When kids start disappearing from Hamilton Hill High, everyone knows where they’re going–a new correctional facility for wayward teens. But Terry, Max, and their friend Chelsea think something is up–especially when Chelsea goes missing a day after protesting the new facility.
Batman Beyond: Last Resort
The episode prior to this, “The Final Cut”, was boring. I dunked on it for the entirety of our review for its lack of vision. But if I had to make a guess, I’d bet that they were a lot more focused on this week’s episode, which is as strong as that episode was weak. I still have issues with this episode, but it’s one of the more effective ones in the series so far.
After Chelsea is locked away, Terry infiltrates the place to try to get some video evidence of what’s going on. Kids are being brainwashed with cult-like methods, and being subjected to torture methods normally reserved for prisoners of war. He ends up caught thanks to a vindictive schoolmate named Sean, and almost ends up subjected to the same torture, including total sensory deprivation and solitary confinement. With Sean’s help, Terry starts a riot and is able to get to his backpack, and Batman finishes what Terry started.
Society often struggles with what to do with teenagers who act out. The kids are frustrated, angry, scared, and difficult to control. But every kid’s situation is different, and people want a one-size-fits-all solution to every societal problem, rather than treating each case as a unique situation and trying to treat the cause. It’d be way easier if the kids would just shut up and go away, right? And so that’s what this facility is–a place that breaks young people emotionally, turning them into tired, brainwashed husks of their former selves. You know, for the good of society. The detention center’s warden, David Wheeler, is the human face the episode puts to the societal distaste for unruly behavior.
Thoughtful social commentary from Hamilton Hill High student Chelsea Cunningham.
Much of the episode feels pretty current even now, as our country struggles with getting kids to attend school in a post-pandemic society, and to stay in and focus on school when they’re there. This feels like the kind of thing many people–even parents–would approve of. Get the kids in line so that they don’t bother us. The first two thirds of the episode are generally unsettling, asking us to imagine what it would be like to get locked in there with no way to tell anyone, with no adults to support you.
Of course, this is Batman, so once Terry is locked up, he gets to work pretty quickly in making an alliance with another teenager, and things turn to action and stay that way. Of course, we weren’t going to get a nuanced look at education and teenage mental health in a 21-minute-long episode of Batman Beyond. But there are a couple of things I take issue with, and I don’t want to leave them undiscussed. Batman’s first infiltration ends with him being chased away from the facility by a guard in a flying machine with explosive weapons.
This is weird for a few reasons. One is that Batman has fought people much more directly powerful and dangerous than “prison guard.” The second is that it seems like the fact that this place has attack tanks would be enough evidence to get investigations going. The third is that Terry could’ve just stayed invisible, and the whole chase would’ve never happened. The optical camouflage of the Batsuit is cool, but it ends up being this thing that either solves all problems or is conspicuously absent when it would otherwise be an instant solution. In other words, maybe making Batman invisible wasn’t the best tactic. Also, a tip to Terry would probably be to not continue conversations that he started as Terry while wearing the Batsuit, which I’m pretty sure he does with Sean.
The other issue is with how the show handles its ending. Conveniently, the whole problem is solved with Batman punching some guys and then saving another, and there’s no discussion of what actually needs doing to help kids who struggle with societal norms, whether that’s giving them help or changing society to accept the fact that some people aren’t able to conform. The show also conveniently decides that Sean can’t be helped, with Bruce and Terry shaking their dang heads in shame as Sean is carted off to Real Jail, probably.
The last part is a reminder of the time it was made in, more than anything. If the same episode were made today, there would likely be a little bit more time given to the hugely complex nature of the problem at hand, and how to help kids who are struggling more than others. This episode mostly still works, though, even with these issues, and I’d take a hundred episodes like this over episodes like last week’s or the one with the robot girlfriend.
