EPISODE NUMBER: 32, Production Code 306

PLOT SUMMARY:

At the circus, Man-Mountain Malloy the strongman is introduced as Barbara looks on. A clown gets involved in Malloy’s performance, much to his dissatisfaction, and when he knocks him aside the clown is revealed as…the Joker! As Barbara runs, the Joker activates a chemical injection system and his body is filled with the Bane formula. The Joker grows to amazing size and goes on a rampage. Barbara comes in as Batgirl but the Joker casually flings her away then buries her under debris.

Bruce reviews the tape of the circus and reveals he knows that the Joker stole Bane’s chemical injection system. Dismayed at her defeat, Barbara works to buff up and her father notices she’s acting unusual. At the veiling of the Gotham Globe, the Joker arrives and buffs up, and both Barbara and Bruce get word of where he’s at. As the Joker escapes with the giant Gotham Globe, the police try to stop him without any luck, and Batman arrives in his new Batmobile. The Batman fires a missile and the blast knocks the Joker into the sewer but he reemerges and Batman hits him with a cyro-grenade that doesn’t stop him. He knocks Batman out temporarily but Batgirl arrives and Batman recovers, telling her to stay back. The Joker distracts them by throwing the globe at an old folks’ home and Batman barely manages to stop it.

The Batman calls Alfred for “back-up” and the butler lets fly a special package while Batman remote activates the Batmobile. The Joker tosses it away as the package arrives through a secret tunnel, but the Joker knocks Batman away before he can get to it. The “package” is the Bat battlesuit and Barbara notices it and gets in. She engages him in battle and he knocks her back, and then she activates the retro-thrusters, sending her flying even further. Barbara recovers and goes charging back in, but the Joker throws her into Batman as he prepares to sever the injection system. The Joker knocks out Batman and leaves, while Barbara tries to get the suit under control.

Unable to get up or eject, Batgirl figures out to use her gymnastics abilities with her enhanced strength, and finds the tracking system Alfred used to deliver the suit to Batman. The Joker has stripped Batman to a giant version of a carnival strength-testing test…with the Batman as the bell at the top. As the Joker prepares to send him into orbit with an even greater injection of Bane venom, Batgirl arrives and stops him. The two fight while Batman works to cut himself free. Using her gymnastics and the suit’s retro-thrusters, Batgirl manages to hold her own but inadvertently hits the strength device…but Batman is already free.

Batman tries to cut the Bane injector and Batgirl figures out what he’s doing, then lures him away from a stunned Batman. The two head at each other but Batgirl ejects and jumps atop him and pulls the injector line free. The Joker “deflates” and Batman delivers the final blow, while Batgirl is satisfied that she can hold her own even without muscles.

WRITTEN BY: Alexx Van Dyne

DIRECTED BY: Brandon Vietti

CAST:
Rino Romano (Bruce Wayne / Batman)
Danielle Judovits (Barbara Gordon / Batgirl)
Gina Gershon (Catwoman)
Alastair Duncan (Alfred Pennyworth)
Kevin Michael Richardson (the Joker)
Mitch Pileggi (Commissioner James Gordon)

QUOTES:
Joker: "Well, Jim, Batgirl didn't score very high in that round. Let's see if Joker can top in the discus throw! (Throws a manhole cover at Batgirl) Joker takes the gold!"

Joker: "Back for more, tiny?"
Batgirl: "Um ... bring it on?"

INTERESTING NOTES:
- In "Traction," and the picture on the Batwave, Bane's power infusion module had three discs, but when Joker uses it, it only has two.
- Joker asks how many rounds Batgirl can go with "Sugar Ray Joker." This is a reference to the boxer Sugar Ray Leonard who won multiple boxing titles in the 1980s.

SCREEN GRABS: