Harley and Ivy
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| Batman: The Animated Series episode | |
|---|---|
| |
| "Harley and Ivy" | |
| Airdate: | January 18, 1993 |
| Production Number: | 56 |
| Airdate Order: | 47 |
| Animation Services by: | Dong Yang Animation Co., LTD. |
| Written by: | Paul Dini |
| Directed by: | Boyd Kirkland |
| Episode images (6) | |
"Harley and Ivy" is the forty-seventh episode of Batman: The Animated Series, and it aired on January 18, 1993. As the title suggests, it depicts the first acquaintance of Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy, who team up and embark on a crime spree.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
It's another night in Gotham City, and once again the Joker is fleeing the Batmobile in his own car, with Harley Quinn in the driver's seat. When Joker orders her to turn, she protests, but he orders again, and she does so – causing the car to careen down a construction hill. Irritably, he snaps at her to hand him his gun, which she does after rummaging through his bag. He takes gleeful aim at the Batmobile's tires, but the gun turns out to be a dud. Batman gets close enough to snag Joker's rear bumper with a tow cable. As he reverses, Harley presses a button and jettisons the boot, leaving the Batmobile behind.
Back at the hideout, Joker rants about Harley's screw-up with the gun. When Harley timidly mentions that she did get them away from Batman, Joker sarcastically asks if she thinks she's a better crook than him. She dares to say, "maybe," and he tosses her out of the hideout in a rage.
Defiantly, she decides to pull the original heist she planned herself. She goes to the Gotham Museum of Natural History to steal the Harlequin Diamond. She evades the security system with ease, but then the alarms are tripped by Poison Ivy, stealing specimens from the museum's lab. The two women are cornered by the police. Harley grabs one of the specimen bottles and shoots it with her popgun, creating a cloud of gas that disables the police and lets them get away. As they speed away in Ivy's car, she says, "This could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship."
Ivy takes Harley to her latest hideout, a house in an abandoned housing development begun over a toxic waste dump. As they bond, Ivy is disgusted at Harley passive acceptance of Joker's abusiveness, and declares that Harley needs to buck up her self-esteem.
For their first official caper, they invade the men's-only Peregrinators Club, tie them up with dropped vine creepers, and then loot the trophy room. Before long, they are committing a spree of crimes all over town, enough to draw Batman's attention. They also become best friends, though Ivy is exasperated at Harley's undying affection for "that psychotic creep."
Elsewhere, Joker is missing Harley in his own fashion: without her, the hideout has become a mess. When he demands why she hasn't come back yet, one of his henchmen nervously shows him the latest headline: "New Queens of Crime." Joker is enraged that Harley is out-doing him as a crook.
But he gets his chance when Harley secretly phones him from Ivy's house, allowing him to trace the call. At the same time, Batman analyzes a soil trace from one of their tire tracks, and realizes where they are hiding out.
But they re-enter the house to find Joker and his goons, eagerly scooping up their stolen gains. When Ivy protests, Joker gasses her with his boutonnière, but it doesn't work on her. She knocks Joker and his goons to the ground, then drags Harley along with her to make their getaway.
As his goons give chase, they are subdued by Batman, who has managed to escape the trap. Joker picks up a tommy gun and opens fire, despite Batman's warnings about the cocktail of flammable and explosive chemicals they're sitting on. Sure enough, a stray shot ignites a chemical drum, and soon the whole waste dump goes up in flames. Joker's goons flee, while Batman knocks Joker out and then saves them both in the Batmobile.
Speeding away in their car, Ivy exults, "no man can take us prisoner!" Then their car is disabled by a well-aimed shot from Renee Montoya. They are arrested, and sent to Arkham Asylum along with Joker.
[edit] Continuity
- Ivy injects Harley with a toxin antidote to allow her to stay on the toxic waste dump. Later this is found to have also increased Harley's strength and stamina.
- Though Ivy is put out with Harley at the end of this episode, their friendship endures, as shown in subsequent episodes.
- Ivy's natural immunity to poisons, first referenced in "Almost Got 'Im," is shown to include Joker's gas.
[edit] Background Information
[edit] Production Inconsistencies
- Robert Costanzo voices Joker's thug, Rocco, but is credited for playing Harvey Bullock, his usual role.
- In the commentary, it's pointed out that in one scene Batman is typing on a surface that has no keyboard.
- In the scene where Batman is fighting the Joker's thugs at Poison Ivy's Hideout, look at the girls' car as it pulls out of the driveway. In the next frame the girls are gone, but their car is still there.
- The name of the diamond that Harley steals is misspelt on its casing. It reads "HARLEOUIN" instead of the more likely "HARLEQUIN".
[edit] Trivia
- The friendship between Harley and Ivy proved to be a popular addition to the animated continuity and was also adapted into the comics continuity.
- The scene where Ivy reveals her car is a tribute to a similar scene from Tim Burton's Batman (1989).
- Classic movie references include:
- the plate of Ivy's car, "Rosebud," a reference to Citizen Kane.
- Ivy's tribute to the closing line of Casablanca.
- When the girls throw Batman into the pool, he is shown to open his mouth underwater. Considering the circumstances, this is an extremely unwise thing to do, and would mean loss of control quite uncharacteristic of Batman.
[edit] Cast
[edit] Quotes
Joker: Ah, the wind in my hair and the Batman at my heels! It's the kind of night that makes you glad to be alive! Right, Harley girl? |
Batman: Next time, clown. |
Harley Quinn: Ooh, Mr. J. will just plotz when I give him...! No. I'm keeping it for myself... maybe. |
Harley Quinn: Nice work, Butterfingers! Why didn't you just turn on the Bat-Signal while you were at it? |
Renee Montoya: (coughing from the gas) Stop in the name of the law-- (Ivy pushes Montoya while running) Oof! |
Poison Ivy: Get in the car! |
Poison Ivy: This could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship. |
Harley Quinn: Gee, Red, you got style. |
Frat Boy 1: Well, hello! |
(Batman examines mug shots of Harley and Ivy) |
Poison Ivy: Admit it, darling. You didn't think two women were capable of bringing you down. |
Joker: Oh, Batsy! (opens fire) |
Joker: That's it. Next time I start a gang, no women. Do you hear me? NO WOMEN! |
[edit] External links
- Episode Review on World's Finest: [1]
| Previously produced episode: "The Mechanic" | Episodes of Batman: The Animated Series | Next produced episode: "Shadow of the Bat" |
| Previously aired episode: "The Laughing Fish" | Next aired episode: "The Mechanic" |
