Harlequinade

  Harley helps Batman track down the Joker.
  Original Airdate: May 23, 1994
  Episode # 72
  Rating: * * * *

A drop-dead showcase for Harley Quinn, who gets to joke, dance, and sing a show-stopping musical number. And in the end she gets the bad guy, in every sense of the phrase.

Easier to overlook, but not to be missed, is the constant, splendid twitting of Batman. Some of it is obvious: Harley makes faces at him behind his back, and there's a priceless throwaway insert of him banging his head on the table in exasperation during her song number. But in fact the whole episode is an extended joke at his expense. The conventions of romantic comedy demand that when a mismatched pair are thrown together in pursuit of a common objective, they must fall in love by the end. So in the final scene Harley is not just throwing her arms around the Joker (as the series' mechanics demand), she is also throwing over Batman. It is the final humiliation: Not even when the narrative logic dictates it will he get the girl.

Related Episodes
   * Harley's Holiday
   * Mad Love
   * Joker's Millions
   * Joker's Favor
   * Essay: Not Even a Real Blonde!

What Others Are Saying ...
"... masterfully put together to create one of the best, and surprisingly psychological, Batman episodes to date!" –World's Finest