Harley and Ivy find the Joker, now a normal guy with no memories of his past. Ivy argues that he's still the same person, so Harley recalls her first day at Arkham to prove Ivy wrong.
Tropes:
- Adaptational Early Appearance: In Batman: The Animated Series and all subsequent appearances, Harley Quinn was already working for The Joker when she met Poison Ivy. Here she meets them both on the same day.
- Adaptational Late Appearance: It's indicated here that Harvey Dent had yet to get disfigured and become Two-Face after the Joker had killed Jason Todd, when in the comics Jason Todd became the second Robin because Two-Face killed his father.
- …And That Little Girl Was Me: Ivy reveals at the end that Joker's story about his past was actually her past, which he learned in group therapy and then modified to better fit him.
- Appropriated Appelation: As Harley's flashback concludes, it's shown that she was the one that coined Two-Face for Harvey Dent for his selfish, duplicitous nature.Ivy: Bullshit! You came up with "Two-Face"?
Harley: And not a single dollar in royalties. - Batman Gambit: Joker somehow snuck a bomb into an Arkham chef nicknamed "Little Italy", so when he says the bomb is at "the heart of Little Italy," Batman and the police assume he means the statue in the Gotham district of the same name. While they're off on a goose chase, Joker convinces Dr. Quinzel to give him a meal in the cafeteria served by the chef, who blows up just as he's against the wall and allows Joker to escape through the hole.
- Bedlam House: We get a good look at Arkham, and how the patients are treated.
- Call-Forward:
- Riddler has long hair in the flashback, but reacts in horror when he sees his hair falling out.
- When the Joker's blood hits the glass, it covers half of Harvey's face.
- Cheryl the Gotham policewoman, currently with Bane's gang, was previously an Arkham guard.
- Cliffhanger: Two-Face's goons capture Harley and Ivy when they leave the bar.
- Flashback: Most of the episode is a flashback to how Harley first met the Joker and Ivy, and how she befriended the latter.
- Formerly Fit: Gordon used to be fit and muscular in the flashback when Harley was Arkham's psychologist.
- Framing Device: The Whole Episode Flashback is framed by Ivy and Harley on a night out and spying a man who resembles Joker.
- Freudian Slip: Harvey can barely contain the fact he only sees the citizens of Gotham as voters.
- The Ghost: It's revealed that Jason Todd existed and was Robin in this setting, and the Joker murdered him here also.
- Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow: Riddler used to have a full head of long, thick hair.
- Human Shield: Joker slings Harley over his back during his escape attempt, reasoning the cops won't shoot him with her in the way. He misjudges how ruthless Dent is to win, but Ivy prevents this from being a fatal mistake.
- If I Wanted You Dead...: Harley willingly goes into Joker's cell and tussles with him for a bit before leaving. When Gordon and Dent decry this as reckless, she shows off a smiley face he drew on her neck to prove he could have killed her if he wanted to.
- Jack Bauer Interrogation Technique: Batman goes to town on Joker in an attempt to beat the bomb's location out of him, but Joker won't break and mocks Batman about Jason Todd's murder.
- Jerkass Has a Point: While Harvey enjoying the prospect of burning inmates is cruel, it would be an effective way of stopping Ivy's plants, which were killing many guards.
- Laser-Guided Amnesia: Just like Joker said it would, the acid bath completely wiped his memories of ever being the Joker.
- Men Use Violence, Women Use Communication: Harleen's strategy for getting information out of Joker is to communicate with him through therapy; Batman's is to beat the shit out of him.
- Mythology Gag:
- Just put Joker's trademark colorings and grin on a photo of him when he's normal looking, and he's immediately recognizable again. That seemed to work in Mask of the Phantasm too.
- The Riddler having long hair is similar to the Riddler from The Batman.
- Joker's look in the flashback resembles Heath Ledger's Joker from The Dark Knight (without the Glasgow Grin).Joker: Do you want to know how I got these (emotional) scars?
- The interrogation room beatdown that Batman gives the Joker is also a clear reference to The Dark Knight, but turned up to eleven.
- As in the comics, Jason Todd had been dead for some time before Dr. Quinzel came into the Joker's orbit.
- No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: Batman gives Joker a horrible beating, which ends with blood being splattered all over the window.
- Photo Doodle Recognition: While Harley almost immediately recognizes the amnesiac Joker on sight, Ivy isn’t convinced until Harley takes a picture of him laughing with her phone and uses photo editor to draw on his white skin, red lips and green hair.
- Shoot the Hostage: Dent orders the police sniper to shoot Joker even if he has to hit Harley, because he's worried he'll lose reelection if Joker escapes on his watch. Ivy uses her plants to stop the bullet.
- Shout-Out: Joker quotes Lou Grant from the first episode of The Mary Tyler Moore Show.Joker: You've got spunk. I hate spunk!
- Sickeningly Sweet: Everyone's reaction when they dive into the amnesiac Joker's memories and find nothing but incredibly mundane and wholesome happy memories.
- Spanner in the Works: Ivy restrains Joker after rescuing Harley, allowing the police to recapture him.
- Spiteful Spit:
- Ivy does this at Harley, hitting the glass between them after their first interaction. Ivy pegged Harley as another typical Arkham doctor, but that opinion wouldn't last long.
- Harley spits in Dent's face for ordering a sniper to shoot the Joker through her.
- Turn in Your Badge: Subverted. After going into Joker's cell, Jim Gordon demands that Harleen (as she was then) hand in her badge and gun - and then realises that she's a civilian, not a cop.
- Wham Episode: Every previous episode played entirely as Black Comedy, but in this one the flashback scenes veer close to DC Black Label territory.
- Wham Line: The Joker mocks Batman by bringing up the murder of Jason Todd, a.k.a. Robin.
- Wham Shot: The amnesiac Joker, for just a short moment, laughs in his familiar cackle at his girlfriend's kids making a joke that looks like they're covered in blood.
- What Measure Is a Mook?: Harley is more upset that Poison Ivy was burned then the fact that Ivy brutally tore apart several guards at Arkham.
- Whole Episode Flashback: The episode is largely a flashback to Harley's first day at Arkham Asylum.
