“Batman: The Animated Series” managed to perfectly capture the essence of the Batman character and the world he inhabits. It’s often viewed as one of the greatest cartoon series of all-time and even got its own theatrical movie with “Batman: Mask of the Phantasm”, which you should check out. Here’s a list of my personal favourite episodes.
- Mad As A Hatter
The Mad Hatter is a rather underrated foe but I like the “Alice In Wonderland” gimmick and this episode puts all that to great use. It’s a simple story of a man trying to win the heart of a girl but when he can’t have her, he’ll use any means necessary to be victorious. It all ends in a confrontation in an “Alice In Wonderland” amusement park in Gotham.
- The Forgotten
A rather overlooked episode because it doesn’t feature any signature villains (aside from a brief hallucination scene). However, this episode is really interesting and a nice change of pace as we see Batman lose his memory. The music is also really memorable in this one.
- Beware The Grey Ghost
Batman has to join forces with the actor that played the superhero The Grey Ghost when he was just a child to foil an insane criminal that is copying crimes from the old show. What makes this episode so great is that they got Adam West from the 60s “Batman” show and movie to voice The Grey Ghost.
- The Strange Secret Of Bruce Wayne
Professor Hugo Strange learns that Bruce Wayne is Batman. He manages to capture this on a tape with a special machine and hopes to auction it off to some of Batman’s greatest foes. It’s interesting to see a villain finally learn who Batman really is.
- Heart Of Ice
Mr. Freeze makes his debut in the fantastic “Heart Of Ice”. Unlike the goofy portrayal in “Batman & Robin”, this episode manages to make Mr. Freeze both intimidating and sympathetic. A great introduction to one of the most iconic Batman villains.
- If You’re So Smart Why Aren’t You Rich?
I love all of The Riddler’s episodes but this first one might just be my favourite. The whole final act where Batman has to navigate a giant maze and fight a giant robot is just brilliant. The Riddler is great because he always makes Batman uses his mind as much as his muscles.
- Almost Got ‘Im
This is an episode that could have easily just been a clip show. The Joker, Two-Face, Poison Ivy, Penguin and Killer Croc all sit around a table reminiscing about how they almost beat Batman. They could have cut to old episodes but thankfully, we get all new material. This packs so much action and character into just one episode.
- Trial
We get to see Batman put on trial in Arkham Asylum by a collection of his greatest adversaries. Two-Face serves as the prosecutor, The Joker is the judge and a handful of others serve on the jury. It’s great to see all these bad guys in one place and the entire premise is just fantastic.
- The Laughing Fish
Probably my favourite solo Joker episode. While some of the others such as “Christmas With The Joker” and “Be A Clown” are great too, this one is probably the most disturbing. The Joker poisons Gotham’s fish so that they all have his awful grin on them. Things soon get even creepier and it all ends with Batman fighting a shark.
- Perchance To Dream
My personal favourite episode has to be “Perchance To Dream”. Batman gets knocked out and awakens to find his life is perfect. His parents are alive, he is marrying Selena Kyle and somebody else is Batman. However, things are not as they seem and he will have to discover who is pulling all the strings.
Honourable mentions:
Be A Clown, Riddler’s Reform and Dreams In Darkness