Barbecued Batman? (the episode has a question mark instead of a rhyme)
September 22, 1966
"As the Dynamic Duo attempts to oppose the Minstrel, the villain escalates his plans' destructive potential in retaliation in a way Batman might not be able to thwart."
51 minutes
Vince finally saw the correct episode to the relief of "RD Likes a Good BBQ!" He also finally agrees with RD that the story is a sleep inducer.
Narrator: "This gentle Minstrel is a threat???"
Vince: "I don't think I've ever been to a Kenny Rogers' Roasters. There's never been one in the neighborhood. And they went under right? I've never had it while it existed."
RD: "You know why? Because Kenny knew when to fold them."
Narrator: "Rare? Medium? Well Done?"
As the writers continue to be lazy, the Minstrel sings the same tune from last time. (:06) However he is interrupted by explosions from the breadcrumb magnets that are actually Batbombs, in Batman's anticipation that "the Minstrel will run a fowl" since he likes rotisserie chickens. RD thinks this is more of an Egghead thing.
The Duo somehow manage to break free and pull out the poles from their slots but in such as a way to not directly land on the grill. Cue another easily won fight. Minstrel escapes in song.The goons also escape by slowly walking up stairs less unnoticed and more like they suddenly gained 50 years.
Batman: "I'm not one to admit defeat, but I do find this Minstrel somewhat frustrating."
RD: "I do as well, completely different reasons Bat."
Robin: "We're letting them go?"
Batman: "Why bother with riff-raff? It's the Minstrel we want. The Minstrel may have taken the wind out of my sails with that murderous barbecue, but not all."
Batman then sees henchwoman Octavia which summons his love theme. She asks to be arrested but instead Batman gives her her purse. "Just looking at you, I'm sure your presence here is innocent."
Octavia: "Appearances can be deceiving, Batman."
Batman: "Appearances, perhaps. Instinct, seldom."
Octavia: "I may like it better on your side."
Batman: "It's always a satisfactory feeling knowing you're on the side of right, Octavia."
Octavia: "I wasn't talking about that."
Batman: "...I know."
He then lets her leave.
Robin: "You're letting her go? Well, I admit she's gorgeous, Batman, but what
does she have that all the other gorgeous creatures didn't?"
Batman: "Well, Robin, for one thing, she has a tracking device which I just placed in her handbag."
Having subjected himself to Raw, Vince finds "Maurice" Maryse and her cleavage pale against Octavia. (:17) He gives her 6.5 Batpoles regardless. RD gives her 6, "as average on this show as they come." Also the credits list her as "Amanda" for some reason. Also there is next to no web or acting presence of actor Leslie Perkins.
Return to Gordon's office.
Gordon: "THE Batman found the hydrodyning oscillator founded by the Minstrel."
O'Hara (drunken angry): "Well Batman hasn't contacted us!"
Gordon: "Have you the temerity to imply that Batman is perhaps working together with the Minstrel?"
O'Hara: "I don't want to imply it, but Mother Machree, Commissioner, what do we
really know about Batman and Robin? Two... two masked figures, two
voices on the telephone! Whence did they come, whither do they go?"
Gordon: "Whence and whither be dashed, Chief O'Hara! Isn't it enough to know they're the saviors of Gotham City?"
O'Hara: "And helped out from time to time by the department of which I am the Chief, I should add?"
Gordon: "You may not! As a matter of fact, I have a darn good mind to -"
Before he can really get going with a damn, Batman calls.
Batman: "This Minstrel is tricky and cunning. But Robin and I won't rest until we catch him!...Can you do me a favor, Commissioner Gordon? Can you pass that information along to your stalwart co-fighter in crime Chief O'Hara?"
An ashamed O'Hara asks for forgiveness.
Gordon: "How dare you question the guardian angels of this city?!"
RD is certain Batman has bugged the office, since Gordon is in fact the true crime boss of the city. Although you probably don't need to be one of the world's greatest detectives to figure that a police commissioner talking about how someone else is doing a better job than them may not be on the level.
Octavia returns to the Minstrel's lair wondering if they should make a deal with him. (:26) Minstrel: "Make a deal? With that paragon of probity? The righteous reformer? That enemy of enterprise? That thorn in my flesh?" He wonders where her loyalty lies.
The Duo are listening in the Batcave through Batman's tracking device.
Robin: "I see what you mean when you said she was special."
Minstrel finds the bug, sending Octavia into hysterics.
Minstrel: "You rat fink! You spy!
Listen to me, Batman, we go to plan High C!"
RD is reminded of when he opened Hi-C aluminum cans with a knife instead of a can opener.
Minstrel tells Batman to take the police with him to the stock exchange for his plan that may threaten the entire world, never mind one city's economic structure.
Alfred then appears telling the Duo Aunt Harriet was worried when she checked their beds the other night and didn't find them there.
Batman: "We'll be home soon. We have a little stop we gotta go make, to prevent the end of the world!"
The Batmobile arrives at the stock exchange just as a localized earthquake hits only the building. Batman: "It's not an earthquake, it's the Minstrel!"
He determines he is using the ventilation shafts to sympathetic vibrate the building through its resonance frequency. RD is sad his earthquake machine "is not John Tenta under a mask" or as sophisticated as the one used by Malcolm Merlyn on the first season of Arrow. He wonders if he can grow the same beard as Oliver Queen.
Minstrel: "Do you like the sample?"
Gordon: "He's so suave!"
Minstrel (singing): "I am the Minstrel and a mastermind; I'm a modern genius crook / In
electronics I cannot be surpassed, and that's why your building shook /
To my terms you must agree or vibration, consternation, decimation
throughout the nation / Accept my terms or there will be irreversible
calamity / You have until nightfall to prevent a frightful downfall."
He asks for payment in certified check from Gordon by 6 pm. RD wonders why they don't just shut off the power in Minstrel's warehouse until they catch him.
Robin: "Holy kilowatts!"
He suggests just paying him.
Batman: "Even at the risk of seeing this entire neighborhood collapse under your feet, would you spend the rest of your lives in the shadow living in subservience to this rascally ruthless tyrant?"
That wins the group over.
So of course long after the deadline in the middle of the night, they come with the ransom check to the warehouse and kill off the power...for half a second, causing Batman to do another wacky run. Minstrel on screen gives the police "one last chance" to surrender, which of course they do. Batman of course knows who the Minstrel is - he's the building engineer in the glasses right next to them!
Man in background: "That nice looking young man is the Minstrel!"
And he would have got away with it too if it weren't for that meddling Duo!
RD wonders if the whole city has an eyesight problem. "That nice looking young man is Vince Russo?"
O'Hara: "He was just on TV! What black magic is this?"RD Batman has to explain to O'Hara what a recording is.
Cue fight with henchmen...and O'Hara, who immediately gets punched and took a dive, as trained well by True Crime Boss Gordon. Minstrel pulls out the sparkler, but it's not effective against the Duo's "particle Bataccelerator units that create an anti-charge and deflect the static bolts", and he's finally apprehended.
At Stately Wayne Manor Bruce and Dick play four-level chess as the news anchor announces that "the melodic master of crime who came within a tremble of subjugating all of Gotham City is now on his way to the city jail."
Aunt Harriet: "They've arrested that charming man."
Anchor: "Tell me Mr. Minstrel Man, due to the fact that you've been defeated by the Dynamic Duo despite your electronic genius, do you have any plans in your future for crime?"
Mr. Minstrel Man: "Why yes, as a matter of fact I do! Wait 'til the jailbreak, Batman / You've not seen the last of me / I'll
clobber you and Robin / Wait and see / You'll vibrate both together /
I'll shake off your heads / Oh just you wait 'til the jailbreak, Batman /
You'll be dead."
Anchor: "Thank you Mr. Minstrel Man."
Aunt Harriet: "Someone with a voice that lovely can't be all bad."
RD liked the threat of an earthquake machine, even if it was boringly handled. (:47) However he finds it hard to judge how bad a villain he was against Zelda the Great so he has them both at the same level. (He's not a big fan of making lists despite writing a book about them and/or being associated with a website that sometimes does them.) At least the second part picked up compared to the first.
He also thinks the episode titles should have been switched, as well as standardizing Octavia/Amanda's name, having a better minstrel as a villain, and naming him Mr. Minstrel Man.
Unsurprisingly due to audience response, this is the one and only appearance of Mr. Minstrel Man in the series or any part of the Bat-canon. Maybe he did go legit elsewhere...after escaping prison of course.
- Special Guest Villain:
The MinstrelMr. Minstrel Man (Van Johnson)
- Outdated references: 2. Kenny Rogers, Roy Rogers
- Screen Captures: 1. RD
- RD Time Outs: 1
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