There's a new vigilante in Gotham named Payback, a self-proclaimed defender of victimized teenagers. Unfortunately, this new superhero does not share Batman's
principles in crime-fighting and is more than willing to severely injure or even kill the "villains" that he targets. Batman must now figure out Payback's identity and find a way to stop him before he really hurts someone.
Tropes:
- Badass Boast: Bruce to Payback by dissing his:
Payback: You're a mean old man, you know that?
Bruce: Mmm-hmm. And what are you?
Payback: Your worst nightmare!Bruce: You have
no idea what my nightmares are like.
- Bully Hunter: How Payback sees himself.
- Cast as a Mask: Payback is voiced by Bill Fagerbakke. He also shared a voice actor with Howard Lewis.
- The Cobbler's Children Have No Shoes: The high school counselor has little time for his own son.
- Dramatic Irony:
- When Batman calls out Payback for taking things too far in targeting the "villains" on behalf of teenagers, Payback angrily retorts: "You don’t know anything about kids! I know how kids think!" - Batman of course, is a teenager himself. It also foreshadows Payback's true identity.
- When he targets Bruce, Payback introduces himself as "Your worst nightmare". As the original owner of that moniker, Bruce retorts "You have no idea what my nightmares are like."
- Enforced Method Acting: An inverted example In-Universe. Bruce harshly criticizes Terry for going after Howard Lewis, who turned out to be innocent, while Payback was on a rampage at the same time. Terry then offloads his frustrations about his work to the school counselor. Sure enough, after doing so, Payback attacks Bruce, and Terry takes slightly longer to rescue him for him to comment about it. Then there's this exchange:
Bruce: By the way, exactly what did you say in that group to get Payback so mad at me? You must’ve given quite a convincing performance.
Terry: (gives a smug smile) Who said anything about performing?
(Bruce makes an annoyed expression)
- Five-Second Foreshadowing: After Howard attacks Terry with a chair, instead of continuing to attack him, like you'd expect from a violent vigilante like Payback who's just caught someone snooping around his place, he reaches for the phone to call the police which is what someone would do if they were just defending themselves/their property from an intruder. A few moments later, it's confirmed that Howard Lewis isn't Payback.
- Felony Misdemeanor: The jerks that Payback targets, since their crimes are harassing and mistreating the teenagers from the Youth Center. Reprehensible, sure, but not the sort of thing you kill for.
Shop owner: Why are you doing this to me?
Payback: Because you don't respect the kids who work for you!
Shop owner: That's it? Because of some loser kids? You gotta be crazy!
- Foreshadowing: Payback's dialogue uses words and phrases that sound very odd coming out of a grown man's mouth (referring to teenagers as "kids", calling Bruce a "mean old man"). Turns out that's because they aren't coming out of a grown man's mouth. His remark to Terry that he knows how kids think also foreshadows that he is a kid.
- Improvised Weapon: Payback's laser whip is actually a laser cutter used by Howard Stanton for cutting metal to make sculptures.
- It's All My Fault: Dr. Stanton blames himself for his son's actions at the end of the episode.
- Knight Templar: Payback. While his targets do generally tend to be Jerkasses, he definitely employs extremely Disproportionate Retribution against them.
- Mini-Mecha: "Payback" is actually a young boy piloting a suit that resembles a large adult man.
- Parental Neglect: Dr. Stanton is so dedicated to helping the troubled teens at the Youth Center that he begins to neglect spending time with his own son Kenny. This causes Kenny to become Payback, with the belief that if he were to "fix" all of the teens' problems, his father would be able to spend more time with him.
- Pet the Dog: During Payback's initial introduction, he doesn't say a word as he menaces Drew's boss, Warren. The first lines out of his mouth are when he turns to the cowering Drew (who until this point has assumed he's some sort of general thug) and says "Stay here. You'll be safe." Later, when he comes to kill Bruce in an elevator, he tells everyone else in the elevator that they can go.
- Red Herring: Howard Lewis, the Youth Counseling Center's librarian, whom Terry first suspects is Payback since he resembles him in size (and is also voiced by the same actor).
- Remember the New Guy?: Apparently, Terry and Bruce have been tracking Payback for a while now.
- The Reveal: Terry initially assumes that Dr. Stanton's librarian Howard is Payback since he matches the vigilante's deep voice and imposing physique. However, Payback actually turns out to be Kenny, Dr. Stanton's young son.
- Rewatch Bonus: A lot of Payback's dialogue makes more sense once you know his identity.
- Ungrateful Bastard: The shop owner that Terry rescues from Payback at the beginning of the episode. Upon surveying the damage to his store:
Shop owner: Look at this place. You couldn't fight the guy outside?!
- "Well Done, Son" Guy:
- Kenny to Dr. Stanton.
- Terry also displays shades of this to Bruce in a mentor/apprentice example.
