Written by Stan Berkowitz
Directed by Curt Geda
Animation by Koko, Dong Yang
Original Air Date: January 8, 2000
Rating: **** of 5

Description: Shriek has a new device that can throw Gotham City into chaos. In exchange for normalcy, he demands a ransom of Batman's life.
Highs: Good characterizations, strong story drives the episode along.
Lows: Characters occasionaly make odd decisions, not that much fighting action.
Overall: This ep's important...don't miss it. Good thing it's enjoyable too.

After a night of fighting, Bruce criticizes Terry for not defending himself better as he inspects a damaged batsuit. Suddenly, Ace goes nuts...and he's not alone. Gotham's animals are behaving violently, and Terry must once again go out and resolve the situation. The zoo workers think Batman's a real hero. The next day, something odd happens, and people lose the ability to form coherent words. This of course disrupts activities and Terry has to save more lives. The chaos comes from Shriek, and he wants just one thing to return the city to normal...Batman.

This episode has a good plot, and it moves the episode well. The people's distorted speech may seem silly...I actually thought something was wrong with the sound on my TV, but that's really secondary compared to the vengeance aspect. Shriek wants to change the people's opinion of Batman as well, so that he will go out on a bad note. And of course a good plot needs good characters, so here it goes:

Terry is blamed by Shriek for his hearing loss, and now he alone is responsible for the city's survival. As the episode goes on, he finds himself faced with increasing hostility from the citizens of Gotham. Would he still put his life on the line to protect these people? That's the question proposed here. Terry displays some smarts here by figuring out how Shriek is attacking the city...once again the show prove's he's got brains as well as brawn.

Bruce is disgusted at the selfish behavior of the people Terry has helped many times before. He rightfully believes Terry has done a lot of good, and is against his apprentice submitting to Shriek. He suggests going in Terry's place to Commisioner Gordon, but he's not acceptable...this is Terry's deal. However, we know now that even though Bruce doesn't always show it, he cares about this young apprentice...the future of the Dark Knight.

Shriek's out for revenge...it's that simple. He holds Terry accountable for his hearing loss, now Shriek can only hear with special headphones. When Barbara Gordon tells him he's crazy, the villain responds with "Duh." He knows he's wrong, but nothing will keep him from destroying the Batman.

Even Max Gibson is given a brief role in this episode, she reminds Terry of the negative aspects of giving himself up. His mom and brother would go through yet another tragedy, as well as all of Terry's friends. A newscast comes up while he's chatting with her, and he sees the ungrateful people of Gotham blaming him for all their troubles. It also notes that Shriek is promising a lethal sound attack if Terry still doesn't come in. There is a lot of pressure on Terry here, if he doesn't give himself up, millions could die. Yet these people hardly seem worth saving. He walks around the city and sees the apartment where his father died, and is haunted by those memories. At the same time though, he gets a new sense of why he's doing what he does.

Terry decides to go to Shriek, but to fight him instead. Shriek of course unleashes the full force of his sound attacks on Batman, which makes me wonder why Terry didn't prepare his ears with some type of protection. It's no secret as to how Shriek would fight. I liked how the fight was the opposite of the first "Shriek" ep, before the two fought in a silent room. Here, high pitched sounds blast through Terry's ears, keeping him in pain throughout the fight. Eventually, Shriek's own device proves to be his downfall. As the villain's evil tower crumbles around him, Terry sees his enemy supposedly crushed by falling debris. As rescue worker sift throught the rubble they offer Bats a hand, but he refuses.

This episode is a pivotal point in BB. Terry realizes that he's not doing his job for gratitude, and helps Bruce remember that too. The ending mirrors the start of the ep, and draws this one to a solid close. Don't miss this ep.

The Overseer