Batman: The Animated Series (TV Series) The Clock King (1992) User Reviews

Another tragic villain

[muraliavarma · 8/10 · 18 October 2012]

Batman: The Animated Series has a history of developing amazing back-stories for their villains (Mr. Freeze in Heart of Ice is probably the greatest such story). The time guy in this episode is my second favorite.

This man is paranoid about being on time. One day, during his train ride to office, Mayor Hill tells him to loosen up and delay his afternoon coffee by 15 minutes. He eventually is late for court and loses $20 million! He goes absolutely psycho after this.

I was blown away by this. Think about it. If you were never, ever in your life late for an appointment and the only time you are behind schedule, you end up losing everything in your life, imagine how it would affect you! That is what I love about this series. On some level, you feel sorry for the villains. What the villains do is almost always rational, but never ethical. But Batman is such a beacon of perfection, you know deep down that what the Dark Knight is doing is always right. The Clock King is one more episode in this list of pure awesome.

I give it only an 8 since I found the actual plot to be a bit mundane. The villain himself is quite bland. His motivation is riveting. But his execution is boring.

Classic Silver Age criminal shennanigans with a dash of Modern Era to make it a little more serious

[zanghi_james · 8/10 · 24 October 2023]

The episode introduces one of Batman's oddest villains: The Clock King, who is motivated into criminal activity after one bad coffee break causes him to descend into madness and seek revenge seven years later against the man who ruined him.

Okay, first off, this is a fairly comedic filler episode, but it has a couple of dramatic moments to add some tension.

The villain, the appropriately named Temple Fugate a.k.a. The Clock King, (instead of the traditional normal name of the Clock King as William Tockman), is excellently voiced and plays his role as a comedic Silver Age-style villain to the hilt as a punctual and clock-themed villain.

Really, the episode could have been longer, maybe a two-parter like Cat and Claw or Feat of Clay, because it ends very abruptly. However, it is able to establish the entire character of Temple Fugate fully as an interesting villain. They definitely draw inspiration from the concept established in Alan Moore's 'The Killing Joke', that supposedly one truly awful day can mess you up big time and drive you insane.

It's a classic silver age story with a little modern age ideas to butch it up. I really enjoyed it.

Tick tock Clarice!

[Foreverisacastironmess123 · 7/10 · 13 September 2020]

So this episode is about a possibility disturbed little man named Temple Fugate who has an obsession with and a deadly skill in the art of perfect timing, yes, and who is causing havoc in Gotham and seeking merciless revenge against the mayor for once committing the terrible act of trying to get Temple to relax and have a break from his never ending work schedule and inadvertently causing him to lose a fortune by making him - late! He's definitely not as striking or beloved as a lot of the other bad guys are, but the Clock King was far from a bad villain in my opinion. The voice actor did a fantastic job of bringing him to life and his lines are delivered in such a straightforward and marvellously officious manner that you just immediately get who he's meant to be as a character and what he's about, and he and his time gimmick were quite memorable for what they were. The whole episode does seem to have a different style and tone to it and because of him it does stand out. Clock King is a very dignified and unflappable sort of fellow with no super powers at all beyond his extraordinary good sense of timing and how to use it to his advantage in all things, but to me he's so much of a wormy creep with such a pompous and superior attitude they he's not at all a sympathetic villain, he's basically an uppity neat freak with a clock for a brain and a smouldering grudge against a man who's well meaning advice he made the decision to follow, he definitely needed taking down a peg or two for his own good! I think the best part and when Clock King shines the most is the tense final battle in the clock tower, a battle which Batman has to finish quickly before the poor captive mayor is squashed like a bug under the giant hands of the clocktower! Overall it's a bit of a thin story and not quite a favourite of the series, but it's sure not what I'd call a bad one either, it's got enough good solid interesting stuff in it that it's very much an episode that's worth a rewatch if you haven't seen it in a while, it might be better than you remembered! You can always make the time 🕰

Suspenseful Ending Saves Show With Bland Villain

[ccthemovieman-1 · 6/10 · 4 October 2007]

This is kind of a goofy episode, not as intense as normal or with a villain that was very interesting. He was bland, compared to most of the villainous characters on this fine animated television show. However, the ending was very cool and I enjoyed watching the crackpot at the end and his ploy to get rid of the mayor.

Basically, it was an older gentleman and former businessman who unfairly lost all his money because he was late to see the judge in his case. Seven years later, "Temple Fugate" comes back to torment to mayor, who is running for re-election, by screwing up Gotham City's electrical system, such as stoplights and the new subway system, and another crime that almost kills Batman.

This episode wound up, overall, as decent because it got better as went along and finished strong.

A nuisance for Gotham

[Mr-Fusion · 6/10 · 20 December 2016]

The Clock King is easily one of Batman's sillier villains, but he's a decent fir for such a silly episode. It's got that Silver Age feel with the series of ornate traps - especially the big clock setup with mayor Hill; like it was pulled from a splash page in a comic.

I like the intent behind this one, but between the milquetoast villain and lesser animation quality, this is fairly forgettable. It's aimed squarely at the younger audience. To be honest, I'd forgotten about this one; whenever I think Clock King, it's the later time travel episode.

6/10

HamilDULL v. TempDULL, Store Window for Summer

[osbornj-00213 · 1/10 · 18 June 2020]

The series' DULLEST episode--HamilDULL (as in D - U - L - L) Hill chased by TempDULL Fugate, in a word--DULL. That mayoral mediocrity, mistake, Hill was a funereal fungus that BLIGHTED every episode he always awfully appeared in. Creators forgot THE #1 plot pitfall of storytelling--when you create a character to be dull YOU - BORE - THE - AUDIENCE! Just as he WOULD to have SUCH a whimpering worm, simpering sap, in horrid top hat, for son terribly together making Be A Clown the series' UNWATCHABLE episode it was would be sorrily SO pedantically predictable, tediously typical, terribly that where others were responsible for the Riddler, Two Face, Clay Face, Man Bat when HE created a villain would just HAVE to badly be his MIRROR image--as BORING an old man as horribly himself, SO laughably ludicrous battling Batman with derby.. Hill was the ONE, ONLY, character who could NOT carry an episode or scene, partly the character, partly Lloyd Bochner's what PASSED for performance, made bad ENOUGH situation even WORSE, lackluster, lethargic, listless, deadly drear droning, monotonous monotone--either being true to colorless character or just plain B - O - R - E - D matter of debate, even in the climatic climax making it the DULLEST danger of the series just hangs jaw like gutted fish no extra effort for excitement. Hill should at least been ground to political pulp, been well RID of him, As awful poor plot prioritizing as giving Hill STARRING role he clearly couldn't, can't, carry was sadly Summer Gleeson, as lively as Hill was lethargic, , in LEAST appearance of series, shunted off for TWO SECONDS on TV set in store window--SHE should have been one tied to clock arm, would have SCREAMED! the scene down. Clock King should have been embezzling corporate crook Summer exposed, saving jobs, small investors, public heroine Bruce smiling watching her on TV, he does year for making restitution does it STARING at clock. Released he heads for Metropolis collect THE INTEREST on his embezzled funds he left under different name in bank, banker unaware who he was, asked if going into business, "UNFINISHED business," uses that to become Clock King carries out outright robberies. Tying SUMMER to clock arm, "Do you know what, after life itself, that ONE thing you can NEVER get back after its taken from you? TIME!" The series two MAJOR mistakes were TOO often WASTING Summer on bottom of the bill broadcasting bits as here, episodes woefully, wretchedly, WASTED on horrible Hill with MORE chances like lousy here than SHE ever got. She made episodes BETTER when she GOT the chance, kidnapped (Christmas With the Joker, Night of the Ninja) beautiful in gas mask reporting Joker attack (The Last Laugh), fright under fire then coolness with camera (Shadow of the Bat), clashes with cop (Bullet for Bullock), Hill always appallingly WORSE, notoriously nearly wrecking otherwise hilarious Harlequinade. When Summer and Hill went head-to-head in competing kidnap scenes in the FAR better than this Lock-Up she, NO disputing completely CRUSHED Hill.