"Sneak Peek" is the eighteenth episode of the second season of Batman Beyond. It depicts the near-revealing of the secret identities of Batman. A mysterious man who is completely intangible is stalking Gotham, recording secrets wherever he can find them. These secrets are later displayed on a tabloid news show The Inside Peek by Ian Peek. Terry thinks the show is great until he finds that his secret will be revealed as well.
Plot
Ian Peek introduces another episode of The Inside Peek where he reveals the secrets of Gotham's elite. He prattles on about how the trainer of a heavyweight boxer is flirting with the boxer's girlfriend, how Rocker Jamie Jerald is illegally getting spliced, and, for the headline story, Paxton Powers's indecent behavior at a private party.
Matt McGinnis eagerly watches this last segment, but his mother shuts off the television. Terry, nearby, tells his mother to lighten up, it's just entertainment. She retorts that "you wouldn't find it so entertaining if you were on the receiving end".
After wrapping up his show, Ian's producer asks him how he manages to get such exclusive footage, but Ian says it's a "trade secret".
Later that night, a crime boss, Jimmy Lin, sneaks into City Hall for a meeting with D.A. Sam Young, to secretly testify about his gang's activities. Lin is anxious that he will be found out, but Sam assures him that they are completely alone. Neither of them know that Lin has been followed into the building by a mysterious man seemingly composed of flashing blue and black matter, capable of passing through walls. Unnoticed by either man, the mysterious figure films Lin's testimony, until Sam sees him and summons a guard. The mystery man manages to disable a guard, then Batman arrives. Batman attacks, but all his punches seem to pass through empty air while the mystery man is perfectly capable of hitting Batman. Finally, the man starts a fire and escapes, entirely unharmed by the flames. While Batman is down, the man touches a device on his belt, switching off the blue and black energy field and revealing himself to be Ian Peek.
In physics class at school, Terry learns that solid matter is mostly composed of empty space, and asks if it's possible for some objects to pass through others. His teacher explains that most scientists believe that to be impossible, but there was one who thought otherwise. Later, Terry talks to Bruce, who reveals that the man worked for Wayne Enterprises: Nabuo Taka, a research scientist who believed he could "phase" molecules to allow them to pass through solid matter. However, Taka can't be the mystery man, as he died in a fire years ago.
The Inside Peek comes on again and Ian Peek reveals the events of the previous night, telling about Lin's meeting with Young. Terry realizes the connection and heads out to see Peek. His show finished, Peek starts complaining about stomach problems. Batman confronts him at the studio, but Peek denies any knowledge. However, before Batman can further interrogate him, Lin and a gang of thugs enter and try to kill Peek. Batman stops them but loses sight of Peek, who escapes and plants a camera on the Batmobile. Unaware of the camera, Batman returns to the Batcave, talks to Bruce and removes his mask. All of this is caught on the spycam by Peek.
That morning, Terry wakes up to find his mother and Matt watching a teaser for Peek's newest show that will air later that evening, in which Peek promises to reveal the secret identity of Batman and his mentor. Bruce has already discovered the spycam but can do nothing to stop the show from airing. Terry goes to see Peek who is still having trouble with his stomach. Terry pleads with him to leave Bruce out of it, but Peek smugly refuses.
However, after Terry leaves, Peek takes a tablet for his stomach pains, and hears it drop right through him to the floor. He looks down in horror and sees that his body is partially "phased" even without the belt.
Terry returns home and finds that, along with the rest of Gotham City, both Matt and Mary are excited about seeing the show. Mary brushes off her earlier indignation, as Terry ironically convinced her "it's just entertainment". Deciding its best they learn the truth from him first, Terry confesses that he's Batman. His mother and brother both laugh in obvious disbelief.
The show starts to air, but is abruptly postponed. Terry discreetly telephones Bruce, but there is no answer, so he goes to investigate.
Bruce appears at Peek's studio in response to Peek's urgent summons. Peek says his body is slowly becoming completely intangible, even without the belt. Peek demands that Bruce use his company's resources to find a cure. Bruce wants to know why Peek came to him, and Peek confesses that he stole Taka's research and prototype belt and also set the fire that killed him.
Bruce refuses to help him, and Peek threatens to expose both him and Terry. Bruce calls his bluff and keeps walking. Desperate, Peek tries to give back the footage by throwing it at Bruce's feet, but he still refuses. Enraged, Peek attacks and nearly kills Bruce but Batman arrives and saves him. Peek continues to fight and raises a gun, but his finger, and then his whole hand, become intangible, followed shortly by his entire body. Peek sinks through the floor, yelling for help. Terry gives chase while Bruce finally picks up the disc containing the spycam footage, saving the secret identitits of both himself and Terry. Batman just manages to reach the lowest basement level as Peek is sinking through it. For a moment, it seems that Peek will be able to escape his fate, but he loses all tangibility and sinks into the ground, laughing maniacally and then yelling. Bruce arrives on the scene and explains that Peek may be intangible, but he is still at the mercy of gravity. In his phased state, he will keep right on falling until he reaches the center of the earth.
Background information
Home video releases
Production notes
- When Ian Peek ignites a fire, the resulting explosion is reused footage from the scene of the Superman: The Animated Series episode "World's Finest, Part III" in which two Wayne/Lex T-7 droids blow up after Batman electrocutes them.
Production inconsistencies
- During the pan of the Batcave, the Robin suit's insignia is red when it's supposed to be yellow.
- Mr. Freeze's cold gun is visible in the Batcave, even though it was destroyed by Inque in "Disappearing Inque".
- This episode is another example of what is sometimes called the "Ghost Paradox" in science fiction and fantasy: if a person is rendered completely intangible by scientific means, he should logically be unable to stand on a floor, breathe air (which is a gaseous matter) into his lungs, or speak; yet Peek is shown doing all of these things. Also, if such a person ceases to be tangible matter, then gravity would have no effect on him. If gravity were the only force acting on Ian, he would not simply come to rest at the center of the Earth. Instead, he would accelerate as he approached the center and then shoot to the exact opposite point of the Earth from where he started, only to be pulled back towards the center and reach the point from where he started. This effect would continue indefinitely, assuming frictional forces can no longer act on him.
Trivia
- The character model of the boxer is the same as Clayface's human disguise in "Growing Pains".
- The scene where Terry confesses to being Batman was used for several TV spots promoting the show on Kids WB.
- Jimmy Lin isn't alone in not wanting to face tax evasion charges. In "Joker's Millions" even the Joker didn't want to face the IRS.
- The camera used by Ian is similar to that used by Terry in "The Last Resort".
Cast
Uncredited appearances
Quotes
Terry: Come on, Mom. It's just entertainment. |
Terry: I'm saying that you, or someone who works for you, figured out a way of moving through walls. |
Bruce: I always assumed I'd be found out sooner or later. It's just galling that a piece of garbage like Peek had to be the one. |
Terry: I don't care what you do to me. But he doesn't deserve this. He's done too much for this city to wind up in the middle of a media circus. |
Terry: I thought you said it wouldn't be entertaining if you were on the receiving end. |
Terry: What's gonna happen to him? |
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