User Reviews

"Smack in the Middle" finds Robin held captive by Frank Gorshin's persistently giggling Riddler, making a perfect mold of his head so that accomplice Molly (Jill St. John) can disguise herself as Robin and join the Caped Crusader in the Batcave. Unfortunately, Batman instantly sees through the deception, leaving Molly little choice but to try to escape through the most dangerous area possible, the atomic pile that powers the Batmobile. Though he tries to rescue the 'poor, deluded girl,' she loses her grip and falls to a surprising death, literally 'going up in a puff of smoke,' or as Batman aptly puts it: "what a way to go-go!" The Dynamic Duo are reunited, but unable to catch the evasive Riddler, who leads them on a merry chase across town to the Gotham National Bank, while he and his Mole Hill Mob return to their first strike at the Moldavian Embassy, and its woolly mammoth head filled with priceless stamps worth a fortune. Our first actual Batfight features the superimposed words that became a series mainstay, every time a blow is landed. Another unusual ending for the pilot, in that The Riddler seemingly perishes in an explosion, but with the body never recovered, and his lawsuit against Batman dropped, all is well once again in Stately Wayne Manor. All future female criminals would be billed as 'Special Guest Villainess,' but just on this one occasion, Jill St. John helped sell the show as 'Special Guest.'

The Riddler sets a trap for the dynamic duo. First he makes them believe that he was assaulting the person in charge of a museum and when they intervene it is revealed that it was a staging to make them look ridiculous. Later Robin is kidnapped while Batman is drugged in a nightclub. The Riddler disguises his collaborator Molly as the boy wonder to fool Batman and gain access to the batcave, he achieves his purpose but then accidentally dies. Batman will dedicate himself to freeing Robin to, once and for all, capture the villain. It is curious that this being the first episode, the production has fallen into details as ridiculous and silly as when The Riddler takes a mold of Robin's face with the mask on. This is the only episode in the entire series in which the death of a character is shown.

Holy Smokes. The second part has Robin captured. Molly takes his place with a dastardly face mask so Batman will take her to the bat cave.

Unfortunately Molly ends up falling flat into the Batcave's atomic reactor.

That does not deter the Prince of puzzlers. He has more riddles for the dynamic duo to solve.

One that leads to the Moldavian pavilion at the world's fair. The Riddler's next target with the aid of laughing gas and some puns is the woolly mammoth. A trojan you might say, it has jewels on the outside and priceless postage stamps inside.

You cannot help being swept up by the campy silliness of it all. Frank Gorshin is a revelation as the Riddler. The physicality he displays is phenomenal. That is without resorting to the facial distortions he was known for as an impressionist.

Answer: The one with the biggest head! Of course.

One of the best running gags in this camp series were the "engaging" riddles Batman and Robin shared when trying to piece together a bizarre puzzle. The answer would usually lead them to a whacko suspect or the scene of a crime --already in progress. This second episode of the very first season lays out the framework for the show with the giggling Riddler (Frank Gorshin) setting out to kidnap Robin so he can pull Batman's strings. As the series progressed, it was expected that either Batman or Robin would be held hostage by various villains, and naturally their daring escapes in the nick of time, well worth the wait. Here, the devious Molly (well played by Jill St. John) disguising herself as Robin to sneak into the mysterious Batcave. The Riddler ingeniously molded a mask of Robin's face. Get it? Surprisingly, Molly becomes the very first casualty of the show as she falls to her death in a fuming pit. That in itself, is about as dramatic as it gets, usually because the villains and/or villainesses were generally captured and thrown into the jug.

Another camp scene, and an integral part of the series, is the speeding Batmobile either racing out of or in the well concealed Batcave. All of us kids who grew up on this stuff couldn't get enough of it. Production artists obviously took notes from LOST IN SPACE (also filmed on the Fox lot) as the Batcave resembled a cool lab assortment of blinking computers and gadgets, and the series most expensive investment. As always, there's the much awaited for BIFF, BAMM fight scene, this time with the Riddler and his bozo's versus the dynamic duo, replete with lots of broken furnishings. This episode also shows off Gorshin's versatility, as he is quite spry on his feet, dancing and leaping across rooms (all loony giggles), making him an overnight tv star. Robert Butler directed with lots of artsy style, previously directing THE FUGITIVE and HOGAN'S HEROES. He would later be associated with REMINGTON STEELE. Sit back and enjoy the wild chase, and in restored color. SEASON 1 EPISODE 2 dvd box set.