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“Another fine villain made possible by a grant from the Wayne Foundation” Quite possibly Robin’s best line in the series.

I have a theory that the humiliation Scarecrow suffered at Bolton's hands inspired him to be much more terrifying than ever, giving rise to the iconic gruesome suit he would wear in The New Batman Adventures.

I like how like most great Batman villains, Lock up represents an aspect of Batman himself but warped or inverted, in this case a warped version of Batman's own desire for upholding order. I like how his mask is even an inverse of Batman's, covering his mouth but not his eyes

"I WAS BORN TO FIGHT YOUR BRAND OF ORDER."-BATMAN *chills* everytime

Those who fight against monsters should take care. Least they become monsters themselves. - Friedrich Nietzsche

Honestly, this is one of my favorites. I love the idea of a villain so intimidating that even the likes of the Scarecrow are afraid of him. Plus, the climax on the Halsey is awesome.

Lock-Up is just so interesting as a concept. A former chief of security at Arkham turned security themed supervillain with a warped idea of how criminals should be handled. It's an interesting and thought-provoking idea, as Walter explained here

This episode becomes even more fun to watch after reading the "Crimson Mist" comic, specifically the part where Vampire Batman easily kills Scarecrow by telling him "You don't know what fear is". I'm sure Lock Up read that comic and his reaction was "Give me five minutes with him, pal..."

5:22 "He held me over a can filled with termites! You hear me?! TER-MITES!!!!" That might be one of my favorite lines in this episode.

It's interesting to see how many great characters in DC started out in this series. Harley Quinn, Renee Montoya and now this guy. I think I can see why he wasn't used as often as the others.

5:50. To be fair, it was Batman’s first time confronting this new enemy; so he didn’t know what to expect.

Honestly I kinda wished they could’ve played him up little by little before Bolton’s main episode. Like in a few episodes prior have Batman drop off a villain with Bolton meeting him at the door and little by little Bolton mentioning some changes he would recommend how to lock them up permanently as well during the fight with Batman mention previous incidents (like the joker fish) and expand upon the reality of the damage the city suffered and even possible loss of life and Bolton keeps hammering the point home to Batman that the extra step (murder) is needed to make Gotham permanently safe

Lock Up was scary to me. The abusive aspect especially. The fact Scarface was scared of him was so chilling to me.

*Fun fact:* Lock-Up was introduced into the comics continuity even before Harley Quinn, appearing in Robin vol 2 24 as a surprise cameo. From then on, said character would have a greater role, as in the "No Man's Land" event.

Dr. Bartholomew: "Since Lyle Bolton has gone too far in the exercise of his authority, we have replaced him with a guard with a greater capacity for self-control" Inmates: "Cool! And who is the loser taking care of us from now on?" Rorschach: "Hello" Inmates: 😢

Lock Up is SO damn underrated. Like- There is so much you can explore with this character, and he's a got a really good parallel to Batman which poses really good questions on how the Batman goes about doing his job. He's essentially the Bat-man without any compassion towards the criminals he aims to stop. But at the same time, the dude also kind of brings up good points about how villains constantly escape Arkham, he's just way too extreme about it. I really wish they'd do more with this dude, I feel like he has a LOT of potential.

Even if Lock-Up was considered a one-time character, I loved it nonetheless. I kinda wish that they gave this character a chance at a possible live-action adaptation if done right

Now see, the issue is that while his methods are wrong, he's right about the system being inadequate. The system being inadequate and corrupt is precisely why there needs to be a Batman. But the mere presence of Batman gives complacency to those in the system to not improve further.

Lock up didn't really go far but did inspire other DC Characters: Jason Todd's Red Hood, Two-Face's third personality the Judge, stealth hunter Rumor, Talon of the Court of Owls, The Balloon Man, the Police Commissioner played by Michael Chiklis, and others.

The problem with this episode is that Bolton isn't really wrong when he says the Police are Incompetent and the Arkham Doctors are useless. There's a reason why the villains we see complaining about him are the likable, sympathetic ones and not the monstrous ones like Joker...its because we wouldn't see Bolton as wrong for terrorizing THEM.

I can see why this would be an interesting villain for Batman to fight. We don’t need to dive deep into certain plot holes some people love to bring up like how Arkham is like a revolving door. Really, part of me felt like had we seen him deal with certain other villains like Joker or anyone else in the “higher tier” it could help to sell how this guy can be a severely loose cannon. But I guess we would miss the sympathies we saw with the “not as strong” villains. Still, I am actually interested with how this ended. The idea that while most people would try and break out, he would apparently be the one who would make sure no one else gets out by being in the same Asylum cells as them. Could have made it interesting if there was a follow up and how he almost becomes a “lawful neutral” where you see him deal with some patients trying to escape (and then make it where he is either outsmarted or out maneuvered by whoever the villain of the episode would be). I guess I find myself fascinated by these kinds of characters. Those who want to do the right thing, but go to such lengths that it can show they are just as bad, if not worse, then those he goes up against.

I like the part when Batman and lock-on meet for the first time and he propose batman to work together, like batman catches criminales and he locks them away, witch fits the beginning when he thanks Batman fir bring Scarecrow back to Arkham. He truly believe he was a hero and that Batman was gonna be in his side

I loved this episode as a kid because it gave scarecrow more depth because he did not have a really good backstory in the animated series. I loved the comics following the animated series because while I dont remember the issue I do remember that scarecrow freaked out when Lyle Bolton got locked in with him.

I loved the episode, but the actual villain was a despicable monster. Someone in a different video said that, when Harley Quinn calls you an animal, then you *know* you're messed up because she's endured the Joker's abuse. Honestly, that best sums up my opinions on Lyle Bolton. He was a man who became obsessed with his job to the point where he became worse than those he deemed were the scum of the earth. It's rare to see that kind of portrayal in children's media anymore. The closest I can think of to a villain who became worse than the people they were prosecuting is Emperor Belos from "The Owl House," so it's nice to go back and see, while people may have others' best interests in mind, they can also step right over the line and become just as horrible, if not worse, than those they fight.

If anybody has read HARLEEN, there’s an Arkham guard character that eventually snaps at the end after Joker kills one too many of his friends/coworkers, and tries to kill him. I always thought that would have been a cool redesign for the Lock-Up characters. So I’m happy you said pretty much the same thing here

Man, this episode hits a LOT different in 2023...

This was actually one of my favorite episodes from the Batman animated series.

I always like that the ventriloquist gets a little moment in this episode, and his bravery inspired the other villians, I can just imagine Two face being like “shit really? Wesker huh? I guess I’ll tell the guards as well”

Fun fact: during the no Man's Land storyline Batman resorted to putting lock up in charge of black gate prison to keep some sort of handle on the rampant crime in an otherwise lawless region with the kg beast serving as lockups enforcer. Of course as soon as the ruling declaring the Gotham area and no man's land was lifted one of Batman's first orders of business was to immediately take that apart and put lock up right back behind bars.

Such a great episode. Crazy to see how scared the villains were of Lyle.😮

The part where they only speak up when the idea of Bolton continuing to work there hits them. That abuse won't ever stop unless they speak up.

I like how instead of the usual detective works Batman just” yeb it’s got to be Bolton”

Quite possibly one of the best hidden gem epiodes of BTAS

Rip Kevin Conroy 🦇🙏🏼

I feel that Lock-Up has been one of the most underutilized villains in the show and in the comics. A villain or anti-hero who could show another reflection of Batman's inner reflections, like Joker showing off his insanity to his logical reasoning, or Two Face's two-sided personality to the connection between Bruce and Batman in a constant battle for the face at all times, Bolton could be another reflection as to what happens when Batman uses intimidation and torture methods too far. While Batman will use his fear tactics and brutality to his advantage, he still knows when to hold back. Bolton on the other hand goes as far as possible without any consequence of his actions and seemingly seems to revel in it all. It's a shame he couldn't have been given more room to grow in the comics or the show.

Lock up is in the gray area of sympathetic villain. You can see his point about tightening the reins, but at the same time they're all are not incurable monsters like the Joker, or killer Croc. Harley in particular just needs mild sedatives, and positive role models around her and weekly therapy. I'm sure eventually she would become a well balanced person and no longer need anything to stay that way. But someone like lock up on her ass will just get her even more paranoid and self destructive.

The man made scarecrow afraid of him, what an absolute beast

This may sound weird but I think this episode should have been the season finale rather than "Batgirl Returns". When looking back at season 3 as whole, it's had many villain reform episodes (house & garden, catwalk, riddler reform, harley holiday and second chance), with Batman seeing these rogues trying to reform but failing and going back to a life of crime. If this events had been reference by Bolton, it could not only give more valid points for his ideology but aalso give more meaning for the conflict between him and Batman, with dark knight refusal to accept Lock Up methods showing how strong is Batman's compassion. Even after seen many of his enemies failing to reform in this season, he still allows them to live and, by doing so, it gives a new chance to try to reform again.

4:41 "I'm not locked in here with you... YOU'RE locked in here with ME!"

I really like this character. He's like a more extreme version of Batman and it's interesting to see how it conflicts with Batman's own moral code.

It seems Bolton only picked on the inmates who were physically weak (Scarecrow, Harley, Wesker), but how would he have fared against The Joker, Two-Face, Croc, the much more notorious members of Arkham?

I like the moral questions raised by the villain's modus operandi in the episode. That alone makes it a solid addition to the show's run.

The ending is similar to the end of the Spider-Man comic that first introduced the Punisher. As the character is taken away in a police van, he comments on how he’ll keep his eye on the inmate population.

Lock Up (the character) looks like he came from a 90s comic book design. Hulk body, shoulder pads, metal armor and chains, fists bigger than his head, always gritting his teeth and snarling.

The 2014 Gotham TV series had a similar character, Captain Nathaniel "The Executioner" Barnes, a GCPD Captain who went Punisher on Gothams criminals and was a big hulking figure.

I love this episode! Lyle’s personality very twisted and he makes a great antagonist! I like his costume a lot too. It’s a wonderful contrast to Batman’s. It a shame that we didn’t see him again!

As for the episode itself, I enjoy it. Very rarely does BTAS get philosophical, but when it does, it's damn good. I love that Batman's newest foe isn't an an anarchist, a gangster, a mad scientist, a corrupt businessman, an eco-terrorist, or even just a spoiled rich kid looking for excitement: He's an unhinged authority figure who sees criminals through black and white lenses and takes authority too much in his hands. A lot of people say that he's like a darker version of the Caped Crusader if he lost all sympathy for supervillains and treated himself as the only trustworthy enforcer of the law, but I think he's also a mocking parody of Judge Dredd who was popular at the time.

I'm honestly waiting for Make Em Laugh; one of my favorite episodes

Maybe it's me, but, I think this character is strong enough to headline a Batman Animated movie. As you said, give him a backstory where he might have had an unfortunate incident with one of Batman's villains, and vows to make sure villains like the kind in Arkham asylum never see the light of day. Blur the lines of good and bad, shades of grey. I think it could make for an interesting story.

This was one of my favorite underrated batman episodes

They under utilize Lock Up so much in the comics! They have great seeds laid out for them to create a powerful anti hero for Batman to battle, as well as other villains!

I wish they could've brought him back in the Judgment Day episode instead of Two-Face as the Judge, or one of the Cadmus arc episodes of Justice League Unlimited.

Apparently Lock-Up was voiced by Bruce Weitz who is best known for his role Detective Michael "Mick" Belker on Hill Street Blues. He also voiced the character Porg on Aaahh!!! Real Monsters.

0:30 that pause felt SO awkward, like I could feel the stare coming my way.

Robin: Another fine villain made possible by a grant from the Wayne Foundation. Batman: 😡 Robin: Only kidding. 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

Anyone else think that Lock-Up could've been the DC Comic's version of The Punisher?

I love how, apart from the first scene, Lock-Up's mouth and nose are always visible through his mask. It makes me wonder how he's able to breath.

I love something people pointed out. The inmates that seem to suffer the most at his hands are the weakest inmates in Arkham. Come on big man, try to break Joker or Killer Croc why don't ya?

While i agree that a way must be found to keep tighter a leash on the immates from escaping they also needed to be shown the compassion and dignity Batman shows them, to slowly but surely fix the problem.

It’s interesting seeing some of these iconic villains scared of someone that’s not Batman

The father of Mad Stan in Batman Beyond

Lock-Up was eventually added into the Comics of the main DC Universe, sadly he isn't use much, which is a shame since I really do think he have potential.

Lock-Up in Arkham Asylum surrounded by people terrified of him. I hate to be the criminal who shares a cell with him. The episode overall is good. Not my all time favorite but good.

Yes! More of this incredible Month! Bat-May rules!

Batman: "You are definitely insane to have managed to terrify even the scarecrow himself, Bolton!" Bolton: "I'm just doing the job you should be doing! Giving your enemies the terror they need to get to uphold the law!" Poison Ivy: "THIS BASTARD MADE ME WATCH HOW HE KILLED ONE OF MY CHILDREN BY PICKING OUT ITS PETALS ONE BY ONE!!!" Robin: "Calm down, Ivy. If you want another child, I'll leave you my seed with plea..AUHH" *Gets smacked by Batman*

If I was to write a second story for this character, it would have been the B:TAS version of Superman vs The Elite. Gotham rallying around Lock-Up because of his uncompromising ways until they realize ho brutal and wrong it is, plus when he's done with the criminals, there's nothing stopping him from turning his gazes towards them. We know he'll go after innocent people he deems guilty.

it would be fun if Walter one day decided to cover Superman TAS, he could call it "Super-May".

Lock-up is a villain that I've always found interesting and he has a lot of potential. If WB made a Batman film set almost entirely in Arkham, he would be an interesting villain to utilize. Perhaps in a team-up with Hugo Strange trapping Batman inside with all of the other villains.

I think this would’ve been stronger two-parter that focused heavily on Lock-Up and actually seeing his brutal practices. Not bad though. Super solid.

"See No Evil" dealt with personal issues and grey mortality. So it would have been possible.

I wonder if they were giving us hints about Dick Grayson becoming Nightwing throughout this season; with the weird way he acted at the beginning of Second Chance and the "Another villain courtesy of the Wayne Foundation" joke in this episode

Honestly I thought Lock-Up started off with potential but for me it really dragged in the middle and ended pretty anticlimactically however I did like at the very end when he ended up in Arkham. One more thing I didn't necessarily care for was how feeble and cowardly they portrayed Scarecrow. I get they were trying to hype up Bolton by basically saying that if the self-proclaimed master of fear is afraid of him then he must be a big deal, but ultimately I think it just made Scarecrow seem less of a threat. It's really a shame too because after Dreams in Darkness, Scarecrow barely had any appearances at least until The New Batman Adventures where the character was significantly improved upon.

Will we have Super-May next year for Superman: the Animated Series?

A lot of the points that you and a few other commentators made are all the reasons that make this episode so great; similar to the episode "Trial", it creates a character that brings up an important topic that's still easy to debate about, even to this day. While Bolton's methods are seen to be wrong, he is right about the broken system of Gotham City that's responsible for the Rogues and the crimes they've committed. At the same time, while it's great that Batman sympathizes with some of his foes, at the same time, it's hard to do so considering all the innocent lives they've taken over the years.

I loved that little moment where Bruce stops a rampaging Bolton during the hearing at the start of the episode by tripping him up leading to his capture before getting taken out of the building. I think he casually knocked a chair over for him to trip on. Just little details like that to keep his identity secret was pretty well done.

01:25 I always remember Lock Ups's HUGE apartment! No wonder he was pissed when he lost his job - he must have been on a great salary.

This character reminds me a little of the TV show Gotham. Captain Barnes kinda had this view by the end of his character arc. Though they went with a different character I think

Best line of the episode belongs to Batman, following what we've already seen about the compassion and hope for rehabilitation he has for (most of) his villains: "I was BORN to fight YOUR brand of 'order'!"

As horrific as Bloton’s methods are, I can’t help but think he has a fair point. I mean how many people are going to get hurt until Arkham Asylum or the authorities realize their methods are greatly flawed.

Bolton kind of reminds me of Jason Todd: believing the compassion for helping the criminally insane is pointless and need to take more drastic action. The difference I think is Bolton trying to punish criminals harshly while putting innocents in harms way, and Jason is solely about ending the criminals lives.

Fun fact: Lock-Up's VA also voiced Bruno Mannheim.

Always wondered if this character went anywhere in other media.

Despite Bolton's promise to keep an eye on them from the inside promising they'd never slip by again, they still did. All because they felt there was no further use for Bolton's character

I remember they did a similar character to Lock-Up in The Batman called Rumour.

Closest we will ever get to a Punisher/Batman crossover

Even Johnathan crane scared of this Guy. All them years of putting fear into People got to him. Karma is a b*tch ain't it Johnathan?😂

It is one of my favorite episodes. An anti-hero who causes nightmares to all villains in Arkham. The end is creepy in a positive way.

I’ve been looking forward to when you’d be getting to this episode. Regardless of how you feel about the character himself, what I really appreciated about this episode was how it touched upon a subject that few shows tend to put a spotlight on: correctional abuse.

Very good concept, and they made sure to give it justice with that climax.

Wow. Even Scarface is scared of Lyle Bolton.

This episode is very relevant today, what with what happened yesterday in the New York subway.

ive been waiting for this review for 2 years and im happy to see it wasn't nit picked to death and its main theme wasn't glossed over, Lock Up is a character I think deserved to come back at least one more time and his theming of the Justice system failing us but still addressing that using the extreme measures the criminals take back on them, isn't the solution to fixing their problem

I like that the people who speck at his trail are, still villains, but ones with clear mental problems so torturing them won't solve the issue

I wish that this was two separate stories. One solely focused on the enquiry of how Bolton treats the inmates and a follow up where we see him become Lock Up

Bat May, Day 4

Here's the episode I've been waiting this year for!

Lock up looks like Bane in cop cosplay, maybe Bolton has a point if that the city officials is the reason why Gotham is a screw up and Imagine if Lock up was in the Justice Lords episode.

A great episode with a rather underrated antagonist.

I like how it highlighted how com CO's abuse their position with the inmates in prision or the asylum