Heart of Ice

Heart of Ice has a reputation for being considered the best episode of Batman: The Animated Series as well as redefining Mr Freeze into that of a man driven to his criminal actions due to those who wronged him. An episode like this thrives on pulling at the audience's heartstrings and making you sympathise with the villain (a trend that most of the best episodes in this series have) in this case Victor Fries who's wife was frozen due to an incurable illness. But what makes this standout compared to the other emotional character pieces that this series offers us? If you ask me its the poetic and subtle dialogue. While this isn't my favourite episode in the animated series (we'll get to that later) I wholeheartedly believe Heart of Ice is a masterpiece in storytelling and shouldn't be underestimated just because it's part of a show for children. 10/10.

Heart of Ice is one of the best things to come out of Batman's legacy as a classic comic book character, and it's an episode from an animated television show. The episode starts off so beautifully, with a spinning 'woman dancing in a snow-globe', which is hinted at being someone important to: Mr. Freeze. This is the episode that got me straight into Batman: The Animated Series and I'd dare say that it's still one of my all-time favourite television episodes from any show ever. It starts off well, develops well and ends well. As a Batman fan, I say that Heart of Ice made phenomenal development on Mr. Freeze as a character (he never had a love interest before) and showed that villains can be as deep as the heroes they fight; as a television fan, the screenplay/teleplay (by Paul Dini) is one of the best ever written, and easily the best for an animated superhero show: nearly all the lines of dialogue are crucial to the story.

If you haven't seen any of Batman: The Animated Series yet... what the hell are you doing; go and get started with this episode, chop-chop!

Many moons ago, as a young teenager, I saw this episode and, more so, felt it. I immediately recognized the genius of the writing, story and depth of the character. The moment I saw it, I was changed, as if a spiritual, alchemical transformation had occurred. This episode forever stayed with me, and its profound lessons have echoed on in my life, my character and my actions. The Spirit guided the hands of the creators of this masterpiece.

To those that don't feel a certain affinity to this episode, I highly encourage you to do some serious exploration and see just how this narrative echoes the truth about the enemies we face and how sincerity will always aid in our guidance to adversity; especially when facing the most worthy adversary we will ever face, our Self.

It's not everyday that you find an episode that not only moves you, but sticks with you for years to come, and this is one of them. Mr. Freeze isn't your average insane Batman villain, he's a victim of circumstance, who wants to be left alone with his wife, and will wreck vengeance one anyone who took away his life. While you want Batman to stop him, at the same time, you can't help but feel for Mr. Freeze, a man twisted into what he is because of the corruption of business. It's a duel of justices, one wants poetic justice, the other wants to exact merciful justice, though at least Batman shows sympathy for Victor. The end will definitely have you thinking and maybe even shedding a tear as well...

Revenge is the key here, with a flashback to a Mr. Freeze origin story. The wealthy industrialist whose company he worked for interfered with an experiment, causing it to go disastrously wrong, killing a scientist's wife and forever altering him to need cold temperatures to survive. Mr. Freeze comes into being.

Now Mr. Freeze is out for revenge against his former boss, and he doesn't care who he hurts in his lust to provide a similar fatal fate to the industrialist that his wife suffered.

Who can blame him? If someone did that to MY wife, I'd be out to take MY revenge, too. Unfortunately, Batman can't let innocent lives be lost, or even that of the guilty taken. And so the battle of wits begins ...