Reviews WesternAnimation / Batman Beyond

Lost Soul: Great and Important

Lost Soul is, first and foremost, a really good episode of the series. The Virtual Ghost of a ruthless tech mogul, unleashed by his nervous and unfit grandson, starts causing trouble, ultimately planning to steal his descendant's body. It also manages to get into Terry's augmented Batsuit, nearly killing him and then forcing the new Batman to go analogue, defeating it with nothing but a classic utility belt and Nightwing mask, but more to the point, with the skills, smarts, and instincts he's honed over his time becoming a capable and seasoned Batman.

It's not the most original premise in the world, sure, but I've always said originality is overrated, especially in what I see as the aftermath and wreckage of multiple big cultural events dramatically self-destructing in desperation to avoid the conventional. And who needs originality when the execution is so good?

The AI antagonist is a fantastic villain, with a memorably creepy, skull-like design and a voice that's just well-acted enough to come across as menacing rather than wooden despite mostly keeping to a controlled, even tone. It contributes to the oppressive, often scary atmosphere, as it repeatedly comes close to outright killing poor Terry to get him out of the way so it can enjoy the benefits of having a pair of hands full of combat programming. And while it's all animated on a TV budget, the execution of, say, the suit going limp when exposed to electromagnets is always fantastically realized, as are the many fight scenes.

But in the context of the show as a whole, it's one of the series' most important episodes. Critics and haters of Batman Beyond frequently (and to this day still do) derided Terry as a nothing, a nobody, just coasting on Bruce's accomplishments and relying on the suit to do all the work. That anyone could've done the things he does. This episode acknowledges those criticisms by showing that, as so many stories of that kind before and after, no, he makes the suit and not the other way around. That Terry has grown into a brave, seasoned crimefighter in his own right, willing to risk his life just because it's the right thing to do even against Bruce's advice and orders. And with a few minimal exceptions, it mostly does it through subtext rather than giving into the temptation of unsubtle, on-the-nose voicing of those complaints by the characters.

So often, landmark episodes of shows are also only interesting as landmarks. I'm glad to say that one of the most landmark episodes of Batman Beyond was also really good entertainment.