The latest episode of Batwoman titled “Do Not Resuscitate” introduced a ‘Batman: Shadow of The Bat’ villain Aaron Helzinger.
Aaron Helzinger Introduced On Batwoman
The episode begins with Dr. Rodgers seeing a terrible experiment where one of his underlings administer a new drug which is based on Coryana desert rose. However, the drug causes the death of his underling instead of curing him. With this failure and wanting to obtain more Coryana, Rodgers tasks Helzinger to kidnap and terrorize Mary and Jacob. Rodgers also promises to fix Helzinger’s cancer using the drug.
So, Helzinger kidnaps Mary and Jacob, getting them back to Mary’s secret clinic. He ties them to a chair and starts interrogating them until Mary interrupts him by asking about his craniotomy scar. Helzinger then reveals his history, saying, “Shrinks called me Amygdala and said that I had my circuits mixed up, that I react wrong to things,” he recalls. “Saw a puppy, I got pissed off. Saw a kid crying, and it cracked me up. Then, five years ago, the doctors decided I would be the perfect lab rat for this secret experimental treatment, so they fried the bad parts of my brain with UV light.”
He continues by saying, “Some two dozen treatments later, I go to a movie.”And I’m sitting there. At one point, I start laughing, and then I hear everybody else around me and they were laughing too. That had never happened before. For the first time in my life, I felt normal.”
Mary expresses her surprise knowing that the UV exposure worked. Helzinger replies, “It did. For a week. Then cancer bloomed in my brain like a cherry blossom. Sometimes, a tumor rubs up against my Amygdala and –” Without warning Jacob, he stabbed him with a knife.”–I have an unfortunate moment!” he roared.
Mary begs him to stop, but it has no effect on Helzinger. He says, “Don’t you get it? My amygdala is infested with cancer. His pain doesn’t compute with me. I don’t feel anything but angry.”
Soon, he reveals his relation to Hamilton Dynamics. He explained how Hamilton Dynamics had conducted secret human experiments. This was hard to believe for Mary whose mother was the CEO of Dynamics back then. “My mom was CEO then. She never would have signed off on secret human testing!” she asked.
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“Why do you think they call it secret, genius?” Helzinger shot back. “The new doctors, they promised to fix me!”
By threatening Jacob’s life, Helzinger succeeds in having Mary reveal about Coryana, the secret drug. Helzinger soon gets attacked by Batwoman and Sophie. In turn, Batwoman and Sophie get overpowered by Dr. Rodgers and his henchmen. Rodgers holds Sophie at gunpoint, forcing Batwoman to hand the map to Coroyna for her life.
History of Helzinger
Helzinger originally debuted in 1992’s Batman: Shadow of the Bat #3. He appeared as a giant man sent to Arkham Asylum due to his tendency of inciting violence. A surgeon at Arkham removed Helzinger’s amygdala cluster hoping to cure his psychotic episodes. This procedure yielded unexpected results however as Amygdala became exceedingly angry in opposition of the surgeon’s expectation. He was later rehabilitated and became good friends with Dick Grayson.
Helzinger’s future on Batwoman remains unclear but Rodger’s desire to obtain the Coryana desert rise might hurt him more. After all, the comic version of Helzinger had enhanced strength and durability, which he did not exhibit in “Do Not Resuscitate.” Another failed attempt at a cure could lead to these abilities, more violent episodes, and perhaps even a changed physique.
Batwoman stars Javicia Leslie as Ryan Wilder/Batwoman, Rachel Skarsten as Alice, Camrus Johnson as Luke Fox, Dougray Scott as Jacob Kane and Nicole Kang as Mary Hamilton-Kane. New episodes on Sundays, 8 PM on The CW.
