• Airdate: October 21, 1992
• Director: Frank Paur
• Story By: Tom Ruegger
• Writers: Jules Dennis, Richard Mueller

     Batman rescues a duo of boys who are playing 'chicken' with trains and warns them about playing safe, while a rich woman has her purse stolen in another part of town by a kid dressed in green. Underneath the theater district, a group of children are doing a variety of work, when one hits himself by accident and lets out a cry in pain. One of the other kids rushes to him to quiet him, but a bell is heard and we are introduced to the Sewer King, who reminds them of the no-talking rule and locks the boy in a room.
     Batman finds his way into the sewer, finding some graffiti that warns of the Sewer King, before coming across a boy that he takes back to the Batcave, enlisting Alfred in taking care of him. Back in the sewers, the Sewer King realizes "Frog" is nowhere to be found and demands the others find him, as they will not be fed until he is returned.
     Batman asks 'Frog' to help him and he is lead back into the sewers, where he comes across the children and tells them that they will now be safe. The Sewer King arrives with his pet alligators and gets them to attack Batman, who fights them off. Batman chases Sewer King through the tunnels for a bit before they fall on some train tracks and Bats pulls him to safety before Sewer King gets hit by a passing train. Batman threatens Sewer King with the ultimate punishment, death, before dragging him to the authorities. The children are seen being pulled from the sewers by the cops and embracing their freedom as Batman watches from a rooftop and smiles.

     Oy. Okay, this is one of the lesser, way-lesser, episodes of the series' run, often making lists of the worst episodes. Do I agree with that? Yes. Yes I do, but with an asterisk.
     While the subject matter it seems to want to tackle is one that is admirable and could have made for a very compelling and deep story, revolving around child labor and child abuse, the execution here is… anything but that. The big problem here is the choice of villain; the created-for-the-series Sewer King. He isn't threatening or intimidating. He is to the children, that I understand, but he is (again, understandably) nothing more than a spoiled-acting slob. He poses no threat to Batman, even with his alligator pets, and he isn't someone we want to see end up in prison as much as just get a well-deserved punch in the face. That's a problem when you're trying to deal with a heavy subject matter involving children and them being manipulated and abused. Though I know that they couldn't have really explored a more serious tone for it, I would have liked to have seen anything else when it came to the head villain of the episode here. Make him someone who is menacing, someone who talks very calmly but has that underlying emotion of being able to snap at any moment. A level of cunning, manipulative intensity that would at least make you think he was a horrible human being instead of having us think he's horrible for the sole purpose of taking advantage of children. It makes the writing come off incredibly lazy.

     The reason I feel the episode comes with an asterisk is simply because there are small bits and pieces that I think are still relatively worth pointing out. The animation is still really good here. There are a handful of genuinely amusing and funny moments; the scenes of Alfred dealing with the child Batman brings home are all great, as is the moment where we see Batman watching Alfred's ordeal on security cameras in the Batcave and laughing to himself, saying he wonders if he was that much of a handful. That moment, along with one where Batman swings across a bunch of alligators and replies off-hand with "Later" to the animals are almost worth the 22-minute sit. While the creators always made sure to give Batman a sense of humour, smart-ass Batman may be my absolute favourite. There's no way not to be amused by it.

     A positive that also works well here is the small detail of… oh, what was it… right;

     Batman fist-fighting a bunch of giant alligators!

     Seriously, I wish this was in a better episode because it's so Batman-being-Batawesome it hurts. I love Batman for the sheer fact that he is a character that could be written in fantastic ways to explore emotional depth and issues of mental health, but that doesn't mean I don't enjoy absolutely bonkers moments where people go 'Sure, just make him do something ridiculous.' Batman's reputation on the internet hits the opposites of brooding melodrama and superhero that is written as being very end-all-be-all in terms of greatness by people too obsessed with his 'Batman-is-ready-for-and-great-at-everything' persona. And while the latter can get frustrating in terms of the levels that people take it to, it is still utterly glorious when done properly. Hence, Batman 'rassling a couple oversized gators hits the sweet spot.

     That being said, though, did Bats just out and out kill that one alligator? He knocks it out by over-extending its jaw, but you could easily think of it other ways.

     Adding towards the bits to enjoy in this episode is the unintentional humour. Batman falls down a giant hole that is directly in front of him, somehow missing it completely. He can be ready for and fight off multiple deadly, armed foes, but God forbid someone leave a manhole open in front of him, apparently.
     There's also a great moment where the alligators turn to listen to the Sewer King giving them instructions before taking off that made me laugh more than it should have, which I think was supposed to be not at all.

     Unfortunately, there are also a few things here that are odd, frustrating choices. I know it's an antique, but it's still an odd choice to have Batman have a gun anywhere in the vicinity of his home.      The final words to the Sewer King from Batman are also ones that cause mixed feelings. He tells the man; "I don't pass sentence. That's for the courts, but this time- this time... I am sorely tempted to do the job myself."
     While it does its job, just like the episode as a whole, in showing you Batman's affinity for children and helping them, trying his best to make sure they don't suffer in any way he did himself, it's an odd choice that they would have Batman threaten to break his no killing rule on the Sewer King, of all people. Yes, what he did was despicable, manipulating and abusing these kids to profit (which is a very slight sort of word to use here, since he still hung out in the sewers dressing like a fifth- or sixth- rate pirate that's trying too hard), but when you have someone like The Joker in your rogue's gallery, is a whiny wannabee like the Sewer King really worth threatening with possible murder?
     Again, this is something that probably wouldn't have felt so out of place and an odd choice to use on this specific villain if he had been more memorable or threatening as a whole.

     The Underdwellers is not a good episode, usually being pretty deserving of its mentioning amongst the worst of Batman: The Animated Series episodes. But, I wouldn't go so far as to say that it would rank amongst the top of that list. It's more of a toss-away episode than anything, one that is deserving to be met more with a sigh or groan and an eye-roll than, say, dread. And yes, there are one or two episodes I am dreading having to re-watching. And yes, you will know which ones they are. Trust me. I'll let you know…