TV Review: Batman Beyond (Seasons 1-3)

A couple years ago I bought all 3 seasons of Batman Beyond simply because I heard it was cool and I like Batman; good 'nuff for me. Sadly, I waited a long time to watch it because I had trouble convincing myself that my dignity could handle allowing a supposed kid's cartoon as my primary entertainment for a few weeks. I'm grateful that not only is my dignity intact, but to call Batman Beyond a kid's cartoon is not only inaccurate, but ignorant.
Ultimately, I really enjoyed the entire series. The TV show ran for three seasons, which I discovered is the time it takes to produce enough episodes to send a show into syndication, at which point cartoons are canceled and the creators move onto something else; Batman Beyond was the result of this happening to Batman: The Animated Series.
Batman Beyond is the most unique approach to the Batman universe I've seen. It takes place 40 year in the future when Bruce Wayne is simply too old and feeble to continue as Batman. In fact, his chosen isolation from the city he can no longer keep safe has led to the loss of control of his own company; a double-negative that has left him a cranky bastard whose continued development of his crime-fighting technology has been nothing more than a hobby to fill his time. Enter Terry McGinniss, a semi-delinquent teenager who randomly happens upon Bruce Wayne while being pursued by gang of ruffians. Bruce manages to beat the crap out of the gang, but suffers a mild heart attack and is taken home to his medication by Terry, who inadvertently discovers the batcave and its intrinsic secrets shortly thereafter. Before you can say "Holy part-time help, Batman!", Bruce reluctantly offers Terry the chance to take up the mantle of Batman with a new, utterly bad-ass suit.
But the differences are far more in-depth than simply a change in the hidden identity of the Caped Crusader. Here are a few significant changes that make Batman Beyond a unique enjoyment:
1. Unlike Bruce Wayne, Terry is no detective. He is more athletic and his suit is more advanced than Bruce ever enjoyed, but he almost completely relies on Wayne for the intellectual legwork in solving the crimes. I've always liked how Batman was the world's greatest detective in addition to simply a vigilante law-enforcer. The Bruce/Terry intellectual dynamic gradually evolves over the three seasons, but initially there is a clear division of abilities. Bruce is almost always on the radio with Terry and remains a critical part of the team, making this dynamic duo far more believable and far less gay than Batman and Robin ever were.
2. Terry is also not the psychologically-damaged vigilante Bruce remains. Wayne was always driven by the deaths of his parents, and that trauma is still his singular motivation. But Terry has a living family and, as a high school student, must balance his "part-time job for Mr. Wayne" with academic, familial and social responsibilities. This makes Terry a less vengeful, more morally compassionate crime-fighter than Bruce Wayne; a difference that allows interesting dramatic tension throughout the series.
3. The producers jettisoned the entire rogues gallery of the original Batman universe and creates a whole new batch of villains. This is actually much more difficult than you would think and they pull it off quite well. It would have been easy to throw out the name and look of The Joker and The Riddler and simply replace them with villains of similar personality or origin. Instead, the new villains are completely original and universally enjoyable.
4. The future setting allows the series to speculate into some unique social, technological, and corporate dynamics that are frequently and successfully exploited throughout the series, and more importantly, clearly distinguish it from other incarnations of the Batman.
5. Unlike Batman: The Animated Series, Batman Beyond has a coherent, core narrative arc that carries throughout the entire series. Batman: TAS, was very schizophrenic in its stories, with characters and storylines popping in and out of consecutive episodes with no discernible logic. BB actually seems to have been preplanned from start to finish, a remarkable achievement not only for a cartoon series, but for anything with over 50 individual episodic storylines to connect together.
Ultimately, I was really impressed with Batman Beyond and would have no qualms with defending it as completely reasonable entertainment for any 31-year-old. After all, you're only old when the child inside stops having fun. And you can be sure that my plans to become the Batman are far from buried...