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| The Last Laugh | |
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| Season 1, Episode 15 | |
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| Air date | September 22, 1992 |
| Directed by | Kevin Altieri |
| Written by | Carl Swenson |
| Music by | Shirley Walker |
| Airdate Sequence | |
| Previous The Clock King |
Next Eternal Youth |
| Production Sequence | |
| Previous Nothing to Fear |
Next Pretty Poison |
"The Last Laugh" is an episode of the first season of Batman: The Animated Series. It features Joker as the main antagonist and it marks the first appearance of the Batboat.
"The Last Laugh" is the fourth episode produced and the 15th episode aired.
Synopsis[]
The Joker celebrates April's Fools Day by flooding Gotham City with his infamous laughing gas. When Batman discovers the pungent odor is emanating from a submarine, Joker and his robot henchman Captain Clown try to send the hero to the bottom of the river.
Plot[]
Garbage emanating laughing gas
It's April Fool's Day in Gotham and a barge captained by a robotic clown and carrying green garbage that emits green gas floats over the river. An armored truck driver smells the gas and starts laughing and driving erratically. More people smell the gas and start laughing as well. The victims seem to have lost all sense as the truck driver drives his truck right into the river.
Elsewhere, Bruce cuts himself shaving and Alfred notes that he's tired from his crime fighting. To help him relax Alfred tries playing an April Fools joke on Bruce but it falls flat. While Bruce takes a shower, he hears a report on the radio about people who are having nearly fatal accidents on the bridge due to them acting like complete fools. Bruce deduces right away that it's the work of the Joker.
Meanwhile, Joker's henchmen dive and steal the contents of the armored truck while Joker fixes himself up to go out towards the financial district. Once the ship has docked, Joker and his men go out with shopping carts and start stealing from the people and the stores in the area. The people are so busy laughing and dancing around that they do nothing to stop it.
While Joker and his men go on their shopping spree, Batman does an analysis of the gas and learns that prolonged exposure will result in permanent insanity. Batman calls up Alfred for help but Alfred blows him off. At first, Batman thinks it's just a joke but he hears crashing and runs upstairs to find that Alfred has been exposed to the gas, and is destroying most of the library in his lunacy. Quickly donning a gas mask, Batman realizes that he must stop the gas before it's too late.
Joker and his gang
Things only get better for Joker as the stocks have crashed and his profits have risen. However, Batman drags the scow out to sea with the Batboat and boards it. Joker's first two henchmen are dealt with easily enough but the "Captain" of the ship tears the tow cable in two with his bare hands and attacks Batman. When Batman hits him he only hurts himself as the captain is made of metal. Captain Clown grabs Batman and spins him over his head until Batman is too dizzy to fight back. Batman is then shoved into a canister, holes are poked into it, and he's thrown into the ocean. Water fills the canister and Batman nearly drowns but he manages to call the batboat using the Utility Belt and has it cut through the canister.
Batman vs Captain Clown
Joker returns to the junkyard and sprays more of his toxin on the garbage. Fortunately, Batman arrives and cuts the hoses pumping out the toxin. He then removes the henchmen's masks and they fall over laughing. Captain Clown attempts to stop Batman and even though Batman grabs a metal pole, the robot is too strong for him. Not ready to give up, Batman manages to lure the robot into a car crusher and crushes it into a small cube. Joker is outraged and dumps a load of garbage onto his enemy. Batman survives and follows the Joker over the conveyor belt only to find that it leads into a vat of molten metal. He manages to grab hold of a hanging bucket but Joker starts swinging cabled hooks at him. Batman grabs hold of one of the hooks but Joker pulls a lever and causes the hook to drop. Batman manages to grab hold of gears and catch up to the Joker but Joker escapes down a slide and swings on a cable to reach a catwalk. Batman doesn't know what to expect and is almost dumped into an incinerator.
Joker is finally stopped
Joker drops garbage down the chute and Batman almost falls into the fire but he uses his batrope and climbs up and confronts Joker. The Madman throws a couple of his razor cards at him but Batman dodges the first and catches the second. Frightened, Joker tries to run, but he trips on a cable and nearly falls into the fire but the cable saves him. He calls to Batman to save him and he contemplates letting him fall, but in the end saves him.
Things have finally quieted down and Bruce returns home to find Alfred cleaning up the mess he made. Alfred is upset over his destruction of the property and Bruce tells him that he'll take it out of his salary. Alfred is even more upset to hear this but then Bruce tells him "April Fools".
Cast[]
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Kevin Conroy | Bruce Wayne/Batman |
| Bob Hastings | Armored Car Driver Henchman (uncredited) |
| Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. | Alfred |
| Mark Hamill | Joker |
| Mari Devon | Summer Gleeson |
| Pat Fraley | Jest |
| Richard Moll | Batcomputer |
External Links[]
- "The Last Laugh" at IMDb
- This article uses material from the The Last Laugh article at the DCAU Wiki and is licensed under the CC BY-SA License.