Line #18 Recap/BatmanTheAnimatedSeriesE31TheCapeAndCowlConspiracy


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/batman_tas_s01e25_the_cape_and_cowl_conspiracy_0010.png]]
2	Josiah Wormwood a.k.a. The Interrogator, a deathtrap expert, is hired to get Batman's cape and cowl.
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5	!!Tropes in this episode include:
6	* AdaptationNameChange: Josiah Wormwood was named Jeremy Wormwood in the comic story this episode was based on.
7	* AnimatedAdaptation: This episode is actually an adaptation of the story "The Cape & Cowl Deathtrap!" in ''Detective Comics'' #450. Creator/ElliotSMaggin wrote the story for both the original comic and this episode.
8	* BaitAndSwitch: Between the HumiliationConga Batman puts "the Baron" Wacklaw Josek through while sweeping him off for questioning and the circumstances of said questioning, it's easy to assume the Baron hired Wormwood to [[EvilIsPetty humiliate the caped crusader in kind]]. As it turns out, the person who hired Wormwood was Batman himself, disguised as the Baron in order to trick Wormwood into confessing to an earlier crime. The real Baron heeded Batman's suggestion to take a long "vacation" far away from Gotham.
9	* BatmanGambit: While his larger plan is a "win-win" sort of XanatosGambit, Batman's effort to obtain an EngineeredPublicConfession from Wormwood relies on Wormwood's curiosity about his employer's plans for the cape and cowl getting the better of him to the point that he's willing to trade information.
10	* BatSignal: Makes its debut here.
11	-->'''Batman:''' ''[to Commissioner Gordon]'' I see you have a new toy.
12	* CastAsAMask: The Baron and Batman-as-Baron are played by the same voice actor (Creator/JohnRhysDavies) until TheReveal.
13	* ChainedToARailway: Wormwood uses a woman tied to the tracks as bait for Batman. The woman turns out to be a hologram. Wormwood laughs at Batman for thinking he would have really done it.
14	* ChairReveal: A character playing the Baddie of the Week to get Batman's cape and cowl turns out to be... Batman.
15	* ChallengeSeeker: When he learns what the Baron wants, Wormwood is immediately intrigued by the challenge of humbling Batman.
16	* CheapCostume: Upon finding himself in a death trap with no means of escape handy, Batman relents and throws off his mask, revealing... [[CrazyPrepared that he's wearing a black hankerchief tied over the top of his head with eye-slits cut into it.]] Which is actually nifty {{foreshadowing}}; Batman hired the villain under a different identity as part of a BatmanGambit. He ''had'' to lose his cowl to succeed in the plan and came prepared.
17	* ConMan: "The Baron" Wacklaw Josek is described by Gordon as being "a two-bit con man" willing to do anything for a free meal.
18	* DeathTrap: Wormwood's specialty; he lures victims into them and then extorts information in exchange for freeing them. He first steals a lot of money from a charity by trapping its courier in quicksand. Against Batman, he uses an enormous heat lamp, then some nerve gas when Batman predictably breaks the lamp.
19	* EngineeredPublicConfession: Wormwood's employer will only fess up to why he wants Batman's cape and cowl if Wormwood reveals who he stole some money for (and where it is). The employer is Batman himself, recording the whole conversation.
20	* {{Expy}}: Josiah Wormwood is essentially a prototype Riddler for the show -- a deathtrap specialist who uses riddles in his crimes and has an obsession with knowing secrets and matching wits. A few episodes later, the legit Riddler makes his debut. As a matter of fact, the Venezuelan dub actually calls him "El Acertijo, el interrogador" (The riddler, the Interrogator).
21	* HumiliationConga: Batman snatches the so-called Baron right out from behind the podium he's giving a fraudulent speech from, smashes him through a cake, and takes him on a lap around the room for good measure before leaving the premises to interrogate him. The startled attendees quickly burst into laughter, and the foreboding music changes to lighthearted woodwinds to highlight the silliness.
22	* IdiotBall: Batman ''seems'' to be holding it firmly throughout the episode, since during his attempts to catch the Interrogator, he simply keeps going where notes left by the latter are directing him to, thus walking straight into something which is very obviously a trap. Subverted when it turns out that he's been impersonating the Baron and it was ''him'' who actually gave Wormwood the job. He ''planned'' to be (supposedly) outsmarted by the villain and forced to give up the cape and cowl.
23	* InvoluntaryCharityDonation: Inverted. Josiah Wormwood becomes a focus of Batman's attention when he steals nearly a million dollars' worth of bonds that were earmarked for use in humanitarian efforts. In keeping with his in-universe pattern, he does so by luring the courier who was supposed to deliver them into one of his signature death traps and forcing him to give up their location in exchange for his life.
24	* MultilayerFacade: When Wormwood ultimately succeeds, Batman reveals a second mask underneath the cowl to protect his identity.
25	* MythologyGag: Wormwood says that Batman "is only human after all," which is what one of the Joker's henchmen said in the Creator/TimBurton [[Film/Batman1989 film]].
26	* OhCrap: Wormwood, when he realizes his current employer is none other than Batman... and that he's just confessed to stealing nearly a million dollars' worth of bonds and given away the name of his employer for ''that'' job to boot.
27	* OnlyInItForTheMoney: This seems to be Wormwood's only real motive besides sadistically interrogating his victims.
28	* OutGambitted: Batman pulls the rug out on Wormwood by disguising himself as his client, Wacklaw Josek, who Wormwood was trying to steal Batman's cowl for in the first place.
29	* RiddleMeThis: Wormwood is essentially a Riddler-lite villain.
30	* RudelyHangingUp: Wacklaw Josek (or rather Batman) hangs up on Wormwood just as he was reminding Joserk to explain why he wants Batman's cape and cowl.
31	-->'''Wormwood:''' Well!
32	* ScreamsLikeALittleGirl: Just listen to Wormwood when he crashes out of the penthouse window.
33	* SmugSnake: Wormwood boasts a great deal about the flawlessness of his traps and getting one over Batman... only to find out the detective was one step ahead of him the entire time.
34	* SoftGlass: Like most times, Batman can send a grappling hook through a glass window like it's nothing. Then it's subverted when Batman is unable to break a large light-bulb by just throwing his utility belt at it, and has to throw a pole at it like a spear. Then, two minutes later, he throws the belt at a glass wall, and it goes straight through it.
35	* TemptingFate: The "Baron", really a small-time con man, notes in a speech he is giving that he is "unaccustomed to being sought after." Cue Batman swooping out of the shadows and snatching him right off the stage, followed by a brief HumiliationConga before Batman takes things outside in order to discuss the person he's really after: Josiah Wormwood.
36	* TheUnreveal: An in-universe example; Wormwood uses various deathtraps to force Batman to relinquish his cape and cowl. At last, Batman does so--only to reveal that he's wearing a smaller cowl under his main cowl. Wormwood doesn't care; his client hired him to retrieve Batman's cape and cowl, not to reveal his secret identity. The client turns out to be Batman himself, who "hired" Wormwood in order to goad him into a confession for a previous crime.
37	* VillainWithGoodPublicity: Downplayed. The police are well aware of Josiah Wormwood's criminal activities, but they don't have any evidence that could justify arresting him and putting him on trial. Gordon outright admits that at this point, Batman is the only person who might be able to find evidence that can stick.
38	* WhamLine: "I'm going... to wear them!"
39	* XanatosGambit: Batman, in disguise, hires Wormwood to go after himself in a can't-lose proposition. If Wormwood fails, Batman captures him; if Wormwood succeeds, Batman will get Wormwood to make an EngineeredPublicConfession and capture him anyway.

Context Recap / BatmanTheAnimatedSeriesE31TheCapeAndCowlConspiracy