- Title: Batman: Caped Crusader – Kiss of the Catwoman
- IMDb: link
Of all the episodes of Batman: Caped Crusader, “Kiss of the Catwoman” is the closest it gets to Batman: The Animated Series and at times even Batman: The Brave and The Bold (given out title character’s classic costume and posturing). The episode introduces Selina Kyle (Christina Ricci) as a socialite whose family fortune isn’t what it used to be. Inspired by Batman (Hamish Linklater), Selina creates a costume of her own and commits a series of burglaries around Gotham City both for the needed income and for the thrill.
Bruce Wayne actually meets Selina Kyle before Batman runs into Catwoman. The meet at the Gotham Museum where Bruce doesn’t take kindly to a paparazzi’s comment about his mother whose jewels he’s loaned for an exhibit. The spark of anger will lead to court-mandated anger management sessions with Dr. Harleen Quinzel (Jamie Chung) laying a foundation for a story which will pay off later in the season. The session with her in this episode is really only notable for the very quick flashback to the night his parents died and a young Bruce who is unable to provide details about the shooter to the police.
Batman and Catwoman have multiple run-ins over the course of the episode, with Catwoman sometimes escaping (but always flirting), Batman sometimes capturing her but Harvey Dent (Diedrich Bader) letting her go without concrete evidence to convict, and finally Batman laying a trap for Catwoman that does nab her but also paints Batman as an enemy of the GCPD which also lays groundwork for a future episode.
