Dark Robin

Dark Robin is the tenth episode of the third season of NBC's The Batman. It first aired on February 21, 2011. It is the thirty-sixth episode overall.

Synopsis
Six months after the events of last episode, Dick has been missing since the Valentine's Dance and is being tortured by Falcone. Dick is now unleashed an assassin and killer, Nightwing. Barbara and Bruce work to stop him as Vicki's relationship with Jason threatens Bruce's work as Batman. Flamingo has finished his service to get off on his sentence thanks to Ryder as the two are now openly dating and Maggie tries to make Ryder jealous. James is enjoying summer without school but learns it is starting up again in two weeks. Gordon and Sarah are engaged as their wedding is coming up.

Plot
The episode begins with a montage of last episode before the words: SIX MONTHS LATER appear on the screen. In Falcone's mansion, Dick is chained to the basement walls. Dick is screaming at himself and repeats the word "Nightwing". Falcone enters the room and tells Dick that after the past six months filled with torture and pain he can be set free. Dick tries to get free and Falcone tells him that he will be free to do anything he wants as the assassin that fights and kills for justice and revenge. Falcone sets him loose and Dick runs to his costume and leaves with his bo-staff.

Barbara is lying on a couch in the Gordon apartment. Bruce is there and walks up to her and tells her that they'll find Dick. She tells him that they've searched for six months and he is nowhere. It is revealed that Dick has been missing for six months while being tortured by Falcone. Barbara sadly graduated without him and it is now August.

Flamingo returns to Ryder's apartment. The former tells Ryder he finally finished off his murder community service and thanks him. They kiss and Flamingo takes off his shirt but Ryder tells him to save it for that night. The two decide to go out for lunch.

Maggie sees Flamingo and Ryder enter a restaurant and enters herself. She pretends to them she didn't know they were there but Ryder tells her to move on and that what they had was nothing real. Maggie is mad and asks him why he wanted children. He tells her that she was the first woman he ever dated and so it was his only chance to have kids.

Dick is on the rooftops of a building. He sees a man in a business suit walk into an apartment. He jumps off and into the fire escape shaft. The man sees him and tries to escape. Dick jumps into the room and kills the man with his staff. In blood he writes Nightwing on the wall.

James plays video games in his room and Gordon tells him to get out of his room as that is all he has been doing since school got out. James tells him he has plenty of time to play outside. Gordon tells him that school starts in two weeks. James is mad but realizes that summer is starting to come to an end.

Gordon then goes to City Hall where Sarah is waiting. It is revealed that the two are engaged and the wedding is going to be in two weeks. Gordon takes Sarah out to the same restaurant that Flamingo, Ryder, and Maggie are at. Sarah learns that Flamingo is no longer a murderer and served a shorter sentence with a lot of work to get off. Gordon is surprised that Maggie and Ryder broke up and that Ryder, an soldier, is dating Flamingo, a murderer. Ryder thinks that Gordon is surprised that he is gay and is mad but Gordon clears it up. Flamingo, Ryder, Maggie, Gordon, and Sarah learn that a businessman was murdered that day. The five then scurry to investigate.

That night, Bruce and Barbara get into costume and learn that Nightwing was on the wall in the room that the businessman was killed. The two of them and Dick were the only ones who knew the name Nightwing. Barbara is excited that Dick can now be found but is soon worried that he is now a murderer. Bruce decides to get Vicki's help as she is an investigator. Bruce goes to Vicki's new penthouse where Vicki answers without any clothes. Jason appears, trying to get his clothes on and asks him what he wants.

Vicki and Bruce investigate. Vicki apologizes for answering his knock without any clothes but Bruce jokes that he was only bothered by Jason. Vicki does not laugh and Bruce tries to tell her it was a joke. A voice tells the two to "get a room" before coming out of the shadows to reveal it is Dick. Bruce hugs him and Dick tries to tell him that he was tortured by Falcone for six months. Bruce realizes that due to the torture Dick is experiencing a murderous side, Nightwing, and a good side, his normal self. Dick begins to transform into Nightwing and tells the pair to run. Bruce tells him he'll come back to help him and leaves.

Bane and Croc terrorize the city but ultimately decide that it's not fun to do anything without Batman to stop them so they can fight. Ivy and Cameron show up and reveal they know how to get Batman to them. The four find an old man in an alley, who they kill. Ivy writes Nightwing in blood on the wall. Ivy tells them they just stick around this part until Batman shows up.

In Opal City, Jonathan Crane lives is in an apartment. He is making breakfast as a woman exits the bedroom. Crane and the woman are dating as she knows nothing about Scarecrow. The two kiss and begin to make out against a counter and strip as the breakfast burns on the stove.

Maroni orders his men to get Nightwing to reveal any secrets he might have found in Falcone's base. However, Nightwing comes in and kills his guards. He then tries to kill Maroni but he is shot by Maroni. Nightwing stumbles out to safety where he passes out in the woods. Batman shows up in the alley where Bane and Croc come up to kill him. Batman realizes he was tricked and contacts Barbara on his contactor. Batgirl shows up and the two fend off the villains. Bruce reveals to Barbara about finding Dick and the two run off to find him.

Maggie tries to tell Ryder that she loves him but he is caught up in Flamingo. Finally, Ryder tells Maggie that she was just the girl he wanted at the moment. Batman and Batgirl search Gotham until they find Nightwing. They battle in which Barbara kisses Nightwing and he becomes Dick again. At the Gordon apartment, Barbara tells Bruce that he needs to look after James because Dick, Barbara, and Gordon are leaving to help Dick.

Starring

 * Ben Affleck as Bruce Wayne/Batman
 * Alexander Gould as Dick Grayson/Robin
 * Sarah Hyland as Barbara Gordon/Batgirl
 * Zen Gesner as James Gordon
 * Nathan Gamble as James Gordon Jr.
 * Jared Leto as the Joker
 * Brian McManamon as Basil Karlo/Clayface
 * Tom Hardy as Victor Payne/Bane
 * Maggie Geha as Pamela Isely/Poison Ivy
 * Robin Lord Taylor as Oswald Cobblepot/Penguin
 * Cory Michael Smith as Edward Nygma/Riddler
 * Zabryna Guevera as Sarah Essen
 * Floriana Lima as Maggie Sawyer
 * Andrew Stewart-Jones as Chris Allen
 * Benedict Samuel as Jervis Tetch/Mad Hatter
 * Cillian Murphy as Jonathan Crane/Scarecrow
 * Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje as Killer Croc
 * John Doman as Carmine Falcone
 * Nicholas D'Agosto as Harvey Dent/Two-Face
 * Jamie Chung as Vicki Vale
 * David Zayas as Sal Maroni
 * Thomas Haden Church as Cameron van Cleer/Killer Moth
 * Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn

Guest Starring

 * Raul Castillo as Eduardo Flamingo
 * Zach Appelman as Jason Bard
 * Jonathan Keltz as Andrew Ryder

Trivia

 * This episode achieved 8.87 million U.S. live viewers.
 * Jared Leto, Brian McManamon, Robin Lord Taylor, Cory Michael Smith, Andrew Stewart-Jones, Benedict Samuel, Nicholas D'Agosto, and Margot Robbie do not appear in this episode as the Joker, Clayface, Penguin, Riddler, Chris Allen, Jervis Tetch, Two-Face, and Harley Quinn.
 * This episode received generally negative reviews. It scored a 38% on Rotten Tomatoes and an 24 out of 100 on Metacritic.
 * Guest stars in this episode include Raul Castillo, Zach Appelman, and Jonathan Keltz as Eduardo Flamingo, Jason Bard, and Andrew Ryder, respectively.
 * This episode is rated TV-14 for L-S-V.