Batman: Caped Crusader has battled a real ghost, so why not a vampire too? In another new twist on a familiar character, Batman faces a dilemma when the villain preying on Gotham’s orphans isn’t much more than a child herself in Season 1 Episode 8, “Nocturne.”
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In the Gotham orphanage, a boy named Dickie (Carter Rockwood) wakes up a smaller boy, Jase (Henry Witcher), so they can sneak out a look at a carnival setting up in a nearby field. As they discuss it, a dark-haired girl joins them. She dares them to follow her in, and Dickie takes her up on it, leaving Jase behind. The girl lures Dickie into one of the trailers.
Batman: Caped Crusader’s “Nocturne”
The next night, the carnival is full of families and Gotham residents having a good time. Bruce Wayne (Hamish Linklater) tries his hand at a game of strength. He’s with a lady friend named Julie (Grey Delisle). Reporters ask him what brings him to the carnival, and he responds that he’s supporting Harvey Dent (Diedrich Bader) in his mayoral campaign. The carnival is a campaign fundraiser for Dent.
A bus arrives with kids from the orphanage. Bruce calls out to Dr. Tompkins (Donna Lynne Champlin), the orphanage’s director. They greet each other warmly. Dent arrives, and Dr. Tompkins thanks him for inviting the kids. The kids pose with Dent for a photo and then scatter to have fun.
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Bruce and Julie sit in on a sideshow run by Dr. Night (Haley Joel Osment). He picks a strong-looking man, Morris (Sungwon Cho), from the audience and asks him to pick up a large weight. Morris isn’t able to budge it. Night selects the dark-haired girl next. She introduces herself as Natalia (McKenna Grace). She isn’t able to lift the weight either. After entering Dr. Night’s booth, she’s able to pick up the weight easily. In the audience, Jase watches her with a sullen expression.
Stranger Danger
Outside, Jase gets Natalia’s attention and asks if she knows where Dickie went. She says he was sneaking into one of the trailers. She offers to take Jase to him.
Dent’s in the dunk tank when he spots Rupert Thorne (Cedric Yarbrough) and an associate in the distance.
Natalia opens the trailer door, and Jase calls out to Dickie. He finds Dickie on the ground in the inner room, groaning and incoherent. When Jase asks Natalia what’s wrong with Dickie, she grabs him by the neck and starts to drain the energy out of Jase. Dr. Night interrupts her, reminding her they’d agreed Dickie would be the only child she fed off of. Dr. Night’s name is Anton, and she points out that she can’t let Jase go now. He’s disoriented and weak. Anton calls her “little sister” and tells her he worries about her. She promises Jase will be the last one. Anton sighs and leaves her to finish Jase off.
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Outside, Dr. Tompkins is looking for one of her girls, Stephie (Amari McCoy). Dent is brusque with her, but Bruce and Julie overhear and ask what the girl looks like. Dr. Tompkins gives them a description, and Bruce leaves Julie with her to look around.
Dealing With the Devil
Dent finds Thorne waiting for him. Thorne wants to give him a campaign donation, but Dent isn’t comfortable with being seen together. With a little pressure, he backs down and agrees to meet Thorne in the parking lot later.
Bruce catches sight of Natalia leading Stephie into the Hall of Mirrors. Inside, he hears her scream but can’t find her. Breaking out of the back of the Hall, he is confronted by the sideshow staff. They view him with suspicion, and they gang up on him, chucking him in a ditch behind the carnival when they’re done.
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He wakes up when the carnival’s closing bell is ringing. Making his way to his car and Alfred (Jason Watkins), he learns that Julie went home by taxi about an hour ago. Alfred tints the windows to allow Bruce to change into the Batman costume.
Oh, Brother
Anton knocks on Natalia’s trailer door. Hearing the sound of her feeding, he bursts in to find her draining Stephie. He freaks out, worried about what the kids will say when they wake up. She tells him it won’t matter if they kill the kids. He refuses to let her harm the kids. She grows angry and pushes him so hard that the bookshelf falls and lands on him. He tells her he can’t feel his legs and begs her to go for help. She blames him for forcing her to hurt him and leaves.
Dr. Tompkins and the remaining kids from the orphanage are calling for the missing ones. Batman spots one of the sideshow performers and demands to know where Natalia is.
Dent and Gorman (Jason Marsden) are waiting for Thorne’s donation by the carnival’s entrance. Getting into Thorne’s car, Dent accepts the suitcase of cash. Before he can leave, Thorne tells him to drop the charges against a con man, Matt Milligan (Sungwon Cho), he’s prosecuting the next day. Dent refuses. Thorne reminds him he needs to win the election if he wants to reform the city.
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Giving the suitcase to Gorman, Dent notices the orphanage bus is still in the parking lot. When Dr. Tompkins tells him her kids are still missing, he apologizes for brushing her off earlier and promises to find the kids.
Batman finds the drained children and Anton. Anton tells him about Natalia and that she’s lost control. Warning him that she must be indoors when the sun rises, Anton dies.
Monsters
Natalia finds Carrie (Juliet Donenfeld) shooting stones at tin cans with a slingshot. Carrie’s hoping to lure the kidnapper out and then hit him with a stone. Natalia asks to try the slingshot. When Carrie hears Dr. Tompkins calling her name, she asks for the slingshot back. Natalia tries to lure her to the carnival with her. Carrie grabs her slingshot, and Natalia grabs her. When she starts to drain her, Carrie manages to kick her and get away. Natalia chases her into the woods, punching a tree in frustration and knocking it down. Batman hears the tree fall and heads towards the noise.
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Carrie tries to hide from Natalia in the woods. Just as Natalia finds her and begins draining her again, Batman intervenes. He gets fooled when Natalia plays hurt. Not wanting to hurt her, he doesn’t defend himself, and she begins to drain him. Carrie interrupts the drain by hitting her with the slingshot. Batman has to tell Natalia that Anton died from the injuries she caused him. Shocked, she sinks to her knees in tears.
The sun begins to rise, and where it shines on her skin, she burns. Batman tells her they need to get her inside. She pushes him away and tells him to leave her alone. He says he can’t do that. Carrie says he can because Natalia’s a monster. Covering her with his cape, he carries Natalia back to the carnival with Carrie following.
What Comes Next
In the hospital, Carrie recounts her adventure with Batman to a recovering Dickie, Jase, and Stephie. Bruce and Dr. Tompkins look on with smiles. Bruce asks if she knows how Natalia’s doing. She says the doctors are studying her condition in the secure wing.
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In the courtroom, the judge asks Dent if the District Attorney is withdrawing the charges against Thorne’s man, Milligan. Dent considers it and decides the trial will move forward. This causes a stir among the press in the gallery. Reporters follow Dent to the restroom, asking if he still thinks he can win with only 24 hrs left before the election. Dent remains confident. Thorne’s goon finds Dent alone and throws acid in his face for double-crossing Thorne.
The entire 10-episode first season of Batman: Caped Crusader is now streaming on Prime Video.
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