One morning after a startlingly vivid nightmare of being chased by the Batman, Alfred discovers something almost as shocking — he's been stealing from his employer, a fact of which he has no memory. Batman's investigations lead him to suspect hypnosis.
This episode includes the following tropes:
- Air-Vent Passageway: Alfred uses one to get out of the room where he was confined. He pronounces it "quite a sticky wicket."
- Artifact Collection Agency: Downplayed, but after learning that the Eye of Sarkana has actual mystic powers, Bruce makes sure to buy it at the charity auction (offscreen) so he can keep it safe in the Batcave among the other artifacts of past cases.
- Batman Gambit: Bruce plants a tracker on Alfred after the initial discovery that he's been stealing in his sleep, presumably in case it happens again. After Spellbinder's hypnosis kicks in and Alfred cleans out the safe, Batman uses it to track the hypnotized butlers down and follow them to Spellbinder.
- The Dog Was the Mastermind: Spellbinder is the cameraman for the public events.
- Brainwashed: Alfred and briefly Bruce.
- Dramatic Chase Opening: Batman vs. Alfred.
- "Eureka!" Moment: Alfred has one when seeing the billionaires fall under Spellbinder’s trance during the televised auction. He then glances at the newspaper, and realizes Spellbinder’s true identity. But this then leads to...
- Explain, Explain... Oh, Crap!:Alfred: (noticing the photo of him and the other butlers on the newspaper) The photographer! He was Spellbinder! He used the photo shoots to implant us with hypnotic suggestion, triggered later by the sight of any clock at his predesignated time. And now, The Batman’s searching for butlers, when he should be seeking himself…
- Fanservice: With his sleeves rolled up and shirt half-open, Alfred exposes a lot more skin than usual in the second half of the episode. (The "camera" also gets right up against his chest while he's pulling a vent cover off the wall, in case you think it was just an innocent coincidence on the part of the artists. They know EXACTLY what they're doing.)
- The Help Helping Themselves: Subverted. The Batman Cold Open makes it look like Alfred is guilty of this, but the plot eventually reveals he and two other butlers had been hypnotized into doing it by Spellbinder.
- Hollywood Psychology: In Real Life, hypnosis cannot force a person to do something he would not ordinarily do.
- Hope Spot: At first it seems that Bruce locking up Alfred in a comfortable room will keep Alfred from stealing. Then Alfred realizes that Bruce was also hypnotized, and thus Batman will be.
- Our Zombies Are Different: Alfred refers to hypnotized individuals as "zombie butlers," and later "zombie billionaires", presumably because of their stiff posture and Thousand-Yard Stare.
- Manchurian Agent: Spellbinder uses his cover as a photographer to implant suggestions in his victims' minds during shoots. The suggestions activate when the victim sees a clock showing a predetermined time, causing them to drop everything and carry out whatever order Spellbinder gave them. Once they snap out of it, they have no memory of what they did while hypnotized.
- Mythology Gag: Bruce accesses the security tape via a button hidden in a bust of William Shakespeare.
- That Was Not a Dream: Alfred passes off being chased by Batman as a nightmare — until he sees that he's not wearing his pajamas and has mud on his shoes.
