Nothing to Fear

The Scarecrow is introduced in this episode. He is a creative addition to the many adversaries that Batman must face. His "talent" is a gas that makes people face their greatest fears: rats, spiders, imprisonment, for example. The Scarecrow seeks revenge on the University because he was dismissed as a professor over his over the top phobia studies which involved gassing students to test his substance. Batman succumbs when he is led to believe that he, Bruce Wayne, is a failure to his parents. There is lots of action and this angle is really quite unique. It strikes a bit of "1984" where this method was used to destroy the minds of people.

While this is only episode three of the Animated Series we get to see a deep dive into Bruce Wayne's thought process, in particular his relationship with his father. The scarecrow stars here as the villain of the week and after spraying Batman with fear toxin, we get a subtle exploration into the relationship Bruce Wayne shares with the memory of his parents. Near the start he is told that his father would be disappointed in him and as the episode continues we see that the idea of him disgracing the memory of his parents is one of his greatest fears. This is a deeply emotional tale where by the end you feel Batman has grown as a character (despite the episodic nature of the animated series). This is a personal favourite. 9/10 (extra points for this being the first time Kevin Conroy says the iconic "I am vengeance" line).

A madman in a scarecrow outfit who is Professor Jonathan Crane aka The Scarecrow (voiced by Henry Polic II) who was once a professor of psychology of fears and stuff, the university thought he went too far with his fear experiments and they called him a lunatic. After that he wants revenge, so he terrorist attacks with gas bombs that make people see their fears like bats, spiders or parental rejection. Apparently Batman (voiced by Kevin Conroy) has been exposed to the gas and sees his fears of parental rejection as he thinks his father is telling him he is disgracing the Wayne name and must try to get the fear out of his system so he can find out what Scarecrow is planning on doing next.

A very good debut to one of Batman's best enemies! i knew the character since the late 80s with reruns of Superfriends and Filmation's Batman cartoon and the comics back in 1989 and i knew he would be on this show and was excited. It's a well written episode that is a psychological one on what if our fears consumed us but if we want to fight that fear and Batman says his amazing line "Your not my father! i am not a disgrace! i am vengeance, i am the night, I AM BATMAN!" which is the best line he has ever said. Clive Revell voices Alfred in this one and a few episodes before Effon Zimibist Jr voiced him. Henry Polic II is pitch perfect as the Scarecrow yet in his debut costume he looks average then he evolved in no time with different scarecrow costumes.

Scarecrow may seem a bit of a 'stretch villain' at first glance, but this story provides great motivation and history. For those who are aware of the actual psychological experiments such as with 'Little Albert', the reasons for this baddie are certainly plausible. Even fear-inducing hallucinogenics are truly a thing.

Batman is true to his detective form and has to battle the demons he carries with himself as well as a supervillain in charge of thugs. With so many foes surrounding him, he uses his wits as well as strength to come to a resolution, with of course the moral support of his butler.

Great story, action, animation, and unique setting complete a spectacular episode.

As Batman villains go, The Scarecrow is is full-on horror movie material. If you take his depiction in the Arkham games especially, the guy can get pretty scary. But feature him on a kids show and you're limited to . . . pretty much a literal scarecrow, with straw and everything. This is why 'Nothing to Fear' relies primarily on the writing, which is what makes this so effective. The bad guy, gangly and harmless, gets at Batman psychologically. Bruce is forced to conquer his inner fears (particularly those of failure and it results in one of the show's great lines: "I am vengeance. I am the night. I am Batman!"

There's a big zeppelin fight, but otherwise nothing flashy. Yet, it's still a great character story and well-executed, at that.

7/10