"Traction" is the third episode of the first season of The Batman.
Plot
Two thugs converse with one another in an alley concerning their mutual Batman woes. A third man approaches them and says that he knows a mercenary who will make all of their problems disappear. He introduces them to Bane.
Back in the Batcave, Bruce Wayne experiments with some equipment left over from Wayne Industries. He operates giant servo motors that connect to a large Bat-Bot armor device while Alfred beings him nachos.
Later, Bane attacks an armored car. He tosses the security guards about and ties them up causing fear to the police. He is hoping that the attack will bait Batman into coming after him. Bruce picks up the news report of Bane's attack on the Batwave, and quickly changes into his costume. He is not the only one to respond to the emergency however. Detectives Ethan Bennett and Ellen Yin likewise receive a call and race down to the crime scene to intercept Bane.
Batman fights with Bane, and holds his own until Bane injects himself with a super-drug called Venom. His body mass triples in size and he transforms into a humungous red-skinned brute. Bane thoroughly thrashes Batman and leaves him for dead in an alley.
When Bennett and Yin arrive, Bane is long gone. Batman regains consciousness long enough to get to cover without being seen. After the detectives leave, Alfred drives by to pick up Batman's battered body.
For the next three weeks, Bruce recuperates at home, while Bane continues his crime spree. Rumors begin to circulate that the Batman is dead. Once he is sufficiently healed however, Bruce completes construction on the Bat-Bot. Now, he is ready for a rematch with Bane.
Batman encounters his foe at the Gotham City bank. The two engage in a brutal battle that carries over into the street. Despite the added protection of the Bat-Bot armor, Bane manages to nearly destroy Batman. Batman grabs an exposed live wire and inserts it into Bane's Venom injection port. The sudden electrical surge interacts with the Venom drug and forces Bane to revert back into his normal physical shape. Bruised and weary, Batman radios Alfred to come and pick him up.
Voice Cast and Characters
- Rino Romano as Bruce Wayne/Batman
- Joaquim de Almeida as Bane
- Alastair Duncan as Alfred Pennyworth
- Steve Harris as Detective Ethan Bennett
- Ming-Na as Detective Ellen Yin
- Joe Lala as Crime Boss #1 and #3
- Michael Bell as Crime Boss #2
Trivia
- When Bane says "you cannot beat Bane!" his mouth doesn't move.
- In the opening scene of the episode, in which three crime bosses meet to discuss how to eliminate Batman, one of the bosses (the Asian man who apparently would be a Chinese Mafia boss) has a very similar physiognomy to Hugo Strange (with the exception of the his prominent Chinese mustache, which Strange lacks).
Notes
- Despite being the second episode of the series produced, the original air-date was a week after the third episode, "Call of the Cobblepot".
External links
- "Traction" at IMDb