| Gorillas in Our Midst! | |
|---|---|
| Season 2, Episode 12 | |
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| Air date | April 16, 2010 |
| Written by | Todd Casey |
| Directed by | Michael Goguen |
| Episode guide | |
| Previous Chill of the Night! |
Next Siege of Starro, Part One! |
Summary
- Teaser: Professor Milo designs a way to control rats, and uses his new technology to steal diamonds only to run afoul of Batman and the Spectre. The defeated Milo faces the terrible wrath of the Spectre.
- Main Plot: When Gorilla Grodd, Monsieur Mallah, and Gorilla Boss form G.A.S.P. (short for Gorillas and Apes Seizing Power) and replace all of Gotham City's entire human population with gorillas, Batman teams with Detective Chimp, B'wana Beast, and Vixen (after the latter two stop Killer Moth and his henchmen from robbing an armored car) to thwart Gorilla Grodd's plans.
Appearing in "Gorillas in Our Midst!"
TEASER Featured Characters:
Villains:
- Doctor Milo (Only appearance; dies)
Locations:
- Dr. Milo's Laboratory
Items:
MAIN EPISODE Featured Characters:
- Batman
- B'Wana Beast
- Detective Chimp
- Vixen (First appearance)
Villains:
- G.A.S.P. (Gorillas and Apes Seizing Power)
- Gorilla Boss (First appearance)
- Gorilla Grodd
- Monsieur Mallah (First appearance)
- Killer Moth (Cameo)
Locations:
Items:
Vehicles:
Synopsis
Mind-controlled rats brings stolen diamonds back to the lab of their owner, Professor Milo. He quickly realizes that their fakes, and Batman appears to explain that he placed tracker devices in them. Accompanying Batman is the Spectre, ready to wreak vengeance. Batman intervenes, insisting Milo will get his day in court. Milo drinks a potion, transforming into a man beast, and Batman takes him on, knocking him back into an electrical panel. The Spectre departs, noting that Batman's leniency still disappoints him. Milo warns that he'll be back and the Spectre was right. After Batman leaves, the Spectre returns, frees the rats, and transforms Milo into cheese.
Batman and Detective Chimp jump from the Batplane toward a jungle island, while Batman explains that Grodd has been abducting gorillas from across the world. As they sneak into Grodd's Fortress, Detective Chimp wonders at Batman leaving Gotham in the hands of another hero but Batman insists that B'wana Beast gets the job done.
In Gotham, B'wana Beast is working with his girlfriend, Vixen, to stop Killer Moth. He creates a hybrid cat-horse while Vixen mimics animals to defeat the rest. Together they prove triumphant.
At the fortress, Grodd organizes his mind-controlled gorillas using his telepathic helmet. Together with Gorilla Boss and Monsieur Mallah, other intelligent apes, they have created Gorillas and Apes Seizing Power, aka GASP. As they collaborate, Grodd realizes that their butler is Detective Chimp in disguise. He takes the fight to the gorillas but is quickly overwhelmed. Outside, Batman realizes his ally is in trouble, slips inside, and knocks out a guard. However, Grodd and the others are waiting for him. Grodd boasts that his plan to lure Batman away from Gotham has been successful. Batman launches an initial attack, but Grodd reveals that he has strapped Detective Chimp to a table beneath a giant laser. The Caped Crusader goes to rescue him but random fire brings the cave ceiling down on him.
Batman is captured and strapped to the table with Detective Chimp and looks hopeless. However, Batman uses Detective Chimp's magnifying glass to deflect the laser beam. The mechanism goes wild, cutting them loose. They defeat their gorilla guards and fly back to Gotham.
In a park at Gotham, B'wana Beast is worried that Vixen wants to chat about something. She comes over and says it's as good a time as any. However, B'wana Beast's hybrid rat-bees arrive and report that flying gorillas are on the way. Vixen flies up to the lane where Grodd and the others are commanding their army. They net Vixen but B'wana Beast merges a snake and a pigeon to rescue her. The apes land in the park and the heroes take them on. However, they are soon overwhelmed. B'wana Beast merges one of the gorillas with a worm, but it simply makes it larger and more powerful. Both heroes are captured and taken away.
That night, Batman and Detective Chimp arrive and soon discover that the city's citizens have been replaced with Grodd's mind-controlled gorillas. The two heroes are quickly surrounded by gorilla policemen and have no choice but to surrender. They are taken to Grodd's base of operations, just as Batman has planned.
At the Gotham Zoo, GASP has taken Vixen's totem and freed all the animals so B'wana Beast has nothing to draw on for his hybrids. B'wana Beast tells Vixen she might as well dump him. She tries to respond but are interrupted when Detective Chimp and Batman are brought in and locked up with them. Detective Chimp is eager to be merged with Vixen, but she points out that her boyfriend's powers only work on animals, not humans. B'wana Beast merges Detective Chimp with a passing bee and the miniature hero flies through the cage bars and steals the keys.
Grodd and the others arrive and discover that the heroes have escaped. Batman goes for Grodd's helmet but is pinned down by enemy fire. B'wana Beast admits that he let everyone down, but Batman tells him that he picked him for a mission. He merges an ostrich and an alligator and rides to the rescue, buying Vixen time to stun Gorilla Boss. Meanwhile, Detective Chimp holds off the gorilla soldiers. Grodd offers Detective Chimp a place at his side, and uses his helmet when the hero proves reluctant. Fortunately, Detective Chimp has learned Tibetan meditation techniques from Batman, and the Caped Crusader arrives to fight Grodd.
The heroes are overwhelmed and things look grim, and there's only a few animals in sight. Using all of his power, B'wana Beast concentrates and merges Batman with a passing eagle, a lion, and a lizard. The resulting Bat-Griffin defeats Grodd and destroys his helmet. The gorillas revert to their normal ways, Detective Chimp knocks out Mallah, and Vixen uses the proportionate strength of an ant to defeat Gorilla Boss. B'wana Beast reverts Batman back to normal, and Vixen asks B'wana Beast for his hand in marriage.
Trivia
- The title is likely a reference to the eponymous study on inattentive blindness, in which people were given the task to study a video, but were so engrossed that they failed to notice a woman in a gorilla suit walk by in the recording.
- The wrath of the Spectre faced by Professor Milo is reminiscent of the controversial Spectre stories by Michael Fleischer that ran in Adventure Comics #431-440 (1974-1975). There the Spectre often transformed villains into other substances (e.g. wood, a candle) and then killed them in unusual way, in order to get around the restrictions of the Comics Code.
- This episode and The Super Batman of Planet X! are both included on Batman Unlimted: Animal Instincts DVD and Blu-Ray.