Torch Song is the 10th episode of Season 1 in The New Batman Adventures, introducing the villain, Firefly to the series.
Plot[]
Bruce Wayne and his date, Shannon, go to a concert and sees Barbara Gordon there, with both surprised to see each other. Before the show, the star, Cassidy, has an angry confrontation with her show's pyrotechnics expert, Garfield Lynns. Apparently, the two dated briefly before Cassidy broke it off, but Lynns refuses to accept this. In anger, Cassidy orders him fired before going out on stage.
As the show starts, an enraged Lynns overloads the stage pyrotechnics, creating a rising wall of fire around Cassidy that drives the band away and traps her. Bruce tries to intervene, but suddenly Batgirl appears to rescue Cassidy from the fire.
Afterward, Harvey Bullock and the police storm Lynns' apartment with a warrant for his arrest. Lynns is gone, but they get a look at his apartment, a virtual shrine to Cassidy, lit candles and all. At Cassidy's apartment, she is talking with her agent, Frank, and receives a letter that burns up in her hands. Unnerved, she makes an appearance at Rock City with other musicians, but Lynns appears, now dressed in a fireproof battlesuit and calling himself "Firefly", and shoots firebombs.
While on patrol, Batgirl remarks to Batman that it's been a quiet evening until they see people fleeing the Rock City building. Batman & Batgirl appear and save Cassidy, but Firefly manages to escape. Batman shows up at Cassidy's apartment to find out why Firefly is after her. She fills him in on their past relationship and asks Batman to be her personal bodyguard, but he vanishes, to her dismay.
Batman & Batgirl investigate Lynns' hideout and discover an arsenal of pyrotechnic weapons. While looking through them, Batgirl pulls a lever that triggers a booby trap, igniting a firebomb that starts to consume the entire building.
At the studio, Cassidy is rehearsing when smoke starts to fill the room. Coughing, Cassidy is led out by a man she thinks is her agent, but realizes too late is Firefly.
Unable to contain the fire, Batman & Batgirl escape out a window, but Batgirl is injured by falling debris.
At the Batcave, Alfred tends to Batgirl's wounds while the news reports Cassidy's abduction. The police have no idea where to find her, but Batman picked up a matchbook at the hideout with the name of a paint company on it. As he prepares to leave, Alfred suggests wearing something "more durable".
At the Mephisto Paint Company's manufacturing plant, Cassidy is tied up while Firefly works with the equipment. Cassidy tries to reason with him, but he says it's too late for that. He shows her an incendiary gel he's invented that can burn through any substance—to demonstrate, he sets a small amount of the gel alight, and she watches in horror as it burns through a block of ice, then down through the floor.
Firefly has made enough of the gel to pour down the sewers, covering the entire city. Then he will ignite the gel and the entire city will burn—in Lynns's twisted mind, the perfect cover for him and Cassidy to disappear together.
But before he can release the gel, Batman appears, wearing a heat-resistant suit of armor that is able to withstand Firefly's fireballs. The two fight and Firefly gain the upper hand long enough to empty the gel into the sewers. Firefly then unsheathes a flaming sword and attacks Batman. The two fight again, and the sword goes flying into the gel, igniting it before it can spread across the city. As the plant starts to burn, Firefly escapes, while Batman frees Cassidy and gets her outside. The building explodes, and Firefly staggers outside, only to collapse from exhaustion.
Cassidy has dinner in a restaurant with her agent, who tells her that Firefly's kidnapping and mayhem have done wonders for her publicity, and they should capitalize on it right away. While he starts describing his new ideas for a fire-themed tour, a flambe dessert is ignited at their table, and Cassidy recoils. Her agent asks what's wrong, not seeming to notice her staring in terror at the flames.
Cast[]
- Kevin Conroy as Batman/Bruce Wayne
- Tara Charendoff as Batgirl/Barbara Gordon
- Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. as Alfred Pennyworth
- Mark Rolston as Garfield Lynns/Firefly
- Karla DeVito as Cassidy
- Robert Costanzo as Harvey Bullock
- David Paymer as Frank
- Thomas F. Wilson as Howlin' Jake
- Jane Wiedlin as Shannon
- John Mariano as Vincenzo
Trivia[]
- Firefly was one of the few major Batman villains not to be introduced in Batman: The Animated Series. The producers had intended to use Firefly in an episode of the original series, but Fox wouldn't allow it due to his pyromaniac nature. When the time had come for The New Batman Adventures to air on Kids' WB, the rules were less strict, allowing Firefly to be introduced.
External links[]
- "Torch Song" at DC Animated Universe Wiki