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"Second Chance" is the second episode of the third season of Batman: The Animated Series. It originally aired on September 17, 1994.

Plot[]

Batman & Robin watch as an ambulance carrying Two-Face takes him to the hospital. Robin asks if the operation will make Harvey better again but Batman is unsure.

Two-Face is abducted

The thugs kidnap Harvey Dent from the hospital.

Inside the hospital, the doctors tell Harvey that his bad side has been mostly submerged and they believe that if they remove the scars that created Two-Face, the persona will be gone forever. Harvey then asks if Bruce Wayne paid for it and thinks back on their friendship. Harvey is put to sleep and the doctors prepare for the surgery. However, before they can start, thugs suddenly burst in and start firing machine guns into the room. They take Harvey, with one of them stating that their boss wants to "teach him some respect". Batman & Robin try to stop the thugs but they fail to keep them from escaping the room. The thugs escape in two separate vehicles and the duo goes after them. While Robin fails to stop his target, Batman succeeds, but finds that Harvey isn't in the van.

Later, Batman & Robin consider where the vehicles were going and whom they were registered to. They figure that either the Penguin or Rupert Thorne must be behind the kidnapping. Robin heads out to check out Thorne while Batman goes to interrogate the Penguin.

While Robin attempts to sneak in on Thorne, he's caught and taken to his target. Robin explains that Harvey's been kidnapped and he thinks Thorne's behind it. Thorne just laughs at the thought and has his thugs take Robin to the Gotham Gate Bridge to throw him into the river. Fortunately, Robin has a glass cutter in his glove and manages to cut his bonds. He makes short work of the thugs but is no closer to finding who is behind Harvey's kidnapping.

Batman goes to see Penguin at Stonegate Penitentiary. Penguin explains that while Harvey had stolen a jewel-encrusted statue of a two-headed roc from him, he isn't behind the kidnapping and would rather take on Two-Face directly. He then sets his birds on Batman and shoves him off the prison wall. Batman manages to escape but he too is unable to tell who kidnapped Harvey.

Batman meets up with Robin and is now sure he knows who kidnapped Harvey. Returning to the scene of the kidnapping, Batman finds masonry dust on one of the kidnapper's footprints. He now knows where Harvey is and heads out, telling Robin that he has to do it alone.

Batman held captive by Two-Face

Two-Face explains his plans to Batman.

Batman heads out to the abandoned building called the Half Moon Club to confront Harvey's worst enemy...Two-Face himself (or revered Big Bad Harv). However, he is captured by Two-Face's thugs and chained up to a crane. Two-Face (or rather Big Bad Harv) explains that he couldn't let Harvey "destroy" him. He wanted to teach him to respect his alter ego. He then tells Batman he'll detonate some dynamite that's connected to the crane unless the coin says otherwise. When he flips the coin, Batman insists that Two-Face let it hit the ground as he wants to see which face lands up. He does so, and to his shock, it lands on edge. He tries again, but the same thing happens. With no head up, Two-Face can't decide what to do and keeps flipping the coin. Batman manages to escape his bonds and take out Two-Face's thugs, but not before they accidentally activate the dynamite's detonator.

Meanwhile, Two-Face continues to flip his coin and let it hit the ground, but it keeps landing on edge. Finally, it rolls over the edge of the building. Two-Face goes after the coin, almost falling off the building himself until Batman catches him. Batman tells Harvey he needs his other hand to pull himself up, but without the coin, Harvey can't decide what to do. Batman tells him that he switched Two-Face's coin with a trick one that will always land on edge. Now Harvey will have to make the decision on his own. While this goes on, the thugs prepare to kill both Batman and Harvey, but Robin shows up and stops them.

Bruce and Dick

Bruce & Dick always there for each other.

Harvey decides to drop the coin and let Batman save him. Unfortunately, his other persona emerges once more, and he punches his enemy, causing Batman to let him go. Batman goes after Harvey and catches him, using a grappling hook to escape both the fall and the dynamite. Later, Two-Face is taken back to Arkham while Harvey is happy to see Bruce is there for him. After Harvey is taken away, Bruce then tells Dick that he's glad that he's always there for him.

Continuity[]

  • Batman recollects the accident that scarred Harvey Dent from "Two-Face, Part I".
  • Two-Face's alternate personalities would later come into conflict with one another again in The New Batman Adventures episode "Judgment Day", in which he creates a third persona known as "The Judge", who unknowingly almost kills himself by trying to execute Two-Face.

Background information[]

Home video releases[]

Production inconsistencies[]

  • Batman said that only the kidnappers' footprints would be in the OR because the doctors and nurses would wear paper socks over their shoes. However, Batman & Robin had already walked into the operating room trying to prevent the kidnapping, so their footprints would be there as well.
  • When Two-Face is carried out of the hospital, his left leg is shown to be damaged. Although, in "Two-Face, Part I", when he walked out of the hospital room, his left leg wasn't affected in any way.
  • During the wide shot of Two-Face hanging from the ledge before losing his grip, his left hand opens fully. Doing so, however, would mean dropping his coin. However, it is still in his hand the next time his left hand is shown.
  • Penguin is misspelled as "Penquin" in the credits.

Trivia[]

Cast[]

Actor Role
Kevin Conroy Bruce Wayne/Batman
Loren Lester Dick Grayson/Robin
Linda Gary Dr. Nora Crest
Nicholas Guest Thug
Matt Landers Frankie
Richard Moll Two-Face
John Vernon Rupert Thorne
Paul Williams Penguin

Quotes[]

Harvey: Good old Bruce. He's never given up on me. Always been my best friend. I remember when we used to close the town at the Half Moon Club. The most fun we ever had. Heard they were tearing the old place down. I guess nothing good lasts forever.

Robin: Sorry I wasn't able to stop him.
Batman: I'm sure you did your best.
Robin: Don't gush all over me. It's embarrassing.

Penguin: But, my dear rodent, I'd never kidnap a fellow rogue out of a sickbed. It just isn't done.
Batman: Honor among thieves?
Penguin: Absolutely. If I were going to attack Harvey, I'd do it face to face to face, (chuckles) so to speak. Like this!
(Penguin sets his pigeons on Batman)

Batman: You may as well come out. I know everything now.
(A shadowy figure appears behind Batman. He turns around)
Batman: You hated Harvey Dent and would do anything to destroy him.
(The figure reveals himself to be Two-Face)
Two-Face: Why not? He was gonna destroy me...just like I'm gonna destroy you!

Batman: You're your own worst enemy, Harvey.
Two-Face: No, I'm your worst enemy!

Batman: It's your decision now, Harvey. Life or death. The coin or me.

Harvey: Batman, help me.
(He begins to reach out to Batman, but his other side regains control)
Two-Face: Never! (punches him)

Harvey: Bruce. Good old Bruce. Always there. You never give up on me.
Dick: He's right. You're always there for him.
Bruce: Yes. Just like you're always there for me.
Dick: Hey, what are friends for?

References[]

  1. Boyd Kirkland Interview (Apr. 1, 1998)
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