The Batman (2004) s04e08 Episode Script
Seconds
FRANCIS: Ah, there it is.
[ALARM WAILING.]
Huh? Oh, stupid, stupid, stupid! Hey! Stop right there! [FRANCIS PANTING.]
Oh.
Oh.
[FRANCIS GRUNTS.]
Oh.
[LAUGHING.]
Smooth move, Colonel Klutz.
Alarm on the cabinet, go right in the hall, door is locked, watch the bucket.
What are you talking about? [FRANCIS.]
Whoops.
Hold on a minute, cowboy.
Hey! Stop right there! [GUARD GRUNTS.]
Smooth move, Colonel Klutz.
Last level! Come on, almost there.
I don't believe Master Dick has moved in the five days since you gave him his Christmas gift.
I would've given him a book, but then he might have learned something.
I am learning something.
How to beat this game, Babs.
Call me Babs again, and that controller's-- Does anyone have any New Year's resolutions? Master Dick? I resolve to kick more butt.
I resolve to leave more butts un-kicked.
Gotta leave some for Robin.
Har-har.
How about you, Master Bruce? Any resolutions? Same as every year.
Do my part to help Gotham City.
[CLOCK TICKS.]
Blast.
And I resolve to finally have this old clock repaired.
ROBIN: I got him down to half-strength.
I own you, Dracus-- [ALARM WAILING.]
Batwave.
Let's move.
Now? Hmm.
Another robbery at the chemical lab.
This time at Gotham University.
-Third one this week.
-Same perp? Mm-hm.
And I doubt he's done.
Let's split up.
We can cover more ground if we each stake out a different lab.
Report in.
Nothing.
Nada.
Zip.
BATMAN: How about you, Robin? All clear.
Huh.
I said I wanted to kick butt, not freeze mine off.
I've spotted our man.
Bingo.
[THUDS.]
Huh? Ah, the Batman.
I knew it was a matter of time before you showed up.
Then you know what's gonna happen next.
You try to stop me and fail.
[GRUNTING AND MOANING.]
Okay, okay, let's try this again.
I knew it was a matter of time before you showed up.
You try to stop me and fail.
Ha! Ho! Ah! [GRUNTS.]
Oh, yeah, that hurts.
You try to stop me and fail.
Whoops.
Missed me.
You're quicker than you look.
Aha! [GRUNTS.]
Lights out.
Huh? Ah, typical.
[GRUNTS.]
Let's try this one.
[BUZZER BUZZES.]
[BARRELS RUMBLING.]
[BATMAN GRUNTING.]
It's been a barrel of laughs, Batman.
Oh, that's terrible.
Better luck next time, Batman.
[BATMAN GRUNTING.]
BATMAN: Let's look for a match.
I know this doesn't make sense, but the whole thing seemed staged.
Like he knew exactly what was going to happen.
Whatever helps you sleep at night.
[METAL CLICKING.]
[BIG CLOCK RINGS.]
[SMALL CLOCKS TICKING.]
It's almost done, Beth.
They stole you and Matt away from me, but soon they'll pay.
[BABY CRYING.]
FRANCIS: It's okay, Matt.
It's okay, Daddy's here.
Shh.
BETH: How are we gonna pay all these bills? [SIGHS.]
Don't worry, honey, we'll get through this.
For once, I'm gonna make things right.
MAN: Yeah, I'll take a dog with the works.
[YAWNS.]
-Good night.
-Good night.
[DOOR CLICKS OPEN, THEN SHUTS.]
[BABY CRYING.]
FRANCIS: For once, I'm gonna make things right.
[ALARM WAILING.]
Idiot! [GRUNTS.]
[BOTH GRUNT.]
[SCREAMS.]
[TIRES SCREECHING.]
[GASPS.]
[TIRE SCREECHES.]
[GASPS.]
[TIRES SCREECHING.]
[PEOPLE SCREAMING.]
Huh? Gas leak.
Run! [SCREAMING.]
[SIREN WAILING.]
I can't do anything right.
[CAMERA CLICKS.]
BATGIRL: Francis Gray was paroled last month after spending 1 7 years in prison.
That's a long time to be away from your family.
Apparently, they thought so too.
BATGIRL: His wife left him while he was in prison.
He didn't see her or Matthew again.
Trying to set the time on your VCR? The atomic clocks in the cave and my suit should keep perfect synchronized time yet there's a discrepancy of several seconds between the two.
Strange.
Ah, I hate being late too, but shouldn't we be more concerned with what Francis has planned with the chemicals? BATMAN: Gray has most of the base components to make radium trichloromethate.
I'm guessing that's not the secret ingredient in Alfred's eggnog.
It's a deadly poison gas.
He needs one more component and there's only one place in Gotham he can get it.
[BATMAN GRUNTS.]
You okay, Bats? It's nothing.
It's just a sudden sense of déjà vu.
Déjà-what? It's a French term describing when you feel like you experienced this situation before.
Robin, by the way, is French for "duh"! [DRIPPING.]
BATGIRL: Why is it deadly chemicals are always green? Why can't they ever be pink? You're going back to the big house.
This time for good, Francis.
You know who I am.
Then you know that my prison sentence was totally unfair.
You committed a crime.
I took a watch.
Everything else was an accident.
And for that they put me away for 1 7 years.
You make one little mistake.
BOTH: And you spend the rest of your life paying for it.
-How'd you do that? -I don't know.
We've had this conversation before.
But that's impossible, isn't it? Unless-- Time.
You can manipulate time and in such a way you're the only one aware you've experienced the previous moment.
It explains the atomic clock discrepancy, the déjà vu.
Very good, Batman.
It's easy to become obsessed with time when that's all you have.
FRANCIS: It was all I could think of when I was in prison.
All the time that was stolen from me.
And when it became my job to fix all of the guards ' clocks I was suddenly surrounded by it.
Seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, years.
I was so obsessed with the time I was losing I began to actually see it unravel before me.
[BIRD SINGING.]
I thought I was going mad.
[CLOCKS TICKING AND RINGING.]
Ah! Stop! [CLOCK TICKS.]
Huh? [CLOCKS TICKING.]
[GRUNTING.]
Huh? FRANCIS: I could turn back time.
I spent every day of the next 15 years working on it.
One second became five seconds, then 1 0, then 20.
[SCREAMS, THEN GRUNTS.]
I wanted to go back 20 years, before any of this happened.
But all I got was 20 seconds.
I can't get my time back.
But I can punish the city for taking it.
You know what time it is now? Time to kick my sorry butt? [ROBIN GRUNTS.]
To you this is all happening for the first time.
But we've already had this fight eight-- No, nine.
Nine times.
[BATGIRL GRUNTS.]
[ROBIN GROANS.]
Left hook.
Right jab.
Spin kick.
Flying kick from Batgirl.
[BATMAN AND BATGIRL GRUNT.]
Left, right.
Right, right, left.
Right, right.
Left, right.
Left, left, right.
Kick.
That was fun.
Thanks for playing.
Now, if you'll excuse me I need to make sure that Gotham rings in the New Year with a bang.
[TIRES SCREECHING.]
I don't care if he's Father Time himself, he is not outrunning us in that.
[CAR HORN BLOWING.]
[TIRES SCREECHING.]
It's his power.
That's how he's outrunning us.
It's like a video game.
He can play the same level over and over again memorizing every move until he wins.
So everything is a do-over.
Including our memory.
Then this could be the 1 0th time we've had this conversation.
Whoa, brain hurt.
[ALARM RINGING.]
ROBIN: Woo-hoo! I'm circling back to 8th Street to try and cut him off.
This will be fun.
ROBIN: I got him.
[HORNS BLOWING.]
Here we go.
Not good.
[HORNS BLOWING.]
[TRAIN WHISTLE BLOWING.]
[ROBIN GROANS.]
[TYPING.]
ROBIN: So how do we stop someone who-- BOTH: --knows what we're gonna do before we do? Déjà vu again? It seems to grow stronger each time I face off against Gray.
Then any sense of what he's gonna do next? He said he wanted Gotham to ring in the New Year with a bang.
Tonight's New Year's Eve celebration in Gotham Times Square.
And thousands of people to hit with his poison gas.
Gotham Square's already filled with revelers.
An evacuation would only cause panic.
We have to find the device before it goes off.
Wait.
I have a special mission for you.
[PEOPLE CHEERING.]
Gotham will only understand how precious their time is after it's taken away.
Hello, Batman.
I suppose we've been through all this before.
If it matters, you did catch me off guard.
But that only works the first time.
The New Year's Ball.
That's where you've hidden the device.
And when it reaches zero, this city pays for what they took from me.
[PEOPLE YELL AND CHEER.]
Only one minute to midnight, Batman.
Ha! Huh? How--? Ice try, Batman! Oh, I did not just say that.
Wait, wait, wait, okay, I got it.
Ice pellet? That's cold, Batman.
Okay, so I'm not so good with quips.
Your déjà vu telling you how this fight ends? Yeah.
Not well.
Then let's hope Batgirl gets here soon with plan B.
Time's up! [GRUNTS.]
Please.
You can't stop me.
It's fate.
I don't believe in fate.
I believe in choice.
[GRUNTING.]
[PEOPLE STOP CHEERING.]
You and your little toys.
It's adorable, really.
[BATMAN GRUNTS.]
He can mess with time, but he can't be in two places at once.
[TICKING.]
Hmm? Ah! [GRUNTS.]
I totally saw that coming.
Don't make all these innocent people suffer.
But I was innocent too, Batman.
Where was my justice? You made a choice 1 8 years ago, and you have to live with the consequences.
Don't make another mistake.
[GRUNTS.]
I don't make mistakes, Batman.
Not anymore.
[GRUNTS.]
Let's try that again.
Left jab.
Oh! Huh! How are you doing that? Call it déjà vu.
[PEOPLE CHEERING.]
Ha! [FRANCIS GROANS.]
[BATMAN GRUNTS.]
Batman? Had bit of trouble tracking him down, but-- [FRANCIS GROANS.]
[BATMAN GRUNTING.]
It's not too late to make the right choice, Francis.
Dad? What are you doing? Huh? Matt? Get out of here! [IN UNISON.]
Four! Three! Two! One! [PEOPLE CHEERING.]
[PEOPLE SCREAMING.]
[BATMAN GRUNTING.]
[COUGHING.]
[GASPS AND COUGHING.]
Dad--? My son.
No.
[PANTING.]
No.
No! Huh? BATMAN: It's not too late to make the right choice, Francis.
[SOUND FROM TV.]
How about you, Master Bruce? Any resolutions? Same as every year.
Do my part to help Gotham City.
MAN: All set, Mr.
Pennyworth.
You're a miracle worker, Mr.
Gray.
Sure you won't join us for some eggnog? No, thanks, Mr.
Wayne.
I have my own family to get home to.
FRANCIS: All done here, son.
Let's get going.
MATT: Oh, Dad.
[ALARM WAILING.]
Huh? Oh, stupid, stupid, stupid! Hey! Stop right there! [FRANCIS PANTING.]
Oh.
Oh.
[FRANCIS GRUNTS.]
Oh.
[LAUGHING.]
Smooth move, Colonel Klutz.
Alarm on the cabinet, go right in the hall, door is locked, watch the bucket.
What are you talking about? [FRANCIS.]
Whoops.
Hold on a minute, cowboy.
Hey! Stop right there! [GUARD GRUNTS.]
Smooth move, Colonel Klutz.
Last level! Come on, almost there.
I don't believe Master Dick has moved in the five days since you gave him his Christmas gift.
I would've given him a book, but then he might have learned something.
I am learning something.
How to beat this game, Babs.
Call me Babs again, and that controller's-- Does anyone have any New Year's resolutions? Master Dick? I resolve to kick more butt.
I resolve to leave more butts un-kicked.
Gotta leave some for Robin.
Har-har.
How about you, Master Bruce? Any resolutions? Same as every year.
Do my part to help Gotham City.
[CLOCK TICKS.]
Blast.
And I resolve to finally have this old clock repaired.
ROBIN: I got him down to half-strength.
I own you, Dracus-- [ALARM WAILING.]
Batwave.
Let's move.
Now? Hmm.
Another robbery at the chemical lab.
This time at Gotham University.
-Third one this week.
-Same perp? Mm-hm.
And I doubt he's done.
Let's split up.
We can cover more ground if we each stake out a different lab.
Report in.
Nothing.
Nada.
Zip.
BATMAN: How about you, Robin? All clear.
Huh.
I said I wanted to kick butt, not freeze mine off.
I've spotted our man.
Bingo.
[THUDS.]
Huh? Ah, the Batman.
I knew it was a matter of time before you showed up.
Then you know what's gonna happen next.
You try to stop me and fail.
[GRUNTING AND MOANING.]
Okay, okay, let's try this again.
I knew it was a matter of time before you showed up.
You try to stop me and fail.
Ha! Ho! Ah! [GRUNTS.]
Oh, yeah, that hurts.
You try to stop me and fail.
Whoops.
Missed me.
You're quicker than you look.
Aha! [GRUNTS.]
Lights out.
Huh? Ah, typical.
[GRUNTS.]
Let's try this one.
[BUZZER BUZZES.]
[BARRELS RUMBLING.]
[BATMAN GRUNTING.]
It's been a barrel of laughs, Batman.
Oh, that's terrible.
Better luck next time, Batman.
[BATMAN GRUNTING.]
BATMAN: Let's look for a match.
I know this doesn't make sense, but the whole thing seemed staged.
Like he knew exactly what was going to happen.
Whatever helps you sleep at night.
[METAL CLICKING.]
[BIG CLOCK RINGS.]
[SMALL CLOCKS TICKING.]
It's almost done, Beth.
They stole you and Matt away from me, but soon they'll pay.
[BABY CRYING.]
FRANCIS: It's okay, Matt.
It's okay, Daddy's here.
Shh.
BETH: How are we gonna pay all these bills? [SIGHS.]
Don't worry, honey, we'll get through this.
For once, I'm gonna make things right.
MAN: Yeah, I'll take a dog with the works.
[YAWNS.]
-Good night.
-Good night.
[DOOR CLICKS OPEN, THEN SHUTS.]
[BABY CRYING.]
FRANCIS: For once, I'm gonna make things right.
[ALARM WAILING.]
Idiot! [GRUNTS.]
[BOTH GRUNT.]
[SCREAMS.]
[TIRES SCREECHING.]
[GASPS.]
[TIRE SCREECHES.]
[GASPS.]
[TIRES SCREECHING.]
[PEOPLE SCREAMING.]
Huh? Gas leak.
Run! [SCREAMING.]
[SIREN WAILING.]
I can't do anything right.
[CAMERA CLICKS.]
BATGIRL: Francis Gray was paroled last month after spending 1 7 years in prison.
That's a long time to be away from your family.
Apparently, they thought so too.
BATGIRL: His wife left him while he was in prison.
He didn't see her or Matthew again.
Trying to set the time on your VCR? The atomic clocks in the cave and my suit should keep perfect synchronized time yet there's a discrepancy of several seconds between the two.
Strange.
Ah, I hate being late too, but shouldn't we be more concerned with what Francis has planned with the chemicals? BATMAN: Gray has most of the base components to make radium trichloromethate.
I'm guessing that's not the secret ingredient in Alfred's eggnog.
It's a deadly poison gas.
He needs one more component and there's only one place in Gotham he can get it.
[BATMAN GRUNTS.]
You okay, Bats? It's nothing.
It's just a sudden sense of déjà vu.
Déjà-what? It's a French term describing when you feel like you experienced this situation before.
Robin, by the way, is French for "duh"! [DRIPPING.]
BATGIRL: Why is it deadly chemicals are always green? Why can't they ever be pink? You're going back to the big house.
This time for good, Francis.
You know who I am.
Then you know that my prison sentence was totally unfair.
You committed a crime.
I took a watch.
Everything else was an accident.
And for that they put me away for 1 7 years.
You make one little mistake.
BOTH: And you spend the rest of your life paying for it.
-How'd you do that? -I don't know.
We've had this conversation before.
But that's impossible, isn't it? Unless-- Time.
You can manipulate time and in such a way you're the only one aware you've experienced the previous moment.
It explains the atomic clock discrepancy, the déjà vu.
Very good, Batman.
It's easy to become obsessed with time when that's all you have.
FRANCIS: It was all I could think of when I was in prison.
All the time that was stolen from me.
And when it became my job to fix all of the guards ' clocks I was suddenly surrounded by it.
Seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, years.
I was so obsessed with the time I was losing I began to actually see it unravel before me.
[BIRD SINGING.]
I thought I was going mad.
[CLOCKS TICKING AND RINGING.]
Ah! Stop! [CLOCK TICKS.]
Huh? [CLOCKS TICKING.]
[GRUNTING.]
Huh? FRANCIS: I could turn back time.
I spent every day of the next 15 years working on it.
One second became five seconds, then 1 0, then 20.
[SCREAMS, THEN GRUNTS.]
I wanted to go back 20 years, before any of this happened.
But all I got was 20 seconds.
I can't get my time back.
But I can punish the city for taking it.
You know what time it is now? Time to kick my sorry butt? [ROBIN GRUNTS.]
To you this is all happening for the first time.
But we've already had this fight eight-- No, nine.
Nine times.
[BATGIRL GRUNTS.]
[ROBIN GROANS.]
Left hook.
Right jab.
Spin kick.
Flying kick from Batgirl.
[BATMAN AND BATGIRL GRUNT.]
Left, right.
Right, right, left.
Right, right.
Left, right.
Left, left, right.
Kick.
That was fun.
Thanks for playing.
Now, if you'll excuse me I need to make sure that Gotham rings in the New Year with a bang.
[TIRES SCREECHING.]
I don't care if he's Father Time himself, he is not outrunning us in that.
[CAR HORN BLOWING.]
[TIRES SCREECHING.]
It's his power.
That's how he's outrunning us.
It's like a video game.
He can play the same level over and over again memorizing every move until he wins.
So everything is a do-over.
Including our memory.
Then this could be the 1 0th time we've had this conversation.
Whoa, brain hurt.
[ALARM RINGING.]
ROBIN: Woo-hoo! I'm circling back to 8th Street to try and cut him off.
This will be fun.
ROBIN: I got him.
[HORNS BLOWING.]
Here we go.
Not good.
[HORNS BLOWING.]
[TRAIN WHISTLE BLOWING.]
[ROBIN GROANS.]
[TYPING.]
ROBIN: So how do we stop someone who-- BOTH: --knows what we're gonna do before we do? Déjà vu again? It seems to grow stronger each time I face off against Gray.
Then any sense of what he's gonna do next? He said he wanted Gotham to ring in the New Year with a bang.
Tonight's New Year's Eve celebration in Gotham Times Square.
And thousands of people to hit with his poison gas.
Gotham Square's already filled with revelers.
An evacuation would only cause panic.
We have to find the device before it goes off.
Wait.
I have a special mission for you.
[PEOPLE CHEERING.]
Gotham will only understand how precious their time is after it's taken away.
Hello, Batman.
I suppose we've been through all this before.
If it matters, you did catch me off guard.
But that only works the first time.
The New Year's Ball.
That's where you've hidden the device.
And when it reaches zero, this city pays for what they took from me.
[PEOPLE YELL AND CHEER.]
Only one minute to midnight, Batman.
Ha! Huh? How--? Ice try, Batman! Oh, I did not just say that.
Wait, wait, wait, okay, I got it.
Ice pellet? That's cold, Batman.
Okay, so I'm not so good with quips.
Your déjà vu telling you how this fight ends? Yeah.
Not well.
Then let's hope Batgirl gets here soon with plan B.
Time's up! [GRUNTS.]
Please.
You can't stop me.
It's fate.
I don't believe in fate.
I believe in choice.
[GRUNTING.]
[PEOPLE STOP CHEERING.]
You and your little toys.
It's adorable, really.
[BATMAN GRUNTS.]
He can mess with time, but he can't be in two places at once.
[TICKING.]
Hmm? Ah! [GRUNTS.]
I totally saw that coming.
Don't make all these innocent people suffer.
But I was innocent too, Batman.
Where was my justice? You made a choice 1 8 years ago, and you have to live with the consequences.
Don't make another mistake.
[GRUNTS.]
I don't make mistakes, Batman.
Not anymore.
[GRUNTS.]
Let's try that again.
Left jab.
Oh! Huh! How are you doing that? Call it déjà vu.
[PEOPLE CHEERING.]
Ha! [FRANCIS GROANS.]
[BATMAN GRUNTS.]
Batman? Had bit of trouble tracking him down, but-- [FRANCIS GROANS.]
[BATMAN GRUNTING.]
It's not too late to make the right choice, Francis.
Dad? What are you doing? Huh? Matt? Get out of here! [IN UNISON.]
Four! Three! Two! One! [PEOPLE CHEERING.]
[PEOPLE SCREAMING.]
[BATMAN GRUNTING.]
[COUGHING.]
[GASPS AND COUGHING.]
Dad--? My son.
No.
[PANTING.]
No.
No! Huh? BATMAN: It's not too late to make the right choice, Francis.
[SOUND FROM TV.]
How about you, Master Bruce? Any resolutions? Same as every year.
Do my part to help Gotham City.
MAN: All set, Mr.
Pennyworth.
You're a miracle worker, Mr.
Gray.
Sure you won't join us for some eggnog? No, thanks, Mr.
Wayne.
I have my own family to get home to.
FRANCIS: All done here, son.
Let's get going.
MATT: Oh, Dad.