It's Never Too Late

I genuinely got teary-eyed at the end. This was an amazing episode. I love the brotherly and father/son connection.

This is a VERY dark episode, touching on subjects like drugs, guilt and redemption. It's different to your usual episode but I'd argue that's what makes it so special. Genuinely got a little teary towards the end. A strong 8 to a light 9/10

I'm pleasantly surprised at how good this episode is, despite the absence of any typical Batman supervillain.

It's nice to get a look at what Batman gets up to in Gotham City during the quieter times, when only the mobsters and gangs are working. This time he gets to play the role of family counsellor to a Gotham crime boss, Bringing together his priest brother and addict son.

This is a tale of siblings taking two different paths in life, and one helping the other to find redemption. I like that the mob boss isn't immediately won over by Batman's attempts to reform him. It takes time and he is initially adversarial and in denial.

The artistic details were really nice, with the oncoming train flashbacks for example.

It's a nice little Batman story that fits neatly into a single episode & shows us a side of Gotham that sometimes gets overlooked, that is your regular run of the mill criminal types.

The road to redemption is never an easy one to walk on but in order for one's soul to be truly free it is the right one to take.This is once again another honorable mention in my book and a bit of an underrated episode as well.

What's interesting about this episode is it's one that is focused on a character that isn't a major part of the series and I always like that it's a breath of fresh air from characters that are always center stage that we know all to well; and also enhances the world of the series showing that Batman alone doesn't inherit it. I really like the story line it's a bit similar to Shakespere's "MacBeath" which was about a criminal despite his rise suffers the weight of his sins and soon suffers a downfall of his own making.

Stromwell is a well rounded character, he's a up mob boss that is not just facing the end of his empire but also the twilight of his years. Even though he doesn't want to admit it, he knows it's true he may have been able to beat the competition once but he can't beat time; we can easily see he's became a broken and bitter shell of a man from his mannerism but also his clothing that looks dated and worn like himself.

I really like how this episode isn't really so much an actioneer but real a character study as we see Batman guiding Stromwell to get him on the right track to do the right thing, not just for the good of Gotham but himself. Stromwell sees instead of accomplishments it's nothing but a gallery of shame and misery. He sees and feels the weight of his sins as we see in the episode what's happened to his son and how he's contributed to his bad state. It's heart sinking but it just goes to show how walking the road based on sin alone truly leads nowhere.

Of course we see a really heart sinking moment near the end where Stromwell recalls a traumatic childhood memory he's long kept dormant but has surfaced now as if his soul and conscious has finally sufficed as well. The ending is heartwarming which really shows it's never too late for redemption.

Rating: 4 stars

Good character building - But not a stand-out. I like Batman's character here, I feel like he's caring, and he really does want to help people... I enjoyed this as a character study, but we've never heard of Armstrong until this episode, so it falls slightly flat. The characters here are just fine, and while I know that Gotham always has the backdrop of mob violence, focusing and entire episode on such a thing, feels like it's a filler storyline. This animated series is so good at writing villains, especially Batman's well-known rogues gallery, so this episode is not a good one to compare it to at all... Decent enough, I suppose.