The Worry Men
74. What is Reality?
75. Fire From Olympus
76. Night of the Ninja
77. Mudslide
78. The Cat and the Claw Part II
79. Nothing to Fear
80. The Lion and the Unicorn
81. Prophecy of Doom
82. Tyger, Tyger
83. Blind as a Bat
84. If You’re So Smart, Why Aren’t You Rich?
85. Dreams In Darkness
86. The Last Laugh
87. Cat Scratch Fever
88. Moon of the Wolf
89. Paging the Crime Doctor
90. Time Out of Joint
91. Sideshow
92. The Under-Dwellers
93. The Forgotten
94. Showdown
95. The Terrible Trio
96. I’ve Got Batman in My Basement

Villain Watch

Baby-Doll (Laraine Newman) (second appearance)

For the life of me I’m not sure why they changed Baby-Doll’s design given she’d only made one previous appearance and was a show-original. The original look is so evocative of a certain era of animation, while this version is… not.

Dahl is a well of infinite sadness, as the opening scene illustrates with her just trying to get by in the face of all too realistic cruelty from strangers. In a more nuanced medium, an utterly heart-breaking tale could be told along these same lines, especially as her psyche is eroded over the course of the episode, culminating in a genuine desire to Romeo & Juliet herself and take Gotham with her.

The trope of creepy children with a lust for murder is a timeless one, and Dahl plays nicely into that too, hence her formidable team-up with Croc. My gut instinct was to knock her down a spot or two, but I’ve talked myself into leaving her where she is now.

Killer Croc (Brooks Gardner) (sixth appearance)

I have always hated the original grey BTAS design, so was looking forward to Croc getting a makeover… but this isn’t all that much better. Making him green and slightly scalier is a step in the right direction, but there’s still just something a little off about the shape of his head in my opinion.

They also didn’t do a great job of portraying Croc like the legitimate physical force he should be in BTAS outside of his debut, and this episode did some good work to course correct. Among Croc’s highlights: chewing up a Batarang and spitting it back out, a destruction derby at the court house, defeating Batman & Batgirl in a 2-on-1 and nearly decapitating Bats near the end.

He’s also got more personality, even if that personality is a womanising sleazeball who likes to put on a hat and coat and go and get loaded. I’ll take it though, as it’s not a lane they typically play in with their villains, and his betrayal of Dahl evokes sympathy. Up he goes again!

1. The Joker
2. Harley Quinn
3. Mr. Freeze
4. Poison Ivy
5. The Ventriloquist
6. Catwoman
7. Two-Face
8. The Riddler
9. The Phantasm
10. Baby-Doll
11. Bane
12. Mad Hatter
13. Clayface
14. HARDAC (and Randa Duane)
15. Ra’s al Ghul
16. Killer Croc
17. Lock-Up
18. Penguin
19. Lloyd Ventrix
20. Scarecrow
21. Rupert Thorne
22. Count Vertigo
23. Clock King
24. Nivens
25. Roland Daggett (and Germs & Bell!)
26. Enrique el Gancho
27. Josiah Wormwood
28. Talia al Ghul
29. Sid the Squid
30. Queen Thoth Khepera
31. Maxie Zeus
32. Jimmy ‘Jazzman’ Peake
33. Tony Zucco
34. Man-Bat
35. Rhino, Mugsy and Ratso
36. Hugo Strange
37. Red Claw
38. Arnold Stromwell
39. Mad Bomber
40. Tygrus
41. Kyodai Ken
42. Condiment King/Pack Rat/Mighty Mom
43. Grant Walker
44. Gil Mason
45. Nostromos (and Lucas!)
46. Cameron Kaiser
47. Dr. Dorian (and Garth)
48. Mad Dog
49. Ubu
50. Professor Milo
51. Romulus
52. Arkady Duvall
53. Sewer King
54. Boss Biggis
55. Montague Kane
56. 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.

My other recap column, Marvel Mondays, continues coverage of Loki this week.

There Will Be Movies returns soon with Ben & Matt taking a look back at the 90s. If you can’t wait, why not check out the brand new honourable mentions episodes for the first two volumes?