- Title: Batman: Caped Crusader – The Stress of Her Regard
- IMDb: link
After seeing Harleen Quinzel (Jamie Chung) as a recurring character in the previous episodes, you knew sooner or later we were going to get a Harley Quinn episode. Far less wacky than her introduction in Batman: The Animated Series, the version we get in Batman: The Caped Crusader plays on the psychologist’s cold calculation and drive to make the wealthy men of Gotham City pay. Both Batman (Hamish Linklater) and Barbara Gordon (Krystal Joy Brown) will uncover how the psychologist spends her free time breaking down the minds of men, brainwashing them, and driving them insane.
The common thread that links Batman and Barbara’s separate investigations involves a suicidal rich man dressed in a pharaoh costume (in what feels like a nod to King Tut). Batman saves the troubled man, and Barbara sets out to defend him, but both have questions on how he ended up like this and what is causing a rash of rich men disappearing and dying in odd ways. Both look into Harley for their own reasons, eventually revealing her “play pen” underneath her home which Barbara saves Batman from. If the episode has a major weakness its Harley’s brainwashed victims who don’t feel like they should give Batman as hard of a time as they do during the crucial reveal.
This is the first, and so far the only, time we see Harley Quinn in costume along with her last appearance of the season ending with her apparent death. While quite different in temperament and motivation than classic Harley, this version works with the tone of the show. The episode is also notable for featuring Harleen and Montoya‘s (Michelle C. Bonilla) first date. Along with being more sinister, we see this version of Harley also struggles with the realization that Renee’s friend Barbara may be on to her, and her bittersweet phone call to Renee saying goodbye.
