Plot summary: Batman investigates a string of deaths and disappearances by the Gotham Elite… who all share a therapist…
Notes and Trivia
Episode: 5(S1.E5)
Original Air Date: August 1st, 2024
Directed: Matt Peters (2)
Written: Halley Gross (1)
Animation: Studio GRIDA (2)
Music: Frederik Wiedmann (5)
The escapee from Harley’s collection at the beginning is almost certainly an homage to King Tut from Batman ’66.
Harley tells Montoya to meet her at Hopper’s Jazz Club, a nod to Hopper’s Diner from ‘Batman: Year One’, which was in itself a reference to Edward Hopper’s painting, Night Hawks. My favourite comic artist Darwyn Cooke did an incredible version of it too!
Hopper’s is located on “Wilson & Lowery”, nods to the first two actors to play Batman: Lewis Wilson and Robert Lowery
The microfiche contains SO many ‘blink and you’ll miss them’ references to BTAS, so strap the fuck in:
- “Rare Flower Found at Site of Proposed Prison” (‘Pretty Poison‘)
- “March gives bizarre lecture” (‘On Leather Wings‘)
- “Boyle Out at Gothcorp” (‘Heart of Ice‘)
- “Got Bats in YOUR Basement?” (‘I’ve Got Batman in My Basement‘)
- “Officer Wilkes Suspended” (Montoya’s partner in ‘P.O.V.’)
- “Carnival Coming to Gotham” (foreshadowing Episode 8 of this show!)
- “Labour Camp Shut Down” (‘The Forgotten‘)
- “Hill/Reeves Feud Escalates” (Hamilton Hill was the mayor throughout BTAS, and Arthur Reeves was the shady councilman in Mask of the Phantasm… though many think it’s a play on Jonah Hill declining the role of Penguin in Executive Producer Matt Reeves’ The Batman)
- “Valestra Associate Skips Town” (Mask of the Phantasm)
- “Stromwell drug charges dropped” (‘It’s Never Too Late‘ & ‘Robin’s Reckoning‘)
- “Scientist’s Daughter Killed In Car Accident” (Unclear to be honest, but many feel it’s foreshadowing their take on Mr. Freeze.)
Recap
A wealthy Gothamite is committed to Arkham after being caught wandering into traffic in a colourful costume following the donation of his entire fortune to charity.
Batman discovers the man was a patient of Dr. Quinzel, and that in recent years a number of other businessmen had died in accidents after similar sudden onset philanthropy.
Following the trail, Batman discovers Harley Quinn’s secret dungeon prison where she tortures reprehensible patients… but is captured and locked in a cell himself.
Luckily Barbara Gordon was also on the case and helps Batman escape, though Harley is able to skip town… having to break things off with Renee Montoya in the process.
Episode Ranking
Much like the second episode, I really appreciate the more explicit detective vibes of this one, especially Batman snooping around Demming’s office and finding his secret room of Ancient Egyptian paraphernalia, which in turn gives him the secret chequebook stubs to Harley. I thought it was a cute touch for Bruce to leave only Flass & Bullock standing after taking out all of their men one by one amid the smoke cloud; a nice little middle finger after they thought they had him cornered. The score is sublime in all of the little investigation scenes, from Bruce exploring Demming’s and Hastings’ property, to Barbara finding Harley’s office ramshackled and then approaching the Hastings house herself. Probably the best episode for music in the season?
Speaking of Barb, this is a great outing for her as she ends up investigating the case in parallel with Bruce, similar to Montoya playing the unwitting partner to our hero earlier. HUGE fan of her noticing the missing page from Harley’s appointment book and then etching out the address with a pencil. Just give me one or two little flourishes like that per episode and I’m good, honestly. Her attempt to bluff her way past Hastings and then deciding to come back after he turns her away shows her unrefined detective instincts, and of course the entire closing stretch of the episode is about her working with Batman. It’s only the tiniest thing, but I do think him electing to tell her what he thinks is going on, and later wanting to stay and comfort her demonstrates how he’s opening up little by little. He does then tell her to scram, but likely wouldn’t have escaped without her, so I do think they’re planting that seed of her becoming Batgirl eventually (though I would hope this is something they save until right at the end or really just tease it but never follow through.)
They really did play a lot of the hits here, and I am not complaining at all. Batman stalking his way through dimly lit corridors, depicted as a liquid shadow with bright white eyes is a train that is simply never late. Ditto the Dark Knight battling large groups of costumed ‘freaks.’ Harley distracting him long enough by trying to get under his skin so that she can set her prisoners loose, forcing him to run a gauntlet, is a whole lot of fun. We’re definitely playing by BTAS rules, where he’s still a total badass, but not completely invincible, fending off all their attacks but getting cornered and trapped in one of the cells.
Poor Renee. As I’ve mentioned in Episodes 2 and 4, they were clearly subtly addressing her status as a queer woman in a less accepting time, which was all building to this episode where she and Harley enjoy a short-lived romance. They’re pretty cute together, and it’s obviously a huge win for both characters, created for BTAS but not allowed to be out and proud at the time. Some have taken issue with it being an unrealistic depiction of a queer relationship in the 1940s, but let’s be real: big cities have always been more tolerant than rural areas, and Gotham is an obvious stand-in for New York. Are you really telling there you don’t think there were any men or women on same-sex dates in quiet corner booths in New York or LA back then?
Overall just really strong stuff from an atmospheric standpoint. Batman is being a detective. Barbara Gordon is getting involved. There’s a creepy underground operation run by a true BTAS style complicated villain. The voice acting is on point. The music is excellent. They set up a lot of future plot points. And representation absolutely fucking matters. Unfortunately as I’ve said before I’m simply a sucker for the old Hollywood movie set aesthetic, so I can’t see me giving anything else the top spot. Good try though!
- … And Be a Villain
- The Stress of Her Regard (NEW ENTRY)
- Kiss of the Catwoman
- The Night of the Hunters
- In Treacherous Waters
Best Performance
Oh, hey David Krumholtz, nice of you to do a guest role. It’s a fun little one too, with Fletcher Demming ranting deliriously and trying to off himself. However it’s pretty brief.
Jamie Chung is just really good here, adopting the Batman tactic of having different voices for her two personas. As Dr. Quinzel she’s bubbly and optimistic to the point of annoying many around her, while in her Harley costume she lowers her register and speaks in a measured, detached fashion. Both aspects get plenty of play, with her being legitimately excited to date Renee, while also getting really into her status as an underground villain. Nice touch to have her use her ‘normal’ voice once the make-up comes off but she’s still in the costume.
It’s been tough sledding for Krystal Joy Brown and Eric Morgan Stuart so far as their characters have been relatively minor, but I did enjoy the conversation between The Gordons as Barbara wrestles with pointing the finger at her friend, and also trying to address Jim having his back against the wall. It’s short but sweet.
Rogues Roundup
Harley Quinn (Jamie Chung) (third appearance)
I didn’t rank Harleen’s first two appearances because even though we knew who she was, she hadn’t actually done anything bad yet. Well, surprise! She was doing some very bad things all along!
I do think there is the tiniest hint at that when you rewatch her debut episode as there’s a possible reading that she’s disappointed Bruce won’t be added to her little cohort of rich victims. More of that fun subtle foreshadowing they’ve been doing throughout the show. But we also see she only captures one of the bozos in this episode after several sessions where she’s legitimately tried to help him, suggesting she reserves the actual torture for the worst of the worst. She also explicitly doesn’t want to kill Batman, and risks it all to save Babs, making her one of the more complex villains in a season where many of them just enjoy being evil.
On that front, her methods for breaking these men are truly sadistic and ostensibly tailored to their various issues discussed in their sessions. I think my favourite is telling a dude to unravel Christmas lights to find the bad bulb… which may simply not exist. There’s definitely something to her choosing to also make them completely subservient to her too, hinting at a deep-seeded desire to be adored. I hope that’s explored in her inevitable return.
It’s also just SO nice to have an origin story for Harley that isn’t explicitly tied to Joker. According to some metrics she’s the most popular DC character outside of the Big 3, so we can definitely do better than ‘Joker’s Girlfriend’; Even if she ends up being associated with him in Season 2, she deserves a unique presence beyond him. I like the new outfit too, even if it does (hopefully unintentionally) lead to her being Asian-American and wearing a yellow costume. Very Power Rangers.
- Clayface
- Harley Quinn (NEW ENTRY)
- Catwoman
- Flass & Bullock
- Firebug
- Rupert Thorne
- The Penguin
- Harvey Dent
Title Card
The Matt Signal 
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