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andreafmn · 3 years

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Running In Circles - Chapter 4

Word Count: 3,783

Characters: Female Reader Rossi Character, Aaron Hotchner, David Rossi, Derek Morgan, Spencer Reid, Jennifer “JJ”Jareau, Emily Prentiss, Penelope Garcia

Story Description: (Y/N) Rossi is following in her father’s footsteps by joining the BAU team as a profiler. The girl genius knew almost everything but she could have never predicted falling for Aaron Hotchner, her boss and her father’s friend. in their world mutual feelings are not enough to push them together. Will all the adversities and obstacles they face pull them together or push them apart forever?

*DISCLAIMER* I do not own in any way Criminal Minds, all credits of the pre-established characters, script, and storyline belong to Jeff Davis and CBS Network. The only thing I own is Arden Rossi, any upcoming characters, and her storyline, as well as her effects in the others’ story line.

Chapter: 4/?

A/N: These next chapters are really just gonna be the necessary episode that contributes to the character's storyline. I'll try my best to compress them into fewer chapters but some I do need for my storyline. If you enjoy my writing I’ll also be posting them in AO3 and Wattpad along with other stories (I also hope to start taking requests if ya’ll want) Hope you enjoy and all constructive criticism is encouraged.

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Chapter 4

It’s funny how life moves so quickly, but agonizingly slow at the same time.

We had been on the hunt for the prince of darkness after he resurfaced 26 years after what we thought was his last crime in California. He had been across the 48 continuous states, leaving his mark of crimes all over the map. Initially, we were confused as to why he would reappear in Los Angeles if he never hit the same city twice until we noticed a pattern. Billy Flynn was recreating his original murders to taunt Matt Spicer, a survivor, and tell him he’d be going after Spicer’s family because he wanted recognition for the murder that had made Spicer a “city hero”, he wanted to be part of the story. They were horrible and vile crimes one after the other and we were working nonstop to catch him. The case took a turn when we found out he was going after Ellie and Kristin Spicer, Matt’s daughter, and sister, respectively.

The case took a turn when we sent Spicer and Morgan to retrieve the family thinking Flynn was going to take them from Matt’s house. But it was too late, he had gotten there before them. The duo decided to go to Kristin’s house believing he needed privacy to conduct whatever he was planning. Hotch, Prentiss, and I were in a car as we got intel from Morgan, waiting on the address of the sister’s house. But it didn’t make sense, that wasn’t personal enough for him. It didn’t tie into the story. Being stuck in traffic was exasperating, and it only got worse once we lost cell reception in the middle of a call.

Against my better judgment, we headed to Kristin’s apartment where we found out she had been gone for hours and Morgan had never arrived.

“Something must have changed,” Emily expressed.

“The cells are down,” Kurzbard chimed. “Now how the hell do you find them?”

“What would cause Morgan to change his like that when he knows he can’t tell us?” My father spoke up, worry evident in his eyes.

“The unsub had Spicer’s sister and daughter; Morgan knew he didn’t have a lot of time.” Hotch analyzed.

“So, his first guess had to be right.”

“The unsub attacked Spicer specifically through his family,” Emily commented.

“How long has Spicer’s sister lived here?”

“6-7 months.”

“Well, that’s why they didn’t come here.”

“If the unsub wants to hurt Spicer, hell do it someplace that means something to him. Morgan must have realized the same thing.” I thought. “The unsub and Spicer do share one place in common.”

“Santa Monica.”

“Where he killed his parents,” I finished.

“Let’s go.” Hotch started the quick walk to the cars to speed off to Spicer’s childhood home, where we hoped to find Morgan and the Spicers.

Once we arrived the front yard was covered with emergency vehicles, my mind spiraling to the worse possible scenario. We were already one man down; Flynn had gotten to Spicer. Kristin was in rough shape and Flynn had taken Ellie. Morgan had a pretty nasty head wound, but being the strong-headed man he was he just wanted to get back to work.

“Guys, I’m not going to any hospital until we find that little girl.” He directed himself to the EMT. “Now, please just put a bandage on it.”

“Morgan, what’s the notebook?” I motioned to the small book in front of him.

“I asked the sister to tell me everything she could remember about the unsub.”

“And what’s her condition?”

“It’s bad.”

“I’ll go check on her,” Emily offered. She left with the ambulance and hopefully we could get more information out of her.

Everyone knew Morgan wasn’t in perfect condition to continue working, but we also knew he wouldn’t allow us to make him rest. JJ and Reid arrived at the scene with satellite phones to allow communication to continue while the phone towers were down.

“Any word on Ellie?” JJ asked, clearly worried about the innocent little girl that had been brought into this tragedy. Morgan glared at her with such an intensity we all got uncomfortable. “I was just…”

“It’s not you,” I comforted, going out to follow Morgan, Hotch trailing behind.

Outside he called Garcia, asking for her to run the plates on the RV, treating her coldly. I knew he was desperate, but Penelope was worried, as were the rest of us. Something much worse could’ve happened to him; he could have ended up like Spicer.

“You know, she really needs to be more professional sometimes.” Derek turned.

“She gets the job done every time,” Hotch defended.

“I told him, Hotch.” His voice cracked. “I told him that we should wait for backup but he wouldn’t listen to me. We split up and he headed around back before I could stop him.”

“Morgan, sometimes when it comes to family common sense and procedure go out the window.”

“You do the best you can,” I comforted, laying a hand on his shoulders to let him know he wasn’t alone.

“This unsub raped the aunt and then beat her for no reason. She didn’t resist, guys. And he still pistol-whipped her until her ribs were crushed. He killed Spicer while he was on his knees. He was unarmed. This guy’s a pure psychopath. I want this guy.”

“And we’ll get him.”

“Well, we better do it fast. Taking Ellie was like a game to him. The sick bastard thought it was funny. He’s gonna get pissed off at her, she’s nothing but a little girl. She’s gonna show him fear, and when she does… he’s gonna kill her.”

“Then, what are we doing standing around? Let’s go,” I tried my best to encourage.

We all quickly headed back to the precinct, needing to calculate what his net moves would be. He changed his methods suddenly; all patterns were out the window. Flynn wasn’t devolving he was becoming more calculate, we had to find the ends to his means. And Derek’s attitude wasn’t helping to ease the tension we were all feeling. Thankfully, Emily entered at the right moment. We couldn’t run the plates, possibly Kristin had gotten them wrong, but she remembered something crucial. The radio. Flynn listened to the radio following the sound of his name in the mouths of newscasters, and although this could help us, the LAPD had released everything we knew about the RV, about Ellie, and about him.

“That might force him to dump the RV,” my dad said.

“Or kill…” Spencer started but quickly stopped knowing this wouldn’t help appease the strained situation.

“No, I don’t think so.”

“Why not?”

“He could’ve killed you and the sister, but he didn’t. He kept you alive, he can’t be surprised that we know what he’s driving and that he has a hostage,” I explained, my father nodding his head in agreement.

We knew he listened to the radio but not which station, but an idea surfaced in JJ. We could try to work with the Emergency Alert System. Quickly, she got to work to be able to get out a message that we were sure would reach Flynn. On one side of the room, Emily and Morgan were talking about Kristin and what she had made him promise her. The safekeeping of Ellie. Kristin said it wasn’t fair of her to ask that, but Morgan wouldn’t break that promise.

As JJ worked the bureaucratic sinkhole that was the EAS, we got word that Flynn was currently in another house with Ellie. When we arrived at the scene, he was gone, but not for the lack of trying to from the neighbors. They had tried to stop him, but he had already taken that family’s car and was able to speed off. We needed to work even quicker than before, he was getting desperate.

Inside the RV he discarded, Ellie’s hair was found on the floor. Derek got enraged, but Spencer reassured him: “Why would you disguise someone you were going to kill?”

Looking for clues inside, Derek found a pipe and I found a newspaper. As they fixated on more clues from the underlined words on it: “bright, happy child,” Spencer pointed out, Derek thought back on what Flynn had said back at the Spicer house. Flynn was after Ellie all along.

One thing we were wrong on the profile, he was stuck in the delusion of believing he was some sort of grandparent to Ellie; she wouldn’t be here if he hadn’t let Matt survive. In a matter of seconds, the gears in the case started shifting at full speed. Once JJ got through to the Madame Secretary, Hotch assigned her to hostage negotiation through the system, trying to find a way to draw him out. On the other hand, Reid and I were looking over some newspapers that were stored in the RV, the murders we might have thought were his first might not have been. As soon as the lights came back on and the cell towers were up we were contacting Garcia to check the records on a murder investigation from 1968.

Garcia has always worked fast and well, this time it was no different.

“So, Nora Flynn was a prostitute and a drug addict living in a desert community just outside of Los Angeles. It appears bikers were her stock in trade, rough bikers. And one fateful day she and a client were murdered by her 13-year-old son Billy. Shot to death. The costumer, ironically named John, was able to tell the police before he died that Billy made him beg for his life and then shot him anyway.”

“That’s him,” Morgan commented.

“And he was convicted, but...”

“He’s a juvenile,” I said.

“Right. So at 18, he was released in 1973, never heard from again,” Penelope continued.

“Oh, he was heard from,” Emily spoke up.

“And he never released a statement as to why he killed them, although it does appear his childhood was horrific. I’m sending you a picture of him on the day he was released to your PDAs.”

“make sure you send the files to JJ,” Hotch instructed.

“Of course, my liege. Garcia bids you ad…”

She was cut off by Morgan, hopefully, so he could apologize for being so cold. “Garcia, wait a minute.”

He took the phone and left to a more private corner to talk to our tech genius. Also, Hotch had gone outside to help JJ with the tough job she had to do; I did not want to be in her shoes right now. We were all standing around in a circle listening to JJ, we could tell she was nervous and picking her words carefully. At first, it was a little rough, but as soon as she tapped into her motherly instincts it was going way smoother. Hopefully, it hit the nail on the head.

Then we received some unfortunate news, Kristin had passed away. The look of defeat on Derek’s face was painful, Ellie was alone now. But there was some hope – Flynn had let Ellie go. JJ had succeeded. We sped off to the house where Billy Flynn was hiding. Upon arrival we were met with the LAPD, they had a direct line to Flynn sent in and were waiting for contact. It rang as soon as we got there, he was watching us.

“He wants to talk to you,” Kurzbard extended the phone towards Derek.

“What?” His tone was pointed, laced with anger and desperation. “He wants me to come in.”

Morgan started walking towards the house after exchanging some words with Hotch. My heart was beating a million miles an hour and I held onto Emily to stabilize myself. We had no eyes or ears on the inside of the house, and anything could happen whilst we were outside and Derek inside.

A couple of minutes went by until ten shots rang through the house. My heart dropped and tears spilled from my eyes unconsciously. I was expecting for the worse as my hands flew to my gun, ready to enter the house, but Emily held me back as Derek calmly walked out of the house. Emily and Spencer accompanied officers to survey the scene and I stayed behind with my father and Hotch to make sure Derek was okay. My father hugged my shoulders as we watched the reunion between Ellie and Morgan, who thankfully came out of the house unscathed.

On the flight home, I couldn’t help but shed a few tears as the adrenaline from the case was wearing down. Next to me, Derek noticed my mood shift and sat closer to me.

“What’s up, baby girl? What’s got you like this?”

“I don’t know, it’s just back at the house we didn’t know anything and all we hard were the shots; I just thought the worst had happened. I’m just being dumb,” I chuckled, trying to downplay how I was feeling. He was the one who went through the traumatic experience, not me.

“Oh come on, you know it would take more than a couple of knocks and a crazy unsub to take me down. You’re gonna have to put up with me for a long time. All of us,” he motioned to the rest of the team. The ones who were still awake nodded and smiled.

But the team would suffer a huge loss before we knew it. This morning JJ, Strauss, and Hotch had been in Hotch’s office right before we were meant to be on the plane to Atlantic Beach. No one knew what they were meeting about, but it had to be serious.

We all left to the case with the underlying question of what the meeting was about. On the plane we stared at JJ until she confessed about the meeting; the Pentagon had offered her a job twice and Strauss wanted her to take it. As much as we wanted to pick her brain about it, there wasn’t too much news. She had a job offer she didn’t want and our boss wanted her to take it. We needed to focus on the case.

At the moment there were two men in custody, 20-year-old Sid and Jimmy. They were claiming they both had consensual sex with our 19-year-old victim Kate after she left a bar with them. Highly doubtful. The need to break them down psychologically became apparent when there were no plot holes found in their stories by the police. We had no body, two suspects, and a limited amount of time.

As soon as we landed, the team got busy with their assignments. JJ was to stay with the parents, Emily and Morgan were in interrogations, dad and Reid to the bar, and Hotch and I to review the interview videos to find any nonverbal clues to disrupt their story. As quickly as we could work so did Garcia. In minutes she gave us a big background into the kids, criminal troublemakers since their preteens.

We watched intently both interviews, Syd’s directly and Jimmy through recording. Syd was prepotent and standoffish since Derek walked in, not much perturbed him, Jimmy on the other hand had a tell.

“He never mentions her by name,” I said as we watched the interview Emily was carrying out with Jimmy.

“Why not?” Detective Mathias asked.

“He’s distancing himself,” Hotch added. “Depersonalizing the victim.”

“Look at the way he shifts his weight and cracks his neck. His behavior was consistent until Kate was mentioned,” I noted and Hotch nodded. Mathias seemed very interested in the way we analyzed every single movement.

Then, both asked for a polygraph test. As we waited to hear from the polygraph results we got to work on theories.

“So, what if they didn’t do it then we’re back to nothing?” Mathias doubted.

“One of them knows where Kate is,” I said nonchalantly.

“How can you be sure?”

“Because an innocent person doesn’t sit quietly for three days. They get angry and defensive.”

“These guys are going out of their way to appear calm and in control,” Derek added. “They’ve got something to hide.”

We knew they were stalling with the polygraphs, all we had to do is figure out what they knew about Kate’s whereabouts. Hotch then sent JJ back to dig into the parents a little, why would have Kate gone with these two boys if everyone else says she wouldn’t have? JJ adamantly turned and headed to the Pearson couple.

“Hotch, we can’t lose her,” I whispered.

“Strauss thinks we’re all replaceable. I went over her head to try to explain that we’re not.”

It wasn’t the answer we wanted, but it’s the one that we got. At the end of the day, we could be short a team member. And worse, our family would be separated.

But we had to continue working, they had passed the tests. We needed to continue the interviews. Something they were counting on. Dad went in to talk to Syd and Reid talked to Jimmy, the latter having a bit of a short fuse. We were going to continue on and on until they broke.

We had less than three hours until they were released. We needed everything we could get. As Derek pushed Syd, and Emily left Jimmy, Hotch got a call. I quickly picked at his cell and the screen read Strauss. So, I excused myself and left Emily to analyze the pictures that were on Syd’s phone of that night.

“She’s leaving, isn’t she?” I asked, reading Hotch’s defeated posture. He nodded. “There’s nothing you can do?”

“They’re not asking. It’s a direct order,” he rubbed his temples.

“So, she’s going to DC?” He nodded once more. I knew it was hard on him the most. He was the person we all looked onto to keep us united, but this really was out of his hands.

“I really wish there was more I could do,” he sighed. We shared a quick hug in the empty hallway, a way of reassuring him that he didn’t have to carry this news by himself. As we detached, he shared a small smile of relief, a small weight lifting off his shoulders.

“Well, come on. There’s no good in dwelling on it right now. Let’s catch these scumbags and bring back Kate.”

The interviews carried on. We couldn’t be distracted by the sad news. We were picking apart every breath, every movement, every word. Then, as she perused the pictures, JJ noticed in a Kate-less one her phone was present. But, Kate’s phone was in possession of her mother since it was recovered from Kate’s hotel room. The girl had made it back to the hotel.

We started forming our hypothesis. Most of the story they believed to be true because it actually was, they did take her back to the hotel, and they did leave. But Jimmy had felt rejected by Kate since she didn’t pay him much attention, and he had the perfect excuse to come back. So, when he left Syd back home, he went back with Kate’s phone. He lured her outside, possibly drugged her, and took her to his boat. Spencer pointed out that Jimmy was obsessed with the details of the port and Mathias added that at that time of night the blood from the catch would attract hundreds of sharks.

“We asked him if he killed her,” I sighed. “He didn’t. Asked where her body is.”

“He doesn’t know,” Emily added, following my train of thought.

“Technically those aren’t lies,” Spencer stated.

“How can you prove this?”

“We’ll get them to admit it,” Hotch answered Mathias.

Back into the interview room we were. We had our bait, and we were gonna reel in the answers.

After we pushed and got no concrete answers, we knew we had to search the ocean. I left with JJ ad Hotch to the port in hopes that she would be found. The Coast guard was 70 miles out and there was no sign of the young girl. We were getting worried.

“Kate’s an amazing swimmer. If he didn’t kill her when she hit the water, there’s still a chance,” JJ hoped.

“JJ, that’s three days in the ocean,” Hotch stated.

“I know,” she said in a defeated tone.

“This might be a long shot, but she would have been thrown near a dangerous area, which would mean there would be buoy markers. It could be possible that, if she was still alive when she hit the water, she swam all the way to a buoy, and since it’s been three days and hopefully, she has no major wounds, there’s a high probability she could’ve survived.” JJ looked up at me and gave me a small smile.

“Nice catch, (Y/N).” Hotch quickly punched in the number for the helicopter and told them to look closely at any buoys they saw around the area.

“I have a feeling about this one, JJ.” She hugged my shoulders. “We’re gonna find her.”

It wasn’t long until we got the news. Mathias came back to tell us they had found her hugging a buoy, alive. The three of us let out a breath of relief, and the unit chief and I stayed back as JJ went to tell the parents the good news. Although no words were exchanged, when we both looked at each other we knew this victorious feeling would be a short-lived one for the team.

Now that it was over JJ would be gone. When we got back, everyone else knew. JJ came out of the briefing room with a defeated look in her eyes, after a mad Hotch had stormed into his office. It didn’t take long for these brilliant minds to figure out the exchange.

“It’s done,” she sighed.

“It can’t be that simple,” Morgan protested.

“It is,” I said.

“You knew?”

“Figured it out back at the precinct,” I answered JJ. “Hotch got the call while Derek was interviewing Syd. It wasn’t too hard to map out.”

“This job is hard enough. What’re they trying to do, bury us?”

“She’s too good,” Emily said.

“She’s on everybody’s wish list,” dad added. “Our loss is somebody else’s gain.”

“They can’t just take you away,” Spencer said sadly. But they could, and they did.

It was a hard goodbye. She wasn’t truly gone but she wouldn’t be with us anymore. There wouldn’t be a need for a true grieving period, but the JJ-shaped hole that would fall upon the BAU team would be impossible to fill. Our family would not be fully complete until hopefully one day she came back.

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themachiavellianpig · 4 years

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“I’m Telling My Story”: Ainsley Whitly, The Prodigal Daughter

Throughout the first half of season one, we can see a great deal of how Martin Whitly’s actions affected his wife and son, both of whom are still actively struggling with the guilt of having been in some way intimate with such a man. Ainsley, in contrast, seems relatively unaffected by the situation and even describes herself as “lucky” in comparison to her brother- she is at least five years younger than Malcolm and seems to remember little of her father, giving her a significant emotional disconnection from his crimes. In direct contrast to her brother, she can hold down a steady job, engage in close relationships, and doesn’t appear to be in any kind of therapy. Unlike her mother, she isn’t even shown to be self-medicating in any way - she simply does not seem to need such coping methods.

This relative stability is a gift, one for which Jessica explicitly gives herself credit: “Do you sleep at night? ...When you close your eyes, do you find peace? That peace is because of the choices I made. You can thank me any time you like.” (1x03)

And it’s a gift which, arguably, Ainsley squanders over the course of the first half of season 1.

“I don’t remember my dad. I was forbidden.” In the first ten episodes of Prodigal Son, we get to see some of the time immediately before and after Martin’s arrest, all from either Malcolm’s or Jessica’s point of view. We see nothing at all of Ainsley, except for a brief shot of her being held by her mother during Martin’s arrest. Given that Ainsley was only five years old at the time, this is admittedly unsurprising. Her memories of that time, so far as we know, are limited to Malcolm’s reassurances (“I was only five when Dad was arrested, I don’t really remember it. But I remember you. Telling me everything was going to be okay when you knew it wasn’t.”, 1x01).

But she would certainly remember what happened afterwards, in the twenty years between Martin’s arrest and the first episode of Prodigal Son. We do not know exactly how Malcolm and Ainsley grew up following Martin’s arrest, but we can make certain deductions.

Malcolm, as the person who discovered Martin’s true identity, as the one who was clearly and obviously traumatised by the discovery, would likely have been the focus of Jessica’s attention - in the same way that any child in crisis would be. Jessica’s active concern for Malcolm continues into the present day, clearly signposted in the first episode: Malcolm: “I assume you don’t break into Ainsley’s place like this.” Jessica: “God, no! She’s perfect. You’re my only concern.”

Additionally, we know that Martin Whitly, perfectly understandably, becomes something of a ghost in his former home. All reminders of him are packed away - there are no photos of him, his private study in the basement is walled up and forgotten, leading Malcolm to hide certain reminders of happier times in a shoebox under his bed. We don’t know exactly how Jessica navigates this particular transition from well-to-do nuclear family to tabloid fodder - how she told Ainsley the truth about her father or, quite frankly, if she ever did explicitly. Did Martin become something which simply was not spoken of in polite company, or indeed any company at all?

Ainsley’s choice of words in 1x03 (“I was forbidden”) suggests a harsher line than simple silence, potentially indicating that questions about Martin were not only frowned upon but actively discouraged. Martin Whitly, loving father, was gone for good; the Surgeon was all that remained, and the Surgeon was not to be discussed. As early as 1x03, Ainsley even says that she has no idea what being back in contact with Martin will do to her brother’s mental health because she has no knowledge of who or what Martin Whitly really is.

Just like Malcolm and Jessica, Ainsley seems to be struggling with having a connection to a monster. Regardless of the fact that she doesn’t remember having a familial relationship with Martin, he is her biological father - and if her mother and brother can’t give her the answers that she needs about him, she’s going to go straight to the source instead.

“Martin Whitly is your biggest fan.” Ainsley’s decision to meet with Martin in episode four is prompted, I would argue, by a combination of curiosity and, let’s be fair, the sort of spite that springs up when a controlling parent tells you not to do something - after all, she only goes to visit Martin after both her mother and her brother have done the same thing, all while maintaining that nobody should ever go and speak to the Surgeon. But I find it very interesting that she only makes the decision to visit him after her mother lets slip a brand new piece of information:

Ainsley: Thanks to both of you, he doesn’t even know I exist. Jessica: He knows all about you. He watches you every day. He daughter, the ace reporter. Martin Whitly is your biggest fan.

This information, it should be noted, is only news to Ainsley. We, the audience, see Martin watching one of Ainsley’s broadcasts in 1x02; in episode 1x03, he asks Malcolm to “Please tell your sister that her diction is impeccable!” and, in the same episode, he compliments Jessica on her excellent childrearing (“You did well, Jessica. I am so proud of him, and of Ainsley, and of you, for raising our beautiful children.”).

And, from my perspective, this information is also profoundly creepy. A convicted serial killer obsessively watches all of a homicide journalist’s broadcasts? That’s a two-parter of Criminal Minds right there.

But to Ainsley it’s a link, a connection, to a part of her life which she has never really been allowed to engage with. The trauma of Martin Whitly is written large on her mother and brother, but her trauma is second-hand and reactionary, which is admittedly a great improvement on the alternative, but would Ainsley see it that way? All children want to do is feel like they belong, and being the one left out - even the one left out of trauma - is never pleasant.

Now, through an offhand comment from her mother, Ainsley knows that her father is interested in her, and in her work - in direct contrast to her mother, who supports her work idly, never really watching her reports (“Not with the sound on!”, 1x01), who finally starts to tell her something real about her father and his opinion of her and then immediately tries to shut the conversation down (“Can we please talk about something else?”, 1x04).

And so Ainsley heads off to see her father for the first time in twenty years.

“You made him out to be just a monster.” We, the audience, had a full two weeks to wait between seeing Ainsley in Martin’s cell and hearing anything of the conversation that they shared, which was genuinely one of the most infuriating cliff-hangers I’ve seen for a while.

The meeting with Martin undoubtedly rattles Ainsley, albeit not in the way she expected. As Jessica points out, Ainsley went to that cell to meet a monster, and instead found a seemingly loving father (1x06). A man who regretted his absences in his daughter’s life and had filled the gaps with daydreams of “birthdays, piano recitals, dancing with [her] at the debutante ball” (1x06), daydreams in which, judging by the fantasies shared with Ainsley, he plays the starring role of Devoted Father. This conversation could have been repeated between any father-daughter duo separated in television plotlines around the world - the cause of that separation is so overlooked by Martin’s little fantasy to be actually hilarious.

And, by this point in the series, we’ve seen both Malcolm and Jessica be taken in by Martin’s acts, not to mention all the people that Martin had fooled during his days as an active serial killer, so it’s hardly surprising that Ainsley is at least a little taken in as well. The split between Martin-the-father and Martin-the-serial-killer is also one that has preoccupied Jessica and Malcolm throughout the twenty-years and it’s one that Ainsley, through her lack of memories about Martin, has been spared up until the moment she comes face to face with him, and asks him the “most important question”: ” “Was it real? … Did you love us or was it just some psychopathic act?”

The surviving members of the Whitly family may never really know the answer to that question - and it’s a question which has no easy answers. Which would truly be worse - being an unwilling cover story for a monster, or genuinely being loved by a monster?

But, for Ainsley, the question is no longer about what her relationship with Martin was; it’s about what it could be - or, more precisely, about what it could do for her.

“Ambition is not a dirty word.” The decision to interview Martin is one which, full disclosure, makes perfect sense from a professional point of view; an interview with a notorious serial killer, particularly one who had never spoken publicly about his crimes before, would be a feather in the cap of any crime journalist. She is also arguably the best choice to conduct such an interview from a creepy mercenary perspective - her familial relationship to the Surgeon gives the interview a sensationalist angle which would be impossible for any other network to easily duplicate - and, unlike the rest of her family, Ainsley has not yet been traumatised by Martin Whitly.

Of course, it's the ‘yet' in that last sentence that has Jessica and Malcolm so worried about Ainsley - her visiting Martin might be less immediately damaging that Malcolm or Jessica coming face to face with their own personal demon, but it's still very unlikely to be healthy.

Interestingly, Malcolm's concerns about the interview seem to be extremely focused on Ainsley's immediate personal safety ("You’re putting yourself in his cross hairs"), and his reaction on learning that she's already seen Martin is to ask if she is okay. Jessica, as the only member of the family who really remembers the immediate media aftermath of Martin's arrest, becomes far more focused on the potential PR concerns:

Jessica: Ainsley, if you do not have a plan to make him look bad, he will look good. Tell me you understand. Ainsley: Mother, these are the questions I sent. Not the questions I’m going to ask. Jessica: Alright. I see what you’re doing. Ainsley: Good. Can you stop worrying? Jessica: I am far more worried now. Ainsley: What? Why? Jessica: Thinking you are more clever than Martin Whitley, that’s the worst mistake you can make. He’ll exploit that. He’ll find a way to come off sympathetic and you will be sitting there like- Ainsley: Like what? Jessica: His accomplice.

Jessica, as we learn later in the season, was herself questioned by the police about her role in Martin's crimes, and I am sure that the media speculation around the Wife of the Surgeon would have been horrific and heartbreaking. She clearly does not want Ainsley to put herself through the same thing - and she certainly does not want Martin to have any opportunity to manipulate the wider population, as he has so easily manipulated his own family in the past.

This is not to say that Jessica has no concern for Ainsley's safety - her immediate reaction to the potential interview is to get the entire thing blacklisted by the network itself. It's only when Ainsley reveals a willingness to outplay her mother at that particular chess game that she relents - not to give her blessing, but to step back and allow Ainsley the dignity of her own choices.

And, potentially, Ainsley does take some of her mother's fears seriously - she insists on keeping Martin in his restraints during the interview, despite technical concerns from Jin the Cameraman, and she makes sure that the red safety line on the cell floor is in shot. She even refuses Hair and Makeup the chance to make Martin look anymore physically presentable before the interview begins.

The interview itself, however, does not go exactly as Ainsley had clearly wanted it to - first, Martin neatly sidesteps her attempts to throw past crimes in his face, then her brother interrupts with police business, then her cameraman gets stabbed. All in all, hardly a good day at the office.

The interplay between Martin and Ainsley hashes out the timeless question of what really makes a person - Ainsley focuses on the lives her took, complete with grisly details ("Billy Franklin, age 23. Aced his LSATs, wanted to become a civil rights lawyer. You removed his heart to see how long he could live without it. He died a gruesome, agonising death. My question is why?", 1x07), Martin fights backs with the lives he saved ("How about Corey Goldstein, age 10? A brutal car accident left him with a surely fatal aortic rupture. Until he landed in my OR, where I saved his life.") and the medical procedures he developed ("Did you know they named a medical procedure after me? ...I’ve heard a rumour that doctors still call it the Whitley, in hospitals all around the world", 1x07).

It's a far more complicated portrayal of evil that Ainsley had prepared for - she has no good response prepared for the accusation that Martin did some good in the world, unlike her pithy retorts about particular victims and what Martin did to them. We don't get the chance to see if Ainsley would have been able to retake control of the interview, given Malcolm's interruption, as his arrival gives Ainsley a very different line of attack - the only line of attack, it must be said, that ever seems to really rattle Martin. Ainsley is the only character in the first part of season 1 to really get under Martin's skin - but she can only do it by using her own brother as bait:

Ainsley: So. I mentioned a number of your victims earlier, but I’d like to discuss one more. Malcolm. Malcolm Whitly. Martin: I’m not sure I understand Ainsley: You claim to care about your son, but what you did twenty years ago harmed him irreparably. Martin: Well, that’s not true. Ainsley: Isn’t it? He’s been diagnosed with complex PTSD, generalised anxiety disorder, night terrors. Dr Whitley, do you know what happens to the human body when it withstands that much stress for that long a period of time? Martin: I’m not sure that’s relevant- Ainsley: He was fired from the only job he was ever good at. He hasn’t been in a stable relationship for years. And the ten years he went without seeing you were by far the happiest, healthiest of his life. Martin: Well, that’s absolutely not- Ainsley: What does that say about you, except for you’re an absolutely terrible father? Martin: I’m not. Ainsley: He just wanted to love you. And you caused him so much pain. Martin: Stop it. Ainsley: What kind of a father does that? Martin: Stop it! I was a good father, damn it!

This interaction goes on to form a crucial part of the interview - Martin's loss of control is featured in the introduction to the actual broadcast (as seen in 1x10) - and it was not at all discussed with Malcolm beforehand. We, the audience, are not entirely clear on how much information Martin had about his son's condition prior to Ainsley’s disclosure- he would have known some things, noticed symptoms such as the hand tremor, but that is still potentially miles away from Malcolm's having his mental health history spelt out like that in front of Martin and, potentially, in front of everyone who watched Ainsley's interview.

It's a successful and potentially satisfying manipulation of Martin, to be sure, but it's also a heart-wrenching violation of Malcolm, and Ainsley never seems to notice.

In a matter of hours, Ainsley double-downs on the notion of violating the privacy of others when she films Martin perform surgery on Jin the Cameraman, stabbed in the patient-uprising which Martin himself engineered. We never get to see Malcolm's reaction to his violation - he doesn't seem to challenge Ainsley on it directly in any way - but Jin does (1x08). Jin, when he wakes in the hospital to find that Ainsley filmed the surgery and didn't tell him about it, has a very simple and understandably reaction.

Jin: What is this? You filmed my surgery? Ainsley: I was going to tell you. I just- I- I- I got so caught up in the adrenaline and it was so compelling- Jin: Oh, was it? Was it compelling when I almost died? Ainsley: We went there to get a great story and we got one. I was doing my job! Jin: I understand. This is who you are. I just don’t think that’s the kind of person that I want to be with.

And Ainsley doesn’t try to apologise to her boyfriend, or try to explain herself any further - she leaves Jin in the hospital, taking the interview footage with her instead.

“I’m telling my story!” The interview, despite the various dramas around it all, is eventually broadcast. Thanks to Jessica’s well-thrown shoe (seriously), we never get to see the interview in its entirety (which is a great shame, seeing as we only see Ainsley get a few minutes of usable footage in 1x07), but we do get to see the introduction: “Dr Martin Whitley murdered 23 people as the Surgeon, making him one of the world’s most deadly serial killers. I’m Ainsley Whitley for American Direct News and the Surgeon is my father.”

The clips that we see include Martin's lose of control at being called a terrible father, which strongly implies that at least some of the section concerning Malcolm was kept in; we have no idea if the footage of Jin was used, although I'm assuming that he would have had to give permission for his own surgery to be shown on national television and, given his reaction in the hospital to the footage, I'm equally comfortable assuming that he would not have given such permission.

While Malcolm tries to watch the interview, possibly to support his sister, possibly to torture himself futher, Jessica is adament that she will not. Her initial plan seems to have been to pretend that it never happened; she only speaks to Ainsley about it when Ainsley pushes past her joking “no comment” to challenge Jessica on her perceived lack of support for her daughter's professional accomplishment.

This pushes Jessica to have perhaps the most genuine and honest conversation with her daughter about Martin and their past which they had ever had (1x10): Jessica: Your father destroyed us. Your brother and me. You put him on television and let him talk about it. You have gone and soaked yourself in blood. The press devoured us twenty years ago, and now they are at it again.

This information is given calmly, perhaps even dispassionately: for Jessica, the destruction of herself and her son is a simple matter of fact. Not to be spoken of, of course, but ever-present and utterly undeniable. She does not even become angry until Ainsley accuses her of "playing the victim": "I am not a victim! But there are victims. Real ones. How do you think those twenty-three families feel when they see you on television? And why is the story never about them?"

The story is not about them, of course, because for Ainsley, the story is currently about her. Ainsley's newfound 'ownership' over the Surgeon story is clearly spelled out in the interview's introduction ("the Surgeon is my father"), her reaction to the paparazzi outside her mother's home ("Any breaking news about my family is mine to report") and, finally, in her retort to Jessica's challenges over the entire interview: "I'm telling my story!"

But, as we've discussed earlier, Ainsley doesn't actually have a story with the Surgeon. In the real-crime biography of Martin Whitley, she's a footnote at best. Jessica, who married a monster, Malcolm, who unveiled a monster, the twenty-three or more people who died at the Surgeon's hands, the hundreds of people, including Jin, who had their lives saved by the Surgeon, they all have a story with the Surgeon. Ainsley simply does not. And in her attempts to create one during the first half of season 1, she only really gets anywhere when she uses the stories of others - her casual retelling of the horrific things the victims went through, her reveal of Malcolm's mental health diagnoses, her filming Jin's surgery.

Ainsley’s lack of personal connection to the Surgeon was her greatest asset in a very broken family at the beginning of the series; her attempt to create such a narrative when none organically existed has been the cause of pain for plenty of people other than herself.

All that remains to be seen is how this narrative - either genuine or manufactured - continues to develop in the second half of season 1.

#prodigal son #ainsley whitly #character profile #halston sage #themachiavellianpig overthinks

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whateverisbeautiful · 6 years

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Richonne in Retrospect

#25: The Parents (5x07)

So, once they were all reunited, this season made it pretty clear that Rick and Michonne had become a mom and dad to Carl and Judith.

And what’s cool about 5x07 is that while we knew they seemed to be becoming more and more like a mom and dad, this episode in particular is what let us know that Rick and Michonne are also aware of how they’re the parents. 😊

The episode opens with Daryl, Tyreese, and Sasha inside the church taking things apart to use to protect the church from the outside. And then when they cut to outside the church that’s where we see our little power couple.

And of course they’ve paired up to bar up this window cuz magnets and partners. 😋

It’s sort of funny too cuz it seems like there was a lot of tasks to be done in guarding this church, and the task that Rick and Michonne are doing doesn’t seem like it absolutely had to be a two-person job necessarily, but you know they wanted to pair up for this.

And you know that while they could be doing separate things, that innate need to be around each other has them both out here working on this little project together. Here for it. 👌🏽😋

Carl and Noah, the kids, are working near them helping to further enhance this visual of Rick and Michonne as parents. And then Rick brings up how Carl wants to go to Atlanta but he can’t have that. I love that Rick feels like things that have to do with Carl are things he can go to Michonne about.

Like I feel like he’s talking to her as a dad who knows he can turn to her about this because Carl is their son.

So then Michonne, hearing the subtext of what he’s saying, kindly says “So you stay. I’ll go” And what’s super interesting to me about this is the fact that they know it has to be either/or because one parent has to stay with the kids. Like they know their the parents, y’all. 🙌🏾

Rick says he owes Carol and I feel like from his reaction you can tell that he does appreciate that Michonne could offer for him to sit this one out and that she would be just as capable and efficient if she went on the trip.

Michonne reminds him they all owe Carol, to which Rick smiles and says “I owe her more.” And it really feels like he’s also low key thinking that he’d want Michonne to stay so that she and the kids could be somewhere safe.

And then y’all, this lingering look he gives Michonne tho. Feelings have been all the way caught. 😊 And I am so here for the plenty of many Richonne looks this season. 🙌🏾

That look just made it clear that this man definitely loves and appreciates and just genuinely likes this woman. And I love that Rick seems to be in his best moods when he’s around her.

I also love the Richonne tones in this scene and how clearly at ease they are with one another. Like their camaraderie and partnership is really evident and it’s just a nice quick scene that further establishes why they belong together.

And then I adore this next moment of Rick heading out and saying goodbye to the family. 😭😊😭

It’s perfect. Cuz it’s just Rick and the kids in the shot and we don’t see Michonne at first. But then he hands Judith over and then we see Michonne take her and it’s just so sweet and telling. Y’all, they want you to know that this is a four-person family unit. 💯😌

I love it cuz we’ve seen Rick hand Judith to Carl a lot but in handing her to Michonne it says that he knows she’s apart of the family too and she’s the one he trusts most to look out for his kids while he’s gone.

And the look he gives her. Like I feel like he has to know that she’s the final piece of the puzzle in their family. Michonne feels way too much like a wife and mom in this scene for Rick to not pick up on that at least a little.

The family visual is such a wonderful foreshadowing of what they’ll all be to each other. And it really feels like a dad going off to work and saying goodbye to the wife and kids.

This moment is also really similar to the goodbyes in the season 8 premiere, especially with Rick and Carl’s hug. 😭😭😭 The biggest change is Rick and Michonne say goodbye a lil different in season 8. 😋

And it’s cool cuz by season 8 it’s official that she’s apart of the Grimes but seeing this moment in season 5 just lets you know she’s had that significant role in this family for the longest.

I think it’s also really an act of love that Michonne is willing to stay back with the kids, cuz you know Homegirl is someone who is always willing and ready to be apart of the action but protecting these kids is more important to her.

And it’s cool to see this growth in that she isn’t trying to stay away from the group anymore, but instead she’s fully let this group, and these kids especially, into her heart. ☺️

Also it’s just sweet to see her being the stay-at-home mom and taking care of the baby that she doesn’t know will be her full on daughter soon. Like they say you never stop being a mom and you definitely see that mother instinct is just innately in her. 😊

It’s interesting that, as she listens to Carl talk to Father Gabriel about needing to fight, you can tell Carl’s line about how you can’t stay in one place anymore resonates with her.

It makes me think that knowing that Carl and Judith don’t have a place they can officially call home, is what helps contribute to Michonne being so motivated to find a place to make home in 5b.

Ok so then the scene with Father Gabriel and Michonne is really nice. Cuz Father Gabriel needed to rest after Carl was a little too real with him about what killing walkers is like and so she goes to check on him and I was like Sis really is a real one cuz she’s taking care of three kids in the middle of the apocalypse all on her own right now. 😂

But her interaction with him is sweet cuz she’s very compassionate and understanding of how this is new to him and she wants to assure him that the things they do are worth it.

I love how gentle she’s being here cuz it helps Father Gabriel see that while yes this woman and her people can tear some people up when needed, they can also be kind and caring.

And then Father Gabriel tries it when he says, “I took the machete, what more do you want from me?” To which I was low key like...

Father Gabriel needed to check himself a little bit lol. Cuz Michonne was trying to be nice to his scaredy-cat behind when she could have very easily been like “You need to rest just from hearing about killing a walker? Talk to me when you’ve had to deal with a one-eyed psychopath that wanted to torture and kill you personally, and when you’ve survived crazy Claimers and Cannibals, just to name a few.”

But instead, Michonne’s still kind and just calmly says “I don’t want anything from you. I’m just trying to help.” Sis is a very good example of compassion lol. 👏🏽👏🏽

And it does seem to convict Father G cuz he changes his tone and thanks her to which I was like…

Seeing Michonne’s approach to Father Gabriel in comparison to Rick’s approach to him, I just feel like it further solidifies why R&M balance each other out.

Both are capable of both approaches but when they join forces they’re just stronger together cuz they create equal parts stern and understanding.

And then in 5x08, Michonne’s role as mom is just taken to the highest degree cuz we have the scene where she literally fends off walkers with a baby on her back.

It’s not the most realistic thing but it’s still a cool visual lol. And I feel like seeing this moment, you’re seeing firsthand why Rick could feel so comfortable and confident leaving his kids with her.” Cuz Homegirl really and truly takes care of business. 👏🏽👏🏽

Like Carl has a gun but she tells him to get back as she just singlehandedly protects everybody while they watch her do her thing. 👸🏾

Then, Father G takes his first step towards becoming a real one, or “real one-ism”, when he helps to guard the door while they escape.

And the mom vibes are on high here too, especially as Michonne tells Carl to wait for her as she makes sure Carl and Judith get out first.

And it’s sweet that Father G says it’s worth it as he lets them escape first cuz clearly Michonne’s words resonated with him.

This made me wish we could have more scenes with Michonne talking to and interacting with various characters cuz she seems to do a good job of reaching people.

Father G makes it out of the church where Michonne and the kids are waiting for him and he says, “I can’t run anymore” to which Michonne confidently says, “We’re not running” and I was like…

Cuz Homegirl had this all the way handled. And Michonne and Carl prove why they’re such a capable mother/son duo as they bar up the church from the outside to keep the walkers in. Even tho it’s brief, I love getting to see them work together and how they’re such a team.

I had already been feeling like I really wish season 8 would have taken an opportunity to give Carl and Michonne one last storyline together, like going on a run or something like this, and seeing them here made me wish for that even more.

Like in the first half of season 8 it would have been cool to see Michonne with Judith and Carl while Rick was gone cuz it would have felt full circle to this season 5 moment where she’s with Carl and Judith while Rick was gone.

And then, y’all, I really love this moment of Michonne, Carl, and Judith outside of the church. It’s just so wonderfully blatant that she’s become their mom. 🙌🏾😌

You can just see that she knows she would do anything for these kids and what’s cool is she’s capable enough to do anything for them.

I appreciate how the last two episodes of 5A made it crystal clear that Rick and Michonne are parents and that Michonne is a great mom. And also, seeing that she successfully protected these three kids from a walker attack just further proves why Rick has the baddest chick in the game. 👌🏽😋

#richonne #richonne fandom #richonne family #michonne #rick grimes #michonne grimes #grimes family 2.0 #not my gifs #twd #the walking dead #s5 #5.07

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constantviewings · 5 years

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The TV Show Trials - Batman: The Animated Series

Batman: The Animated Series is an animated television series based on the DC Comics superhero Batman. Developed by Bruce Timm and Eric Radomski and produced by Warner Bros Entertainment.

Bonus review of Batman: Mask of the Phantasm at the end!

Batman and Robin, a pair of caped crusaders, battle crime in Gotham City.

Almost Got ‘Im

In a bar, a collection of Batman’s enemies chat about their failed attempts to kill him.

This episode is formatted as a clip show, providing four stories on top of the main plot of the episode. This episode was a great filler as it showcased so many villains including The Penguin who I, unfortunately, didn’t watch a whole episode dedicated towards.

Heart of Ice

Batman must stop a vengeful Mr Freeze from fulfilling his vendetta against a callous business man.

Heart of Ice was the first episode I watched and I think it was the perfect starting off point. I only found this out while writing this review, but this episode depicts an entirely different origin story for Mr Freeze compared to his debut; though the storyline depicted in this episode quickly became canon in all other media portrayals.

Two-Face

Thought the ever calm Harvey Dent puts on a happy face in his bid for re-election as Gotham’s District Attorney, he can’t still supress the psychopathic split personality of ‘Big Bad Harv’.

I really enjoyed this pair of episodes and how easy it is to sympathise with Harvey Dent and, to an extent, Two-Face. This series also includes my favourite, and perhaps the most iconic, design of Two-Face.

Robins Reckoning

When Robin discovers that the thug who murdered his parents is back in Gotham City, he recalls the vents of his life as a young circus performer and the tragedy that made him an orphan.

There are an awful lot of dead parents in the Batman franchise aren’t there? I loved seeing Robin take centre stage in these two episodes and watching how he came under Bruce Wayne’s tutelage.

Harley and Ivy

After a failed heist, a frustrated Joker boots Harley Quinn from his gang and leads her to form a partnership with fellow criminal Poison Ivy. Both The Joker and Batman set out to stop the amazing duo. Little do they know, no man can stop Harley and Ivy.

I loved this episode. Besides The Joker, Harley and Ivy were the only other Batman villains that I had decent knowledge about and I loved seeing this iconic pair work together. The Queens of Crime being foiled by another woman was a nice twist that subverted expectations, especially for this series.

Over the Edge

Batman and his allies have their secret identities exposed and are now being hunted by the Gotham City Police.

Now don’t start complaining that this is from The New Batman Adventures and not Batman: The Animated Series, but given the fact that it was mentioned on eight different lists of the best Batman: The Animated Series episodes; it counts. I’ll be honest, I was somewhat confused during the first half of this episode, as I feel most first-time viewers would have been, but I am a sucker for the ‘it was all a dream’ trope. Though my only issue with this episode was seeing Nightwing with long hair; gross.

The Demon’s Quest

Robin is kidnapped, and Batman unexpectedly joins forces with Ra’s Al Ghul, whose daughter Talia has also been taken.

I didn’t really enjoy this pair of episodes; that is the only time I will say this. By half-way though the first episode, I found myself to not being paying any attention and ended up leaving the episodes on in the background; so much so, that I don’t remember anything that happened.

Beware the Grey Ghost

Gotham City is struck by a series of remote activated bombings as a warning to a ransom demand. Batman realizes that the pattern of the recent bombings is based on an episode of an old television show, the “Gray Ghost”. Seeking information, Batman visits the actor who played the TV hero, Simon Trent.

This episode revolves around an interesting narrative device that shows both a young Bruce watching The Gray Ghost and present Bruce solving the crimes. Another feature that I only discovered upon writing this review is that Adam West voiced The Gray Ghost.

Joker’s Favour

An everyman schmo named Charlie Collins insults the wrong super villain on the road, leaving the terrified loser at the beck and call of The Joker. Two years later, he crashes in with Collins, who desperately tries to find a way to alert Batman to his master’s evil scheme.

This is an interesting episode, with the focus being on an everyday citizen who gets caught up in the crime world. Featuring Mark Hamill’s iconic performance as The Joker being the icing on top of a well written and entertaining episode.

Perchance To Dream

After being knocked out in a mysterious warehouse, batman wakes up in an alternate existence that’s seen Bruce Wayne lead a fulfilled life with his family and fiancée Selina Kyle. But Wayne’s inability of live the dream reveals his mind to be in the thrall of The Mad Hatter.

I quite enjoyed this episode, especially as it highlights how much of Bruce Wayne’s personality and purpose is taken up by Batman. I don’t know much about The Mad Hatter and his ‘abilities’ so which did leave me somewhat confused, but it didn’t effect my viewing experience.

Zatanna

When the glamorous magician Zatanna is framed for a robbery during her act, Batman swings to her defence. Zatanna is grateful though a little puzzled by the Dark Knight’s commitment to prove her innocence, but the two heroes unite and use the skills her father, Zatara, taught them to expose and combat an evil illusionist.

I loved this episode, particularly the relationship between Bruce and Zatanna when they were younger. I don’t remember much of this episode outside of that.

Trial

Gotham’s deadliest criminals, The Joker, Two-Face, Mad Hatter, The Ventriloquist, Harley Quinn, Poison Ivy among many others, kidnap Batman and put him on trial in Arkham Asylum. The Dark Knight’s only hope rests with District Attorney Janet Can Dorn who, despite her anti-atman stance, is forced to defend the Caped Crusader’s life as well as her own.

Another villain-filled episode I really enjoyed. I’ve always enjoyed the aspect of superhero media that delves into the moral and justice-based side and this episode fully satisfied my craving. That, combined with the story of a DA coming to term with Batman’s presence in Gotham makes for a great episode.

If You’re So Smart, Why Aren’t You Rich?

After being fired from Competitron; Edward Nygma takes over the identity of The Riddler in order to get vengeance over his former boss Daniel Mockridge. It is up to Batman and Robin to decipher the riddles that Nygma has been placing for them in order to save Mockridge from Riddler’s vengeance.

While writing this review, I did happen to confuse this episode with another episode featuring The Riddler; take of that what you will. Apart from that, I really enjoyed this episode.

The Cat and the Claw

Catwoman and Batman join forces in an attempt to foil the evil forces of a terrorist by the name of Red Claw.

The pairing of Catwoman and Batman has always been a great one and this episode proves no different.

What is Reality?

When the Riddler traps Commissioner Gordon’s consciousness in a virtual reality device, Batman must enter the villain’s construct to save him.

The only negative aspect of this episode is the dated understanding of Virtual Reality technology. Looking past this, this episode provides a great viewing experience.

Batman: Mask of the Phantasm

I never thought Batman’s origin story could get more tragic, but alas, this film proved me wrong. Featuring great animation, a compelling story, a darker tone compared to the animated series and a compact runtime of only 76 minutes, Mask of the Phantasm is a fantastic film that covers ground untouched by the animated series.

Rating: 4

After watching Batman: The Animated Series, I now understand why it is held in such high regard by Batman fans. Its compelling stories combined with iconic characters and performances make for a viewing experience unlike any you will find among any other Batman media.

Did I like this show? Absolutely.

Will I continue watching? I would love to watch the entire series from beginning to end, but that’s for another time.

Artist Credits

George Caltsoudas

Phantom City Creative - Justin Erickson

Ken Turner

#The TV Show Trials #Batman: The Animated Series #Batman: Mask of the Phantasm

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