CBR Live! Archive
B&B TV: "Mayhem of the Music Meister!"
At last, the musical episode of Batman: Brave and the Bold has hit American shores, and oh boy, was it worth the wait. Hit it!
"Mayhem of the Music Meister!"
Written by: Michael Jelenic and James Tucker and lots of other people
Tongue-in-cheek musicals seem to be the thing to do these days, and I couldn't be happier. I love the musical form when done right, and the Brave & the Bold crew bring a lot of love-- and a helluva lot of skill-- to the table when it comes to the all-singing, all-dancing episode. It's going to be difficult to review, because no other episode, aside from maybe the Bat-Mite one, has nearly this much awesome per second. Every frame, every note of this is just made of pure win.
The cold open this week is about twelve seconds of the Music Meister warming up the orchestra, before the usual opening theme kicks in. Consider this the overture. From there, we're thrown into a high-stakes super-team-up. Aquaman, Black Canary, and Green Arrow drop in on the nefarious Black Manta, Clock King, and Gorilla Grodd-- and they all start bursting into song. Who's the dastard behind it? Why, the Music Meister (Neil Patrick Harris), of course, who belts out expositional songs while the heroes and villains form a chorus line against their will.
Enter Batman, stage left, from something resembling the Whirlybat. Meanwhile, the Music Meister falls hard for Black Canary (Grey DeLisle), who sings more like a nightingale. Her sonic scream kicks in on the high notes, however, blasting the Meister back. But, oh, snap! West Side Story snapping! So the collected goodies and baddies start dance-fighting at the Dark Knight.
Your brains still working? No? Good.
"Something tells me this is only the beginning of the Music Meister's evil orchestrations," says Batman as he rescues allies and enemies alike from their high-kicking, flame-y fate into the exhaust of a rocket. Meanwhile, the Meister reveals his plan-- through song, of course. He's going to use satellites to put the entire world under his evil musical mind control. As far as evil plans go, it's actually a pretty good one.
Batman bursts in once more, and it's at this point that my brain simply couldn't keep up with the frenetic, fun-netic pace of the episode. Music note Segways on power lines? Batusi and shark-repellant references? Manic, random costume changes from the Meister? Absolutely fantastic. And since WordPress doesn't want to let me embed a Youtube clip, I'm just going to link you to the full "Drives Us Bats" number, which must be witnessed in all its glory. Check out that massive chorus with pretty much every villain and guest hero who's appeared yet! I caught a tiny OMAC singing! My life is complete. And there's still two-thirds of the show to go!
From here, we get a great slow-motion love ballad to the Caped Crusader from Black Canary, with what might be the line of the night: "If only he could love me like he loves fighting villains!" It segues into a duet with the Music Meister as he reveals his unrequited crush on the Canary, contrasting with hers on our man Batman. Then it's time for the ode to deathtraps, with the Meister in punk rock mode and all sorts of crazy killing contraptions. "Was the singing really necessary?" Batman asks Canary upon escaping. You bet your blue undies it was, Bats.
The only way to beat the Music Meister is for Batman to start belting out some notes, having a sing-off with a newly mind-controlled Canary, which leads to some sonic scream microphone feedback that breaks the Meister's control, thanks to the Bat Auto-Tuning Amplifier. And, to wrap things up, Batman spurns Canary's come-hither advances, but Green Arrow pitches in with a song of his own to win the heart of his lady love.
Okay, so I'm just recapping the plot here. What we got, however, was a love letter to the musical form woven together out of pure Broadway bombast. I love this show's dedication to craft, and its complete allegiance to fun at all costs. So what I'm saying is, yeah, I want to buy the soundtrack.
Moral of the Story: If you fight crime and can hold a tune, you can get the woman of your dreams.
Verdict: A glorious tour de force.
Comments:
- This makes the second musical super-villain Neil Patrick Harris has played. Who do you prefer: Dr. Horrible or the Music Meister?
- Holy crow, Grey DeLisle can sing.
- So Batman doesn't sing, unless you count the bit at the end, which clearly wasn't Diedrich Bader's dulcet tones. I guess nobody's going to top Kevin Conroy's musical number from JLU.
- Anyone catch those bumper stickers? "Metal Men, Atomic Knights." Rock bands or hints at future guest stars?
- "The show's closing early, Music Meister, due to criminal intent! ... And bad reviews."
- The curtain calls at commercial were a cute touch.
- Atlantean Busby Berkeley shot! Magnificent.
- "Put a sock in it!"
- "Actually, I'm more of a baritone."
- This totally needed more singing Aquaman. Other than that, best episode ever? Quite possibly.
- Posted on October 23, 2009 @ 05:44 PM
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24 Comments
Mary Warner
October 23, 2009 at 5:57 pm
I've never seen the Brave And The Bold show. I never even heard of it until I starting reading these comics blogs last Spring. What network is it on?
joecab
October 23, 2009 at 6:13 pm
Also, did you notice that as they rode those Segway notes over the telephone wires ... those wires formed a music staff? I loved this episode!
Loren
October 23, 2009 at 6:48 pm
One nice touch I enjoyed, but I haven't seen anyone else note as of yet, was the Music Meister's costume changes during "Drives Us Bats," each reflecting a different musical person or character.
Just before the number, he's doing a Phantom of the Opera impersonation. As the song starts, he's dressed like Liberace.
For the chase scene he's made to look like Wolfgang Amadeus, followed by Harold Hill of "The Music Man." Then there's a Jimi Hendrix-esque costume with afro, and a brief Gene Simmons outfit with even bigger hair. As he swings by Arkham he's dressed like Gene Autry with a guitar, and for the final scene I think he's supposed to be a Wagner Viking.
Nitz the Bloody
October 23, 2009 at 6:50 pm
You could technically count this as NPH's THIRD musical villain performance, if How I Met Your Mother's Barney Stinson doing a spoken word five act one man play with no purpose other than to get revenge on his friend Lily for her crappy play counts. It wasn't exactly musical, but it was definitely a masterpiece of stupidity.
And I loved this episode too; between Black Canary and the Huntress, this Batman is proving to be the most attractive AND asexual yet one yet.
rwe1138
October 23, 2009 at 7:05 pm
NPH is one step closer to dominating all forms of media. And I couldn't be happier!
Joe
October 23, 2009 at 7:58 pm
Not a particularly huge fan of the show (I'll gladly watch it if it's on, but won't go out of my way) but this episode was AMAZING.
Mea
October 23, 2009 at 8:31 pm
Since you asked, I prefer Dr. Horrible, but that doesn't mean I didn't love this episode. Extremely fun... I'm still humming some of the songs. Man, have NPH and Grey DeLisle have got chops! And just as a side, it was fun hearing John Di Maggio singing at himself (Grodd & Aquaman)
RocketJock
October 23, 2009 at 10:43 pm
Made of 100% Awesome, covered in Awesome Sauce, with a side order of Awesome slaw. Am I being too subtle here?
This episode didn't quite displace my all-time favorite musical episode [Xena: Warrior Princess's "The Bitter Suite"], but it sure kicks the butt out of whatever's in third place.
Oh, and as to the suggestion that the bumper sticker/concert poster "bands" might be possible future guest stars, my vote is for The Inferior Five, (with maybe a cameo by 'Mazing Man.)
Sijo
October 24, 2009 at 6:14 am
Told you guys it rocked.
And the Cartoon Network people were fools for not airing it earlier.
Wait, this episode had a Cold Open? The version in Youtube didn't include it, dammit!
Anyway, what I liked most about the episode was how the singing was actually *part* of the story and not just a promotional gimmick (since Music Meister had the power to hypnotize with his voice, he just liked to make people sing and dance the most.) Well, that doesn't explain how *everyone* knew what to sing and dance, but for once I'm not going to overthink it, and just enjoy the fun.
Oh, and while Dr. Horrible may be more likable as a character, all his songs were sad or angry, while the Meister's were all snappy! Encore, encore!
Company Computer Guy
October 24, 2009 at 7:26 am
I love this show. Every episode kicks ass!!! This episode singularly wasn't that good though
. But every other one is awesome!!
Tony Isabella
October 24, 2009 at 8:05 am
Best...episode...ever.
joecab
October 24, 2009 at 8:11 am
This one wasn't that good but every episode kicks ass? How can you say that after last week's meh OMAC episode? Tch, some people... this was probably my favorite B:TB&TB yet with the Bat-Mite ep second.
Ian A.
October 24, 2009 at 8:45 am
Nothing brings out the quality like a musical ep. Buffy, Scrubs, South Park -- all great shows that got even better with music and lyrics. And, now, you can definitely add Batman: The Brave & The Bold to that list.
But, Dr. Horrible still takes the cake.
The NPH is unstoppable.
Furious George
October 24, 2009 at 9:45 am
I just watched it this morning and thought it was fantastic. I'm not a huge fan of Brave & The Bold but this episode worked perfectly: great music, lots of in-jokes and NPH was great as the Music Meister (but better as Dr. Horrible).
daiyongo
October 24, 2009 at 11:42 am
This show is a blast!
dantecat
October 24, 2009 at 1:22 pm
Grodd and Aquaman ballroom dancing!
Who was leading?
Brandon Hanvey
October 24, 2009 at 2:01 pm
>>>And since WordPress doesn't want to let me embed a Youtube clip
You can embed videos in WordPress.
Click on the film strip icon and paste the embed code into the popup window.
Or you can use the code tag [code]File[/code] with for []
Bryan C
October 24, 2009 at 4:05 pm
That was great! I'm going to watch it again to make sure I catch all the little sight gags they included. Black Manta in a giant fishbowl was one of my favorites.
Monica Dickey
October 24, 2009 at 4:21 pm
Batman AND Neil Patrick Harris? I am checking this out ASAP
Thok
October 24, 2009 at 9:28 pm
It's worth noting that the "Bat Auto-Tuning Amplifier"/"I'm more of a baritone" is a bit of lampshade hanging: Diedrich Bader voices Batman but never sings (Jeff Bennett takes over for the Batman/Black Canary duet.)
Uncle Pinky
October 25, 2009 at 11:10 pm
Loved the posters in the Deathtrap number. Metal Men, Tornado Twins and ...... Trenchcoat Brigade! Would love to see how B&B handles that crew.
Johnny P
October 26, 2009 at 4:52 am
If anyone is still reading/posting comments, there is a CD on demand soundtrack at Amazaon. Link below:
http://www.amazon.com/Batman-Mayhem-Meister-Soundtrack-Demand/dp/B002QQ8TWC/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1256557860&sr=8-6
King Zilch
October 26, 2009 at 11:09 am
If the names at the club WERE a preview of future guest stars, does "The Trenchcoat Brigade" mean we get to see an animated John Constantine?
Karen
November 19, 2009 at 6:56 am
I only looked this episode on youtube out of boredom when I was browsing the news sites and saw a mere cartoon picture saying "cartoon" and "musical" somewhere in the description. I was running short on time,and mildly interested, so I jotted down the name of the show and episode and watched it later on Youtube...And I am SO glad I did. Batman's speaking pattern is annoying, but the Music Meister is awesome! The music is totally awesome! Five out of five stars, woot, encore!