Synopsis: “Rage and revenge first motivated Terry McGinnis to steal Bruce Wayne’s high-tech Batsuit. A greater purpose and a sense of justice kept him wearing it. For two years, he patrolled streets and skies of Gotham City with Bruce Wayne as his guide, but in these final 13 adventures from the Emmy-Awarding winning TV series, Gotham’s greatest defender soars as the true hero he is! Though the power-hungry plans of criminals like Inque, The Royal Flush Gang and The Kobras grow more villainous with each attempt, Terry wipes them out. His heroism doesn’t go unnoticed: Superman invites him to join the Justice League. But after years of thinking he had nothing in common with the original Batman, Terry realizes he’s just the man for the job.”

As the series comes to a close, we are greeted with the return of nearly all the previously used enemies from the prior seasons including Inque and The Royal Flush Gang. Though we are given the chance to see things from a slightly different perspective from these characters, motivations and back-story, we still can’t help but sigh at yet another return of bad-guys who just won’t give up. However, in addition we are also treated to a few flashbacks to Batman: The Animated Series’ with the return of an old love interest, adding a fun connection for fans.

Like many animated series coming to an end, a few two-part episodes are included, giving us the feeling of a continuous plot for periods of time. However in the end the majority of these episodes are self-contained stories following the classic elements of a BB tale with nothing epic to end the story with a bang. Thrown in is also a bit of muffled social commentary as we see the effects of things such as money irresponsibility and pouching. Sadly, even the last episode which by title and opening sequence, suggests a highly awaited drama, finds itself an episode about an event nestled back in the timeline of season one.

The highlight of the episodes would be from the two-parter, ‘The Call’, in which Terry is invited by Superman to join the new Justice League. It’s an interesting look at other DC characters in that future timeline and introduces a few characters created solely for that episode by the series’ creators. This probably would have made a much more suitable final episode than the one chosen.

Finding your way quickly done the episodes, you click on over to the Extras section. There is very little available and what is will only appeal to big fans of the series. A few of the episodes have producer commentary with a guest appearance from Terry’s voice actor, Will Friedle. In particular, much like they were the episodes most worth watching, the episode commentary of ‘The Call’, offers the most insight, with so many new characters introduced. While at times proving interesting and good for a laugh with them here and there, essentially it’s a quick throw together just for the sake of having extras. Well at least it’s something.

And so the sequel to Batman: The Animated Series, Batman Beyond, comes to an end. With a mere 13 episodes, season three certainly doesn’t have as much to deliver its fans as the previous season releases and despite what fans may have wanted, or expected, it’s extras don’t live up to this empty space. Fortunately, this set also proved to be about $10 cheaper. While certainly a good buy to finish off any fan’s collection, it more so just acts as a sad reminder of the show’s uneventful, inconclusive ending, leaving us all hoping there had been just a little bit more.

Extra Note: After finishing work on this series, the producers went off to begin production of the series, ‘Justice League’. Included as the final episode to season two of ‘Justice League: Unlimited’ is an episode fully devoted to an older Terry McGinnis as he sets out to discover the truth behind him dawning the mask of the dark knight. It proves to be an amazing episode of discovery and conspiracy that acts as wonderful homage to this short-lived Batman sequel. If you want a little something extra after finishing the series, this episode may be just what you’re looking so.

Written April 13, 2007 by Lissa Pattillo

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About the Author: Lissa Pattillo

Lissa Pattillo is the owner and editor of Kuriousity.ca. Residing in Halifax, Nova Scotia she takes great joy in collecting all manners of manga genres, regretting that there's never enough time in the day to review or share them all. Along with reviews, Lissa is responsible for all the news postings to the website and works full time as a web and graphic designer.