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| The Mechanic | |
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| Season 1, Episode 48 | |
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| Air date | January 24, 1993 |
| Directed by | Kevin Altieri |
| Story by | Steve Perry Laren Bright |
| Teleplay by | Randy Rogel |
| Music by | John Tatgenhorst Peter Tomashek |
| Airdate Sequence | |
| Previous Harley and Ivy |
Next The Man Who Killed Batman |
| Production Sequence | |
| Previous Zatanna |
Next Harley and Ivy |
The Mechanic is an episode of the first season of Batman: The Animated Series. It narrates the origin of the Batmobile and introduces the new character called Earl Cooper. It is also the third appearance of the Penguin as the main antagonist in the series.
"The Mechanic" is the 55th produced episode and the 48th episode aired.
Synopsis[]
Thanks to a freak accident during a high-speed chase, the Batmobile is virtually demolished. After Batman takes the car to his personal mechanic, Earl Cooper, the Penguin makes his move and tampers with the Batmobile, putting it under his control.
Plot[]
After stealing some pieces of art, Penguin's henchmen try to escape in their boss' limousine. Batman and Robin follow them in the Batmobile in a hot chase. Penguin's henchmen try to stop them by shooting at the Batmobile, but the bullets hardly work on the vehicle. The pursuit ends when Penguin's men drive the limousine under a drawbridge that is coming down and they land in one of Penguin's ships, taking a lot of damage in the fall, while Batman and Robin couldn't break in time to stop the Batmobile from going directly under the drawbridge and get the car's front crushed by the bridge.
Batmobile is wrecked
The duo take the Batmobile to a secret garage where it could be repaired by Earl Cooper, who is the personal mechanic for Batman. After checking the car, Earl tells them that he is going to need a few days to repair it and he gives them a Batcycle each in the meantime. When Batman and Robin leave the place, Earl calls the company that manages the car supplies and makes the order for all the materials he is going to need to repair the car.
Later, in the Penguin's hideout, he is angry and his henchmen for having damaged the limousine and for not having enough money to repair it. One of Penguin's henchmen comes in with a man called Arnold Rundle, who works for a car company and has information that might interest the Penguin. Rundle gives Penguin information about recent sales of exotic car parts that match with the description of the damage that the Batmobile suffered. Rundle made a connection of the parts to Earl's garage and Penguin rewards him with a large check and sends him in the duck boat that vanishes down a raging whirlpool.
The First Batmobile
Few days later, Earl has finished fixing the Batmobile, when his garage is invaded by Penguin and his men. Penguin plans to sabotage the Batmobile but he needs Earl's cooperation and thus he kidnaps Earl's daughter, Marva Cooper. Earl has no option but to obey and Penguin asks him how did he get to know Batman in the first place. Earl tells him that he used to work for a company called Global Motors that wouldn't listen his warnings about the safety on the new prototype of car and he refused to play along with them. In order to avoid troubles, the CEO of the company hired some men to attack Earl and prevent him from causing trouble. Fortunately for Earl, Batman appeared the night he was being attacked and saved his life. Since then, Earl felt gratitude towards Batman and after a while, when he was unemployed and desperate, Batman came to him and asked Earl to build him a new car. Earl spent days building the new Batmobile and after he finished, he knew that he could always rely on Batman to keep his job going on.
When Penguin's men finished their work on the Batmobile, Earl called Batman to pick up the car under Penguin's threats; and to make sure that Earl doesn't try to warn Batman, Penguin took Marva with him and one of Penguin's men stayed in the garage to make sure Earl plays his part.
Batman and Robin arrived at Earl's garage and thanked him for fixing the car. In a subtle way, Earl tries to warn them about Marva and then he tells them that he "fixed" the air conditioner switch. Batman finds his remarks a bit odd, but he drives the car anyway. Penguin's man comes out from hiding and congratulates Earl for playing along and then he calls the Penguin to let him know that Batman was driving the car already.
Penguin controls the Batmobile
Penguin and his henchmen catch up with the Batmobile in their own limousine and using a remote control, he starts driving the Batmobile at will. Penguin drives the Batmobile to Gotham's Airport, where he makes the car go back and forth just for fun. Batman and Robin try to escape but the handlers come off and then they try to eject from their seats but instead, the airbags are activated. Penguin drives the Batmobile to the rooftop of the parking building in the airport and gets ready to make the car fly off the rooftop. Batman then remembers what Earl said about the air conditioner switch and he activates it, just when Penguin drives the car down the building. The Batmobile comes crashing down and burns in a big explosion, making the criminal feel satisfied.
Back at the garage, Falcone answers the telephone and receives the news of the Dynamic Duo's death with jubilation. Unable to contain himself, Earl knocks Falcone out and ties him up, then cries, believing that his friend is gone and his daughter is next.
Penguin and his men are on their way out of the airport when they noticed two bat-shaped figures following them. Batman and Robin's seats transformed into Bat-Gliders after the ejection and they were on their way to catch Penguin. The man driving the limo tries to lose them but all he manages to do is damage the car to the point where it can't go on. Penguin comes out of the car with Marva as a hostage and prevents Batman from attacking him. However, Marva stomps on Penguin's feet and Robin glides from Penguin's side, knocking him down. Penguin tries to reach for his trick umbrella but Batman gets there first, much to Penguin's disgust.
1 BAT 4U
Later, Earl is packing all his tools and moving from his garage, as the location is no longer a safe place. However, Batman tells him that the new place is going to be bigger and better, making Earl's work much easy. In return, Earl promises Batman that the new Batmobile is going to be even better that the last one.
At Stonegate Penitentiary, Penguin has been put to work in the license plate factory, scrubbing the finished plates clean. He comes across one that reads "1BAT4U", and tears it in half in a rage.
Cast[]
Trivia[]
- The Penguin controlling the Batmobile is a reference to Batman Returns.