Some of you may remember when I made that episode timeline for “Batman: The Animated Series” which, to my surprise, was quite popular. So after taking another look at the series, I decided to give the timeline thing another go. Don’t worry, the original is still up if you want to stick with that.Originally I tried to reorder the episodes to create a sense of Batman’s early years, which is especially challenging with TAS because that only gets covered on a couple of episodes, and beyond that there’s this huge gap in Batman’s history that we never really got to see, where Joker had his origin and Robin was trained and Batman first fought Penguin.So for this second version, I tried to order it the way a more traditional TV show might evolve, this time fully accepting that Batman’s been around for a little while, so most of the changes are in the first half. There’s still a good sense of continuity and escalation as before, but the early goings are not as much “these take place in Batman’s early days” and more “this is a TV show finding its footing.” That’s why there are a lot of poorer episodes in the first season, like “Basement” and “Prophecy”. Best to get those out of the way early.One thing I tried to focus on more was Batman’s relationship with Gordon and the other cops, especially when we get to “Phantasm”. Also, trying to keep track of all the rogues (not to mention spacing out the Joker episodes) is just about enough to make me need a trip to Arkham.There are other episodes with flashbacks (Night of the Ninja, Zatanna), but watching these two in particular right at the start gives some nice context to Batman’s character.--Obviously not Robin’s first time out, but the Boy Wonder comes off as relatively new to the game, enough that this works as the first time we might see him in action.--Despite airing much later, I placed this episode early due to Gordon’s behavior around Batman. He doesn’t seem used to the disappearing act yet, suggesting an earlier point in their relationship. But Alfred mentions that Batman’s fought some real weirdos already, so Scarface clearly isn’t the first freak he's had to deal with.--Again, a lot of non-powered enemies to start out with and a few more super villains early on than before. “Cape and Cowl” is a good spot to start since we get the Bat-signal. I like “Last Laugh” for a first Joker episode (I think it was the first that I watched) because it’s a fun action story that’s not particularly deep. And I still like the idea of the first “season” ending with a hard-hitting downer like “Appointment”.--Some people were asking where to slot in Harley’s origin story. I figure it should go here, but I much prefer to learn about it when the episode comes around later.--After much consideration, I decided to move “Mask of the Phantasm” right here, because this is where the tension between Batman and the cops is at its peak. I think it makes sense to put it earlier because it’s such an emotional and introspective story rather than an epic culmination of events, so it's kinda like "BSG: Razor" that way. It’s still tricky to come up with a proper resolution to the cops thinking Batman’s a killer, but the way he consistently rescues Gordon, Dent, and other important people in subsequent episodes probably helps.--Since “Two-Face” is the only 2-parter in the series with a big chunk of time separating the episodes, I had fun spacing them out with other adventures.--I figure the first super-villain team-up would make for a nice finale, plus we get a glimpse of Bruce’s past to help bring things full circle.--Aside from this coming off as such an out-there stand-alone, I tend to think of this like the Doctor Who Christmas specials: a bigger, grander story to get people excited again and kick off the season. “Holiday Knights” is kinda the same way, but we’ll get to that later.--Now the sci-fi elements are becoming more prominent with villains like Clayface, Mad Hatter and Mr. Freeze. Also, keep an eye on the Arkham inmates.--I LOVE this pairing of episodes. First off, they’re such different stories; one is a look in Batman’s mind, while the other is all about how others see him. Put them together, and things come back around very nicely with that final scene with Catwoman on the roof, as Batman has now already seen a vision of a life with Selina away from the freaks and the masks and the Bat, and he knows it’s just not in the cards.--If “Trial” had been a 2-parter, it would’ve made a great finale. Instead it serves a good lead-up to the epic globe-trotting adventure in “Demon’s Quest”.--The last “season” is the same as before (with one or two minor tweaks), a straight shot of “Adventures of Batman & Robin” episodes, now with heaping doses of continuity, sidekicks, and full-blown supervillains!--Since we’re putting things in chronological order, “Lock-Up” is a good episode to break into two pieces. The idea of course is that hiring Bolton seemed like a good idea after what happened in “Trial”. But things don’t quite work out…--It’s probably no accident that “Lock-Up” came out around the same time as all those villain-reform episodes, as it offers a great counterpoint to the overall theme.--I put this one as late as possible (I think it was the very last one I ever saw). It’s really a disposable episode, but it works as the official demise of the TAS Batmobile, making way for the TNBA design.Next week comes the sequel: The Batman/Superman Adventures timeline!