The Underdwellers

[The Laughing Fish]

I've been watching some BTAS episodes for the first time in twenty years. One of these episodes include The Underdwellers; where Batman is investigating a child found in the sewers. He learns that kids are kept underground by the Sewer King - an cruel man obsessed with discipline and forces children to steal on his behalf, as well as forcing to undergo labor and deprives them of sustenance.

Even though the Sewer King was made for only this show, he was probably the most heinous out of all the villains that appeared on this series. Cruel and having a deep contempt for children that made Batman considered killing him in the end. Nonetheless, the show as always blends the dark subject with light humour to make the episode for everyone for all ages to enjoy.

I can only imagine how the Sewer King would be adapted into comics for today - they'll probably make him a child molester or something. I cringe at the thought - thankfully the episode never gave me that creepy impression.

[Cobblepot4Mayor]

As a kid the episodes that featured "one shot villains" were always my least favourite. Now however I don't mind them. My favourite one is "The Forgotten".

There were some villains on the show I never knew were especially created for it such as the Ninja and Red Claw. These characters never took off with the fans as in the case with Harley Quinn. I think it's a shame with the Ninja. I usually get bored with endless explorations of Batman's past and the seemingly endless cast of trainers he had. In the case of the Ninja however I thought he slotted in quite nicely. I think the episode called "Day of the Samurai" has one of the best and most intense stories and a final battle deserving of the word "epic".

There is a strange character called "Baby Doll" too. To this day I can't believe Paul Dini was allowed to write this. It's such a strong subject matter for a "kids cartoon series". The episode has some very funny moments too but it was the final scene that always shocked me and my dad, which looked like it was lifted out of Batman Returns. A very dark and quite depressing moment for the show.

[The Laughing Fish]

I found a review criticising this episode on this episode, here are a couple of quotes that has me puzzled.

http://www.multiversitycomics.com/tv/batman-tas-the-underdwellers/

I'm going to address the elephant in the room first with this episode. The whole thing is built on the premise that this guy is keeping all these children for slaves in the sewers of Gotham. This just doesn't feel genuine when you see it. The kids don't come off as these manipulated and abused slaves, the Sewer King never comes off as someone menacing enough to abuse children, and so when Batman has to act outraged during their confrontation, it doesn't feel earned. There's a film called Beasts of No Nation that details very specifically how relationships like that work, and the thing that film does so well that this episode fails at is portraying a believable relationship between the child/children and their abuser. As sad as it is, abused children become attached and dependent on their abuser in a way that wouldn't necessarily allow them to just let Batman beat up the Sewer King at the end of the episode.

What the hell is this reviewer talking about? Did he even watch the episode properly? The Sewer King not only berates the kids, he locks them up inside a room of blinding light as punishment for alleged misbehaviour. Not to mention the fact he forces them to feed him while depriving them of any food, and seemed prepared to feed a boy to his pet alligators during the confrontation with Batman. Explain to me how none of this comes across as abusive.

We can argue whether or not the episode should've explored Stockholm's Syndrome all we want, but the statement that the child slaves aren't abused and the Sewer King isn't threatening enough towards them is false. It's clear that the Sewer King looks down at the kids he has enslaved, and only uses them to satisfy his own desires. He terrorises kids into making them do his dirty work, but is likely too cowardly to do it himself. As I said before, he's disgusting.

RE: Batman fighting off the alligators, sure, it might seem strange how a mortal man can overcome dangerous animals in spite of an initial struggle. But think of it this way, this show does capture the spirit of the comics where Batman can perform death-defying stunts and has an ability to overcome obstacles against all odds. If the show established some rules in trying to ground things in realism but constantly breaking them, then yes, I can see why that would be a problem.

Besides, Batman in the DCAU can easily throw Superman over to the other side of the room, as he does in the World's Finest crossover. The DCAU creators may have a Batman bias, but at least you can't really fault them in their consistency when it comes to his skills and strength.

The only valid critique this review makes is Batman owning a gun collection at Wayne Manor. I bet this scene was intended as an anti-gun statement to kids, but considering Batman is otherwise against using guns while on duty anyway makes this scene rather unnecessary.

I'm not saying The Underdwellers is a top ten episode, but the large portion of this review makes me wonder if it's really critiquing the same thing as I watched.

[Gotham Knight]

I found a review criticising this episode on this episode, here are a couple of quotes that has me puzzled.

http://www.multiversitycomics.com/tv/batman-tas-the-underdwellers/

I'm going to address the elephant in the room first with this episode. The whole thing is built on the premise that this guy is keeping all these children for slaves in the sewers of Gotham. This just doesn't feel genuine when you see it. The kids don't come off as these manipulated and abused slaves, the Sewer King never comes off as someone menacing enough to abuse children, and so when Batman has to act outraged during their confrontation, it doesn't feel earned. There's a film called Beasts of No Nation that details very specifically how relationships like that work, and the thing that film does so well that this episode fails at is portraying a believable relationship between the child/children and their abuser. As sad as it is, abused children become attached and dependent on their abuser in a way that wouldn't necessarily allow them to just let Batman beat up the Sewer King at the end of the episode.

What the hell is this reviewer talking about? Did he even watch the episode properly? The Sewer King not only berates the kids, he locks them up inside a room of blinding light as punishment for alleged misbehaviour. Not to mention the fact he forces them to feed him while depriving them of any food, and seemed prepared to feed a boy to his pet alligators during the confrontation with Batman. Explain to me how none of this comes across as abusive.

We can argue whether or not the episode should've explored Stockholm's Syndrome all we want, but the statement that the child slaves aren't abused and the Sewer King isn't threatening enough towards them is false. It's clear that the Sewer King looks down at the kids he has enslaved, and only uses them to satisfy his own desires. He terrorises kids into making them do his dirty work, but is likely too cowardly to do it himself. As I said before, he's disgusting.

RE: Batman fighting off the alligators, sure, it might seem strange how a mortal man can overcome dangerous animals in spite of an initial struggle. But think of it this way, this show does capture the spirit of the comics where Batman can perform death-defying stunts and has an ability to overcome obstacles against all odds. If the show established some rules in trying to ground things in realism but constantly breaking them, then yes, I can see why that would be a problem.

Besides, Batman in the DCAU can easily throw Superman over to the other side of the room, as he does in the World's Finest crossover. The DCAU creators may have a Batman bias, but at least you can't really fault them in their consistency when it comes to his skills and strength.

The only valid critique this review makes is Batman owning a gun collection at Wayne Manor. I bet this scene was intended as an anti-gun statement to kids, but considering Batman is otherwise against using guns while on duty anyway makes this scene rather unnecessary.

I'm not saying The Underdwellers is a top ten episode, but the large portion of this review makes me wonder if it's really critiquing the same thing as I watched.

It was one of my favorite episodes for how truly intimidating and real the Sewer King comes across. Michael Pataki's performance in particular, as was the case with so many of the show's villains, gets it across. The entire show had a frightfully earnest (and thus complex IMO) take on pain and despair, even from the perspective of the bad guys sometimes, who are merely people mutilated by the world and find themselves unable to rise above it. That's something I've only recently become aware as having a profound effect on me after all these years. It challenged my emotional range (I was four-ish  at the time) and to this day, it is the moments of epiphanic horror that stick with me. 

I remember Two Face crawling on the floor, reduced to nonsensical lamentations as his future wife becomes invisible and even Rupert Thorne, chief architect of Harvey's plight, must recoil. I remember Batman's shocking discovery of abuse and neglect in this episode, seeing him pushed to the line of tolerance and the pathetic King, whose reasoning forbids him understanding that he has done wrong. It all raises this episode near to the top of a list that is already very crowded with achievement. It is rivaled by episodes like Two-Face and The Forgotten (a CRIMINALLY underrated GEM!). Could I count them all? Look for the pain. This show was never shy about ugliness. This episode didn't explore the method behind what has happened to these kids, sure, but it explored the results uncompromisingly. The how, or even why doesn't matter. What matters is that these kids are occupying a living hell and it must stop. THAT'S BATMAN, kiddos. You don't have to diagram everything.

[The Laughing Fish]

Nice post, Gotham Knight. The episode is certainly effective at showing the tragedy surrounding the kids who are enslaved by the Sewer King, as well as evoking the cruelty inflicted by the Sewer King. Bruce Timm may have been quoted saying the episode was hindered because of censorship, as it was mentioned in the link from my last post, but I reckon it gets the message across without even needing to be explicit.

I suppose some fans may dislike Alfred trying to instill discipline within Frog doing chores around Wayne Manor, but I reckon it's one of the episode's highlights. A little bit of comedy relief gives The Underdwellers a nice few moments of respite from its rather bleak subject matter.

[thecolorsblend]

I've been watching some BTAS episodes for the first time in twenty years. One of these episodes include The Underdwellers; where Batman is investigating a child found in the sewers. He learns that kids are kept underground by the Sewer King - an cruel man obsessed with discipline and forces children to steal on his behalf, as well as forcing to undergo labor and deprives them of sustenance.

Even though the Sewer King was made for only this show, he was probably the most heinous out of all the villains that appeared on this series. Cruel and having a deep contempt for children that made Batman considered killing him in the end. Nonetheless, the show as always blends the dark subject with light humour to make the episode for everyone for all ages to enjoy.

I can only imagine how the Sewer King would be adapted into comics for today - they'll probably make him a child molester or something. I cringe at the thought - thankfully the episode never gave me that creepy impression.

The Birthday Boy from Earth One vol. 01 comes to mind. I was emotionally compromised on that because of my step daughter but time has done nothing to change my mind. Therefore, I still think the Birthday Boy character was way over the line of good taste.

And something else, I didn't completely buy into the peril of it. Because if something like that happened to my step daughter, it's either me or the Birthday Boy. There is no human force on the face of the earth that would be able to stand between him and me. One of us or the other isn't walking away from that encounter. And anybody who might want to try stopping me from getting to him will lose.

And it's not like I'm all that unique either. Tons of people irl would do whatever they had to do to, ahem, sort the Birthday Boy out once and for all. I simply cannot believe that the Birthday Boy's victims didn't have at least one family member ready, willing and able to risk a suicide run in order to put him down for good. Out of vengeance, if nothing else.

The Sewer King was a major league POS but for whatever reason, I can contextualize him and his actions. He's a TV-friendly villain that won't rattle kids too much. I cannot say the same for the Birthday Boy. Hell, I was a grown man and I was still rattled by the Birthday Boy. And not in a good way.

[The Laughing Fish]

I've been watching some BTAS episodes for the first time in twenty years. One of these episodes include The Underdwellers; where Batman is investigating a child found in the sewers. He learns that kids are kept underground by the Sewer King - an cruel man obsessed with discipline and forces children to steal on his behalf, as well as forcing to undergo labor and deprives them of sustenance.

Even though the Sewer King was made for only this show, he was probably the most heinous out of all the villains that appeared on this series. Cruel and having a deep contempt for children that made Batman considered killing him in the end. Nonetheless, the show as always blends the dark subject with light humour to make the episode for everyone for all ages to enjoy.

I can only imagine how the Sewer King would be adapted into comics for today - they'll probably make him a child molester or something. I cringe at the thought - thankfully the episode never gave me that creepy impression.

The Birthday Boy from Earth One vol. 01 comes to mind. I was emotionally compromised on that because of my step daughter but time has done nothing to change my mind. Therefore, I still think the Birthday Boy character was way over the line of good taste.

And something else, I didn't completely buy into the peril of it. Because if something like that happened to my step daughter, it's either me or the Birthday Boy. There is no human force on the face of the earth that would be able to stand between him and me. One of us or the other isn't walking away from that encounter. And anybody who might want to try stopping me from getting to him will lose.

And it's not like I'm all that unique either. Tons of people irl would do whatever they had to do to, ahem, sort the Birthday Boy out once and for all. I simply cannot believe that the Birthday Boy's victims didn't have at least one family member ready, willing and able to risk a suicide run in order to put him down for good. Out of vengeance, if nothing else.

The Sewer King was a major league POS but for whatever reason, I can contextualize him and his actions. He's a TV-friendly villain that won't rattle kids too much. I cannot say the same for the Birthday Boy. Hell, I was a grown man and I was still rattled by the Birthday Boy. And not in a good way.

It's ironic that people accuse Zack Snyder as an "edgelord", when nothing in MOS and BvS comes anywhere near as dark as the Birthday Boy in Earth One Vol. 1, written by Geoff f***ing Johns. To think he had the nerve to declare that DC Films needed to strive towards "hope and optimism" while he sabotaged JL.

The Birthday Boy is definitely a revolting character, and Gary Frank's art of showing the dead victims buried beneath the basement prints a haunting image in any sane person's mind. But if we're being honest, it's not the first time Batman comics had introduced serial killers who make your stomach churn. Norm Breyfogle and Alan Grant may have been the first Batman comic artists to introduce villains that explored a more depraved look into the criminal mind, with Victor Zsasz and Cornelius Stirk. Zsasz carving a mark on his body every time he claims another victim, and Stirk butchers people to death so he can eat their hearts. Both characters are unsettling to read because the horrific nature of their crimes, like the Birthday Boy, is sadly not too far-fetched in reality. There ARE some seriously demented sickos out there who capable of tearing you apart.

They make the Sewer King, in his semi-pirate looking outfit, seem pretty tame by comparison.