Attack of the Terrible Trio

**"Attack of the Terrible Trio"** is the ninth episode of the fifth season of *The Batman* and the sixty-first episode overall.

## Synopsis

A trio of college misfits use stolen mutagens from Doctor Kirk Langstrom to mutate themselves into human-animal forms and get revenge on those who have scorned them.

## Plot

College students are having a beach party when a girl swims out into an ocean... and a shark fin heads towards her. It stops just short of her and she thinks it's a joke, until a humanoid shark attached to it rises out of the water. The girl, Shelly, thinks it's a costume but can't get it off. Then the Shark attacks her, throwing her out of the water. The other students panic and head for their cars, but run into a flying vulture and a fox who chase them away.

Once the newspapers of Knight Times run the story, Batman and Batgirl go to see Dr. Kirk Langstrom at Gotham University. Despite the fact he was the former Man-Bat, Langstrom says he's reformed but someone stole his transformation mutagen. Batman drops Batgirl off, all but forgetting that she has graduated high school and is now in college. Barbara runs into three misfits, David, Justin, and Amber, who are discussing how they wrecked the party. David goes back to his room only to find his new jock roommate Jake throwing a party. When David protests, Jake throws him out. Barbara tries to come to his defense but David and the others dismiss her efforts.

After the party, Jake goes down to the swimming pool alone. The lights go out and the Shark comes after him. Jake climbs out and Vulture and Fox come after him. Barbara hears Jake screaming, calls Batman and dons her costume to check things out. Meanwhile, Fox has caught up to Jake and slapped a patch on his arm, which is absorbed into the skin. As Jake starts to transform, Batgirl follows Fox into the pool area, where Batman arrives and takes out Shark and Vulture. The two heroes team up against Fox but Jake smashes into the room, transformed into a gigantic gorilla form. The Trio escape while Jake goes on a rampage across the campus, until Batman restrains him and he transforms back into human form. Batman takes a blood sample from him and gives it to Langstrom, while Barbara goes back to her dormitory. She finds David, Justin, and Amber cheering at the fact that Jake has been taken to hospital, and expresses her disgust. As she walks off, they decide she'll be their next target for transformation. Outside, Barbara finds a feather and takes it with her.

The college president makes a news announcement saying that all students will have to undergo DNA testing, and the trio realize their time is running out. David suggests they come up with a new plan: they infect everyone on campus to cover their tracks.

Batgirl takes the feather to the Batcave and determines it's a vulture feather, while Batman returns with an antidote created by Langstrom based on the blood sample. They go to the college where it's the night of the big game. check out the trio's room, and find a blueprint of the stadium. Justin spots them and notifies David and Amber, who use the transformation patches and attack the heroes. Vulture ends up knocking the antidote away from batman and he ends up knocked in a cage with Batgirl. David says he used to admire Batman and decided to become a half-man/half-animal himself, but figures Batman has sold out now. He releases poisonous snakes into the laboratory then takes off with his friends to release the mutagen in the stadium.

While Vulture attacks the marching band, Fox and Shark take the bomb containing the mutagen into the men's locker room. Batman blows open the cage door and he and Batgirl attack the Trio. They hit both Shark and Vulture with the spray antidote, transforming them back to human form. The bomb is seconds from detonation but Batman stops it with a Batarang. Fox goes berserk and tries to get to the bomb, but ends up knocked into it and covered with the mutagen. He transforms into a gigantic chimera, flies out of the stadium, and goes berserk. Batman manages to get on to him and steers him into an electrical sign, knocking him out. The Trio is hauled away and find themselves misfits and outcasts... in prison.

## Cast/Characters

* Rino Romano as Bruce Wayne/The Batman
* Danielle Judovits as Barbara Gordon/Batgirl
* Grey DeLisle as Amber/Vulture
* David Faustino as David/Fox
* Googy Gress as David/Shark
* Peter MacNicol as Dr. Kirk Langstrom
* Chris Pratt as Jake/Gorilla
* Rob Paulsen as Kid
* Justice league (mentioned)
* Terrible Trio
* Shelly
* Stephen Phillips

## Events

- Character debuts:

* Jake
* Fox
* Vulture
* Shark
* Shelly
* Stephen Phillips

- Man-Bat is redeemed.

- As mentioned in *Joker Express*,Barbara graduated high school and is now in college at Gotham University.

## Trivia

* This episode is possibly a scrapped season 3 episode, for the fact that Robin is missing and it might have originally taken place a few days after *Thunder*. However, Batman and Batgirl mention the Justice League, Barbara is in college rather than high school, and Batman's chin is squared instead of pointed, so updates must have been made.
* When watching the show on HBO Max, this episode mistakenly plays the opening sequence twice in a row, and only the second one has the 'skip intro' button. It is unclear if this mistake exists anywhere else.
* This episode is a possible allegory for bullies and outcasts, as well as substance abuse.
* This is the first and only episode since introducing Robin to have him absent.
* This is the lowest rated episode on IMDb, with the highest being *Strange New World*.
* The patches used to turn people to animals are similar to the Slappers from *Batman Beyond*.
* Given that David and Justin went to prison instead of a juvenile detention center, they must be at least 18. Amber was not seen with them in the scene because she was likely sent to a females' prison.
* When Gorilla holds Batgirl, Fox says that he's "seen this movie before", referring to King Kong.
* Shelly and Stephen are uncredited, although the former was likely voiced by Grey DeLisle.
* The man looking like Glen Murakami makes another appearance.
* Fox refers to how Batman became a "flunky for the cops" as of *Night and the City*.
* This is one of the few times in the series where Batman is not refered to as *The* Batman.
* As with *Joker Express*, Bruce forgets Barbara has graduated high school.

## Errors

* When Batman and Batgirl throw bolas at Gorilla, they make the sound of Batarangs.
* Despite the snakes getting thrown away as the cell door blows, they are seen fleeing after the explosion.