Review of Nothing to Fear

This is one of the earliest episodes of the series and is one of the first that I ever saw as a kid and I still love it a lot, it's dark, the villain's lively and a ton of fun, and it delves a little into the very nature of why Bruce Wayne is also Batman - and they never did an origin episode as such on the show, just rightly assumed it was common knowledge. Call me crazy but I always liked this version of the Scarecrow best. Some people find it a poor design but I think it's fine, he's a classic scrawny straw boogeyman figure, it's fun! To me a lot more fun and interesting than the goofy charmless look he's sporting the next time he appears in the show. They kept changing the design to try and make him appear more scary but I think they lost something about the character that's certainly not missing here. I like that wily voice, it's kinda spooky and a little demented! I could've sworn it was David Warner doing the voice.. I hate his dumb goons though, they're so stupidly clichéd that they might as well have just gone ahead and named them Rocko and Knuckles! So the story is that Batman confronts a vengeful Scarecrow and gets gassed by his fear toxin and then has to wrestle with his conscience as it wrecks havoc with his mind until he has to make a stand and take control. But is that really Bruce's greatest fear or were the cruel words of cranky old Dr. Long working in conjunction with the poison of the Scarecrow to stir his own buried guilty feelings over his parents deaths and that he might not be properly honouring his family name and making his late father proud? I love the emotional buildup and payoff of Bruce Wayne as he exorcises a personal demon as he shouts out what's probably the single most well-written and fine piece of dialogue in the entire series. I love how powerfully striking the Gothic atmosphere was at this point, the tone and atmosphere that the look and the backgrounds bring is just amazing and so masterfully done, especially in the poignant closing scene where Bruce lays the flowers on his parents' grave and walks away with the cold wind blowing and the symbolic shadow of the bat following him. There's such a strong visual poetry to that. This rather excellent episode is one of the all-time fan favourites and one of mine too. Brilliant timeless stuff, as far as this episode goes, you most certainly have nothing to fear!