46-1 - Batman: The Animated Series - Episodes 15-16

Batman meets his match. Bruce Wayne meets the woman he can't stop thinking about. They are the same person and he has no idea.

This week on Toonami Absolution, Alyx, Jon, and Sam cover Episodes 15 and 16: "The Cat and the Claw, Part 1" and "The Cat and the Claw, Part 2,” the two-part premiere episode that introduced Catwoman to Batman: The Animated Series, and which aired first despite being produced fifteenth.

"The Cat and the Claw, Part 1" opens with a rooftop chase: a cat burglar in a form-fitting suit outruns Batman across Gotham's skyline, kisses him, and disappears. Meanwhile, at a charity function Bruce Wayne encounters Selina Kyle, passionate wildlife conservationist, and instantly feels a spark. He has no idea these are the same woman.

Adrienne Barbeau voices Selina with a warmth and steel that makes her immediately one of the most compelling characters in the series. Thus, its a shame the episode's secondary plot sucks, as it focuses on Red Claw, a weird European woman who wants to steal a virus for poorly-defined reasons (who is voiced by Kate Mulgrew approximately six months before being cast as Janeway).

We get into what Barbeau and Mulgrew bring to these episodes, why the Batman-Catwoman dynamic works as well as it does, and why this episode shows that less is sometimes more when it comes to Batman storylines.

🔔 Subscribe for our ongoing episode-by-episode watch-through of Batman: The Animated Series!

📌 Topics covered this episode:

– Batman: TAS Episode 15 "The Cat and the Claw, Part 1" recap & review

– Batman: TAS Episode 16 "The Cat and the Claw, Part 2" recap & review

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Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

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