It's Never Too Late

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.

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

Then two underworld kingpins start a war for supremacy, there are many victims. In this one, our Batman becomes an intermediary, trying to save one of the bad guys--to get him to come clean. The guy as destroyed his family and his son is missing. Much of the plot begins with an ambush by one of the crime families just when it seems things can be worked out between the two forces. It take intense effort on the part of Batman to turn the guy. He is so unyielding until he realizes his drug empire has more than random victims. This is kind of a stand alone piece without any of the usual master criminals we know and love.

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

Rupert Thorne and Arnold Stromwell continue their "mob wars" for control of Gotham's underworld. Does that sound like "mob" names to you? How ridiculously PC is this with these Anglicized names, instead of the ethnic names of mob bosses that are in real life. Oh, well, that's timid the timid world of entertainment. Commissioner Gordon calls it struggle between youth and old age with Stromwell about to be pushed out. "We'll see about that," says Stromwell, to his TV set as he hears Gordon

Actually, Stromwell wants to end the wars, especially since his young son is missing, but Thorne is brutal and stays brutal throughout this old-fashioned crime story. It kind of reminded me a bit of old gangster movies like "Angels With Dirty Faces." Hollywood liked the kind of story angle that you see in this episode: you know, the kind where two old pals who grew up together wound up on the opposite sides of the law.

I continue to be amazed at the color in here and the fabulous artwork. It's simply amazing. Sometimes, as in this episode, it's the best part of the show.