The Music Meister (Neil Patrick Harris) “sings the song that the world wants to hear,” but when he does, anyone who listens falls under his “hypnotic trance” – a musical mind-control that compels all who hear it to sing, dance, and prance along to his criminal schemes. Can Batman (Diedrich Bader) stop this concerto of crime, or will he fall victim to the melodic maladies of the Music Meister? And will Black Canary (Grey DeLisle) prove herself sidekick – or lover?
While we’ve been looking week by week at Batman: The Animated Series, “Mayhem of the Music Meister!” represents something completely different from Batman: The Brave and the Bold. Focused less on neo-noir in the shadows of Gotham, The Brave and the Bold instead turns a loving eye toward the Silver Age of the DC Universe, with creative off-beat villains whose defeat can only be accomplished when Batman teams up with a different hero each episode, be it Aquaman, Red Tornado, the Doom Patrol, or OMAC. Tonally, it’s much closer to Batman ’66 than Batman (1989), but for true believers like myself, there’s much to love about this playful take that’s more “Caped Crusader” than “Dark Knight.”
“Mayhem” is unique also for being a musical episode, which seems pretty far beyond the pale for a character like Batman. (Tellingly, Batman never sings, save for a warbling vocalization at the episode’s climax.) But this episode is definitively one of the best of The Brave and the Bold’s 65-episode run because of how enthusiastically it embraces its quirkiness and develops an unforgettable new nemesis for Batman – The Music Meister, brought to maniacal life by Neil Patrick Harris. The songs are catchy, populated by more clever couplets than any Bat-shark repellent could rebuff, but Harris is so into the character that his dulcet tones and power chords come to wicked gleeful life with one of the best supervillain laughs of all time. (Hat-tip to NPH’s other villainous musical, Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog.)
On the surface, a villain whose power is essentially song-and-dance compulsion sounds quite bizarre, and it’s certainly the kind of thing that’s difficult to accomplish in a comic book – hence why Music Meister debuted here, even though he feels like he’d have fit right in on Batman ’66. “Mayhem” and indeed the show at large are hyper-conscious of the significance of legacy to the character of Batman, and so Music Meister unveils a number of costumes over the course of the episode – a Music Man outfit, a Liberace-esque number, a 90s-style exxxtreme suit punctuated by pouches and giant speakers, and the classical music-note suit that’s become his trademark in his short stint with fans. Even the episode’s songs gesture toward the long shadow of the bat; Green Arrow croons of his envy of Batman’s popularity as “top cat,” while Music Meister gets a ballad of frustration with the inmates at Arkham because Batman “really drives us bats.”
And against all odds, the episode also manages to include a romantic subplot that does more justice to the Green Arrow/Black Canary relationship than Arrow has accomplished in five seasons. It’s a great treat to see a completely asexual Batman obliviously repudiating Black Canary’s offer to be his “gal-pal,” and it’s equally fulfilling for Green Arrow to duet with her in a reprise of her romantic elegy “If Only,” in which she croons with a straight face, “A brave man / like no man / Be my man / Batman.” But as irresistible as the Caped Crusader may be, it’s difficult to imagine he could ever love someone “like he loves fighting villainy.”
But the unapologetic star is Music Meister himself, who gets no fewer than three starring numbers to himself. The first, “I’m The Music Meister,” introduces him with all the pomp and fanfare befitting a man who loves the sound of his own voice. Then it’s the aforementioned “Drives Us Bats” and a brief stopover to try to convince Black Canary, in “If Only,” that their voices are perfectly matched – and really, how ingenious a stroke is it that the musical villain is paired off against the hero whose superpower is her voice? Finally, it’s the James Bond-esque “The World Is Mine,” where the Music Meister trills his way through global conquest. His larcenous scheme ultimately seems quite petty, but then the character himself is frequently petulant, imprisoning Black Canary in a death trap when she rejects his advances.
In short, “Mayhem of the Music Meister!” is an episode that seems improbable at best, but it succeeds against all odds through brute force enthusiasm and unapologetically vibrant musical entertainment. It’s the kind of episode that gets stuck in your head in more ways than one, and as a one-off venture into a lighter corner of Batman’s legacy, you really can’t do much better.
Writer: Michael Jelenic
Director: Ben Jones
Villains: The Music Meister (Neil Patrick Harris); Black Manta (Kevin Michael Richardson), Clock King (Dee Bradley Baker), and Gorilla Grodd (John DiMaggio)
Next episode: The Cinema King’s plate is a little too full to start reviewing two Batman cartoons at once... Wednesday, it’s back to Batman: The Animated Series for “I’ve Got Batman in My Basement.” Tonight, however, The Music Meister makes his live-action debut portrayed by Darren Criss on Supergirl, for a two-part crossover with The Flash. Tune in to The CW Monday at 8/7c for Supergirl, then Tuesday at 8/7c for The Flash!
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