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about_facesFor seventeen years now, I've held a grudge against Shadow of the Bat, the two-part Batgirl origin episode of Batman: The Animated Series. Or rather, The Adventures of Batman & Robin, as the show was retitled in the wake of Batman Forever in order to capitalize on that damnable sidekick.
As you might be able to tell, I don't care much for Robin, and that apathy goes for the Bat-Family in general (save for Alfred), including Batgirl. Look, I've always liked Oracle, but I've always disliked teen heroes even when I was a teen myself. But while I've gained affection to Bat!Babs thanks to stories like the excellent Batgirl: Year One, I still never cared much for the episode, partially because it's the weakest of Two-Face's speaking appearances thus far. Besides being a one-note character, he's barely involved beyond simply being a villain, and not even the story's real villain.
But that alone isn't why I resented SotB. No, you see, back when WB first released a series of B:TAS home videos, they dedicated each tape to two episodes featuring a single villain. For the Riddler's tape, they included If You're So Smart, Why Aren't You Rich? and Riddler's Reform. The origin and his best episode, that's probably the wisest pairing you could make. For the Joker, it was Christmas with the Joker and The Laughing Fish. Okay, a classic-but-weak episode paired with one of the best, fine. You get the idea. And then, there was Two-Face's tape, which had some pretty great cover art:
Love it. So! For Two-Face, you'd think that the only obvious two episodes to include would be his two-part origin, right? That's just obvious, right? Ha ha, nope. Instead, they went with Shadow of the Bat: the Batgirl origin with Harvey as a minor supporting villain. Rassum frassum!
... Well, okay, I suppose that fifteen years is long enough to hold a petty grudge against an innocent cartoon episode with never did nobody no harm. Besides, I've come to better appreciate this story thanks to the YA novelization Dual to the Death, which combined this with Two-Face, Pts. I and II into a pretty seamless single epic: the fall of Harvey Dent, and the rise of Batgirl. What's more, combining those two episodes made me realize how even his minimal involvement here contains important continuity for his character development.
But most of all, I found myself fascinated by SotB's TRUE villain: Gil Mason, a corrupt cop who seems to be an alternate-universe counterpart to Harvey himself. Seriously, whether it's intentional or not, Gil seems to be the evil mirror-universe version of Harvey Dent, a true Two-Face who doesn't even have to get scarred. It's the parallels between Harvey and Gil which I find fascinating, all the more so because they're in cahoots.
But I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's finally get to the damn review already, and maybe I'll even acknowledge Batgirl's existence along the way! No promises, though.
SotB opens with a huge moment: the arrest of Rupert Thorne. Anyone who remembers just how untouchable and powerful Thorne was painted to be can see that this is a seriously big deal. Hell, the fact that Thorne was still active in SotB indicates that not even Harvey's all-powerful file from Two-Face Part II was enough to put away the mobster! In the end of that episode, Thorne destroyed the life and sanity of a good man and still got away scot-free. It seemed like there was no stopping this guy!
As such, it's kinda anticlimactic that he was finally taken down in a standard raid sequence at the beginning, and all because he was stupid enough to be present at the crime scene to oversee a shipment of illegal goods (wouldn't those just be called "bads?" Thank you, I'll be here all week...). Geez, you'd think that he got to where he is today by NOT putting himself in such situations. I guess this crime really just needed that personal touch. Either that, or writers Dennis O'Flaherty & Tom Ruegger needed to get the plot going one way or another.
The most important thing was to show Thorne getting arrested at the hands of a new, heretofore-unseen character: Deputy Police Commissioner Gil Mason! While Thorne is brought down by the usual gang of Batman, along with Commissioner Gordon, Renee Montoya, and Harvey Bullock, it's Mason who gets credited as the true "hero" behind the raid. Voiced by Tim "Otter from Animal House and the original voice of Jonny Quest no seriously" Matheson, Gil is presented as a handsome and fearless crime-buster, Jim Gordon's second-greatest ally, and a charismatic speaker whose star is on the rise. Sounds an awful lot like someone we know, doesn't it?
There are more than a few similarities between Mason and Harvey Dent, but I'm not sure if any of them were intentional or if I'm just projecting my own views of Harvey onto Gil. Hell, he even looks like the way I generally prefer Harvey to be drawn in the comics: blue eyes, brown hair, handsome pretty-boy features, rocks a suit and trenchcoat, etc. To top it off, Mason even has a "secret informant" who helps him bring down the criminals, a partnership akin to what Harvey and Batman had in the comics!
Even still, I'm not sure these parallels are intentional. I don't think most anybody really gave D.A. Harvey any regard at this point, especially not the writers of this episode who treat him as nothing more than a bland mobster villain who's just kinda there while Mason is the real mover and shaker of evil. While I know that I'm outright spoiling the revelation that he's corrupt, the show foreshadows that twist early on, with Bruce sensing something not-quite-kosher about Mason as his "mystery informant." As the episode goes on, Mason's double-dealing (hurr, I see what I did there) becomes more and more apparent, starting when he arrests Jim Gordon!
Jim is accused to taking bribes from Rupert Thorne for years, and while Gil acts all reluctant and apologetic--a good cop in a bad position, a guy who's just doing his job--it's clear that Mason was the one who fabricated the charges to frame Jim. In fact, he (and his "mystery informant," who knows a thing or two about the legal system) trump up such a convincing case against Gordon that even the District Attorney is convinced that he's guilty:
Yes, eagle-eyed viewers, this is the first and only other appearance of D.A. Janet Van Dorn from the episode Trial! Nice little bit of continuity there, especially as it establishes her as a supporting character whose hard-line take on the law puts her at odds with our heroes. Basically, she's prime for the same role that Harvey Bullock served in the first few episodes, except that she has the law on her side, whereas Bullock's always danced right around outright corruption. So I find it interesting (yet fitting) that it's Bullock who comes right to Gordon's defense, offering Babs sympathy and support.
Whereas Van Dorn brushes off Babs' defense of her father, Bullock is a big, supportive, cuddly uncle. He's actually gentle and kindly towards Barbara, if a touch condescending in a "don't you worry your pretty little head about it, yer Uncle Harv is on the case!" kinda way. It makes perfect sense that Bullock would have unwavering loyalty to Gordon and Babs by extension, but seeing him through her eyes gives us the chance to view the corpulent cop in a different light. Really, it just makes me long for a DCAU/GCPD spin-off. And he's not the only cop who's at least claiming to be on Jim's side.
Gil Mason also shows up to offer his support for Jim Gordon, pledging to organize a rally to get him bail against Van Dorn's insistence that Gordon is a flight risk. First of all, this seems like an empty gesture. I mean, we KNOW that it's an empty gesture because Gil's a bastard, but even still, it hardly seems like a cause that would inspire passionate protest from the Gotham populace. If it were a "FREE GORDON" rally, that'd be one thing, but Mason's proposal is very intentionally a "FREE GORDON TEMPORARILY UNTIL HE'S FOUND GUILTY BY A JURY OF HIS PEERS BUT HEY LET THE GUY ENJOY HIS FREEDOM A TEENY BIT LONGER" rally.
Even odder is Barbara's conviction that the tide of public favor would be turned towards Gordon if Batman showed up. Even in the DCAU, is Batman really considered such a popular figure by the average Gotham citizen? I'm genuinely asking, because I'm not sure how often we've seen the public's view of Batman from someone who isn't a child. Still, Babs is convinced that Batman needs to be there, and she won't let a little thing like Batman saying "No" stand in her way. Meanwhile, other forces across town are preparing for the rally in their own sinister way.
Gee, I wonder who lives there? I can't possibly guess. I wonder if we'll get any more clues when we go inside?
Nnnnnnope, nope, still don't know. The Mad Hatter? Croc! I know, it's the Sewer King, literally movin' on up! Okay, okay, I know I'm laying it on a bit thick, but the show itself keeps the reveal of Two-Face a secret until near the end, even though anybody who's ever heard Harvey's raspy voice would instantly recognize it when the "mysterious" character here speaks to his henchman. This entire sequence would work perfectly in comics or in prose (as in the case of Dual to the Death, which keeps Harvey's involvement a secret until wayyyyyy near the end), but here, it's pointless to anybody who knows the character. Whatever, moving on with the plot.
Harvey tells his henchman that the rally is on for tomorrow, and "you know what to do." And what he knows to do is to stage a drive-by shooting at the rally and make it look like Mason was their target. So that way, Gil not only depicts himself as a loyal advocate of Jim Gordon, but also the besieged enemy of organized crime. What the goons hadn't anticipated was that Batman would be at that rally after all. Well, okay, more like Barbara Gordon in a home-made Batman costume.
With apologies to fans of Babs, I'm going to fast-forward through the Barbara Gordon stuff. I actually really like her in this episode, especially in contrast to Robin, who's gone from being an obnoxious smartass to a condescending twerp towards the new girl on the scene. So after failing to catch the goons who shot at Mason, she still manages to come up with a positive ID for one of the goons and is about to inform Gil herself. But that's when she sees Gil and the goon together, discussing "business." Awk-waaaaard!
So where the hell has Bruce been all this time? He's been undercover as "Matches" Malone (who is sorely lacking his trademark tacky jacket from the comics), trying to find the new big boss of the crime world. His trail takes him to what is still totally not the most conspicuous Two-Face hideout in all of Gotham:
I know! The boss is Red Claw! I'm telling you, it has to be Red Claw! Man, seriously, what the hell was Red Claw's deal, anyway? Who really thought that she was such a good character?
After getting caught for snooping around, "Matches" is dragged off to get a personal audience with the boss. Even here, the "twist" that it's Harvey is still being milked, with "Matches" seeming to not recognize (even for the audience's benefit) the voice and shape of the mysterious coin-flipping guy in shadow.
But the minute he walks out of shadow, the music swells dramatically and "Matches" gives a gasp which I've always taken to be Bruce's own genuine shock: the big boss is Harvey! BUM-BUM-BUUUUUUUM.
Randomly, can I just say how much I've always loved the way Harvey's bad-side hair looks? I know that most people seem to like him bald (all hair burned off) on that side, whereas many others draw the hair as a scraggly mess, but I prefer this version. It's wild without being messy, like a combed style for hair that just won't stay put. It shows an elegance even in the chaos of his "Big Bad Harv" side.
So yeah, when it comes to reunions between estranged best friends, these circumstances are less than ideal, especially considering that Harvey doesn't have the best of intentions for "Matches" here.
The writing for Harvey here is pretty sub-standard for the show but standard for many comics, with him declaring his distrust by sneering, "I trust my hunches. Kinda like a... second sight, y’know?" Is that DCAU!Harvey's superpower? "My Two-Sense is tingling!" Get it, sense/cents? Eh, it's a pun which works better when said out loud. And speaking of second sight, his bad eye really has a way of fluctuating in size throughout the show, and this scene is no exception. Man, it gets frickin' HUGE here, as if Harvey decided to shove a hard-boiled egg in the socket. You're welcome for that visual, by the way.
Anyway, to decide whether "Matches" joins up with the gang or gets killed for his snoopery, Harvey flips the coin. At least, that's the idea, except the animators clearly have no idea how coin-flipping works. Instead, they have him literally TOSS the coin into the air. Try that in real life and see how much you can actually get it to spin in the air.
Okay, enough nitpicking about Harvey's lackluster depiction here, back to the story. So after the coin predictably lands scarred-side-up, Harvey knocks out "Matches" and calls up Gil to see if he can ID the snooper before they bump him off. Here, the episode finally gives us Harvey and Gil together in the same room, letting the corrupt cop show his true colors while giving us glimpses of their history together.
We learn that Harvey was the one who actually got Gil set up as Gordon's assistant in the first place, although whether this was before or after he became Two-Face isn't explained. If it's the latter case, then the implication is that Two-Face's influence is great indeed to get a dirty cop like Mason placed in a position so close to Gordon. In the novelization, it's the former case, and the author even has Gil show up at the raid that took place in the beginning of Two-Face, Part I, where Barbara Gordon also made an appearance. Reading that made me wish that Mason had been around a few episodes before SotB, just so his corruption would be more of a surprise.
If Mason was appointed under the tenure of D.A. Harvey Dent, then I'd find it interesting that one of Harvey's actions was to appoint a corrupt cop to such a high position. Maybe Gil wasn't corrupt just yet and he just became seduced towards evil once Harvey became Two-Face. Or perhaps Harvey only learned about the corruption far too late, and as Two-Face, he now decides to use that corruption to his own advantage. Either way, I can't imagine that any part of Harvey has respect for Mason, who is pretty much the embodiment of everything Harvey Dent should loathe. But then, I'm not sure if the writers considered that themselves, since Harvey's role here could pretty much be traded out with any generic mobster.
In any case, Gil shows enough familiarity towards Harvey to actually call him "Harvey," much to Two-Face's displeasure. To further the parallels between Harvey and Gil as "evil alternate universe Harvey," Two-Face even disparagingly calls Gil "Pretty Boy," which is exactly what Boss Moroni called Harvey Kent in the very first appearance.
After Gil successfully weasels his way out of Two-Face's rage, we learn their ultimate plan: to get Mason appointed as full Commissioner with Gordon out of the way. While I can accept the basic premise that Two-Face is evil and thus he'd have no compunctions about ruining the life of his former friend and ally in law enforcement, I like that the novelization actually gave Harvey a motivation for framing Gordon, one that came complete with a depressing twist:
So yeah, Harvey blamed Gordon for bungling the raid and letting Thorne's men go. It's not a perfect motivation, since there's no exact reason why Harvey would think it's Gordon's fault, but I like it way more than "Eh, I'm evil now, and Gordon's in the way of power." It's a perfect extension of the dual goals of Two-Face from the origin episode: gaining revenge against those who helped ruin his life whilst simultaneously consolidating power as a criminal.
On top of that, there's the bitter twist that it was actually GIL who sabotaged the warrant against Thorne's men in the first place. In this version, Gil was not only corrupt from the start, but he was actively trying to set Harvey against Gordon from early on, so Harvey's transformation into Two-Face only further served Mason's agenda! Poor Harvey: used and manipulated on BOTH sides of the law!
Sadly, none of this is in SotB itself. All we have to go on is that Harvey and Gil knew each other professionally, and now they've teamed up for their own mutual evil benefit. By the end, they've busted Gordon out of his holding cell (making it look like he was being "rescued" by Rupert Thorne), and they all have one last meeting at the Gotham pier, right by an appropriately-named warehouse:
Yeah, at this point, Gil's not even trying to look like a good guy anymore, and his facial expressions are increasingly cartoonishly-evil throughout. It's here that Gordon delivers the key quote, "You're sick, Gil! A lot sicker than him! At least I can see his bad side!" Once again, it's Gil who's the true Two-Face here, and I'm just grateful that more writers haven't tried depicting Harvey himself the same way.
Of course, Gordon is saved by Batman, Robin, and Batgirl (yeah, sorry for skipping all that, but this is going on long enough as it is), and a fight scene breaks out following Two-Face's command of "SNUFF THE BAT!" Like I said, generic gangster cliché. Ultimately, Gil and Harvey both flee separate ways, and while Babs rightly is the one to take down the former, it's Batman who defeats Harvey in a manner that's hilariously ignominius as well as cringe-worthy.
Source: "chintense," via Hell Yeah Batman Cartoons
Okay, ouch. Not only was that humiliating, but damn, if it was heavy enough to launch Harvey in the air, then I don't want to think about how many broken bones and ruptured organs Harvey must have by the end. Then again, from the way he gets smooshed in Wile E. Coyote fashion, maybe he's preserved by the harmless nature of cartoon violence. Either way, ow. I should point out that this whole scene was also cut out of Dual to the Death, so that instead Harvey just ran away and we more or less got straight to the reunion with Grace in Two-Face, Part II. It wasn't a perfect segue, but at least it saved Harvey from being crushed under a giant coin!
And what about Gil, you may be wondering? We gets his justice desserts in a speedboat chase with Batgirl, where he unmasks her and is shocked to see his almost-was love interest starting back! For a moment, he even tries to excuse his actions, saying, I--I didn't know it was you...!" No longer buying Gil's BS, Babs' response of "Would it have made a difference, Gil?" is incredibly satisfying, especially since it precedes her kicking him in the head.
She saves his worthless life, but Gil ends up in a coma, one which he presumably never comes out of since he never returns to reveal Babs' secret identity. It's a pretty harsh fate for anybody, but Gil's such a loathsome bastard that it's hard to feel sorry for him. Like Ferris Boyle and Roland Daggett, he's a villain whom nobody loves to hate. He's just plain loathsome, without any of the regular Rogues' redeeming qualities of being charismatic, stylish, sympathetic, and/or anything else which makes them fun to watch. Really, I wouldn't give a damn about him at all if it weren't for the similarities he shares with Harvey. I'm not crazy, you guys see them too, right?
While I'm still not crazy about the episode on its own merits (although Babs really won me over this time around), I now enjoy it way more when I take the details and motivations of the novelization into account, so much so that I now wish I would see Harvey's reactions to learning about how he was manipulated by Gil from the very start. Even if Gil did come out of the coma, he wouldn't be long for this world now that he's on Harvey's bad side, which would resolve that plot hole rather nicely.
What I'm basically saying is that I like SotB far more for what it could have been rather than what it was, which is still a pretty mediocre Two-Face appearance. But in my own head-canon, it's a GREAT episode, and I think I can deal with that. Old VHS tape, you are forgiven.
As you might be able to tell, I don't care much for Robin, and that apathy goes for the Bat-Family in general (save for Alfred), including Batgirl. Look, I've always liked Oracle, but I've always disliked teen heroes even when I was a teen myself. But while I've gained affection to Bat!Babs thanks to stories like the excellent Batgirl: Year One, I still never cared much for the episode, partially because it's the weakest of Two-Face's speaking appearances thus far. Besides being a one-note character, he's barely involved beyond simply being a villain, and not even the story's real villain.
But that alone isn't why I resented SotB. No, you see, back when WB first released a series of B:TAS home videos, they dedicated each tape to two episodes featuring a single villain. For the Riddler's tape, they included If You're So Smart, Why Aren't You Rich? and Riddler's Reform. The origin and his best episode, that's probably the wisest pairing you could make. For the Joker, it was Christmas with the Joker and The Laughing Fish. Okay, a classic-but-weak episode paired with one of the best, fine. You get the idea. And then, there was Two-Face's tape, which had some pretty great cover art:
Love it. So! For Two-Face, you'd think that the only obvious two episodes to include would be his two-part origin, right? That's just obvious, right? Ha ha, nope. Instead, they went with Shadow of the Bat: the Batgirl origin with Harvey as a minor supporting villain. Rassum frassum!
... Well, okay, I suppose that fifteen years is long enough to hold a petty grudge against an innocent cartoon episode with never did nobody no harm. Besides, I've come to better appreciate this story thanks to the YA novelization Dual to the Death, which combined this with Two-Face, Pts. I and II into a pretty seamless single epic: the fall of Harvey Dent, and the rise of Batgirl. What's more, combining those two episodes made me realize how even his minimal involvement here contains important continuity for his character development.
But most of all, I found myself fascinated by SotB's TRUE villain: Gil Mason, a corrupt cop who seems to be an alternate-universe counterpart to Harvey himself. Seriously, whether it's intentional or not, Gil seems to be the evil mirror-universe version of Harvey Dent, a true Two-Face who doesn't even have to get scarred. It's the parallels between Harvey and Gil which I find fascinating, all the more so because they're in cahoots.
But I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's finally get to the damn review already, and maybe I'll even acknowledge Batgirl's existence along the way! No promises, though.
SotB opens with a huge moment: the arrest of Rupert Thorne. Anyone who remembers just how untouchable and powerful Thorne was painted to be can see that this is a seriously big deal. Hell, the fact that Thorne was still active in SotB indicates that not even Harvey's all-powerful file from Two-Face Part II was enough to put away the mobster! In the end of that episode, Thorne destroyed the life and sanity of a good man and still got away scot-free. It seemed like there was no stopping this guy!
As such, it's kinda anticlimactic that he was finally taken down in a standard raid sequence at the beginning, and all because he was stupid enough to be present at the crime scene to oversee a shipment of illegal goods (wouldn't those just be called "bads?" Thank you, I'll be here all week...). Geez, you'd think that he got to where he is today by NOT putting himself in such situations. I guess this crime really just needed that personal touch. Either that, or writers Dennis O'Flaherty & Tom Ruegger needed to get the plot going one way or another.
The most important thing was to show Thorne getting arrested at the hands of a new, heretofore-unseen character: Deputy Police Commissioner Gil Mason! While Thorne is brought down by the usual gang of Batman, along with Commissioner Gordon, Renee Montoya, and Harvey Bullock, it's Mason who gets credited as the true "hero" behind the raid. Voiced by Tim "Otter from Animal House and the original voice of Jonny Quest no seriously" Matheson, Gil is presented as a handsome and fearless crime-buster, Jim Gordon's second-greatest ally, and a charismatic speaker whose star is on the rise. Sounds an awful lot like someone we know, doesn't it?
There are more than a few similarities between Mason and Harvey Dent, but I'm not sure if any of them were intentional or if I'm just projecting my own views of Harvey onto Gil. Hell, he even looks like the way I generally prefer Harvey to be drawn in the comics: blue eyes, brown hair, handsome pretty-boy features, rocks a suit and trenchcoat, etc. To top it off, Mason even has a "secret informant" who helps him bring down the criminals, a partnership akin to what Harvey and Batman had in the comics!
Even still, I'm not sure these parallels are intentional. I don't think most anybody really gave D.A. Harvey any regard at this point, especially not the writers of this episode who treat him as nothing more than a bland mobster villain who's just kinda there while Mason is the real mover and shaker of evil. While I know that I'm outright spoiling the revelation that he's corrupt, the show foreshadows that twist early on, with Bruce sensing something not-quite-kosher about Mason as his "mystery informant." As the episode goes on, Mason's double-dealing (hurr, I see what I did there) becomes more and more apparent, starting when he arrests Jim Gordon!
Jim is accused to taking bribes from Rupert Thorne for years, and while Gil acts all reluctant and apologetic--a good cop in a bad position, a guy who's just doing his job--it's clear that Mason was the one who fabricated the charges to frame Jim. In fact, he (and his "mystery informant," who knows a thing or two about the legal system) trump up such a convincing case against Gordon that even the District Attorney is convinced that he's guilty:
Yes, eagle-eyed viewers, this is the first and only other appearance of D.A. Janet Van Dorn from the episode Trial! Nice little bit of continuity there, especially as it establishes her as a supporting character whose hard-line take on the law puts her at odds with our heroes. Basically, she's prime for the same role that Harvey Bullock served in the first few episodes, except that she has the law on her side, whereas Bullock's always danced right around outright corruption. So I find it interesting (yet fitting) that it's Bullock who comes right to Gordon's defense, offering Babs sympathy and support.
Whereas Van Dorn brushes off Babs' defense of her father, Bullock is a big, supportive, cuddly uncle. He's actually gentle and kindly towards Barbara, if a touch condescending in a "don't you worry your pretty little head about it, yer Uncle Harv is on the case!" kinda way. It makes perfect sense that Bullock would have unwavering loyalty to Gordon and Babs by extension, but seeing him through her eyes gives us the chance to view the corpulent cop in a different light. Really, it just makes me long for a DCAU/GCPD spin-off. And he's not the only cop who's at least claiming to be on Jim's side.
Gil Mason also shows up to offer his support for Jim Gordon, pledging to organize a rally to get him bail against Van Dorn's insistence that Gordon is a flight risk. First of all, this seems like an empty gesture. I mean, we KNOW that it's an empty gesture because Gil's a bastard, but even still, it hardly seems like a cause that would inspire passionate protest from the Gotham populace. If it were a "FREE GORDON" rally, that'd be one thing, but Mason's proposal is very intentionally a "FREE GORDON TEMPORARILY UNTIL HE'S FOUND GUILTY BY A JURY OF HIS PEERS BUT HEY LET THE GUY ENJOY HIS FREEDOM A TEENY BIT LONGER" rally.
Even odder is Barbara's conviction that the tide of public favor would be turned towards Gordon if Batman showed up. Even in the DCAU, is Batman really considered such a popular figure by the average Gotham citizen? I'm genuinely asking, because I'm not sure how often we've seen the public's view of Batman from someone who isn't a child. Still, Babs is convinced that Batman needs to be there, and she won't let a little thing like Batman saying "No" stand in her way. Meanwhile, other forces across town are preparing for the rally in their own sinister way.
Gee, I wonder who lives there? I can't possibly guess. I wonder if we'll get any more clues when we go inside?
Nnnnnnope, nope, still don't know. The Mad Hatter? Croc! I know, it's the Sewer King, literally movin' on up! Okay, okay, I know I'm laying it on a bit thick, but the show itself keeps the reveal of Two-Face a secret until near the end, even though anybody who's ever heard Harvey's raspy voice would instantly recognize it when the "mysterious" character here speaks to his henchman. This entire sequence would work perfectly in comics or in prose (as in the case of Dual to the Death, which keeps Harvey's involvement a secret until wayyyyyy near the end), but here, it's pointless to anybody who knows the character. Whatever, moving on with the plot.
Harvey tells his henchman that the rally is on for tomorrow, and "you know what to do." And what he knows to do is to stage a drive-by shooting at the rally and make it look like Mason was their target. So that way, Gil not only depicts himself as a loyal advocate of Jim Gordon, but also the besieged enemy of organized crime. What the goons hadn't anticipated was that Batman would be at that rally after all. Well, okay, more like Barbara Gordon in a home-made Batman costume.
With apologies to fans of Babs, I'm going to fast-forward through the Barbara Gordon stuff. I actually really like her in this episode, especially in contrast to Robin, who's gone from being an obnoxious smartass to a condescending twerp towards the new girl on the scene. So after failing to catch the goons who shot at Mason, she still manages to come up with a positive ID for one of the goons and is about to inform Gil herself. But that's when she sees Gil and the goon together, discussing "business." Awk-waaaaard!
So where the hell has Bruce been all this time? He's been undercover as "Matches" Malone (who is sorely lacking his trademark tacky jacket from the comics), trying to find the new big boss of the crime world. His trail takes him to what is still totally not the most conspicuous Two-Face hideout in all of Gotham:
I know! The boss is Red Claw! I'm telling you, it has to be Red Claw! Man, seriously, what the hell was Red Claw's deal, anyway? Who really thought that she was such a good character?
After getting caught for snooping around, "Matches" is dragged off to get a personal audience with the boss. Even here, the "twist" that it's Harvey is still being milked, with "Matches" seeming to not recognize (even for the audience's benefit) the voice and shape of the mysterious coin-flipping guy in shadow.
But the minute he walks out of shadow, the music swells dramatically and "Matches" gives a gasp which I've always taken to be Bruce's own genuine shock: the big boss is Harvey! BUM-BUM-BUUUUUUUM.
Randomly, can I just say how much I've always loved the way Harvey's bad-side hair looks? I know that most people seem to like him bald (all hair burned off) on that side, whereas many others draw the hair as a scraggly mess, but I prefer this version. It's wild without being messy, like a combed style for hair that just won't stay put. It shows an elegance even in the chaos of his "Big Bad Harv" side.
So yeah, when it comes to reunions between estranged best friends, these circumstances are less than ideal, especially considering that Harvey doesn't have the best of intentions for "Matches" here.
The writing for Harvey here is pretty sub-standard for the show but standard for many comics, with him declaring his distrust by sneering, "I trust my hunches. Kinda like a... second sight, y’know?" Is that DCAU!Harvey's superpower? "My Two-Sense is tingling!" Get it, sense/cents? Eh, it's a pun which works better when said out loud. And speaking of second sight, his bad eye really has a way of fluctuating in size throughout the show, and this scene is no exception. Man, it gets frickin' HUGE here, as if Harvey decided to shove a hard-boiled egg in the socket. You're welcome for that visual, by the way.
Anyway, to decide whether "Matches" joins up with the gang or gets killed for his snoopery, Harvey flips the coin. At least, that's the idea, except the animators clearly have no idea how coin-flipping works. Instead, they have him literally TOSS the coin into the air. Try that in real life and see how much you can actually get it to spin in the air.
Okay, enough nitpicking about Harvey's lackluster depiction here, back to the story. So after the coin predictably lands scarred-side-up, Harvey knocks out "Matches" and calls up Gil to see if he can ID the snooper before they bump him off. Here, the episode finally gives us Harvey and Gil together in the same room, letting the corrupt cop show his true colors while giving us glimpses of their history together.
We learn that Harvey was the one who actually got Gil set up as Gordon's assistant in the first place, although whether this was before or after he became Two-Face isn't explained. If it's the latter case, then the implication is that Two-Face's influence is great indeed to get a dirty cop like Mason placed in a position so close to Gordon. In the novelization, it's the former case, and the author even has Gil show up at the raid that took place in the beginning of Two-Face, Part I, where Barbara Gordon also made an appearance. Reading that made me wish that Mason had been around a few episodes before SotB, just so his corruption would be more of a surprise.
If Mason was appointed under the tenure of D.A. Harvey Dent, then I'd find it interesting that one of Harvey's actions was to appoint a corrupt cop to such a high position. Maybe Gil wasn't corrupt just yet and he just became seduced towards evil once Harvey became Two-Face. Or perhaps Harvey only learned about the corruption far too late, and as Two-Face, he now decides to use that corruption to his own advantage. Either way, I can't imagine that any part of Harvey has respect for Mason, who is pretty much the embodiment of everything Harvey Dent should loathe. But then, I'm not sure if the writers considered that themselves, since Harvey's role here could pretty much be traded out with any generic mobster.
In any case, Gil shows enough familiarity towards Harvey to actually call him "Harvey," much to Two-Face's displeasure. To further the parallels between Harvey and Gil as "evil alternate universe Harvey," Two-Face even disparagingly calls Gil "Pretty Boy," which is exactly what Boss Moroni called Harvey Kent in the very first appearance.
After Gil successfully weasels his way out of Two-Face's rage, we learn their ultimate plan: to get Mason appointed as full Commissioner with Gordon out of the way. While I can accept the basic premise that Two-Face is evil and thus he'd have no compunctions about ruining the life of his former friend and ally in law enforcement, I like that the novelization actually gave Harvey a motivation for framing Gordon, one that came complete with a depressing twist:
So yeah, Harvey blamed Gordon for bungling the raid and letting Thorne's men go. It's not a perfect motivation, since there's no exact reason why Harvey would think it's Gordon's fault, but I like it way more than "Eh, I'm evil now, and Gordon's in the way of power." It's a perfect extension of the dual goals of Two-Face from the origin episode: gaining revenge against those who helped ruin his life whilst simultaneously consolidating power as a criminal.
On top of that, there's the bitter twist that it was actually GIL who sabotaged the warrant against Thorne's men in the first place. In this version, Gil was not only corrupt from the start, but he was actively trying to set Harvey against Gordon from early on, so Harvey's transformation into Two-Face only further served Mason's agenda! Poor Harvey: used and manipulated on BOTH sides of the law!
Sadly, none of this is in SotB itself. All we have to go on is that Harvey and Gil knew each other professionally, and now they've teamed up for their own mutual evil benefit. By the end, they've busted Gordon out of his holding cell (making it look like he was being "rescued" by Rupert Thorne), and they all have one last meeting at the Gotham pier, right by an appropriately-named warehouse:
Yeah, at this point, Gil's not even trying to look like a good guy anymore, and his facial expressions are increasingly cartoonishly-evil throughout. It's here that Gordon delivers the key quote, "You're sick, Gil! A lot sicker than him! At least I can see his bad side!" Once again, it's Gil who's the true Two-Face here, and I'm just grateful that more writers haven't tried depicting Harvey himself the same way.
Of course, Gordon is saved by Batman, Robin, and Batgirl (yeah, sorry for skipping all that, but this is going on long enough as it is), and a fight scene breaks out following Two-Face's command of "SNUFF THE BAT!" Like I said, generic gangster cliché. Ultimately, Gil and Harvey both flee separate ways, and while Babs rightly is the one to take down the former, it's Batman who defeats Harvey in a manner that's hilariously ignominius as well as cringe-worthy.
Source: "chintense," via Hell Yeah Batman Cartoons
Okay, ouch. Not only was that humiliating, but damn, if it was heavy enough to launch Harvey in the air, then I don't want to think about how many broken bones and ruptured organs Harvey must have by the end. Then again, from the way he gets smooshed in Wile E. Coyote fashion, maybe he's preserved by the harmless nature of cartoon violence. Either way, ow. I should point out that this whole scene was also cut out of Dual to the Death, so that instead Harvey just ran away and we more or less got straight to the reunion with Grace in Two-Face, Part II. It wasn't a perfect segue, but at least it saved Harvey from being crushed under a giant coin!
And what about Gil, you may be wondering? We gets his justice desserts in a speedboat chase with Batgirl, where he unmasks her and is shocked to see his almost-was love interest starting back! For a moment, he even tries to excuse his actions, saying, I--I didn't know it was you...!" No longer buying Gil's BS, Babs' response of "Would it have made a difference, Gil?" is incredibly satisfying, especially since it precedes her kicking him in the head.
She saves his worthless life, but Gil ends up in a coma, one which he presumably never comes out of since he never returns to reveal Babs' secret identity. It's a pretty harsh fate for anybody, but Gil's such a loathsome bastard that it's hard to feel sorry for him. Like Ferris Boyle and Roland Daggett, he's a villain whom nobody loves to hate. He's just plain loathsome, without any of the regular Rogues' redeeming qualities of being charismatic, stylish, sympathetic, and/or anything else which makes them fun to watch. Really, I wouldn't give a damn about him at all if it weren't for the similarities he shares with Harvey. I'm not crazy, you guys see them too, right?
While I'm still not crazy about the episode on its own merits (although Babs really won me over this time around), I now enjoy it way more when I take the details and motivations of the novelization into account, so much so that I now wish I would see Harvey's reactions to learning about how he was manipulated by Gil from the very start. Even if Gil did come out of the coma, he wouldn't be long for this world now that he's on Harvey's bad side, which would resolve that plot hole rather nicely.
What I'm basically saying is that I like SotB far more for what it could have been rather than what it was, which is still a pretty mediocre Two-Face appearance. But in my own head-canon, it's a GREAT episode, and I think I can deal with that. Old VHS tape, you are forgiven.
