A Matter of Family - Recap

The episode opens up with the Grayson family eating dinner at a dinner table in a circus trailer. Dick Grayson leaves his family’s home, and he does many flips and moves in the air as he goes to the circus tent to practice. Dick’s father John and his mother Mary stand together watching their son as John Grayson shouts “wait for us son.” As they enter the tent, they see that Dick has found himself looking at a tall man named Tony Zucco. Tony demands protection money from John Grayson, leaving Dick with much anger. Dick lunges at Tony and he begins to fight with him and all of Tony’s gang members using his acrobatic skills to fight them. Dick gets taken down by Zucco, leaving John to defend his son. Tony and his gang take down John. Tony tells John about how they’ll never make it without the protection money, though Dick tells him that they can because he called the cops five minutes ago. Batman shows up saying that he intercepted the call, and he fights Zucco and his gang. Batman manages to take down one of Zucco’s brothers, though Zucco and the rest escape. The scene concludes with Dick looking at Batman with admiration.

Bruce Wayne sits down at the circus, awaiting a performance of the flying Graysons. As he waits, he throws pieces of popcorn into his mouth. Meanwhile, Dick Grayson puts on his new outfit which is what will become his Robin costume. His parents hug, and they exit to perform. The Graysons perform in front of a giant crowd, soaring through the air without the safety of a net. Zucco watches as well, along with his brothers as he waits for his plan to unfold. Dick stands as his parents continue to perform. Then, the ropes become looser and looser. Dick notices and so do his parents as they begin to fall to their deaths. Mary Grayson shouts “Dick” as she falls to her death. The crowd is surprised at this, with Bruce Wayne in complete shock. As Dick cries on his platform, Zucco shows a sign of happiness as he got revenge on the Graysons.

It’s raining at the funeral of John and Mary Grayson, as Dick stands mourning his parents. Bruce Wayne and Alfred Pennyworth walk up to Dick. Bruce says that he is sorry about Dick’s loss, and Dick thanks Bruce for the comfort that he is providing him and he thanks him because Bruce paid for the entire service. Dick walks off, as Alfred asks Bruce about Dick’s family. Bruce tells Alfred that Dick’s only family was his parents, and he intended to take young Dick in as a foster child.

Dick finally moves in with Bruce Wayne and Alfred Pennyworth, though things aren’t going to well with Dick. Dick is upset since he though Bruce would hang around him, and eat dinner with him and stuff like that. Alfred tells Dick that Bruce’s work sometimes keeps him pre occupied, and he tells Dick that this might go on for a while. Meanwhile, down in the Batcave, Alfred and Bruce talk about the future Bruce and Dick will have. Bruce tells Alfred that he won’t rest till he takes down Zucco. Bruce tells Alfred about how his parent’s killer was never brought in, and he doesn’t want that to happen to Dick. Bruce discovers a toothpick that may be the ticket to taking down Zucco.

Batman travels to a run down bar in Gotham City, and asks about where he can find Tony Zucco. Nobody will answer his question, so Batman fights off all of the criminal and low lives that are in the bar at the time. Eventually, Batman gets an answer from one of the patrons that he had hung to the wall up side down. The patron tells Batman that he might be able to find Zucco’s brothers shaking down a bakery.

Batman follows the lead that was presented to him by the bar patron as he winds up at a bakery. Batman fights Tony’s two brothers and he begins to interrogate one of them. The one brother tells Batman that he would never rat out a member of his family. However, Batman doesn’t need the brother to say anything because he saw a bag of peanuts on the floor which immediately gave him the idea of where Zucco is.

At Wayne Manor, Dick Grayson is having trouble sleeping, so he travels into the den and tries to fall asleep in front of the picture of his parents. As Alfred comes out of the Batcave, Dick hides, waiting for Alfred to leave the room so that he could explore the cave. Alfred leaves, and Dick gets out of his seat and walks down to the Batcave. Dick begins to explore as Batman drives up in the Batcave. Batman confronts Dick as Dick tries to avoid him. Bruce reveals to Dick that he is in fact the Batman. Alfred and Bruce now find them with the task of telling Dick that Bruce is going to take down Zucco. Dick tells Bruce that he wants to help take him down. Bruce tells Dick that he doesn’t want his childhood to become all about revenge like his was. Bruce then leaves to take down Tony Zucco.

At the circus, Batman confronts Tony Zucco, who soon knocks Batman out.

Dick then tries to locate Batman using the Batcomputer to help him. Dick then discovers that Tony and Batman are at the circus where his parents where killed. Dick decides that this might be his chance to take down Zucco, though he needs a costume. Dick looks down at his Robin costume that his mother created, and he decides to use that, a mask, and a cape to keep Zucco from knowing his identity.

Batman wakes up to seeing himself strapped to a knife throwing target, with Zucco throwing the knives. Tony tells Batman about how him and his father where a knife throwing act in the circus together. Zucco begins to throw knives at Batman, showing his skill. Batman asks Tony why he gave up the circus life, and Tony tells Batman that one day… he missed. Tony throws the final knife at Batman, which is on a course for Batman’s neck. Robin manages to stop the knife from hitting Batman by dropping a sandbag in front of it. Robin then engages Zucco in battle. Meanwhile, Batman begins to cut the rope using one of the knives, freeing himself. Robin gets taken down by Tony, and Batman goes to punch out Tony. Tony ducks out of the way and begins to fall, just as Dick’s parents did. Robin saves Tony at the last minute, and Tony gets brought to justice. Robin tells Batman that he needs a parent, and Bruce tells Robin that Bruce Wayne might not be the right person to do so. Robin tells Batman that Batman would make a better parent, and Bruce tells Robin that he’ll need a name. Robin says that he wants to be called Robin. The episode ends with Batman and Robin standing on top of a fence, looking down at Zucco and the police officers.

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