In the sixth episode of Batman: Caped Crusader, “Night Ride,” after a series of robberies in Gotham, Batman wrestles with the possibility that the culprit might be from beyond the grave. Meanwhile, Harvey Dent’s morality is tested when a generous campaign donation comes in from a most nefarious source.

Batman: Caped Crusader has been an interesting series. It’s hard to not compare it to Batman: The Animated Series and overall it feels like a companion to it but also a slight “what if” take as well. The characters, world, and style are similar and familiar, but it’s often a new and different take on them. “Night Ride” introduces a new version of the Gentleman Ghost and as far as episodes, it feels like an homage to Scooby-Doo, so much so I expected the Mystery Machine to show up.

The series up to this point has been generally grounded. While it’s in an alternate take of the real world, the technology, buildings, vehicles, all have rules of some sort. Here, we see the series step into the fantastical with a literal ghost who has a grudge against the average person. It really does feel like a Scooby-Doo episode where I expected the villain to have their mask ripped off in the end and all of their tricks explained with technology. But no, it sticks to its horror sense with Batman seeking out Papa Midnite and having to perform a ritual to save the day. It’s an interesting one-off episode and one you’d expect to have aired during Halloween season if this was being shown after school.

The episode also keeps an ongoing narrative going as well. Harvey Dent’s Mayoral race is facing pressure and he’s sinking in the polls. The episode, and storyline, has been a nice build towards his eventual turn into Two-Face and this is the first time we see his anger boil over. There’s also some key moments where his fight for justice is brought into question, playing into the series overall questioning of corruption and who we can trust.

“Night Ride” is a fun episode but its supernatural aspect feels a little out of place for the series at this point. We’re still being introduced to the world of Gotham, it’s characters, and technology, and adding this feels like it doesn’t quite fit into that. It’s almost too supernatural. Still, if you disregard that, it’s a fun episode with some nice character moments for Alfred especially. It’s not quite up to the quality of previous episodes but it’s still a lot of fun.

Overall Rating: 7.5