Heart of Steel (Batman: The Animated Series)
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Heart of Steel is a two part episode of Batman: The Animated Series, the thirty-eighth and thirty-ninth produced, dealing with a supercomputer named H.A.R.D.A.C. and its attempts to replace Gotham citizens with robotic duplicates. The episodes were directed by series regular Kevin Altieri, written by Brynne Stephens, and originally aired on November 16 and 17, 1992.[1]
Plot
Part 1
The episode begins with a woman leaving a briefcase behind, seemingly deliberately, at Wayne Enterprises. That night, it grows a camera and a set of mechanical limbs and makes its way to the research and development department. Once there it produces a laser cutter and breaks into a safe, whereupon it begins stealing microchips. An alarm goes off, alerting Bruce, who changes into his Batman costume and investigates. He struggles with the robot, eventually chasing it to the roof, whereupon it fires a rocket into the sky. Batman takes a hang glider from a rooftop storage unit and pursues it until it is recovered by the woman from the beginning of the episode, who is able to shoot down the glider and escape.
The next day, Bruce begins to investigate the stolen microchips. He tells Alfred that they were a technology called 'wetware', the first stage in the development of computers with intuition and a will of their own, and among the most advanced in the world. Lucius Fox tells him that the only other company who could compete with Wayne Enterprises in that field is Cybertron Industries, run by the reclusive Karl Rossum. Bruce goes out to Cybertron to meet Rossum, who shows him a supercomputer called H.A.R.D.A.C., as well as introducing him to his assistant, Randa Duane. Unable to find out more, Bruce makes a date with Randa and leaves. Once he is gone Duane speaks to H.A.R.D.A.C., who scolds her not getting design specifications that it needed. H.A.R.D.A.C. is then shown building a humanlike robot, though its face is not revealed.
At the Gordon residence, Barabara Gordon is doing her homework while Commisioner Gordon reads the newspaper. The doorbell rings and a robot version of Gordon appears, tasering him unconscious and attempting to replace him, though Barbara is immediatly suspcious. In the meantime, Randa picks Bruce up from Wayne Enterprises and they go to Wayne Manor, though she manages to leave her makeup compact behind. Like the briefcase before it, the compact grows legs and begins stealing files from a computer. When Bruce is alerted to the theft he abruptly leaves his date with Randa, who is likewise alerted by H.A.R.D.A.C. that the theft has been unsuccessful, and that the files that it wants are at Wayne Manor. She knocks Alfred unconscious and, using specialised goggles, locates the Batcave and informs H.A.R.D.A.C. that Batman is Bruce Wayne.
Bruce returns home, discovers the unconscious Alfred, and immediatly dons his Batman costume and proceeds to the Batcave. When he attempts to use the Batcomputer it goes haywire, and suddenly the mechanical arms which previously supported his hang glider descend upon him, dragging him screaming up into the darkness.
Reception
The A.V. Club gave the episode an A-, singling out the depiction of Barbara Gordon as being particularly strong.[2]
External links
"Heart of Steel" at the DC Animated Universe Wiki
"Heart of Steel" at IMDB.com
References
- ^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0519592/ IMDB, accessed January 21, 2012
- ^ http://www.avclub.com/articles/heart-of-steel-parts-1-and-2,57040/ The A.V. Club, accessed January 21, 2012