With all the super hero action cartoons I've watched over the years "Batman Beyond" is probably my favorite overall. In fact, it's one of the first superhero cartoons I collected in its entirety despite my fairly large superhero movie and animation libraries. I like it for numerous reasons starting with the continuity with the earlier Batman series and later shows like Justice League. It's easy to resolve all of these in the same universe which is a strength.

The futuristic setting is fun, the gritty industrial rock music is intense, the acting is largely very good, and the animation full of detail. What I really like, especially in this second season, are the stories. Some in this set would make Alfred Hitchcock proud. The endings of a few of the episodes are unsettling (though dependent on individual imaginations to some degree). “April Moon” was the episode I saw that caught my attention and remains one of my favorite episodes. “Mind Games” is a bit creepy with a nightmarish quality to it (naturally another favorite episode of mine). There appears to be some "X-Files" influence as well with a scene reminiscent of "Schizogeny" (season 5). Mitch Pileggi and Michael McKean even stop by for guest appearances, and Robert Patrick will show up next season.

These elements I enjoy enough to hold this season in high regard despite its flaws. And this from a show that began as a concept to gear Batman more towards a younger audience! Some of these moments are likely among the darkest shown on a kids' network. Even so there's a lot that happens in and around the high school (think early "Smallville") which does keep the show from feeling as adult as it otherwise could, but it opens the door for some good moments as well which I'll get into more in the episode guide.

The downfall is that with stories like these, half an hour does always not do them justice. Just about any and all of them could have benefited from a longer time allotment. The stories can feel rushed and truncated although the other strengths almost always make up for that.

If there's any other complaint I have about this season it's that the same villains are used numerous times. Time after time after being in a situation through which they couldn't possibly live they pop up without explanation. The series doesn't fall into too many corny cliches, but this is the worst of them. They've had a good track record of creating new villains in addition to a few reinvented from classic characters, so it's somewhat disappointing to see them repeatedly fall back on what they've already done instead of breaking new ground or at least tying the loose ends together so that the villains have a more flowing story to each of them.

It is nice to revisit some of the established antagonists, just not as often as this and with an attitude that can feel like “we couldn't think of a better explanation so we're going to throw in an established villain.” The exception to that is the Royal Flush Gang. This group has a progressive storyline of their own, but that won't really pay off until the beginning of season 3. If the other frequently used villains had a more collective story between their appearances rather than being convenient for use in this or that story idea their appearances would be better. And after all that we don't even get to see my favorite new villain, Inque, this season.

All of the original actors return for their roles: Kevin Conroy (voicing Batman in several different shows), Will Friedle, Lauren Tom, and Stockard Channing. Rachel Leigh Cook takes over the role of Chelsea about halfway though the season. Seth Green returns as Nelson for a number of episodes. Michael Rosenbaum (famous for his live portrayal of Lex Luthor) plays a variety of small roles in various episodes.

A new regular is introduced: Max played by Cree Summer. She's a super-smart, hard-headed girl that figures out Terry's secret and becomes his ally in protecting it. She's constantly trying to get involved, and, despite proving useful on many occasions, she is not prepared for the full-blown world of super-heroism.

I like her because the writers keep her smart and strong, but they don't turn her into Batgirl or anything of the sort. She's no match for the villains Batman faces which could have been an easy trap to fall into; I get tired of characters who can handle everything that's thrown at them, sometimes better than the hero, so it's nice to see someone with limits. She also actually makes bad decisions sometimes which makes for better stories.

My only complaint about her is that I wanted more development of Dana who is overshadowed by Max and remains a flat character only present for the problems keeping a girlfriend poses to Terry. The writers constantly reference Terry standing Dana up but then don't give her enough credit for dealing with it. I think an episode dealing with revealing his dual life to her would have been enjoyable. We all know the reasons heroes keep their identities secret, but it's interesting to see the opposite dynamic, too.

Terry could use a little more character development. There's an episode where he trains coming next season, but something of that sort would have been good to have earlier. He does get some moments with his relationships with Ace and Commissioner Gordon as well as some conversations about why he does what he does and how he feels about Bruce. It's a big step above a lot of the cartoon shows I remember watching as a kid, and I'd bet it's still above most shows shown on the same networks.

Villains are typically the standard destroy the city for no reason, kill Batman because he stopped my crime spree kind of villains necessary to have any ongoing super hero series. I guess that's part of why I'm disappointed with the repetition of villains. I felt like the first season varied the motivations of its antagonists well, and the second season has lost some of that. There are some in this season that are more interesting than that, though: some with deeper, more human motivations; some that are villains depending on the point of view from which one wants to see them; and some that aren't really villains at all, not truly. So while not 100% original or grown up, this is a series that tries new things and breaks out of the mold here and there.