Was Batman Season 4 Hit or Miss?

Was Batman Season 4 Hit or Miss?
Released	July 30, 2013
Running Time	10:46
Previous	Is It Right to Nitpick?
Next	Sailor Moon
Link	http://channelawesome.com/nostalgia-critic-editorial-was-batman-season-4-hit-or-miss/

NC: Hello, I'm the Nostalgia Critic. I remember it, so you don't have to.

NC (vo): Just at the height of Batman The Animated Series' popularity, Warned Brothers decided to do a spin off with Superman, using the same people. And that show seemed to do well enough that for it's next season, and Batman's fourth, they decided to combine both of them together in the New Adventures of Batman and Superman; but that wasn't the only surprise people were given. Batman went through some serious notable changes; including new designs, new characters, and just an all around new feel. It was still the same animation and same voice actors, but the evidence was clear: this was a a different Batman than what we saw before. Season 4, or the Red Sky series as I like to call it, was very controversial.... at least, among fans. Some say it was a welcome change of pace; others say it was trying to fix something that was never broken.

NC: Whatver the reason for the changes, it invites the important question: Was Season 4 a hit or a miss?

NC (vo): From a character standpoint, we still have the same backstory; only some of them have moved on since we last saw them. We see that Dick Grayson is fed up with being Robin, and has moved on to being Nightwing, leaving Robin to be played by another orphan, only have his age this time, named Tim Drake. It's nice to see Grayson go rogue and develop his own badass persona, but it's still strange to see Bruce Wayne take someone even younger under his batwing as Robin! This guy has to be worst parent of the year! But.... (sigh) you could argue that's the leeway of comic books, and even the idea of the original Robin took a pretty big suspension of disbelief. Plus, I surprisingly like the kid. He's got a lot of energy, he's smart on his feet, and he actually has some good one liners here and there.

Bruce: Playing hookyl

Tim: It's summer vacation!

(Bruce stares at him)

Tim: Never mind, forgot who I was talking to.

NC (vo): Batgirl's prominent in a lot more episodes, as is the Penguin. Only this time around, he has his own establishment. Running upscale parties at his nightclub, while still partaking in evil schemes on the side. This isn't such a bad idea, seeing as how his intelligence he would be smart enough to know how to pull it off.

NC: The rest of the characters are pretty much the same. That is, of course, except for those controversial designs.

NC: Yep, let's talk about what many people consider the most jarring difference in all the season: the character makeovers. The whole style of the show has gone more angular, resulting in everyone looking less three dimensional and more.... um.... pointy. But, one could make the argument that's kind of what they were going for to begin with. I mean, Batman's chin does look like the bottom of a box doesn't it? so here I guess you can say they're just going all the way with it. Plus, the red sky, and blacker backgrounds did help the colours stand out more. So, the characters actually did pop out whenever they were onscreen. While subtle changes to character Alfred or Two-Face aren't a major issues, but huge changes to characters like Catwoman and the Joker are; so let's go over them briefly. Batman has gotten rid of the yellow on his symbol, which.... I'll admit, info really miss; but, at the same time, it did sort of look like a bullseye.

NC: Not the best nightly camouflage

NC (vo): But, oddly that doesn't stop Batgirl from changing into bright yellow caped me boots. (sarcastically) Oh yeah, you'll blend into the shadows much easier that way. At first, I thought this was a really silly change, seeing as how the original costume helped her to hide out in the night more. But, the more I looked at the original costume, the more I realized it did just sort of look like Batman's costume on a college girl, and nothing else distinct about it. But, maybe this would help give her a little more of an identity.

NC: Plus, if Batman still dresses his adoptive son as a neon fire...

NC (vo):...hydrant; I guess the same kind of bizarre logic can work here too. Penguin was an odd call back to the design of the sixty's, but again, if they wanted him to run a ritzy nightclub; it makes more sense that he would look a little more sophisticated. Strange as it is though, I have grown more accustom to that upscale voice coming out of this monstrous design; then I have this one, probably more fitting

Penguin (S2): Haven't you heard? I've reformed.

Penguin (S4): Fifty thousand on the diamond.

NC (vo): I think I'm just too use to it. Our femme fatales certainly look lien darker. That is, well Harley has few to no changes, both Catwoman and Poison Ivy have prominently blacker toned costumes, and paler skin. This results in them looking more threatening and badass, but I will say they may look just a touch too young. In the original, there was no mistake these were women; maybe he in their late twenty's or early thirty's, but with the redesigns, they look like college girls, maybe around Batgirl's age. I know they aren't meant to, but it still comes across. Characters link Croc, Scarface, and the Mad Hatter look pretty cool, but they do sort of look like they should be on a different show. Again, the emphasized features might be just a touch too emphasized; they look more like Animaniacs characters.

NC (vo): And then you have the Joker. Um, how do I put this? He looks terrible. I mean, God Jesus, what have you done to him?! Of all the ways you could redesign, arguably, the best Batman villain of all time; it seems like this... intriguingly takes every wrong step. The Joker is Batman's opposite: he's a bright, loud, colourful clown; so, why suck at all the colour from his face, and give him black expressionless eyes? Yeah, I know, a lot of designs at the time were doing this, and I still don't get why! He looks less like a Batman villain and more like a dancing prop from Steamboat Willy. I don't think it's any coincidence that on the dvd when they talk about the redesigns of all the character, they smartly leave out the Joker. My guess is they'd of already gotten enough complaints about him already So much so that when the spin off movie, [Batman Beyond] Return of the Joker, came out, they went back to a design much closer to the original. It was definitely a welcomed return.

NC: But, for all the bitching about the Joker, in my opinion, it all evens out with redesign of the Scarecrow!

NC (vo): Holy shit! Where did this freakiness come from? That calm neutral voice suddenly sounds frightening, coming from between those skull like teeth.

Scarecrow (S4): Fear is the glue that holds society together. Fear is power.

(NC shudders in fear)

Note: This transcript is incomplete