Off Balance - Bat-May
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- Опубліковано 29 лис 2024
- Off Balance brings us the first introduction of Talia Al Ghul and some classic Alfred sassiness while also being a memorable and notable episode in the mythology of the show. Is this episode worth a watch? Find out now as Walter continues his deep dive into Batman: The Animated Series.
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Off Balance is an episode of the first season of Batman: The Animated Series. The episode introduces Talia, one of Batman's most enduring love interests and her father Ra's al Ghul, one of the most formidable foes in the Batman mythos. This episode is also notable for being a direct adaptation of a classic story from the comics, written by Dennis O'Neil. "Off Balance" is the 50th produced episode and the 44th episode aired.
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What did everyone think of Off Balance?
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Really cool.
I like her in the New DC animated movie series of her becoming the mother of bruce Wayne son
Have you reviewed the fat albert movie?
Could you do a video as a summation of the series based on the whole series from both movies and where to begin watching it as a fan. And which one was number one of them all at the end anyway? I would say myself the forgotten, the cape and cowl conspiracy, Heart of ice and see no evil as the best in the top 4.
This episode has my favorite "Batman disappearing act" in the series. And my favorite response to it.
Jim Gordon: "One of these days I'm gonna nail his feet to the ground."
I think there was a scene in Batman the Brave and the Bold where Batman says "Now I know how Commisioner Gordon feels" 😆
@@liarbility568 Yeah, when the Orchid disappeared.
The look on Thalia's face when Batman told her he kept his eyes closed was priceless.
I'm pretty sure its talia
@@Gundam_JAY it is
@Enigma Inc. it's *Talia
"They tried to imply that he survived. But, come on. Come on." Love that Dark Knight Humor, Walter.
I always assume if the ending is ambiguous, that the victim either died during the incident, or from complications afterward. The body can only withstand so much stress and abuse at one time.
There’s another moment in the episode where the two assassins commit suicide after being captured by Batman. Batman later says they used a “Mind-wiping gas” to keep it PG, but...come on.
@@MadHatter42 hahaha. Like calling a head shot a mind eraser gun
@@MadHatter42 They were alive but completely and permanently catatonic So what happend to them is WORSE THAN DEATH It's the same Mind Wiping Gas that Kurare used in Batman Beyond against her enemies They're alive but they're EMPTY SHELLS
@@thing1thing2themediamaniac43 Totally agree! Sometimes the strive for keeping it "kid friendly" ends up creating even worse horrors than death!
Man, batman begins really took inspiration from the animated series. There's also an episode where the water supply was poisoned
Yes Dreams In Darkness where Batman is admitted to Arkham because he's exposed to Scare Crow's Fear Gas Meanwhile Scare Crow's base of operations is directly underneath Arkam where he plans on poisoning Gothams water supply
Yep
I wouldn't constantly read taunts written by MCU fans if other Batman and Superman films took inspiration from their animated universe. They had a blueprint on how to do things effectively and they blew it (past Nolan's films anyway). All in the name of edginess and angst. It's embarrassing to be a DC fan now. All those "Matha? Why did you say that name?" memes.
@@mikshinee87 if you think the dceu represents dc you aren't a real dc fan
I like how this episode continues the trend of Alfred unintentionally solving Batman's cases
Alfred: If you keep working you won't know right from left
Batman: You're Brilliant! With my head turned like that I had no sense of direction. They went west not east
“Alfred you’re beautiful” (Bruce’s words not mine)
It reminds me of the "mental lightbulb moments" on crime dramas like "Murder, She Wrote", "Matlock", or "Diagnosis: Murder."
@@manuliza6420 Alfred you are beautiful
*kisses alfred*
I actually saw this episode in film class as well. It was the first time I saw Talia Al-Ghul in something that wasn't Arkham City. So she certainly made a good impression here.
Well in most moder incarnations she is usually shown as a daughter who basically will never abandon her father even if it breaks her heart, this makes me mad because her father is terrible to her.
@@manuliza6420 He clearly only sees her as a means to an end.
Always found it amusing how often the League of Assassins changes its name in adaptations to not whip censors into a frenzy. Love this episode still.
New comment: Okay, I finally watched the episode, and I'm glad I did. Not only is the first encounter with Talia and buildup to her father effective, but the vertigo effects are so creative and dynamic. I love that the Count acts like a classic '40s villain with an exotic accent and obvious evilness to him. Certainly not one of the best but a necessary episode.
I like how they use Talia to build up the debut of Ra's al-Ghul
It's kinda interesting how "Demon's Quest" doesn't reference anything specific from this episode, but you still need to see it because Batman and Talia are clearly familiar with each other and it's not really explained there. It was probably a puzzle to make every episode self-contained, yet have some build-up for Ra's.
Man, Vertigo's device makes me feel dizzy. And for Talia and her father Ra's al Ghul is only the beginning.
I always associated Count Vertigo with the Arrowverse
@@iwasanangryyoungman That's true.
The only reason I remember this episode was because of Batman and Talia, under the influence of the eyepiece, and Bruce leading them through a room filled with traps. Talia asks his how he did it, and he just says "I closed my eyes..."
I still remember that scene so well. It was one of the very first things I saw from BTAS.
@@DodgeThisBam I can't say for sure, but that's probably the same for me.
That nostalgia hit me like a ton of bricks and I tend to rewatch the entire Timverse nearly every year or so. Watching Bruce and Talia play off eachother, feeling eachother out, builds the dynamic between the two, which makes the subsequent stories all the more satisfying. Both of them are unaware of whom eachother are or the skills they posses, which is why moments like that one were so poignant. Not only is the animation no slouch with Vertigo as I don't count him as throwaway, his gimmick is memorable enough, but the surrealist visuals with the way everything gets warped won't easily be forgotten. Something else is that little bit of animation towards the end of Talia on the plane, it's so pretty honestly, it reminds me of the old black and white serials (the style of the show greatly incorporated that noir vibe a lot and definitely had that era in mind), even the slight jittering of the frames as if it was an old style broadcast is what sells it, but Talia's smile is what stuck out to me so many years later.
This show introduced me to Ra's al-Ghul, and because of that, he's one of my favorite villains. I guess S&P wouldn't let them say "Leage of Assassins" in the show.
Does talia count as a villain cuz as a kid I was always like “she the daughter of an ancient eco-terrosist she must be evil” but now she just seems lost to me.
S&P?
@@jlev1028 Standards & Practices
The introduction to Ra's Al Ghul and his merry band of crazy ass ninjas.
And talia
Alfred your Brilliant
“Yes so I’ve heard”
You really have to give a lot of credit to the voice director/casting agents on this show. Keep in mind, this was back in 1992, when cartoons were largely regarded as nothing but kid's stuff, but here we have them getting classically trained actors like Michael York and David Warner.
This is why I see Ra’s Al-Ghul teaming up with M. Bison!
Good grief.
Bison being dipped into the Lazarus Pit???
Scary stuff
@@tonyvillarreal1812 Exactly!
I’ve never noticed how much the Nolan films followed the series and comics
People forget that. Batman begins was basically batman year one mixed with multiple elements of 70s comics including the Demon ones.
Really? I mean, he directly lifted dialgue and imagery.
This was actually the first episode of the show I saw back in the day, so it's definitely memorable to me for that at least.
Talia is defiantly easy on the eyes. That's for sure.
Surprised Walter didn't comment on the "I had my eyes shut" solution... To this day I still close my eyes in disorienting situations and navigate by touch and sound instead, thanks to this episode...
Thalia is low-key one of my favorite characters in this show.
"Thalia" is also one of my favorite Mexican pop star and telenovela actresses from the 90s. Tried to cross-over with Fat Joe in early 2000s, but that career move didn't seem to go anywhere.
Count Vertigo was actually a Green Arrow/Black Canary foe! He later joined the Suicide Squad.
And Talia's been rummaging through the Black Widow's closet!
"The Society of Shadows has infiltrated Gotham in order to steal a new high tech weapon being shipped to Wayne Enterprises"
Hmmmmmm....
What I find especially cool about Vertigo - aside from his mind-manipulation power, of course - is the fact that he dresses very much like a STAR WARS villain instead of a "Batman" villain.
Thanks to Sunrise's animation, there's a hint of Gundam in there as well. Figures, given that they both draw from the same source material...
Deadpool: Oh, Vertigo; I'm going to get dizzy.
Was there ever a marvel and dc crossover ever, in the comics maybe?
@@manuliza6420 There is.
@@legomaker9613 whats it called
@@manuliza6420 It's call DC Marvel Crossover. It's a Comic series.
You forgot to mention Talia was voiced by Helen Slater aka Supergirl from the 1984 movie,Lara on Smallville and Kara's adoptive mother on Supergirl(2015)
That sounds hot
Yeah, Twitch is dead.
Just FYI at that height, it doesn't matter if you hit water. It's practically the same as hitting solid ground and your chances of surviving are practically zero.
True, Agatha Christie's "Ten Little Indians" and the death of Aragorn in " the Lord of the Rings" are good examples of that fatal scenario.
"ON BALANCE. OFF-BALANCE DOESN'T MATTER" The Macho Bat will bring the hurt
Vary macho
Two major Hitchcock references in this episode: the bell tower scene from Vertigo, and the Statue of Liberty scene from Saboteur
What, I can't believe that I've missed this episode o.O
I gotta to watch it right now!!
This episode is like that person you went on two dates with in senior year. The only reason you remember them is because they introduced you to a much cooler friend 😂
Well it's a fun adventure story, and not all episodes like the last one they did, even have an adventure.
@@Frogman1212 I Am the Night doesn’t need an adventure. It’s a brooding and poetic character piece that even quotes Nietzsche. I get that this is just a fun story, but it’s hardly memorable.
Speaking from personal experience?
@@jordanhunter3375 👍
David Warner, my favorite Ra's.
I remember this one mainly because the effects on Count Vertigo's eyepiece actually made me sick IRL. Otherwise it's an interesting way to foreshadow the introduction of Ra's Al Ghul a few episodes from now, who was apparently meant to have a much larger role going forward into season 3 but only ended up getting about as much exposure as any other rogue.
Still, that David Warner voice- can't complain for what we did get.
I loved the symmetry of the villain, who uses an optic device to induce vertigo, losing his balance due to the tolling of bells
What a coincidence that all three characters introduced in this episode also appeared in Arrow, albeit with different interpretations. Ra's Al Ghul is more or less the same, but Talia only made an appearance after he died and lacked any romance angle to her. And as for Vertigo, I get making him a drug dealer who sells vertigo-inducing needle shots was supposed to fit into the shows more grounded world (especially when Flash wasn't introduced yet), but taking away his ability to induce vertigo himself took away a lot of the comic booky appeal.
I know it's early but..Man I have yet to see a Ra's Al Ghul as good as David Warner.
So...Ras Al-Ghul was voiced by Animal House's infamous school principal
Same guy who also voiced quite a number of villains for the competition's "animated" series back in the 1960s...
@@iwasanangryyoungman I'm a little confused by what you mean.
@@Tadicuslegion78 I am sure about the Animal House bit.
Gotta take his alleged involvement in the short-lived Marvel Super Heroes 1960s series with a grain of salt
@@iwasanangryyoungman That was Dean Vernon, not David Warner.
4:49 man, i still absolutely LOVE david warner's voice acting work. He can be so refined but so menacing or incredibly silly --- whatever the role needs. He is still by far and away my favorite actor for Ra's Al Ghul ----
David Warner has not done voice work as frequently of late but i was so pleasantly surprised when he reprised his role as the Freakazoid villain "The Lobe" in the Teen Titans Freakazoid tribute episode "Hugbees" (which is probably one of the few TTG episodes i would ever recommend --- if you were a fan of freakzoid only). He did not miss a beat.
Interesting side note: David Warner had more roles in DC continuities than just Ra's Al Ghul. He also played Jor El in Lois & Clark: the new adventures of superman.
And on the Disney side, in TRON, he was Ed Dillinger, his avatar Sark and as the voice of the Master Control Program. End of Line. ;)
@@AnimeJason2011 my favorite david warner factoid is that he was in Star Trek V and Star Trek IV ----- AS TWO COMPLETELY DIFFERENT CHARACTERS
@@zxtreme31 You mean Star Trek VI. He didn't appear in Star Trek IV.
@@AnimeJason2011 argh. would you believe i am roman numeral dyslexic?
I never watched this episode and honestly I wish I did. Aside from the debut of the Al Ghuls, "Off-Balance" featured a look into the larger DC universe with a Green Arrow villain who induces visually interesting effects.
Hopefully this year wont feel off-balanced :)
Ahahah, I’m afraid the damage has already been done
Thanks for this episode to get an insight on Ras Al Gul. Beforehand I tried from the review on Batman VS Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
"Hey, you're that TGRi guy."
For some reason the villain Vertigo and the scenes with him remind me of Lupin III vs the count of Cagliostro
The presence of that auto-gyro certainly helped.
I love how he always calls him detective, it’s so funny for some reason xD
Gotta love ❤ the way Talia calls him beloved! ❤ Catwomans got nothing on that!
Brilliant!
So, I know Thalia al Ghul is a love interest of Batman, but I like him and Catwoman so much more. 💕😽
Same here, and this series is one of the reasons why. They just seemed to have so much chemistry. I always hoped to one day see them end up together.
@@HououMinamino Yes! Thank you! 😀
No
I like Talia al ghul and batman together
Talia loved batman and she was hot, shirtless and beautiful to make batman to marry her
Thank you for the episode.
Loving the series so far
ooo, I forgot David Warner played Ra's in TAS, Love His Voice
@1:59-2:00
*"Soon to be KING Vertigo, peasant!!"*
Can't believe that the studio that animated gintama also animated some episodes of batman tas!
The man in the thumbnail lookin like Rudolph von Stroheim a bit
Another word for 2020 XD
Batman's true villain: Kakashi using Kamui.
You forgot to mention the first time it aired on Fox, Ra's Al Ghul's dialogue didn't match with his lip movement. Since then, it has been resolved though.
"That's COUNT Vertigo to you PEASTANTS"
2:13 - TOUCH FUZZY, GET DIZZY
What does Vertigo, Venom, and The Hunchback of Notre Dame have in common?
They all r tortured by "The bells, the bells!"
Look! It's the eye of confusion!
He's Count Vertigo in my head canon, damnit!
The informant from the beginning was one of the Goodfeathers from Animaniacs.
I find it interesting that Ras was voiced by David Warner who played the Lobe in Freakazoid.
When Vertigo showed up, I took one look at his appearance and went "I swear to god, if he has a German accent..."
Not even a second later.
I think I missed this one back in the day.
since talia is one of my favorites I do like this episode
The first introduction to the character talia
Ahh - we are starting the Al Ghul episodes. Nice! Not really much to say since I agree with Walter on basically everything, but I will make an attempt.
The League of Assassins are finally here (but for some reason they are called Society of Shadows - I don´t mind that much, but was Assassin too scary of a word for America's youth? It feels like a censorship thing?) and it is a memorable one. That Talia is a villain is pretty obvious nowadays (and the hair that covers half her face is pretty obvious symbolism), but at that time female villains were mostly misunderstood and/or not that bad in the first place. Talia is different...she is loyal, badass and competent, the son Ra´s never got, and would be a worthy replacement of him if not for the fact that there exists individuals, like Batman, who are both smarter and stronger than her. Poor girl - always second fiddle from both a Watsonian as well as a Doylist standpoint, never the most interesting character around. She does the obligatory flirting with Batman (female villains almost always do this) while fighting crime together (it is only the constant bickering that is missing...). Personally, I much prefer the Batman - Wonder Woman romance from Justice League ("You're a princess from a society of immortal warriors. I'm a rich kid with issues... lots of issues" - soooo true), but to each of their own. Batman doesn´t look to be that interested in her tbh and I have long speculated that Damian is a product of rape (of Batman obviously).
It is also a very deadly episode. Of course that informant is dead! and this "Oh, the ninjas didn't die - it was just an erasure of their minds'' - yeah right! Even as a kid I understood that they died. Why this coddling, America? The Hitchcock influence is indeed very strong, including the title. He loved having national monuments and landmarks in his movies (the reason for Gotham to have a Statue of Liberty - very questionable canon imho) and the "end" of (Count) Vertigo is indeed an homage to Vertigo's similar scene. I also see (sort of) a James Bond reference in the lethal female and a villain with a strange outfit, accent and powers.
The animation is flawless (and it sort of seems like it improves by every episode). I am especially a fan of Vertigo´s look. I mean - look at him! He is clad like a classic comic book villain with an eyepatch, a grey dress that slightly reminds you of german WW2 uniforms and of course a rad cape that somehow always has the right amount of wind in it to look cool. (Count) Vertigo as a character is a mixed bag for me - he is a bit too low key and weak for him to really work here. I prefer him as an antagonist of Green Arrow (yes, it is supposed to be the same character Walter), especially when he has diplomatic immunity and tries to get the Vlatlavian throne. But everything looks nice, including the surreal sense that comes from him using his powers - as Walter showed.
All in all, the episode looks great and both the story and characters are solid. There are some flaws (who came up with the Talia contact lenses idiocy?), but they are minor. The only fact it doesn´t get a higher grade is because the coming Al Ghul episodes simply do it bigger and better. This is more of a prelude - a tasty appetizer before the main course.
Verdict: 3 out of 5 bats
Vertigo looks like stroheim
I’m sorry for the HAHA JOJO REFERENCE but come on
The resemblance is uncanny to me
Batman needed that Bat Doo-rag!
Gotta give it to the studios that made Mobile Suit Gundam.
You should do these for Superman; the animated series
Vertical supernova
I do wonder what made them use Vertigo of all people and not one of Batman's lesser known foes.
Not one of my favorite episodes but I have a new passion for Sunrise's special effects. Didn't they do 13 episodes during the original 65 episode run?
Speaking of that disgusting screenshot, it's funny that Batman Beyond changed the organization's name to the Society of Assassins. It's like Warner Bros Animation became tolerant of words associated with death by the late '90s.
Starting to notice that a lot of BTAS was based on 1970s Batman stories 🦇🦇
2:00 / 2:04 If they're variations of the same character, how do they explain how his radiation-eye switches sides? Just pick a side! It's not rocket surgery! "Do they expect us to believe that they don't know their left from their right?!"
*M A Y 1 9 T H !*
Next time we will meet The Man Who Killed Batman!
Poor Sid the squid
@@manuliza6420 Who would win? Sid the sloth or Sid the squid?
@@chrisazylum6624 in what
nice animation
3:41 of course, talk all Ghul is 🆙 to no good.
Talia is my 2nd favorite batman character largely thanks to the animated series. Her mishandling in the Nolan trilogy is the reason I hate Dark Knight Rises
Hey, it’s the villain from the 1998 Cartoon Network promo.
WHOA! Stroheim!
Who's the best love interest for Batman ? Catwoman, Talia al Ghul, or Wonder Woman ?
Talia al ghul
Vertigo? There's a deep cut.
Vertigo always confused me because I couldn't tell if he was supposed to be Count Vertigo or not
The fact that he speaks with a Slavic accent and uses a small device on his head to induce dizziness should probably give that away.
I mostly know vertigo from his appearance in the suicide squad hell to pay animated movie, where he got his head blown up in the first few minutes.
You should see the nostalgia critic review of “suicide squad” they actually make fun of that.
Edit: nvm it was some guy named zipknot who never appeared in the comics. That was a very stupid movie.
Funny thing is I first knew Vertigo from this show, so when I saw him in other things like Young Justice, I was like "Hey it's that guy from Batman The Animated Series". I didn't know he was a Green Arrow villain til way later. This show and all it's DCAU spinoffs introduced a lot of DC stuff to me.
I was hoping something would be said about the animation for this episode? I always remembered it being a little different, particularly the opening scene at Gotham's statue of liberty.
Out of all the girlfriends Batman and bruce (these 2 are very different people) had talia seemed almost like a perfect match to me at least. Which girl do you think Bruce or Batman deserves?
None, since he dresses up his sidekicks in bright colors just to get attention away from himself.
Bat-Mama
~_~
2:01 please cover that batman show soon
Good video
I vaguely remember Batman also having some sort of gas inside the mask 2 protect his identity. Can anybody remember that in any Batman franchise or am I just remembering it wrong 🤔
I like to talia's will cure the the gray gloves and black outfit she looks great and what happens to her and Batman the Beyond is really sick and depraved
Yeah. I think she allowed to happen? Don't quite remember
"You? She kissed me..."
I am/was so confused. Vertigo is the leader of the Society in this episode, but I thought Ras ah Goul was? Is Vertigo operating a splinter cell? That wasn't made clear.
wow, Thalia was in Batman!, i i though she was just a singer!
A bit of Irony. I got vertigo today. haha
How could he at the end of heard batman say this is not over if he wasn't there then? A mistake by the writers. I think they made a mistake not having a clearly defined last episode too although i think that would have been better ending in a cliffhanger which would lead into a film to conclude the series itself but there you go.