- Title: Batman – A Riddle A Day Keeps The Riddler Away / When The Rat’s Away, The Mice Will Play
- wiki: link
- wiki: link
In honor of Batman‘s 75th Anniversary we continue to look back at the more memorable moments of the 1966 Batman TV-series starring Adam West as Batman and Burt Ward as Robin. The Riddler (Frank Gorshin) returns to Gotham to cause more mischief by stealing the diamond tiara of the recently crowned Queen of Beauty during the Miss Galaxy Pageant and kidnapping a visiting dignitary (Reginald Denny) while dropping clues for Batman and Robin as to the villain’s real endgame.
As with all the two-part episodes, “A Riddle A Day Keeps The Riddler Away” ends with Batman and Robin lured into a death trap. Here the Riddler sees through Batman’s plan to uncover the location of his lair and lures the crime-fighters into the Gotham City Water and Power Plant where he captures and attaches the Dynamic Duo to a pair of giant fans which nearly do the pair in. Of the series’ various death traps, spinning fans making the pair dizzy don’t rank very high, but West does his best to sell the toll the (rather slowly) spinning fan takes on Batman.
Believing he has successfully killed Batman and Robin, the Riddler continues his plan by extorting $1 million from Gotham City by threatening to explode the replica Queen of Freedom Monument which the villain switched out earlier in the opening episode. He even sends one of his minions dressed up as Batman to convince Commissioner Gordon into paying the ransom without a police presence. Turning the tables on the villain, Batman and Robin show up to remove the Riddler’s leverage and jump through a painting of their own likeness (which is fun but also a bit of a jerk move by destroying city property that isn’t necessary other than to make a grand entrance) to finally take down the villain and his henchmen the River Rats Gang.
Riddles
