Review: Beware the Batman "Secrets"

I'm not keeping it a secret; I like this episode. Now let's review it.

Plot/Themes
Secrets are an important part of the Batman mythos. Secret identities, secret fears, personal secrets, family secrets, you name it. We all know about Bruce's secrets. But what about Tatsu's secrets? Or Alfred's secrets? This episode lets us know that all these people have their secrets, for better and worse. In fact, in time, some of those secrets will threaten to tear them apart.

This episode's main theme was one of secrets. ...Duh. But not just the ones people keep from each other, but also from themselves. Magpie has a split personality so severe, neither one is aware of the other. Now that's a secret identity. But there's also a parallel there between her and Batman.

While Magpie wants to remember her past while remaining unaware of her two sides, Batman is all-too-aware of his dual nature. Like Batman, she is caught between worlds. And we see firsthand how freakin' horrifying it could be if Batman engulfs Bruce Wayne the same way Magpie engulfs Cassie.

Characters
Batman
Same guy as last episode. But we get to see his struggles accepting Tatsu into his life. Of course he doesn't trust her right away. And of course he gets mad at Alfred for keeping her a secret for so long.

Bruce Wayne is a guy who doesn't like secrets or mysteries. It's part of the obsession that helps him be Batman. But as we see, it's not healthy. He doesn't make small talk with Tatsu; he basically interrogates her politely.

Alfred
This episode raises an interesting point. We don't know that much about Alfred. Honestly, neither does Bruce. Bruce is just starting to realize that, and it's obvious that's he's reevaluating his relationship with Alfred.

Tatsu
We get snippets of her past, like the fact that she knew Alfred growing up. But like Bruce, she has secrets. Deep, dark, secrets. We may not know what they are, yet, but there's just as much hesitance for her to open up to  Bruce as there is the other way round.

Dr. Ravenscroft
What? What makes you think she'll be important? She's just a psychiatrist. It's not like she's secretly a villain.

Magpie/Cassie/Margaret Sorrow
Batman's dark mirror. I really like this character; they get to explore the Catwoman/Batman romance dynamic by exploring exactly how off-putting a hypersexual, glamorous, bat-spit insane thief would actually be.

Sure, everybody fantasizes about dating Catwoman, but with Magpie, it's not "crazy in the head, crazy in bed." It's "crazy in the head, she just stabbed you in the kidney." Sure, it might not rhyme, but that's the least of your problems, what with that kidney. You should get that looked at.

So yes, this was another good outing from Beware the Batman. Let's see if we can get three in a row. See you next time.