One of the Best Episodes of Batman: The Animated Series
Just as a bit of background and context setting, I did not watch Batman: The Animated Series growing up. I saw clips here and there but did not see more than a few episodes. I say this just to establish that I have no “nostalgia goggles” when I watched this show for the first time a few years back as an adult.
The episode I am talking about is from Season 3 Episode 6: “Harley’s Holiday”. It is tied with Season 3 Episode 2: “Second Chance” for the highest rated episode of that season, on IMDB, with a user review score of 8.5.
If you haven’t seen the episode, I do recommend watching it although I am unsure how well the episode works as a standalone episode. As long as you have a general familiarity with the characters, I think the episode will at a minimum at least make sense. That said, I do think the character moment that makes this one of my favorite episodes is not as impactful without the contrast of all the other episodes to compare it to as well as previous scenes that further establish and develop the characters.
The episode begins at Arkham Asylum inside of which Harley Quinn is being informed that she will be released tomorrow as she passed her competency hearing. Batman and Robin walk the Scarecrow down a nearby hall, dropping him off. Harley leaves the office she was sitting in and Batman comments to Harley that he hears she is getting out tomorrow. Harley asks if he has a problem with that and flinches as Batman extends his hand and simply says “Congratulations.” Harley shakes his hand and tells him that she plans to stay on the straight and narrow. As she tries to pull her hand away, Batman does not loosen his grip and he leans in and says, “For your sake, I hope so.”
Next we see Harley cruising down the sidewalk, on roller skates and being led by her two pet hyenas, with citizens scattering and frantically getting out of the way. Harley incorrectly interprets their fear and scattering as being due to her outfit so she goes into a nearby clothing store. Harley picks out a dress and hands over the cash but leaves before the store employee removes the security tag, causing the alarm to trigger. A security guard comes over, who actually seems to understand the situation and tries to remove the security tag, but Harley won’t let him, saying, “It’s a frame up!”
Bruce, who was also at the clothing store, runs to the fitting rooms Harley ran off to and tries to calm her down. Harley emerges, visibly agitated, in her Harley Quinn costume. Just as a brief aside, I did not realize or think about this when I first watched this episode but the fact that she had her costume with her means that either 1) she planned on returning to crime (a theory which is not really supported by the episode, Harley genuinely seemed to want to go clean) or 2) she figured she’d be profiled as a criminal and thus becoming Harley Quinn again was inevitable. It is also possible that this was not a planned implication and I am reading too much into things but it fits within the narrative that this was intentionally written that way. Harley then claims that society is to blame and is why she could not leave a life of crime. She then runs out and steals a car, incidentally kidnapping Veronica Vreeland while doing so. Later Batman and Robin discuss the Harley situation and Batman genuinely believes she was trying to go clean this time and wants to get to her first before things get worse and so she doesn’t ruin her chance. They catch up to Harley, and Robin offers to help resolve things before they get worse. Harley doesn’t believe him as she thinks they just want to take her back to Arkham. Harley goes to a local crime boss, Boxy, where she asks for help skipping town because she wants to go clean. Boxy wants to ransom Veronica, because she is rich, but Harley doesn’t. Batman arrives and a surprising amount of combat using fish as weapons occurs. Harley saves Veronica amid the chaos and they flee the scene. While driving, Veronica asks Harley if she meant what she said about letting her [Veronica] go free. Harley says yes. Veronica asks why not explain the situation to which Harley replies, “With my past, I don’t even believe it myself.”
Veronica’s father, who is a current or former general, joins the pursuit of Harley in a tank. Nope, sorry, I can’t do it. I can’t include that in the summary and continue on as if that is normal or makes sense within the confines of the world established by this show. Even disregarding the implication that current or foreign generals can summon tanks at their whim and then drive them into a city full of civilians, this just seems like an odd plot point and also stood out to me more during my second watch. This is a surprisingly cartoonish plot aspect to occur in a show that is, generally speaking, fairly serious in tone, inter cut with jokes on occasion. I don’t necessarily care about the realism aspects from a more technical perspective, i.e., that a tank could match or come close to the speeds of a speeding car. What makes this plot line even more questionable/bizarre is that General Vreeland then begins shooting at the car Harley is driving, a car that Veronica is still currently in and the General clearly knows that. Why he shoots at and continues to shoot at them is beyond me. Again, I don’t really care that much that no one in Gotham City, including the police, seem to care or be phased that a literal tank is driving down the highway and shooting at a car, which to be fair a lot of stranger things probably happen day to day in Gotham anyway, but again this seems like an odd choice story-wise. If the point of the tank was to raise the stakes and establish imminent danger it seems like having Boxy shooting at them would have worked instead. I point out these aspects that stood out to me not as plot holes or mistakes but simply as things that I noticed more and wanted to talk about during a second watching. The fact that someone is talking about it and why it is a great episode a little under 30 years after its release implies some level of quality as well as lasting impact.
Harley later releases Veronica and then attempts to escape. Batman chases her onto a nearby rooftop and again tries to talk her down and convince her not to run away. She replies that she’s “having a bad day” and “sick of people trying to shoot me.” They fight briefly and eventually Batman captures her as she tries to escape. Next, we see Batman and Robin escorting Harley back into Arkham Asylum. Harley asks Batman, “Why’d you stay with me all day risking your butt for someone who’s never given ya anything but trouble” to which Batman replies, “I know what it’s like to try and rebuild a life.” And then, handing Harley the dress she had bought earlier that episode, Batman says “I had a bad day too, once.” Assuming this is referring to the alleyway robbery which turned into the murder of his parents, this seems like a massive understatement. That said, this is the character moment that makes this one of my favorite episodes, while he may have felt a moral obligation to help Harley avoid being sent back to Arkham unnecessarily, he certainly didn’t have to get her the dress she bought. It’s a surprisingly touching and human moment that I think is worth celebrating. Harley is clearly touched by the gift and gesture as a whole and says, “Nice guys like you shouldn’t have bad days.”
An argument could be made that the message of the episode is also the judgements and difficulties former convicts face when trying to re-enter society after incarceration. That message gets muddled a bit because of 1) the viewer’s general knowledge and association of the Harley Quinn character (villain, criminal, chaos incarnate, etc.) and 2) the viewer’s knowledge of Harley’s exploits just within the context of the show, which I will now detail.
The following are all the previous Harley appearances in the show, prior to this episode (thanks Batman Wiki!):
“Joker’s Favor¹” (S1 E7):
· Involved with a bomb placing which, had Batman not intervened, would have killed about 26 people, she literally pins the bomb to Commissioner Gordon’s chest
“Laughing Fish” (S1 E46):
· Spraying Mr. Francis with a Joker Gas spray
· Tying up Detective Bullock who was going to then be killed by a shark
· Actively lowering Bullock into a shark tank
“Almost Got ‘Im” (S1 E35):
· Involved in holding audience on a talk show hostage
· Involved in attempted murder of Batman
· Involved in attempted murder of Catwoman
“Harley and Ivy” (S1 E47):
· Stealing diamonds from Gotham Museum
· Robbing a men’s club, they did seem like jerks though, still not legal to rob them
· Robbery or hostage situation, the Gotham Times headline says “Lethal Ladies Storm Gotham” and shows a picture Harley and Ivy with tommy guns. The crime itself is unclear from the photo although a few hostages are in the background.
· “Rare Plant Stolen” — Gotham Times
· Stealing jewelry (“New Queens of Crime” — Gotham Times)
· Blowing up a car
· Attempted murder of Batman (I’m starting to sense a pattern here)
“The Man Who Killed Batman” (S1 E49):
· Robbery of the Diamond Exchange
· Attempted murder of Sidney Debris aka “Sid the Squid”
“Harlequinade” (S2 E10):
· Partially aiding and almost leaving with the Joker, leaving a bomb that would wipe out Gotham City
· Attempted murder of Joker
There are several attempted murders by Harley in the above which does arguably underline that apprehension by Gotham citizens around post-Arkham release Harley is perhaps justifiable. That said I do think the message about the difficulties of post-incarceration life is certainly thought provoking and well portrayed in this episode.
I think this episode serves as both an excellent character study of Harley Quinn but also as a reminder of how much of a difference small gestures can make.
[1] This episode is actually the first appearance of Harley Quinn in any DC media, she did not originate from the comics.
-CBW