Strange Minds

**"Strange Minds"** is the tenth episode in the second season of *The Batman* and the twenty-third episode overall.

## "Strange Minds"

### Episode

10 (production order)12 (airing order)
23 (overall)

## Synopsis

Yin finds herself a hostage to Joker, who refuses to give up her location when captured, claiming she will go out with a big "pop" unless he is released. Seeking to find out where she is, Dr. Hugo Strange opts to use a device created by Wayne Enterprises to find the answers, but Batman believes he stands a better chance, and uses the prototype of the device to enter Joker's mind. But he soon finds it a dangerous place to be in, and that he could go mad if he is not careful.

## Plot

As a tired Ellen Yin goes back to her apartment, she orders pizza, and it arrives instantly. Just as she checks the door, Joker, disguised as a delivery guy, barges in. He then sprays Yin, rendering her unconscious.

At the Gotham Symphony Hall Stage after the opera singer is done, Bruce meets Hugo Strange and they talk about his recent promotion to being chief of psychiatry at Arkham. Strange then expresses his excitement to work with Bruce on his project at Wayne Industries, a device that will let people delve into the minds of the criminally insane. Joker breaks in, with the crowd running in fear, and Bruce disappearing. Joker tries to have a 'discussion' with Strange, right as Batman drops in. He quickly subdues Joker, and Joker reveals he did something to Yin. Batman calls Yin,but with no answer. Yin meanwhile is trapped in a giant jack-in-the-box with bombs around it. At Arkham, Chief Rojas is interrogating Joker on Yin's location (with Batman listening in), and Joker eventually reveals she's trapped in a box that will blow in 8 hours, unless they let him out. Strange walks and suggests using a device that will explore Joker's mind to find Yin's whereabouts, and Rojas reluctantly agrees. At the Batcave, Batman sets up the prototype for Strange's device, and decides to go into Joker's head along with Strange. The device activates, and Strange finds himself inside Joker's chaotic head. Strange finds himself at Joker's childhood, and goes to try make sense out of it. Alfred connects the prototype to the main device's frequency, and sends Batman to enter Joker's mind. Batman walks into Joker's head, which alerts Joker. Batman asks Joker (who has taken the form of the moon) where Yin is, but with no success. Joker then drops a giant screw on him,

Batman grapples away, then rescues a civilian and her baby from it (who also turn out to be Joker). Yet again, Joker doesn't confess, so Batman comes to the conclusion he must get the answer from Joker's subconscious: only problem is: where is it? Batman goes looking for it, and stumbles upon Joker's idea factory. He opens the folder labelled "Y",but finds nothing useful. He then meets with the only sane part left in Joker's mind, his former self, Jack Napier. Batman asks him where Yin is, and he reluctantly tells him to look in "Current schemes". Joker then throws him in a vat of chemicals, turning Jack onto Joker. Upon entering Joker's current schemes section, Batman finds the box, but Joker traps him. Meanwhile, Batman drops in on Strange, who was interviewing Joker. Joker then shoves Strange into another area. Batman enters the Gotham Symphony Hall Stage, and Joker shows him play with dolls. The box containing doll Yin explodes, and Batman asks Joker once again where is she, this time losing his cool. The Jokers in the stage pile up on him. Joker then tells him a joke, which makes even Batman laugh, terrifying Alfred.

Alfred connects with Batman and encourages him to not give up. Joker holds Batman with strings, then answers to Batman's request of wanting to find Yin by swallowing him. Inside, Batman, weak and cold, is faced with challenges such as the thought of failing Yin and belonging in Arkham. He remembers that Strange referred to this as a two-way transmission, meaning all he needs to do is find the way out. Batman rips his way out, and grabs Joker along. Joker wakes up, and finds that Yin is rescued thanks to Strange. Joker finds it hard to believe that they succeeded and found her under the Gotham Symphony Hall Stage. Joker then realises, as all the attendants unmask and are revealed to be Batman, who made Joker accidentally reveal Yin's location. It turns out that they were inside Batman's mind. Batman throws Joker out of the transmission, and Batman leaves. Batman wakes up, and heads to the Gotham Symphony Hall Stage to rescue Yin. Batman stops the bombs just in time and gets Yin out. At Arkham Asylum, Joker is seen in the corner of his cell, crying. Strange finishes his record on Joker and starts a new one on the other side of the coin: Batman.

## Cast/Characters

* Rino Romano as Bruce Wayne/Batman
* Alastair Duncan as Alfred Pennyworth
* Ming-Na as Detective Ellen Yin
* Jesse Corti as Chief Rojas
* Kevin Michael Richardson as The Joker
* Frank Gorshin as Hugo Strange
* Chad

## Events

- Joker's past as Jack Napier is shown.

- Hugo Strange starts studying Batman.

## Trivia

* "Strange Minds" is also the name of the psychology 'shop' that Hugo Strange ran in the 2011 video game *Batman: Arkham City*. It can be seen in Arkham City opposite the Solomon Wayne Courthouse in Park Row.
* When watching the show on HBO Max, this episode mistakenly plays the opening sequence twice in a row, and only the first one has the 'skip intro' button. It is unclear if this mistake exists anywhere else.
* When Batman enters Joker's head, the moves he did upon landing down are similar to the "dive bomb" and "shockwave attack" moves in the *Arkham* franchise.
* Upon entering his head, Joker tells Batman "A Batman in my belfry", which is similar to the title of the episode *The Bat in the Belfry*.
* Even though Joker's real name isn't said to be Jack Napier, it's not said if it isn't his actual name either. Since Joker's real name is usually that, it is safe to assume so. However, whether or not it really is his real name is up to the viewer, as the episode doesn't contradict or support the name.
* The scene where Batman fights multiple Jokers is similar to a scene in *Batman: Arkham Knight.*
* Joker entering Batman's mind happens again in the *Batman: The Brave and the Bold* episode *Emperor Joker!*, with the same consequences of leaving Joker scared*.* And much like this episode, it features Joker's past before falling into chemicals.
* This is the first and only episode in season 2 to not feature the intro in season 1; the clip where Ethan shows his badge with Batman grappling away is replaced with a clip where Yin is standing with Batman.
	+ In the original non-remastered version of the show,this intro was used for the entirety of season 2.
* When Batman catches up with Strange, one can barely see his eyes behind the glasses. The same happens when Strange tells Chad to start the machine.
* This one of the few instances in the show where guns are fired.