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Recap / The Batman S 2 E 5 Swamped

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Three common criminals fresh after successful robbery are intimidated by Killer Croc — a half-human, half-reptile hybrid — who forces them to work for him. In preparation for his plan, Croc quickly uses his newfound "accomplices" in a series of heists, stealing various goods ranging from explosives to jet skis. This catches the attention of Batman, who finds out that all recent robberies were committed near water and expects the criminals to make their next move in Gotham Bay.

Batman intercepts the Killer Croc's gang in the middle of another heist while they are stealing hardware from a freighter moored in the bay. He dispatches three mooks easily, but when he is confronted by Croc, the latter quickly proves himself to be far more dangerous opponent. Their fight ends with Croc dragging Batman underwater and nearly drowning him and criminals successfully fleeing the scene with stolen goods.

Soon later, Gotham is plagued by a mysterious flood which submerges lower part of the city. Killer Croc and his goons use it as a cover to rob local banks and stores. During the heist, they are once again attacked by Batman. Although he is unable to thwart the robbery, he manages to capture one of Croc's mooks and successfully interrogates him for whereabouts of his boss.

Batman tracks Killer Croc to his hideout in the sewers, where he confronts the villain and discovers his plans. It turns out Croc used an old overflow pump system for Gotham canals to cause recent flooding. The system was originally designed to draw the water out of canals into the bay in case of flood, but Croc reversed the pumps, causing them to draw the water from the bay into the canals until they overflow. What Killer Croc and his goons did that day was just a test run and now Croc plans to use the sabotaged system to submerge entire Gotham downtown.

After evading the villain's pet crocodiles, Batman follows Killer Croc to his main hideout and confronts him right in the middle of turning the main valve in order to activate the pumps. Although caught by surprise, Croc quickly defeats the Dark Knight and finishes the job, flooding a large part of Gotham. However, Batman is able to recover and turn the tables on the villain, reversing the valve and even making Croc lose a tooth. Eventually, Croc drags Batman underwater again and attempts to drown him. This turns out to be his undoing, as Batman simply puts on a rebreather and grabs Croc by the tail when he tries to resurface, holding him in place until he loses consciousness.

With Killer Croc and his goons defeated, Batman ties them all to a monument so they can be safely captured by incoming police officers. He then returns to the Batcave, where he gives Croc's tooth to Alfred (visibly displeased that Bruce — who just came out of canals — drenched the floor that he just mopped) so it can be collected as "evidence".


Tropes for this episode include:

  • Action Pet: The tamed crocodiles that Killer Croc sics on Batman.
  • Actor Allusion: Croc's first line before fighting Batman ("My daddy used to say: you want something done right, best to do it yourself") is eerily similar to Ron Perlman's last line as Reinhart in Blade II ("Well, like my daddy said right before he killed my mom, you want something done right you gotta do it yourself").
  • Adaptational Badass: Granted, Killer Croc never was a pushover to begin with, but this version is definitely larger, stronger and most of all, smarter than any of his previous animated incarnations, resembling his intelligence in his first few appearances.
  • Awesomeness by Analysis: When Batman beats up Killer Croc's henchmen at the beginning of the episode, Croc himself does not join the brawl, watching it from afar and analysing Dark Knight's fighting style. This allows him to deliver a Curb-Stomp Battle to Batman, countering his every move without much trouble.
  • Badass Boast: Killer Croc delivers one to Batman before fighting him for the first time.
    Killer Croc: You look to be this local Batman legend I've been hearing about. Well, folks are gonna start hearin' about how Killer Croc stopped you for good!
  • Bait-and-Switch: During the final underwater struggle between Batman and Killer Croc, the camera switches to Croc's mooks, who are lying on the ground tied up with bolas and cannot see what is going on. Eventually, they see Killer Croc emerging from the water, which indicates that he came out victorious in the end. A few moments later though, it turns out that he is actually unconscious and carried on Batman's back.
  • CPR: Clean, Pretty, Reliable: After taking an unconscious Croc out of water, Batman puts the rebreather into his mouth and somehow, this is all it takes to revive him. Granted, it would be hard to perform a mouth-to-mouth insufflation on a humanoid crocodile, but complete lack of cardiac massage is less understandable.
  • Crocodile Tears: Killer Croc lampshades it when he plans to flood Gotham even if it meant thousands of lives might be lost in the process.
  • Curb-Stomp Battle: Unsurprisingly, Batman delivers one to three Killer Croc's thugs at the beginning of the episode. A few moments later though, he finds himself on the receiving end of another one from Croc himself.
  • "Eureka!" Moment: When Killer Croc drags Batman underwater during their final fight and tries to drown him, Batman suddenly has a few flashbacks reminding him that Croc needs air to breathe as well. This makes him promptly release himself from Croc's grip, put on a rebreather and keep the opponent from resurfacing long enough for him to pass out.
  • Half-Human Hybrid: Unlike any other incarnation of the character, the Killer Croc in this show is speculated to be a result of military genetic experiments, presumably by splicing his DNA with that of a crocodile.
  • Hoist by His Own Petard: Croc relies on his ability to stay underwater much longer than any ordinary human and tries to drown Batman twice. This backfires horribly on his second attempt when Batman puts on a rebreather and holds Croc underwater until he runs out of air.
  • Lizard Folk: Previous portrayals of Killer Croc ranged from "a guy with bizarre skin disease" to "a crossbreed between a man and a reptile", but this incarnation goes even further in the latter direction, making Croc a full blown lizardman, complete with tail and long snout. To the show writers' credit, they didn't try to explain it as a result of an "extremely rare skin condition", but merely stated that he is a result of military experiments.
  • Multiple-Choice Past: One of Croc's thugs, interrogated by Batman, speculates that his boss may be a military experiment, a product of some kind of voodoo or just a circus freak.
  • Near-Villain Victory: In the climax, Killer Croc actually succeeds in flooding downtown Gotham and defeats Batman in their first bout when he tries to prevent it. However, he makes the mistake of pissing Batman off by gloating about his supposedly imminent victory — allowing Bruce to gain a Heroic Second Wind and turn the tables.
  • Never Say "Die": After learning about Killer Croc's plans, Batman says that due to flooding caused by him, tens of thousands of lives could be "lost".
  • No Endor Holocaust: During the scene where Gotham gets flooded by Croc, all streets are conveniently devoid of people. Also, despite Batman's suggestion about the possible death of thousands of lives, there is no mention of any fatalities during either this or any earlier floodings.
  • Only Known by Their Nickname: Although Croc's true name (Waylon Jones) is known from the comic books, it is never outright revealed in this episode and everybody refers to him exclusively as "Killer Croc".
  • Sewer Gator: Killer Croc basically invokes this trope by setting up his base of operations in the sewers. For bonus points, he even keeps a pair of genuine pet crocodiles there.
  • Superhero Trophy Shelf: The B plot involves Alfred setting up one of these in the Batcave using pieces of evidence from previous episodes. Bruce later gives him Croc’s tooth to add to it.
  • Too Dumb to Live: The reaction of three common street thugs seeing a large, humanoid reptilian monster twice the size of each one of them is to go ahead and try to "show the freak show who's boss around here". The only reason it didn't get them killed (besides of it being a kids show) is that Killer Croc wanted to strong-arm them into working for him.
  • Worf Effect: Once again, Batman proves that common criminals are no match for him in direct combat when he quickly beats up three mooks. Right after that, he faces Killer Croc, who easily dodges all his blows without even putting any visible effort into it and nearly kills the vigilante when he does get serious. This immediately establishes Croc as a dangerous adversary.
  • Wounded Gazelle Gambit: A subtle example. During the first fight between Batman and Croc, when the latter tackles the former and drags them both into the water, Batman pretends that he passed out. When they reach the bottom of the bay, it turns out that he still has some air left and suddenly punches Croc in the stomach as soon as he leaves an opening.

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