Line #14 Recap/BatmanTheAnimatedSeriesE50OffBalance


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/off_balance_title_card.png]]
2	A group called the Society of Shadows steals a prototype piece of Wayne Tech mining equipment, which they intend to turn into a weapon. Pursuing them, Batman is aided by a mysterious young woman calling herself Talia.
3	----
4	!!Tropes in this episode include:
5	* AnimatedAdaptation: The episode is directly based on the comics story "Batman: Into the Den of the Death-Dealers" (Detective Comics #411, May 1971) by Dennis O'Neil, chronicling the first meeting of ComicBook/TaliaAlGhul and Batman.
6	* CompositeCharacter: Vertigo is a composite of Ebenezer Darrk and the Comicbook/GreenArrow foe Count Vertigo. His name, powers, and Eastern European heritage come from Count Vertigo, while his status as a pupil of Ra's al Ghul and a turncoat member of the League of Assassins comes from Darrk.
7	* CyanidePill: Batman corners two of Count Vertigo's henchmen, who gas themselves to death using a hidden catch in their masks rather than allow themselves to be captured. Batman later explains to Commissioner Gordon that they had "erased their own memories" when cornered, but from the way they're drawn convulsing and ending up with vacant dead stares on their faces, it's obvious that only the NeverSayDie clause kept their demise from being outright stated.
8	* DecapitatedArmy: As Batman notes, after Vertigo is gone, all the agents that served him immediately disperse.
9	* DiscOneFinalBoss: Vertigo is introduced simultaneously with the Society of Shadows, and played up as their leader, or at least a major big shot. Actually, he is a renegade and leader of a minor splinter faction of the group, and Batman, by defeating him, unwittingly helps the ''real'' leader of the Shadows (namely, Ra's al Ghul) to reconsolidate his hold on the organization.
10	* DisneyVillainDeath: Used as BookEnds, as Twitch falls to his doom in the opening sequence, and Vertigo plunges to his seeming demise in the climactic battle.
11	* EnigmaticMinion: Talia's motives are not made clear until the end of the episode, although it is revealed early on that she has some kind of connection to the Society of Shadows.
12	* EurekaMoment: Batman deduces where Count Vertigo's hideout is when Alfred tells him that he soon won't know his right hand from his left. Yes, he was confused about which direction Vertigo escaped in because his senses were scrambled, and he had actually gone in the opposite direction Batman had originally thought.
13	* EveryoneHasStandards: Even though Twitch was a small-time hood, Batman is naturally enraged with the two Society henchmen who throw him into Gotham Bay to his death, declaring he'll make them pay for that.
14	* HairpinLockPick: When Batman and Talia are locked in a room, and Vertigo has taken Batman's UtilityBelt, Talia uses a simple hairpin to open the door.
15	* HypnoticHead: Vertigo sometimes appears this way when using his disorienting ability.
16	* IronicEcho:
17	-->'''Batman:''' This is not over!\
18	'''Ra's al Ghul:''' As you said detective, this is not over.
19	* KarmicDeath: Vertigo, who uses an eye thing to disorient people, gets disoriented by enormously loud bells and falls to his death.
20	* LongRangeFighter: Vertigo never lets Batman or Talia get but so close to him in battle.
21	* TheManBehindTheMan: Not that it's any secret now, but Talia is clearly working for her dad the whole time.
22	* MysteriousWatcher: The episode ended with ComicBook/RasAlGhul watching from afar via a PalantirPloy.
23	* NoMacGuffinNoWinner: When Talia double-crosses him and steals the sonic drill for herself, Batman discreetly sabotages it to ensure she doesn't get to use it.
24	* RogueAgent: Vertigo, though Batman does not know this until the still mysterious Talia tells him. Vertigo is no longer part of the Society, but a rogue agent using its resources for his own ends.
25	* RoguesGalleryTransplant: Another ''ComicBook/GreenArrow'' villain, Count Vertigo, is adapted into this VillainOfTheWeek. However, he's also something of a CompositeCharacter, as he incorporates elements of the villain Ebeneezer Darrk from the comics story that introduced Talia.
26	* SequelHook: "As you said, Detective, this is not over."
27	* ShoutOut:
28	** Batman asks Talia whose side she is on. "That would be telling," she replies. Almost every episode of ''Series/ThePrisoner1967'' started with that dialogue.
29	** At the beginning of the episode, Batman has an exchange with some thug called "Twitch" that is lifted from ''Series/ThePrisoner1967'' opening.
30	--->'''Twitch:''' What do you want?\
31	'''Batman:''' Information…
32	** As befitting the VillainOfTheWeek, the finale at the clock tower host several direct homages to the Creator/AlfredHitchcock film ''{{Film/Vertigo}}''.
33	** Gordon's line, "One of these days I'm going to nail his feet to the ground.", is a reference to ''WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaid1989'', where Sebastian says the same about Ariel.
34	* SoftWater: During the opening sequence, Twitch ends up falling from the Statue of Lib- er, ''Freedom'''s torch into the sea. Falling from that height should be just as fatal regardless of whether he hit solid ground or water, but he's shown to survive.
35	* ThisIsADrill: Vertigo stole a rifle-sized drill from Wayne Enterprises that uses sonic vibration to dig. Uses it against Batman and Talia al Ghul.
36	* TrapIsTheOnlyOption: Sneaking through the Society of Shadows' hideout, Batman and Talia find a conveniently unlocked door to Vertigo's lab.
37	-->'''Talia:''' You do, of course, realize that this is a trap.\
38	'''Batman:''' Naturally, but what other choice do we have?
39	* TheUnreveal: Comics fans will recognize the Society of Shadows and Ra's Al Ghul as its ''true'' head, but otherwise the man goes unnamed.
40	* VertigoEffect: The effect is simulated for an ImpairmentShot when, appropriately, Vertigo uses his disorientation-inducing monocle on people.
41	* XanatosGambit: Batman sabotages the sonic drill before Talia is able to escape with it. Ra's al Ghul is impressed Batman is able to pull out a minor victory even in defeat.
42	* YouHaveFailedMe: Because of Batman tricking Twitch into a meeting and forcing him to spill what he knew, two assassins throw him off the Gotham Statue into the bay for betraying the Society, despite his protests that he was forced to talk.
43	* YourEyesCanDeceiveYou: Batman closes his eyes during the escape from Vertigo's lab, relying on his other senses to get himself and Talia through the various {{death trap}}s.
44	* YourSizeMayVary: The giant penny is much larger than it was in "[[Recap/BatmanTheAnimatedSeriesE46AlmostGotIm Almost Got 'Im]]," to the point that Alfred has to use a ladder to wipe it.

Context Recap / BatmanTheAnimatedSeriesE50OffBalance