It's been quite a while since anything from the classic Batman: The Animated Series was reviewed by yours truly. With the series spawning many great episodes alot of which went on to impact the Batman franchise as we know it to be today it was only a matter of time before we got to an episode that's not that great with the episode episode that i'm going to be talking to you all about today being one such an episode and so then join me as I review the episode that sees Alfred get in on the action with the episode in question called simply just "Eternal Youth" enjoy.
The plot of this episode is when Alfred and a lady friend go to a spa hotel and the insistence of Bruce Wayne they come back and can't wait to go again and so it's up to Batman to find out what's actually going on at this spa and stop it before it's far to late. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty not that bad but that's also the problem as it's not all that good either with the episodes plot being one that's just average at best as no matter how you try describe it you can't make it sound interesting with the only interesting aspect of the episodes plot being the fact that Alfred gets involved in it and that's really it as the whole subplot about the missing millionaires feels wasted as it's not that well developed and while the plot is an interesting enough idea that it could make for a decent enough episode of the show it still needed a skilled hand to make a good plot and that's sadly what we didn't get here as almost everything about this episodes plot just doesn't work as it does feel like a weak plot with the whole plot of the episode really hinging on Alfred going to this spa with his lady friend which don't get me wrong is a great idea as having Alfred involved does add stakes to the episode but at the same time tho the episode doesn't do all that much with that idea with this episodes plot feeling like that there was a good plot in there trying to get out but for whatever reason it just couldn't with the plot of this episode also being really rather entertaining and as well as being really rather engaging as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.
Starring in this episode is Kevin Conroy as Bruce Wayne / Batman and Bob Hastings as Commissioner Gordon. Also starring in this episode is Efrem Zimbalist Jr. as Alfred Pennyworth , Animaniacs , Wakko's Wish and Plump Fiction star Julie Brown as Lily , The Little Mermaid star Paddi Edwards as Maggie Page , Diane Pershing as Poison Ivy , Lynne Marie Stewart as Violet and Sister Act star Carmen Zapata as Judge Vargas.
Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty not that bad. With the actors that you expect to give us a truly good performance from giving us exactly that the issues comes however from the fact that alot of this episodes guest cast feel lost and unsure of themselves at best and just straight up miscast at worst with the best example of this being Julie Brown who's character Lily is a henchwoman in this episode and yet she's given this very soft spoken very Californian type of voice that makes her sound more like a comic relief to the main hero then she does a sidekick to the main villain with the same thing also bein true Violet played by Lynne Marie Stewart which does make them feel like they were miscast in this episode and while Paddi Edwards can and has turned some really good performances in the here it feels like that she's struggling a little bit to turn in a good performance with it being clear as day that the here best actors in the whole entire episode are of course Kevin Conroy who is as always pitch perfect as both Bruce Wayne and Batman , Efrem Zimbalist Jr. who is just a joy to listen to in this episode and Diane Pershing who is wonderfully menacing as she always is as Poison Ivy with the acting that's in this episode no really being helped by the fact that this episodes script is just so bad as it gives none of this episode actors absolutely nothing to work with interms of what it is that there characters personalities are even meant to be in the first place which is something that really does help to hurt the overall quality of the acting that's in this very episode.
Doing the animation for this episode is the legends and the really greats that currently over at Sunrise Inc.. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual animation that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual animation that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty the best part of this episode as that's just how good that this episodes animation was with the episode being filled to the brim with these really dark and borderline gothic looking backgrounds that really do suit this version of Batman and while the rest of the episode was really weak at best the one thing that did stand out because of how good that it was was the animation as you can tell right from the first frame that the makers of this episode but alot more thought and effort into making the episode look really good and giving us some really high quality looking animation which is something that really does shine through in the final cut of the episode and even tho the characters movements do look a little bit stilted and wooded at times when the movements look fluid they work really well with even the episodes animation going above and beyond in trying to hide the fact that the villain is so obviously Poison Ivy by having her front covered entirely in shadow leaving just enough for us the audience to work out who it is which is something that the makers of this episodes really didn't have to do as it's pretty obvious who the main villain of the episode is but at the same it does give us a really cool looking shot that works really well because of how well done that the animation in this episode really is.
Speaking of Poison Ivy whilst she does get a pretty cool looking opening shot she isn't really all that well used in this episode. With her scheme in this episode being the fact that she wants to get revenge on all of the millionaires that have done something wrong to the environment which really makes her seem more look the good guy then a straight up villain as while yes her motives are just it's how she goes about it that makes it evil as she first invites them to this spa under the promise of looking younger forever and then when they come back a second time she basically turns them into trees which does lead to some pretty creepy looking visuals and while the episode at the start does look like it's going to make it a big mystery who the main villain of the episode is going to be you can tell right away who it is and by the time we see the character in her disguise for the episode that whole mystery aspect of the episode is all but dropped which is something that does make alot of sense as this version of Poison Ivy does have a very recognizable look to her and so you'd be able to work out who it is the second that she appears on screen anyway and while the character does get alot of screen time in this episode it just feels like the makers of this episode are just going through the motions with her character as there's nothing really there to her character in this episode and while granted this episode an this show do treat the character alot more better then both the Harley Quinn animated series and Batman & Robin it feels like that they could have done something more interesting with her character in this episode as to be frank it kind of felt like that she was only added into the episode because the makers of this episode forgot to include an actual villain and so they just threw her into the episode late into the scriptwriting stage.
Even tho the show is named after him and he is the main character of the show Batman in this episode felt more like a side character. With him being relegated to what was basically the side plot of the episode with the episodes main character for it's first and second act being none other then Alfred himself which did make for a refreshing change of pace as you just know that if Bruce Wayne was the one going to this spa then he very quickly would have worked out that Poison Ivy was the one behind everything and plus making Alfred the main character foes add some stakes to the episode as now Bruce isn't just fighting to stop Ivy he's also fighting to keep his butler and friend alive and well with the only downside to this being the fact that the episode doesn't really take the time to develop Alfred or even Maggie Alfred's friend all that much as characters and while that's fine for Alfred as there are several other episodes with him in it it's not something that works for Maggie as while the episode still does keep it's high stakes regardless of if both characters get developed or not it does make it hard to tell just what there relationship is even meant to be as she treats him like he's her boyfriend and he treats her like there just good friends and really nothing more then that and that is something that could have been more defined if the makers of this episode spent the time that they really needed to in developing her as a character as that would then make us the audience be all the more shocked when they both get attacked and sprayed by Ivy's poison and start t turn into trees and while the shock of that happening is still it's more due to the fact that Alfred is a minor character in the show rather then both of them being that well developed in this episode.
To give this episode some credit it really does have some really creepy looking visuals to it as the image of Alfred being turned into a tree could be from a kids horror film as it's just that creepy. With it's imagery being one of a few things that the episode does have going for it with the other being the fact that the two plots do tie together in a way that whilst yes it is predictable thanks to the opening prolog it is still creative and filled to the brim with tension but at the same time tho this episode does make both Alfred and Bruce out to be pretty dumb as Bruce receives the tape for the spa at his house at random and doesn't even question it when that right there is a major warning sign and Alfred even tho he most likely has seen pictures of Poison Ivy before either on that Batcomputer or the TV or even in the newspaper doesn't put together that this strange doctor who's telling him that these thins that will apparently make him younger is all around the building and in all of the drinks and food at this hotel which again is a major warning sign and yet both characters shrug it off when in other and better episodes they'd be on high alert from that point on and which does make it feel like that this episodes writer Beth Bornstein really doesn't know how these characters would act in this same situation but in saying that showing Bruce Wayne run from the Batcave in full Batman suit to Alfred's room n broad daylight just because he thinks that his friend is in trouble does feel like something that the character would do so there is some resemblance of good characters in here you just need to sit through alot of bad stuff to get to it.
Now then this episode has / had an exact grand total running time of exactly twenty two minuets and twenty one seconds. Which to be fair to this episode is a perfectly solid running time to have with it being perfectly in line with the running times of all of the other episodes of this show as well and while this episode does just about have the right amount of plot there to cover that amount of running time this episode really doesn't use it's running time all that wisely as it's main plot isn't that well developed with the episode instead being more focused on showing us the relationship between Maggie and Alfred then it is in telling us a well thought out story and while seeing those together does make the episode more fun to watch it gets to the point where seeing them together actively takes away from the main plot of the episode as the episode isn't giving it's plot the time that it really does need to be well developed and thought out with it seeming like that the characters are just doing things at random alot of the time as very little of what the characters do actually ties into the main plot of the episode with as was mentioned the episodes characters not being that well developed either as all of the new characters are either very one note like Maggie or just forgettable like Lily and Violet and both of those things are issues that could have been solved with just one rewrite of the episodes script as then you could allow for the plot to be well more developed and you could also alo0ow for the characters to be more well developed and more memorable as well but I really will admit that this episode really does have some really good pacing to it tho.
So now then as this is an action show that really does mean that I have to actually talk about the actual action that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual action that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty not that bad, As even tho the episode only really has the one action scene in the whole entire episode it was one that was really well done with this being due to the fact that if Batman doesn't defeat Ivy this time around then Alfred will permanently be turned into a tree which yes is a little bit out there but given that this is a comic book show it is something that does work for the episode as it does make the stakes of the action in this episode all the more higher as it's not just Batman's life on the line now it's now also the life of someone that he's close to with the episodes best action of course being the only action scene in the episode and that's the third act fight better Ivy and her sidekicks as they take on Batman which works as now Batman has to try and find away of defeating three women at once all the while trying not to get sprayed by Ivy and turned into a tree himself which is something that does add an extra bit of tension to the episode as well but at the same time tho this episode could have used with a few more fight scenes just to better make the episode a bit more entertaining to watch as this episodes action scene while it is good doesn't really have all that much going on in it where as if you had a small and quick action scene with Alfred in it then it would have been pretty entertaining to see in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.
Overall inn a show that's filled to the brim with good and sometimes even great there was bound to be one or two episodes that just aren't that good with sadly this episode being that one episode as this is an episode that is better left forgotten and left to history as it's just that average of an episode in my freaking opinions anyways / at least. Now then i've talked about all o the good and as well as all of the bad things that are in this very episode and as such that really does mean that this very episode really does earn itself a grand old score of exactly a 5 out of 10 from me.
Now then as or where I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review well then boys and girls and as well as ladies and gentlemen I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review from the official Batman: The Animated Series fandom wiki page and Google Images. With my personally preferred website to use to get the images from this very episode that I used in this very review being the really great the official Batman: The Animated Series fandom wiki page really simply just due to the fact that really alot of if not really all of the images that are all really from this very episode with alot of them being better quality then what you'd really think of and all of the images are really of course up and really on the official Batman: The Animated Series fandom wiki page are also really all fairly high in quality and as well as them all being really fairly freaking high in definition.