Plot summary: After a series of poisonings point to everyone’s favourite plant-based villain, Batman is stunned to learn Poison Ivy is living quietly in the suburbs with a husband and children.

(Originally published on The Reel World March 20th, 2021)

Notes

Episode Title: ‘House & Garden’

Original Air Date: May 2^nd, 1994

Directed: Boyd Kirkland (17)

Written: Paul Dini (14)

Animation: Dong Yang Animated Co., LTD. (29)

Music: Shirley Walker (31)

This is Poison Ivy’s final appearance in the ‘main’ run of the series, though she has a cameo with no dialogue in ‘Harley’s Holiday’ and will of course return for The New Batman Adventures.

Speaking of which, a much later tie-in comic reveals that the Ivy we see in ‘Harley’s Holiday’ is another of her clones, created to keep Harley company. Aww.

But wait, there’s more! Every other Ivy from here on out, including the one flying away at the end are ALSO clones, and the original is chilling somewhere in South America with Alec Holland aka Swamp Thing. Paul Dini wanted to reveal that in the era of Batman Beyond she’s assimilated into the rainforest.

Recap

Some sort of plant monster scales a Gotham skyscraper and rips a safe off the wall, making sure to attack the owner in addition to robbing them.

Batman and Jim Gordon learn the victim was poisoned and it’s the fourth such instance this month. Naturally, Bruce accuses Poison Ivy, but Gordon claims she’s rehabilitated, married and settled down in the suburbs.

Needing to see it with his own eyes, Bats accompanies Gordon on a visit to Pammy and her husband, Dr. Steven Carlisle, an Arkham/GCPD liaison. Not a red flag at all…

Blowing Bruce’s mind further, the couple have two young sons – adopted, naturally, as Ivy’s unique biology has made her infertile. The boys lose their shit over Batman, and Pam assures their guests that Poison Ivy is dead.

Elsewhere, Dick Grayson is trying to get laid. Sensing it, Bruce phones and demands he suit up and investigate Ivy’s new husband, who teaches at Gotham University in addition to his two other jobs.

But before Robin can even make it out his front door, the hulking plant creature attacks! Abducting him, the attacker then demands Bruce bring $5million in cash to the docks or Dick dies.

Batman spends the day stalking Poison Ivy, who appears to be every bit the boring domestic goddess she claimed. He reluctantly accepts she’s changed and leaves.

Later at the handover, Bruce at last gets a good look at the enormous plant man, who attacks and ostensibly kills him… but naturally our hero survives and performs a quick costume change before returning to save Dick.

Robin reveals that Dr. Carlyle’s ex-wife visited Gotham University a year ago, and not only does she have full custody of their children… they’re girls!

Revisiting the house in the middle of the night, the Dynamic Duo discover an entrance in the greenhouse leading to an underground lab. Sure enough, Ivy’s husband is kept in some kind of stasis tank and once freed confirms she’s up to no good.

No time for that though, because GOOD LORD, there are a half dozen children emerging from plants calling for their mother!!! And then some vines capture the heroes.

Ivy arrives to confirm she enslaved Steve and grew them some children using a combination of his DNA and her plant work, that grow at an accelerated rate, becoming the huge plant men we’ve seen throughout the episode.

Ivy Injects the latest bunch of kids with a rapid growth hormone, unleashing a horde of plant monsters. Luckily, Batman swapped out the water tank of her greenhouse sprinkler system with weed killer on arrival, murdering them real good.

In a shocking twist, Ivy herself melts away too, revealing herself as an artificial creation of the real deal, who is already on a plane out of Gotham. The final kicker? Batman believes she truly meant it when she said she was happy for the first time in her life.

Best Performance

Easily Diane Pershing. She’s been a hoot in every one of her outings as Poison Ivy, but really flexes her acting muscles here by softening the voice a little to portray a rehabilitated Isley, and does everything in her power to sell the lie. Truly one of the best vocal performers in the whole show.

Against all odds this might also be Loren Lester’s best episode to date. Speaking of dates, Megan Mullaly makes a fun cameo as his crush, Cindy. Finally, Jim Cummings is fun as ever playing into his Taz wheelhouse with the drooly plant creatures.

Episode Ranking

Poison Ivy has been the focal point of a number of excellent episodes, and this one is no exception. Honestly, if they’d punched up the section where one of Ivy’s plant children was running the show as a kidnapper, this might be top ten material.

So much of the plot is driven by Batman’s hesitance to accept one of his foes can change, ironic given how determined he is across the franchise that they can be rehabilitated in Arkham. And the best/worst part is that he was right; Pam was lying right to his face, and pulling it off by sprinkling in some truth. She was happy, but she couldn’t be allowed to have that happiness as the price was robbing and attacking ‘innocent’ rich dudes. Oh, and the husband was being mind-controlled and harvested for DNA, which is Actually Bad.

The big reveal is incredibly creepy, with the sight and sound of the plant babies crying out for Ivy lying dormant somewhere in my brain for decades. Neat! Every time there’s been an Ivy episode I’ve been waiting for that scene without realising it, then it all came screaming back. A perfect moment.

So what keeps it from being higher? The messiness with the Robin kidnapping, Bruce having to go to the handover and then change to Batman, and just the grown plant monster trying to pose as a normal man. I appreciate they needed an actual criminal to make Bruce think it was Ivy, and the babies being accelerated into plant monsters is cool, but it feels like we could have gotten there another way or without taking up so much time. Everything directly involving Ivy rules, it’s the rest that brings it down a little.

1. The Laughing Fish
2. Mask of the Phantasm
3. Almost Got ‘Im
4. Heart of Ice
5. The Trial
6. Shadow of the Bat Part I
7. I Am the Night
8. Robin’s Reckoning Part I
9. The Man Who Killed Batman
10. Perchance to Dream
11. Two-Face Part I
12. A Bullet For Bullock
13. Joker’s Favor
14. Read My Lips
15. Feat of Clay Part II
16. The Demon’s Quest Part II
17. Harley and Ivy
18. Robin’s Reckoning Part II
19. House & Garden (NEW ENTRY)
20. Beware the Gray Ghost
21. Mad as a Hatter
22. Heart of Steel Part II
23. Appointment In Crime Alley
24. Two-Face Part II
25. Pretty Poison
26. Shadow of the Bat Part II
27. Feat of Clay Part I
28. His Silicon Soul
29. Off Balance
30. Vendetta
31. Birds of a Feather
32. Heart of Steel Part I
33. On Leather Wings
34. See No Evil
35. The Clock King
36. It’s Never Too Late
37. Joker’s Wild
38. Eternal Youth
39. The Cape and Cowl Conspiracy
40. The Cat and the Claw Part I
41. Zatanna
42. Day of the Samurai
43. Avatar
44. The Demon’s Quest Part I
45. The Mechanic
46. The Strange Secret of Bruce Wayne
47. Terror in the Sky
48. P.O.V.
49. Christmas with the Joker
50. Fear of Victory
51. Be a Clown
52. The Worry Men
53. What is Reality?
54. Fire From Olympus
55. Night of the Ninja
56. Mudslide
57. The Cat and the Claw Part II
58. Nothing to Fear
59. Prophecy of Doom
60. Tyger, Tyger
61. Blind as a Bat
62. If You’re So Smart, Why Aren’t You Rich?
63. Dreams In Darkness
64. The Last Laugh
65. Cat Scratch Fever
66. Moon of the Wolf
67. Paging the Crime Doctor
68. Sideshow
69. The Under-Dwellers
70. The Forgotten
71. I’ve Got Batman in My Basement

Rogues Roundup

Poison Ivy (Diane Pershing) (sixth appearance)

I feel very okay about my recent decision to slide Poison Ivy up to second place. It was already overdue, and she’s honestly not as far off Joker’s top spot as pop culture status quo would have you believe.

Her plan is equal parts dark and tragic, and while the idea of her being infertile is far too big of an emotional concept for the target audience to unpack, it still works as a motivation for her haunting scheme. As an adult I can better appreciate the sadness of Ivy starting out with a nefarious plot, only to discover how badly she wanted to be a mother, something she didn’t think was possible. Plus the whole thing demonstrates her underrated intelligence.

Also it’s incredibly platonic of Ivy to have a photo album full of pictures of Harley Quinn. Just good friends. Yep.

1. The Joker
2. Poison Ivy (-)
3. Mr. Freeze
4. Harley Quinn
5. Two-Face
6. The Ventriloquist
7. The Phantasm
8. Mad Hatter
9. Penguin
10. Catwoman
11. HARDAC (and Randa Duane)
12. Clayface
13. Ra’s al Ghul
14. The Riddler
15. Clock King
16. Lloyd Ventrix
17. Count Vertigo
18. Killer Croc
19. Nivens
20. Josiah Wormwood
21. Scarecrow
22. Roland Daggett (and Germs & Bell!)
23. Rupert Thorne
24. Talia al Ghul
25. Sid the Squid
26. Thoth Khepera
27. Maxie Zeus
28. Jimmy ‘Jazzman’ Peake
29. Tony Zucco
30. Man-Bat
31. Hugo Strange
32. Red Claw
33. Arnold Stromwell
34. Mad Bomber
35. Tygrus
36. Rhino, Mugsy and Ratso
37. Kyodai Ken
38. Gil Mason
39. Nostromos (and Lucas!)
40. Cameron Kaiser
41. Dr. Dorian (and Garth)
42. Mad Dog
43. Ubu
44. Professor Milo
45. Romulus
46. Sewer King
47. Boss Biggis
48. Montague Kane