Batman Beyond: School Daze, 1999.

Three episodes of the Batman Beyond television series:

In "Golem," a nerdy high school student steals a hulking construction robot that can be commanded with a thought transmitter. He uses the robot to take out his frustration on the bully who has been tormenting him and to demonstrate to his bullying father that he isn't a wimp. Batman must intervene to prevent anyone from getting hurt, but an electrical accident causes the kid's telepathic link with the robot to become permanent.

In "The Winning Edge," a high school sports team is moonlighting as a gang of thieves in order to fund their growing dependance on "slappers," a performance enhancing drug patch. When Bruce Wayne gets a hold of one of them, he discovers that the active ingredient in the patches is Venom, the drug responsible for his old enemy, Bane. Meanwhile, Terry's mother discovers the patches among his things and assumes that he is using drugs. Batman has to exonerate himself in the eyes of his mother while bringing the threat of the new Venom to an end.

In "Dead Man's Hand," The Royal Flush Gang returns to Gotham to take up arms against the new Batman in a vendetta that stretchs back to Bruce Wayne's career. The youngest member of the gang is reluctant and, in her alter ego, meets Terry and begins to have a relationship with him. Everything ends disastrously, and the young lovers are forever separated...

Much as I like this new incarnation of Batman, I don't particularly like the high school element. Unfortunately for this group of episodes, the high school element is particularly prevalent. Oh, the stories are alright, but these episodes are pandering to the audience. On an up note, the relationship between the new Batman and Bruce Wayne continues to be the heart and soul of the series. One only wishes that the producers would focus more on what works in the series and ditch what doesn't.
 



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