[7.0/10] I gotta be honest, I’ve just never cared for Derek Powers/Blight as a villain. Even when I was a kid, I remember thinking he was kind of lame. Sure, the glow in the dark skeleton look isn’t bad, but he’s just such a cackling evil ball of evil, on top of being the standard villainous CEO type that the DCAU’s Lex Luthor did leagues better (no pun intended), that it’s hard to care about him.
His only real claim to fame and reason to be here is that he’s responsible for the death of Terry’s father. That makes him relevant to Terry’s arc, and I appreciate how this one bookends the series premiere in some ways, but that makes Blight more of a plot device than a compelling villain all his own.
(That said, Terry telling him “You killed my father” and Powers asking Terry if he knows how little that narrows things down for him was a big, dark laugh.)
As a result, this episode, which feels like it’s supposed to be the, or at least a, climax to the Terry vs. Blight arc that started in the series first episode, works better conceptually than it does in execution. I like the parallel between Bruce and Terry on the one hand, and Derek and Paton Powers on the other.
Paxton projects a public face of contrition and concern, but deep down, he’s internalized his father’s lessons to seize power and do so ruthlessly, even if it means killing your own dad. By contrast, Terry is angry and even vengeful about Derek over his father’s death, but when pus comes to shove, he’s still not willing to kill, because he too has internalized the lessons of his surrogate father figure. It’s a nice affirmation of who Terry is and a solid introduction to who Paxton is, even though he plays the Bad Guy CEO Junior archetype without much shading.
That’s the problem. The nuts and bolts of this episode -- Blight running amok, Terry wanting revenge, Paxton running a ploy to take over -- are solid enough. The execution is just kind of generic. Terry and Bruce learning that Derek Powers is Blight doesn't really land as a big reveal since the audience already knows that (and to be frank, I forgot that the Batmen didn’t know it already). Derek’s huffing and puffing is standard bad guy stuff. And Paxton’s untrustworthiness seems obvious from the jump, so Terry just seems like a dope for going along with it.
Still, I appreciate that this episode changes the balance of power a little, giving us a Harry Osborn to Derek as Norman Osborn. I like the introduction of the bat signal in this timeline as a nice tribute. And I appreciate Bruce walking Terry through his own Joe Chill situation, trying to balance the principles of the Batman mantle with his personal anger against the man who took his father away from him.
It’s a cool idea, it’s just wrapped up in a villain and a plot that’s not quite worthy of it.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2020-05-10T21:00:00Z
[7.0/10] I gotta be honest, I’ve just never cared for Derek Powers/Blight as a villain. Even when I was a kid, I remember thinking he was kind of lame. Sure, the glow in the dark skeleton look isn’t bad, but he’s just such a cackling evil ball of evil, on top of being the standard villainous CEO type that the DCAU’s Lex Luthor did leagues better (no pun intended), that it’s hard to care about him.
His only real claim to fame and reason to be here is that he’s responsible for the death of Terry’s father. That makes him relevant to Terry’s arc, and I appreciate how this one bookends the series premiere in some ways, but that makes Blight more of a plot device than a compelling villain all his own.
(That said, Terry telling him “You killed my father” and Powers asking Terry if he knows how little that narrows things down for him was a big, dark laugh.)
As a result, this episode, which feels like it’s supposed to be the, or at least a, climax to the Terry vs. Blight arc that started in the series first episode, works better conceptually than it does in execution. I like the parallel between Bruce and Terry on the one hand, and Derek and Paton Powers on the other.
Paxton projects a public face of contrition and concern, but deep down, he’s internalized his father’s lessons to seize power and do so ruthlessly, even if it means killing your own dad. By contrast, Terry is angry and even vengeful about Derek over his father’s death, but when pus comes to shove, he’s still not willing to kill, because he too has internalized the lessons of his surrogate father figure. It’s a nice affirmation of who Terry is and a solid introduction to who Paxton is, even though he plays the Bad Guy CEO Junior archetype without much shading.
That’s the problem. The nuts and bolts of this episode -- Blight running amok, Terry wanting revenge, Paxton running a ploy to take over -- are solid enough. The execution is just kind of generic. Terry and Bruce learning that Derek Powers is Blight doesn't really land as a big reveal since the audience already knows that (and to be frank, I forgot that the Batmen didn’t know it already). Derek’s huffing and puffing is standard bad guy stuff. And Paxton’s untrustworthiness seems obvious from the jump, so Terry just seems like a dope for going along with it.
Still, I appreciate that this episode changes the balance of power a little, giving us a Harry Osborn to Derek as Norman Osborn. I like the introduction of the bat signal in this timeline as a nice tribute. And I appreciate Bruce walking Terry through his own Joe Chill situation, trying to balance the principles of the Batman mantle with his personal anger against the man who took his father away from him.
It’s a cool idea, it’s just wrapped up in a villain and a plot that’s not quite worthy of it.