Episode Title: Not Yet, He Ain’t
Original Airdate: March 24, 1966
If you recall, when we last left the Caped Crusaders they had been nabbed by the Penguin and are now unconscious and strung up behind a carnival shooting gallery. What’s worse is that Commissioner Gordon and Chief O’Hara are about to unwittingly fire the shots that will take out our heroes. Let’s see what happens in this week’s episode Not Yet, He Ain’t.
Just as the Penguin gives the order of “ready, aim, fire,” our heroes come to and raise their feet in front of their chests. The shots ring out, but because of the bulletproof soles of their shoes they are protected. Plus the shock unjams Batman’s Bat Knife and the heroes are able to free themselves. By the time the Penguin and his men go back to collect the corpses, the heroes have escaped and returned to the Batcave to plan their next move…and have a cool glass of milk.
Things are still not looking good for our heroes, however. Remember, they are still looking at a burglary charge after having been caught breaking into Penguin’s safe in the last episode. The villain demands that the police catch our heroes, and even taunts them over Gordon’s emergency phone. Batman and Robin decide to face the villain at his hideout. When they show up, they act as if they have gone mad and an epic fight breaks out with the Penguin and his men. Soon the police are involved, too, as they try to arrest the Dynamic Duo. In the chase it appears that the police shoot down our heroes. The Penguin and his men then seize the opportunity to steal the Batmobile…redubbing it the Birdmobile.
Now, with Batman and Robin out of the way, the Penguin continues to foil various staged crimes. This just makes Sophia Starr (remember her from last time) become more infatuated with Penguin. Before we know it, the two are getting married. This leads to Penguin’s big plot, to scam various rich Gothamites out of expensive wedding gifts. Of course, our heroes aren’t really dead…the police were firing blanks. With the help of the Batcycle (making its debut), and a remote control for the Batmobile, they are able to take down the monocled villain.
There’s a lot of madness in this episode which makes it a really satisfying part two. We get two big fist fights, the first of which features the Dynamic Duo acting like sputtering escapees from the mental ward. Batman bursts into the room with a loud growl and Robin grimaces and holds his head to his shoulder as if he’s experiencing severe muscle spasms. Then the ensuing fight features an explosion, gunfire, and a graphic for a word you won’t find in any dictionary…”Qunckkk!” Try that one next time you play Scrabble!
The liberal use of gadgets is also a fun aspect of this episode. It’s especially nice to see the first use of the Bat Cycle. With its sidecar for Robin and big windshields lined in pink it is wonderfully unwieldy. It’s a little unclear exactly how the whole thing works, though. Somehow it’s complicated enough that Batman needs the Boy Wonder to look over and read the various gauges for him, yet later he’s able to operate the contraption while also steering the Batmobile via remote control.
One more unique feature of this episode is that it is the first time we’ve had an epilogue sequence that does not feature Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson. This time we get Gordon and O’Hara seeing the Penguin off to prison, along with Sophia Starr who says she still loves him. But Penguin then admits that he’d rather go to prison than be married.
Next time we get the third appearance of Frank Gorshin’s Riddler in The Ring of Wax. Join us here…same bat time, same bat channel (superhero).
Bat Gadgets Used:
Bullet Proof Shoe Soles
Bat Knife
Batarang
Mobile Bat Phone
Emergency Bat-turn Lever
Bat Cycle
Mobile Bat Cycle Bat Scanner
Ejector Seat
Batmobile Remote Control
Holys:
Holy Hotfoot
Holy Nightmare
Holy Mush
Holy Romeo and Juliet
Channel: Superhero 