Shame (Cliff Robertson) is back, escaping from prison with the help of Calamity Jan (Dina Merrill) and her mother, Frontier Fanny (Hermione Baddeley), who is also interfering in their potential romance, but that won’t stop Shame for preparing for his latest caper.

The Great Escape was written by Stanley Ralph Ross and first aired on 1 February, 1968.

I love that Robertson came back for this character, and I actually found myself laughing a lot through this one. He’s got some great dialogue and there’s a lot of banter and interplay especially with the introduction of Fred (Barry Dennen), as well as a bit of suggestive flirting between Batman (Adam West) and Bat Girl (Yvonne Craig).

Shame while flirting with Jan, and butting heads with Fanny sends a letter to Batman and Robin (Burt Ward) hinting at what his crime will be. Of course, the heroic trio figures out the clues left in Shame’s message and race to stop him from robbing a musical act.

Unfortunately, their arrival precipitates Shame using a fear gas on the heroes, turning them into mewling cowards, Batman and Robin scamper back to the batcave, while Batgirl is taken hostage.

Alfred (Alan Napier) is able to help cure the Dynamic Duo, but will they be able to rescue Batgirl from Shame’s clutches? Especially when Jan proves how jealous she is of the costumed hero.

This one was a lot of fun, and so far feels like a standout episode this season. But let’s see how they wrap the story up.

The Great Train Robbery was written by Ross and aired on 8 February, 1968. Batman and Robin gear up to rescue Batgirl, trading Fanny for their compatriot, and they are able to save her and get away from the villains and regroup to figure out how to best the villain who plans to rob a subway train filled with cash.

It’s pretty amazing though that despite Barbara being missing and Batgirl being kidnapped, Batman can’t seem to make the connection between the two characters. World’s Greatest Detective indeed. If he found out he could have made his connection with Barbara/Batgirl all that more playful. Oh well.

Batman is tired of dealing with Shame, and in shades of High Noon, calls him out for a showdown. As the two square off, its fisticuffs and wordplay for hero and villain that will see Shame behind bars once and for all.

There are lots of fun little banter sequences and great dialogue in this episode and honestly, this pair of episodes is a lot of fun, despite the portrayal of Indigenous people with Chief Standing Pat (Victor Lundin).

The episode ends with the reveal of the return of King Tut (Vitor Buono)! This means there are only four episodes left in the series!