Harley and Ivy

One of the reasons Harely Quinn was able to make the jump from cartoons to comics is because this episode proved she can play well with others, especially Poison Ivy. "Harley and Ivy" was the 56th produced episode, but bumped up to be the 47th aired episode on Jan. 18, 1993.

I love the dysfunctional relationship between Joker and Harley. A lot of people have commented on how this is an abusive relationship and we shouldn't derive amusement from it, but I'm not going to get into that today. Let's just keep things light and laugh at the Joker yelling at Harley for doing exactly what he told her. And the best part of this opening chase scene was when Harley handed Joker the BANG! flag gun. "You didn't say which gun!" Plus one point.

I'll add another point for the great team-up of Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy. It just works perfectly. They are similar enough to logically be together, yet different enough to remain interesting. Sometimes writers forcibly put two characters together, but this pairing felt like it was always meant to be. Nowadays, some people have pushed the Harley-Ivy relationship a little to far, but on the whole, I appreciate their friendship and enjoy stories that put them together.

The score raises to an 8 for the funniest moment in the episode. Having just eluded the cops, Harley and Ivy decide to suddenly obey traffic rules and stop at a red light. Next to them is three guys in a convertible. Upon seeing two attractive ladies in costumes, the guys begin cat-calling and flirting. Ivy says, "Now boys, didn't your mommies tell you that's not the nice way to get a lady's attention?" One of them says, "Ooh, are you gonna spank us?" Harley says, "Yep! And here's the paddle!" And she pulls out a bazooka and blows up the car. She pulled out a bazooka! How wonderful!

As wonderful as this episode is, there is one thing that bugs me, and that's Poison Ivy's suddenly newfound feminism. I always thought she cared more about plants than people, let alone women's rights. Now, I get that this episode was kinda the girls vs. the guys, and a few of Ivy's remarks to this regard were perfectly warranted. But then she just went on and on about it, especially to Batman, whom she tied up to "symbols of male oppression." Seriously? Just kill Batman. Don't lecture him on feminism. I have to take a point off for that.

But I will add a point back for a brief, yet significant moment. Joker tries to gas Ivy with his poison boutonniere, but it doesn't work. That's because Poison Ivy's immune to poisons. I'm always happy when the writers remember basic character traits and keep them consistent. It sounds like a no-brainer, but many writers simply forget some things or don't even think to point them out. Another great thing about this encounter is it strengthens the Joker-Poison Ivy antagonism. I would love to see these two get into an all-out fight sometime. They may have already and I just missed it.

I have to raise the score to a 9 for the great ending. The Batmobile driving through flames is also a nice thing to see, but the more important part is with Renee Montoya actually catching Harley and Ivy. Montoya is a wonderful character, who was sadly underused — until that one time in the comics when they made her the Question, which I think is an improper use of the character. I like to think of her as the third best cop in Gotham behind Gordon and Bullock, and I think that's more than enough for her character. We just need to see her in action more as that great cop.

Final score: 9

Well, that concludes the second box set, or Volume 2, of Batman: The Animated Series. My average score for this volume was 6.8, slightly lower than Volume 1's 7.2. There were six perfect episodes, "Perchance to Dream," "Robin's Reckoning," "The Laughing Fish," "Almost Got 'Im," "I Am the Night" and "The Man Who Killed Batman." But there were a bunch of below average episodes with scores of 4 and 3. The low score for this volume was a 2, earned by "Cat Scratch Fever" and "Moon of the Wolf." But nothing matched the low score of a 1 set by last volume's "I've Got Batman in my Basement." And these six perfect episodes join last volume's four perfects — "On Leather Wings," "The Last Laugh," "Two-Face" and "Heart of Ice" — bringing the total number of perfect Batman: The Animated Series episodes to 10. As the show progressed, the potential for perfect episodes increased, but the amount of below-average episodes also increased, balancing everything out. I have a feeling that this trend will continue through the third volume.