How is Scarecrow a Favorite Dreams in Darkness Batman the Animated Series Review

How is Scarecrow a Favorite that's what I want to know as I review Dreams in Darkness. A solid episode despite Scare crows weak motives. See Batman in a straitjacket in Arkham Asylum is a chilling image, and sets up a fantastic mystery. A review on the 25th anniversary of the original air date October 30, 1992.

I will breakdown and review the episode with a 45 second(ish) plot summary, my favorite moments, and what made this show so special. Then rank it in the best episodes I have reviewed so far.

Next Episode Beware the Grey Ghost Nov 4, 1992

Other referenced episodes

[Coughdropaddict]

I think Scarecrow has his place in the BTAS rouges gallery. His motivations set him apart. Joker and Riddler want to outwit Batman, Bane and Penguin are just in it for the money, and Poison Ivy and Ra's al Ghul are fanatics in service to a cause. Scarecrow though has none of these motivations we could comprehend if not condone. He is a purely malevolent monster who sees everyone else as objects to be tormented for his amusement. That makes him, in my opinion, uniquely evil among the rouges.

[Brook]

This felt like a precursor to Batman Begins especially with Jonathan Crane using the rare blue flower as a means to put fear into the citizens of Gotham. The rare blue flower was funded by Ra's Al Ghul as he wanted to destabilize Gotham City. The psychological themes this story had was just perfectly executed with Bruce Wayne facing the different forms of fears was the highlight of this episode.

[the_jacobian]

In the pre-52 comics it’s revealed that his obsession with fear is related to a childhood trauma involving an abusive grandma and a fear of birds. He was also tormented for his looks and clothes by his peers. I think “nothing to fear” hurt the character a bit by skimming over his origin, rather than fleshing it out with a two parter. But having background on the character from the comics helps with that, at least for me.

[AroAceGamer]

What I like about Scarecrow is that he is another antithesis to Batman in the same way the Joker is. The Batman uses fear as his greatest weapon to fight crime. In the same way, Scarecrow uses fear to torment the innocent for shits and giggles, including Batman. So in a way, what makes Scarecrow cool is that he uses Batman's own weapon against him.

[TheVarietyVendor]

The first Batman VHS tape i bought with my own money. It had this episode along with "The Grey Ghost"(Is it "Grey" or "Gray". always mixed up). Definitely my fav Scarecrow episode. That Joker mouse always makes me laugh. XD

[zacmurray]

This might be in my top 5 Batman TAS episodes. Love it. Also, first time watching one of your vids!

[MickeyFlipper]

I just recently started rewatching all the eps on HBOmax. And I still am amazed at how brilliant and ahead of it’s time this series actually is. It has pastiches and homages to classic film and television with a futuristic and gothic look. The stories are absolutely amazing. And as brilliant film director Ridley Scott would say… You can have the best cast. Wonderful setting. Everything perfect for the film. But if you don’t have a good story… you’re dead in the water. The storylines the writers came up with are brilliant. Warner Bros gambled and it paid off wonderfully.

[micklestapler]

I love the visuals that the Scarecrow offers due to the fear gas. It was a pretty crazy episode to see as a young boy, i really had no idea what was goin on.

[Sovic]

0:30 Actually that's not entirely correct. I've gotten into Batman very recently, this year in fact. So far I really like the animated series and I also think your series covering it is excellent and quite honestly underrated. I really don't get it gets so little likes. I know I'm about 2 years late to comment but I felt it was appropriate.

[lunarga]

I grew up on the cartoons including the animated films from 2004-2013, so I never experienced this show and it blew me away. I’ve only seen a few episodes of this and batman beyond which I thought were boring as a kid(20 now) compared to what I had but now that I want to get into more animated batman media(like the things I haven’t watched) I can definitely Ive fallen in love with this series and seen how much it’s inspired other things of batman related media like shows, movies, and video games.

This particular episode reminded me so much of Arkham Asylum and Arkham knight and how much a good villain scarecrow is when I originally saw him as lame even with playing the games. I’m glad you delved into this episode and I had others who felt the same way abt it

[talariswatts-el]

I have to disagree with you about the scarecrow having weak motives. I think his motives are perfect. Because the thing about the Scarecrow is that he's a sadist. He just takes pleasure in tormenting people. So when your a sadist you don't need much of a reason to do evil. That's why villians like Joker, Zsasz or Scarecrow can hurt people without any good reason because they're sadistic and that's all the motivations they need.

[miamimagicians]

The robin that Batman hits with the car is Jason Todd notice how it says JASON the jokers got a bomb ! Red hood wink

[shalomoneal]

Scarecrow is a sadist- that's always his TRUE motivation

[trigunlover]

Oh, my God...This is my favorite episode ever! Really it is. It shows the fear of Batman trying to fight back, stopping Scarecrow, save many lives, and escaping Arkham Asylum. This is by far so good to watch. :)

[LostOneOmega]

Liked Scarecrows first design. Simple and to the point. It doesn't take much.

[squashvids]

I never got the chance to see this episode on tv back in the day but I do have a very vivid memory of the first time I saw 'Fear of Victory' back in 1995. I remember how creepy the character was but it became one of my favorite villains of the series. It was a very mysterious guy. I always thought the mask of the Scarecrow was very gruesome! for a 4 year old anyway...

[MrOrcshaman]

The funny thing is, when you look into backstories about Batmans rogues gallery, even the Jo, we has a level of sympathy, given his backstory of a struggling comedian who screwed up in a heist and fell into a acid vat, it means joker has one little piece of backstory where we can feel sad knowing a down on his luck man lost everything and became a monster.

There is none of the with scarecrow, no sympathetic backstory, nothing to even give moral justification for his actions, he is just straight up a psychopath who enjoys the suffering of others .

Going over his rogues gallery:
Joker = sad backstory
Two face = was once Bruce's best friend and a good man.
Poison ivy = cares for nature and Harley.
Ras al ghul = loves his daughter and does want to save the world.
Penguin = just wants to be treated with respect.
Riddler = wants recognition for his hard work.
Harley = tried several times to reform herself.
Bane = grew up in hell on earth without someone to love him.
Mad hatter = Lonely and desperate
Clock king = revenge for having his life ruined.
Baby doll = can't accept herself for what she is.
Catwoman = fighting to help animals and sometimes an anti hero.

Most of batmans villains either have a justified reason, sympathetic background, or just had one bad day.

But not the scarecrow, he never mentions his past or reasons for doing what he does, he just does them.

[billyjoyce]

This is easily the Scarecrow’s best episode

[captainjakemerica]

Amazing episode love the narration and the fear toxin visuals

[therandombats]

I really don't know where to begin....I have very few issues with this episode, that are easily looked over if you think about it. First off, let me just say I feel shocked every time I see Batman in a straitjacket, not a complaint. No, my issues is the orderlies there at Arkham Asylum (especially Dr. Bartholomew), the idea that Batman needs to sleep for a couple days just to be rid of Scarecrow's fear toxin, and Batman's hallucination of Robin and Alfred turning on him while Poison Ivy pull's Batman towards her (Not gonna lie, wish that bit there happened to me, minus Robin and Alfred being there). My favorite moments in this episode are Batman seeing Joker in the Bat-Cave instead of Alfred, Bartholomew calling his enemies by their real names, Poison Ivy turning her arms into vines (Don't judge me!), and Batman whistling into the mic to stun the thugs ganging up on him. Best Scarecrow episode (as well as the last one until the New Batman Adventures), ranking for me at 7 outta 100.