History Recap / HarleyQuinn2019S3E8BatmanBeginsForever

** Harley and the Joe-Chill!Bruce get into a brief one over the ''Zorro'' movie that the Wayne family saw on the night Joe Chill killed Thomas and Martha. Harley thinks Bruce is referencing the Antonio Banderas version from the 1990s, and Bruce remarks that it was actually an older version of the film before changing the subject.

'''Harley:''' How could Bruce be Batman?! I mean, sure, he's the richest man in Gotham, so that explains all the vehicles and he's always going missing at big galas when villains show up- Oh. Okay, come to think of it, it's ''very'' obvious.

** Harley and the Joe Chill Bruce get into a brief one over the ''Zorro'' movie that the Wayne family saw on the night Joe Chill killed Thomas and Martha. Harley thinks Bruce is referencing the Antonio Banderas version from the 1990s, and Bruce remarks that it was actually an older version of the film before changing the subject.

* EvenEvilHasStandards: Psycho initially objects to probing Brice Wayne's memories because he's part of the "0.1 percent" and they're a bunch of freaks.

* InternalReveal: Harley finally learns that Bruce Wayne is Batman, but agrees to keep that between them.

* DidntThinkThisThrough: A downplayed example. While trying to coax Mental!Bruce, he says he doesn't trust clowns with secrets. She explains that she is barely clown-themed anymore and just wears the outfit to show off her looks. She does this mostly by showing Mental!Bruce how good her booty shorts make her ass look, even giving it a little pat... and then when she sees the weird look on Mental!Bruce's face, she remembers she's effectively talking to an eight year old at the moment.

* SeinfeldianConversation: While watching Bruce's memory of his parents dying, the crew misses their actual deaths being distracted by a conversation clarifying Joe Chill from Joe Cool and Joe Camel.
** Harley and Mental!Bruce get into a brief one over the ''Zorro'' movie that the Wayne family saw on the night Joe Chill killed Thomas and Martha. Harley thinks Bruce is referencing the Antonio Banderas version from the 1990s, and Bruce remarks that it was actually an older version of the film before changing the subject.

* VillainousHarlequin: Harley disputes this characterization when Child Bruce refers to her as a clown; she barely qualifies as such now that she's ditched most of the jester theme and only wears the skimpy clown clothing because it accentuates her ass.

-->'''Harley:''' You know, you grow up to have a real savior complex. Who do you think you are? You don't sound like Bruce Wayne there. You sound like... ''(gasps)'' Holy shit. You're...\\

** Bruce's main representation in his mental world being his child self on the night his parents died is an illustration of the common summary of Batman as a tortured kid on the inside, still crying out for mommy and daddy.

** Bane calling Doctor Psycho for advice about his anger and if he should just let it go and buy another pasta maker.

* ContinuityNod: Thanks to Joker becoming mayor back in "Joker: The Killing Vote", he transformed Arkham Asylum to Arkham Community Center thanks to his "Passions, Not Prisons" reform program.

** The title of the episode is a mashup of ''Film/BatmanBegins'' and ''Film/BatmanForever'', with further allusions to both films' series throughout the episode.

** We see various parts of Batman's career from the franchise. These range from [[Film/Batman1989 the Tim Burton films]], [[Film/TheDarkKnightTrilogy the Nolan trilogy]], and even [[Series/Batman1966 60's Batman]] where he's running around with a CartoonBomb. Child Bruce says he had a few weird years in his early career.

* RuleOfSexy: Harley claims that she's "barely clown-themed anymore," and only continues to wear her skimpy outfit because she thinks she "looks hot like this."
-->'''Harley:''' I mean ''check out'' how good these booty shorts make my ass look.

* MainliningTheMonster: Bruce has experimented on Frank's plant regenerating abilities to derive a way to resurrect dead human life. He has him strapped into a container set to pipe the relevant substance out of him.

* HopeSpot: When facing the memory of Joe Chill, Harley tries to [[RousingSpeech assure]] young Bruce that whoever is under that ski mask is just an "asshole in a city of assholes" who's too scared to even show his face. It looks like it's going to be a simple case of helping Bruce muster the courage to face the very man who killed his parents. What she doesn't realize is that under Joe Chill's mask is... [[WhamShot Bruce Wayne]]. This leads Harley to realize she has her work cut out for her if Bruce's ''plethora'' of issues stems from [[ItsAllMyFault blaming himself for his parents' deaths]].

** Doctor Psycho is reintroduced now running a podcast where he [[{{Series/Frasier}} gives callers psychological advice]]. This is complete with Doctor Psycho going "I'm listening" and the scene transition being a silhouette of the Gotham City skyline (Bat Signal included). Harley comments that she learned more from the show than her psychology training, and Psycho scat-sings "Tossed Salads and Scrambled Eggs" with the end credits.

** Bruce's plan is revealed to involve scientifically developing a [[{{Film/ReAnimator}} sickly green, glowing liquid to resurrect the dead]]. Much like that film, it doesn't go quite right.

** The crew’s complaints about how annoying it is to repeatedly watch Bruce’s memories of his parents’ murder is an unsubtle nod to complaints of how frequently ''Batman'' media feels the need to reiterate his origin story with each new continuity.

--->'''Clayface:''' HUZZAH! We’ve saved the movie! We can CGI the mustache in post!

* {{Foreshadowing}}: Joe Chill's true identity as Bruce Wayne himself is hinted at by his ice-blue eyes, which Wayne shares. There are even a few close-ups of Young!Bruce's eyes to emphasize the clue.
* FreezeFrameBonus: Along with Bane -- calling himself "Rane" and listed as "Anonymous" -- the callers to Psycho's podcast listed on his laptop include Bizarro, Maxwell Lord, and Gorilla Grodd.

* ItWasHisSled: InUniverse Parodied; Memory!Thomas starts telling about "[[Film/CitizenKane Rosebud]]", but Clayface has no idea what that is and begs Thomas to explain it before he dies.

* OnlySaneMan: Harley herself takes on this role in the episode: Bruce's trauma over losing his parents is overpowering his reason, Ivy is too obsessed with finding Frank to focus on anything else, Doctor Psycho is more concerned with his podcast, and Clayface is trying to get into character as Thomas Wayne by observing the memory version of him. It falls to Harley to keep everyone on track and protect Young!Bruce from his own pain.

* TheStinger: The episode ends on Psycho saying that Bruce's bout of mania is [[ThisIsGonnaSuck no good]]… [[SkewedPriorities and Clayface is momentarily excited]] that the rising dead [[LeaningOnTheFourthWall would make a great post-credit scene for his Thomas Wayne biopic]].

* HappyPlace: To try and escape Joe Chill, Harley walks the child version of Bruce through a mindfulness method to find his happiest memory. They end up in his memory of a Christmas morning, but unfortunately it isn't very long before Joe Chill finds his way into there as well.

* TheBusCameBack: Doctor Psycho, who was absent from the majority of Season 3, makes his return here.

** Doctor Psycho is reintroduced now running a podcast where he [[{{Series/Frasier}} gives callers psychological advice]]. This is complete with the scene transition being a silhouette of the Gotham City skyline (Bat Signal included), Harley commenting that she learned more from the show than her psychology training, and Psycho scat-singing "Tossed Salads and Scrambled Eggs" with the end credits.