Story By Alan Burnett & Stan Berkowitz
Written By Stan Berkowitz
Directed By Dan Riba
Animation By Dong Yang
Original air date: September 25, 1999
My Rating: *** out of five stars
Description: The second
episode out of the much awaited new season of Batman Beyond comes off more or
less as an average, but still enjoyable viewing experience.
As the episode opens Terry and Dana are doing homework at a girl named Jackie's
home. Jackie's heart isn't into math though, and the pair asks what's wrong.
Jackie has a feeling that someone's been following her recently, but she can't
put her finger on who it is. A man, who we assume is her father, arrives to
encourage the kids to be a bit louder...seems he can't concentrate on his work
when it's too quiet. Oddly, Jackie calls the man Bill, rather than Dad, which
raises questions from Dana that Jackie dismisses as "a long story". Meanwhile,
Terry notices someone watching from outside their window, and leaps outside
in pursuit. As Terry catches up, he spins the figure around, only to find a
dark faceless mass. He knocks Terry backwards, but soon the hero is back up
again. He tackles the giant and they fall onto the road, where a car slams into
the assailant. When Terry recovers, all he finds is a pile of dirt.
Bruce has little to say about the sample Terry picks off the road. "You think
I'm crazy, don't you?" Terry says after Bruce examines it. Of course he seems
to be, since the sample is ordinary soil. Terry decides to keep an eye on Jackie
anyway, and the next day after school, he questions as to who the mysterious
intruder was after. In the course of their discussions, we learn that Bill is
not Jackie's real father, which is why she calls him by his first name.
Bill gives Terry and Dana a lift home from school, but stop by a vacant plot
of land, where Bill, who is revealed to be an industrialist, plans to build
his latest factory. Suddenly, earthquakes shake the land, as multiple earthen
figures just like the one who trespassed the night before erupt from the ground.
But that's not all, chemicals bubble out of cracks in the earth. The kids are
shocked and confused, but Bill knows very well not to touch them. In the chaos,
Terry manages to become Batman, and fights off the monsters. Bill pulls Jackie
into their car and speed off.
Throughout the rest of the episode, we learn about Bill's shady past and his
suspicious relationship with Jackie's biological father. It seems that Bill
cut corners to become one of Gotham's leading industrial tycoons, and Jackie's
father got shortchanged in a very bad way. Batman forces the truth out of Bill,
but then, the earth swallows Bill, Jackie, and their home in a quick and terrifying
moment, leaving Terry on the surface. Terry must go underground in Gotham's
massive subterrainean river system to rescue them.
From then on, we learn many secrets as to who the Earth Mover really is, why
he's after Jackie, and his major problem with Bill. It's not really a big mystery,
and most people should be able to figure out the solutions to these questions
before they are answered in the show.
The action in "Earth Mover" lacks the intensity found in some of the Season
One episodes, but that's understandable. (He's fighting dirt after all! ). And
as with many BB episodes, the ending feels quite rushed. Frankly, I was kind
of surprised at Jackie's reaction at the end, given the revelations she learns
about Bill, who she has trusted as her surrogate father for years. However,
the most important thing in this episode is Terry's overshadowing of Bruce.
That's right, Bruce only appears in about a couple short scenes, and his voice
a few times elsewhere. But over 90 percent I'd say is purely Terry's time. I'm
aware that this new season is promising a more independent Terry, and this seems
to be where it starts off. The dark appearance of Terry actually scares someone
in this episode, something we haven't really seen in BB.
Overall, "Earth Mover" came off as one of the middle of the pack episodes, which
is still above the best of most other animated shows. It had nothing particularly
grating about it, and even was a bit saddening at times. I'm still waiting for
a truly groundbreaking episode to occur, but eps like Earth Mover will keep
me watching until that happens.
by The Overseer
-This
review originally appeared in Vol 2, Issue 38 of Batman: The Animated Newsletter-
