Batman: The Enemy Within Episode 5 Review code supplied by the publisher.
Now this is how you do it. After a season’s worth of focused character development, the concluding episode of Batman: The Enemy Within, subtitled ‘Same Stitch’, delivers big on its central gambit – the highly anticipated metamorphosis of John Doe into The Joker. Much as Telltale has played fast and loose with its portrayal of other DC characters, particularly where Harley Quinn and The Riddler were concerned in previous episodes, so too has it forged something truly special in its depiction of The Joker; crafting a conflicted, awkward seeming individual who always seemed to crave justice and redemption, but for whom such virtues always seemed just out of reach. This is the conclusion of that story, and in delivering such a grand finale, Telltale have also fashioned one of their finest adventures to date.
Batman: The Enemy Within Episode 5 Review – A Finale Which Provides Stellar Closure To A Great Season
Throughout this season, John Doe has been a fascinating character to observe; whether it was his almost child-like idolization of both Bruce Wayne and Batman, or his tragic attempts to try and repress his destabilizing, violent impulses, Telltale have done a grand job in providing a fresh and thoroughly compelling take on DC Comics most recognizable villain. Certainly, Telltale have made much of the two very different paths that The Joker can embrace in their marketing for this final episode, highlighting the vigilante and criminal versions of the character that can manifest depending on the choices made by the player.
Now, without spoiling any of the outcomes of ‘Same Stitch’ it’s gratifying to realize that the payoff for the transformation into either version of The Joker is extremely well written, with both the criminal and vigilante versions of the Prince of Crime offering very different takes that both crucially fall within the boundaries of how you would expect the character to develop. Indeed, much like Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight, it’s more than reasonable to proffer that The Joker ends up being a more interesting character than Batman himself. Oh and speaking of which, remember those photos you took with John in previous episodes? Yeah, get ready for a gut-punch.
Beyond the development of John Doe/The Joker and his relationship with Batman/Bruce Wayne, this season’s final episode also sees other characters develop in legitimately satisfying ways too. Again, without spoiling anything, Tiffany Fox has perhaps the most radical transformation next to John Doe and it’s one that, depending on how you handle it, will invariably reverberate long into season three (assuming it happens – it better happen). Likewise, even Alfred boasts a major development in his character that also considerably changes the narrative landscape of the series, and again, it’s a change to his personality that makes sense and is one that can be traced back through his behavior and reactions to player choices in previous episodes.
Crucially then, ‘Same Stitch’ represents the first Telltale Games effort in a long time where I’ve found myself legitimately wanted to play through the entire season again, unpicking previous decisions and re-shaping the finale in a fashion that previous games from the house that The Walking Dead built, never really permitted, or interested me to do.
Fans of the series now trademark excellent fighting sequences will also find a great deal to love in The Enemy Within’s final episode as Batman frequently throws down throughout and nowhere is this better depicted then in the final battle. Again, I don’t want to even remotely spoil it, but the battle in question is a resplendent masterclass of cinematic violence and viciousness as Batman and his opponent leave it all on the table in the series most enjoyable and satisfying brawl to date. Simply put, fans of the Caped Crusader’s more violent exploits will find much to enjoy here.
In the end, ‘Same Stitch’ stands as fantastic conclusion to Batman: The Enemy Within as it provides deft and well-written payoffs to the growth of established characters within its narrative purview, all the while dishing out a fast-paced episode that doesn’t lack in meaningful choices and bone-crunching encounters. Perhaps more so than that, ‘Same Stitch’ also puts an emphatic exclamation point on what was already a stellar second season of Batman for Telltale, and one which quite vitally fixes everything that was broken with the first season. So now, more than any other Telltale series other than possibly Tales from the Borderlands, I find myself eagerly anticipating the next season of Telltale’s Batman, and i’d wager, after seeing The Enemy Within to its conclusion, you will too.
If you’ve enjoyed this Batman: The Enemy Within Episode 5 review and have missed out on our reviews of previous episodes in the series (or if you just want to catch up), you can check them out below:
Batman: The Enemy Within Episode 1 Review
Batman: The Enemy Within Episode 2 Review