Beware the Batman – Instinct

• Title: Beware the Batman – Instinct
• wiki: link

The return of Professor Pyg (Brian George) and Mr. Toad (Udo Kier) lead Batman (Anthony Ruivivar) and Katana (Sumalee Montano) on a merry chase to prevent three nursery rhyme crimes as the eco-terrorists target a model and a clothing designer. The villains leave each of the victims in complex death traps for what the pair believe are crimes of animal cruelty.

Pyg and Toad’s third intended victim is the Gotham City Opera House, which Batman and Katana barely prevent the bad guys from blowing up with a homemade bomb. With the help of Dr. Jason Burr (Matthew Lillard), Tatsu deciphers a clue left on the various nursery rhyme notes and. with Batman’s help. identifies Pyg and Toad’s real target.

Batman’s lessons to Katana which give the episode its title while continuing to instruct his partner on his methods. The nursery rhyme riddles were a nice touch (even if the twist of the “real crime” made them unnecessary), however such a premise would seem like a good opportunity to introduce someone new to the show like the Mad Hatter or the Riddler rather than return the goofy (and oddly menacing) Pyg and Toad. I also felt the episode’s inclusion of Jason (when the Batcomputer, which is directly referenced multiple times in the episode, would have been able to peform the chemical analysis) was unnecessary and its epilogue a bit disappointing.