- Title: Batman: The Animated Series – Harley & Ivy
- wiki: link
Throwback Tuesday takes us back to Gotham City for another episode of Batman: The Animated Series. While current team-ups between Harley Quinn (Arleen Sorkin) and Poison Ivy (Diane Pershing) are common nowadays, such a pairing was anything but obvious prior to “Harley & Ivy.” After being fired by the Joker (Mark Hamill), a despondent Harley Quinn strikes out on her own deciding to rob a museum the same night as Poison Ivy decides to liberate some plant toxins from another exhibit. Together alluding the police, a friendship and partnership is born. While Harley is still mooning over the clown who treated her like dirt at the end of the episode, “Harley & Ivy” marks a step forward for the character to move beyond the Joker’s shadow (even if she doesn’t know it yet).
Aside from the first-ever pairing of Harley and Ivy, who make both amusing and very capable team, the episode is also notable for relegating Batman (Kevin Conroy) to a tertiary character as the episode belongs to the women, with the Joker’s jealousy playing a strong second fiddle. Together the pair even manage to get the upper-hand on Batman before being taken down by one of GCPD’s best, Officer Renee Montoya (Ingrid Oliu). I don’t know that anyone learns a lesson from the events here as Harley and the Joker still seem bound to their dysfunctional relationship and Ivy is disappointed that her attempts to pass on a bit of female empowerment seem to be lost on her new friend.
