Batman: The Enemy Within continues to both surprise and impress. I’ve gone to fairly great lengths to voice my admiration for this particular project, from its intelligent, deeply character-driven writing to its notable subversion of much of what even the most casual Batman fan would consider hard canon. But it’s reached yet another amazing high with Episode 4 – What Ails You, a penultimate episode so intense that the fact that it retains such a deliberate pace is something of a miracle. The events of the previous three episodes prove so weighty that it all starts spilling over from the very first frame. It’s a torrent of beautiful chaos, but with Episode 4, Telltale has constructed a series of narrative sluice gates that allows us to watch each spectacular juncture of nature and artifice. I honestly have no idea where this thing is headed, but at this point, I’m all in.

It’s a foregone conclusion that the cliffhanger that ended Episode 3 with a sting is quickly backpedaled; come on, we’d only just passed the halfway point. But there’s no going back at this point; Bruce Wayne’s surprisingly lengthy stint as a man leading a triple life (as opposed to the usual double) has come to an expected but grim end. The Pact, for all intents and purposes, is done with the guy. It makes sense from a narrative standpoint: the endgame needs to get going, and let’s not fool ourselves into thinking that Wayne is seriously going to consider anything more than an antagonistic relationship with the likes of Harley Quinn and Bane. Less clear, however, is his standing with Selina Kyle (because of course) and Dr. Victor Fries, who, despite the occasional murderous tendency, is less overtly evil and more prone to the natural excesses brought about by desperation.

The big question remains: what exactly does The Pact have to gain by exploiting an apparent biochemical warfare subdivision of The Agency? Without spoiling anything, it turns out they stand to gain quite a lot, and the stakes are surprisingly personal. Episode 4 – What Ails You features a handful of revelations that could very well compromise more than a few of us. Between her total unreliability in the field and her skittishness regarding The Agency’s involvement in the whole sordid affair, Director Amanda Waller isn’t acquitting herself well. Considering Alfred’s overexertion and Tiffany’s naïveté, it’s safe to say both Bruce and Batman’s support systems are in, for lack of better words, a state of disrepair. He’s clearly in for some trauma.

Batman: The Enemy Within is likely the closest thing we’re ever going to get to a compelling origin story for The Joker. Mind you, I’m not talking about a comprehensive, total-picture trace to the genesis of what made him the way he is. The less we know about that, the better. It’s obvious that something is wrong with the guy, but at the same time, he isn’t yet a psychopath. He’s emotional, vulnerable, and deeply invested in how his companions perceive him. What’s interesting here is that Bruce Wayne/Batman is clearly playing a central role in the man’s formation, and what’s even more interesting is that not all roads appear to lead to the same place. While it’s true that most Telltale experiences are suffused with fatalism and the dread that comes with it, the outcome here feels less preordained than that of anything I’ve seen from the studio’s writers. Considering how likable they’ve made John Doe, I’m equal parts excited for and terrified by whatever lies at the end of the road for the fellow. I really hope they follow through on this thread.

The events that kick off Episode 4 – What Ails You drive the lonely green-haired tagalong to the edge; his infatuation with Harley and his loyalty to Bruce are finally made mutually exclusive, and your treatment of him over the course of these scenes are framed as character-shaping moments. The cogs of fate turn mercilessly for John Doe over the course of this episode. It’s not long before he finally arrives at a crossroad, and you’re blessed/cursed to be his backseat driver. Do you push him irrevocably into isolation, where his demons will surely get the better of him? Or will you try to save what remains of his moral compass and put him on a path that involves less… collateral damage? The big question right now is: will it matter in the end? We will hopefully have something of an answer when the credits roll on the finale.

Batman: The Enemy Within is on course for a satisfying finale. All the right signs are there, and everything has led where it should. I don’t feel like we’ve been cheated out of anything, and the storytelling has largely been natural and organically developed. I’ve had my share of issues with certain parts, most notably certain bits of characterization, but as far as everything else is concerned, this is still Telltale’s best series in years.