Earth Mover (25 Sep. 1999)

While at a study party, a girl named Jackie fears she is being followed. Terry confronts the follower, only to find that it is a large dirt monster. Due to a chemical spill, Tony Maychek, ... See full summary »

Director:

Dan Riba

Writers:

Hilary Bader (series writer), Stan Berkowitz (story),

Stars:

Will Friedle, Kevin Conroy, Lindsay Sloane

Cast

Episode cast overview:
Will Friedle	...	Terry McGinnis / Batman (voice)
Kevin Conroy	...	Bruce Wayne (voice)
Lindsay Sloane	...	Jackie (voice)
Dan Lauria	...	Bill Wallace (voice)
Stephen Collins	...	Tony Maychek / Earthmover (voice)
Lauren Tom	...	Dana (voice)
Mark Jonathan Davis	...	Newscaster (voice)

Storyline

While at a study party, a girl named Jackie fears she is being followed. Terry confronts the follower, only to find that it is a large dirt monster. Due to a chemical spill, Tony Maychek, father of Jackie, becomes the "Earth Mover" and is determined to have his daughter back and get his revenge on the one that caused the accident: Bill Wallace, the current caretaker of Jackie.

---

Plot Keywords:

redhead | thrown into water | redhead girl | homework | industrial waste | 

---

Genres:

Adventure | Animation | Action | Crime | Mystery | Sci-Fi | Drama | Thriller

---

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 September 1999 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros. Animation

Technical Specs

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Quotes

Bill Wallace: [after telling the story of what happened to Jackie's real father] I'm sorry, I can't bring him back.
Terry McGinnis: But he is back, isn't he?
Jackie: What do you mean?
Terry McGinnis: That chemical they were dumping had catalyzing properties, it can scramble DNA with other organic materials, like the Earth itself.

User Reviews

Pretty good but still average

I've always liked the original batman and when batman beyond came out, i was intrigued. A future batman turned out to be absolutely awesome in every sense of the word. Well anyways on to this episode...

What worked:

1. I thought the whole idea of having a corpse somewhere at the end really pushed the limits of the show. I didn't think they would be that graphic on a kids show but hey, it was pretty freaky.

2. Bruce was pretty funny in the episode refusing to say interesting, as a common batman characteristic. It's always good to refer somehow to the past, especially on how the original batman always acted.

3. It was cool to play a role reversal with Terry in this one. What i mean by that is in Shriek everyone thought Bruce was crazy. This time Bruce thinks terry is crazy and it took some convincing by Terry for Bruce to believe him.

4. The rock/dirt monsters look cool and fight cool. Nuff said.

5. Batmans fighting the rock/dirt monsters looked even cooler, using a combination of martial arts, Bata-rangs and a awesome fan type blade at the end.

What didn't work:

1. Depending on how you look at it, it seems kinda unrealistic for terry to be in the girls locker room (especially a cheerleaders lockeroom). But hey, i have a thing for cheerleaders so i guess it could be cool also LOL

2. It was uncharacteristic for high school girls to be so trusting of a guy, regardless of Terry and Dana's relationship. Usually girls keep matters about stalkers and other stuff like that to themselves. So for Dana and Jackie to have Terry that much involved is just unreal.

3. Going back to uncharacteristic, a typical girl would be jealous or worried that her boyfriend was so concerned about another girl other there her. I would think Dana would steer Terry away and say, "she can handle it with her dad."

3. Speaking of Bill, it didn't make sense for the episode to end the way it did. I would think Batman would turn Bill in for industrial pollution. Instead he says "(refering to Tony) he was a ghost." Again uncharacteristic for batman to say something like that and not bring Bill to the authorities.

4. Why would Jackie be so quick to call Bill her "dad" all of a sudden? Again, most people need time to form a close relationship with someone. During the whole episode she gave the impression that she doesn't respect Bill, but now one incident and your my new dad now? People carry scars for a while.

5. Why did Jackie's former father (Tony) move the rock? Tony wanted her to stay there with him and he gave the impression that he would have her stay him regardless of death or life (as evident by Tony creating a rock monster and holding Jackie down) it makes no sense again just to have a "sudden change of heart". Seems like the producers couldn't figure out which "father" they wanted to be a good guy. Bill had the industrial pollution and manslaughter of Jackies father. Jackies father is a crazy psychopath. I think Jackie needs to go to a foster home lol.

6. Lastly, i don't think a typical high school girl would go walking around a cave after just being dragged underground. Even if Jackie is different, i think the corpse would be enough for anyone to run back in the house.

Overall a still enjoyable episode, but definitely some fantasy type writing which disregards human nature.