Batman: "Louie the Lilac": Oh, man... Yvonne Craig was the only high point of season 3. Otherwise, it was a mess. This one is a really clumsy attempt to tap into '60s youth culture, something that '60s TV shows generally did a pretty bad job with (except for The Monkees, I guess). And not only is Louie the Lilac a pretty lame idea for a villain, but Milton Berle phones in his performance.
I also never liked the way the abandonment of the 2-parter/cliffhanger format threw off the rhythm of the show. The single-part episodes of the third season, and the multiparters with their half-hearted cliffhangers, just never worked as well. Don't even get me started on the corny "cliffhanger" scenes that introduced the next episode's villain. Really clunky stuff.
There were a couple of decent gags here, though. "I suspect this lilac-colored card is... a plant!" I can't remember the other one. And Lila was pretty hot.
"The Wail of the Siren": Speaking of pretty hot, Joan Collins was stunning here, and a much more effective villain than Berle was. The Siren is also notable as one of the few villains in the show known by both a nom de crime and her real name, Lorelei Circe (assuming that isn't an alias -- it does have a sort of "P. N. Gwynne" quality to it). Her schtick is a bit derivative -- Marsha, Queen of Diamonds was also a mind-controlling femme fatale who got Commissioner Gordon under her spell. But she's got a good plan to expose Batman's identity, and she would've gotten away with it if not for that meddling butler.
Bruce saying that they were subject to the orders of their superior officer (Gordon) was pretty weird. I mean, it's technically true that they're duly deputized officers of the law and thus subject to his authority, but in practice, Gordon is always subservient to them.
This one is actually a pretty good episode, surprisingly good for season 3. The Siren's plan for Bruce is really ruthless, and the rooftop fight is pretty effective, with the added threat of a mind-controlled Bruce. And it's a much better showcase than "Louie" for Batgirl in action. Craig's Batgirl always had so much fun fighting crime. She just had this huge grin on her face the whole time. Yvonne Craig really brought so much to this show -- it's a shame it lost so much else at the same time.
Wonder Woman: "The Man Who Wouldn't Tell": This one's a bit less lame than the past bunch of episodes, helped in part by Gary Burghoff's comic flair. A pre-Miami Vice Philip Michael Thomas is also effective as the smarmy corporate villain Furst.
The main part that didn't work was when Wonder Woman just somehow let Alan get away in the parking garage. She'd dealt with the corporate spy's gun quite easily and there was nothing stopping her from going after him, but she just vanished.
Oh, and seriously -- "explo-formula?" Egad.
