Nightmare Fuel / The Joker Blogs

At least he really will be right back...

For a web production that is thematically referencing the take of Christopher Nolan on a realistic Batman mythos, The Joker Blogs does a great and very creepy job at portraying the incarcerated Joker in a very disturbing light…and not only often making him even more disturbing than usual, but showing the impact he has on quite a few other prominent characters.

• Episode 3: "Meet Steve" can count, what with Joker slamming down a dead body in front of the camera while addressing Dr. Quinzel (and more so, US) about mortality.
• Episode 4: "A Dream Come True"has the Joker discussing his dream about shooting and gutting a bear—-at the Gotham Zoo, no less—-only to find that it's a guy in a bear costume, and he's actually at a theme park....and he keeps gutting the bear, which he then takes back to the lodge and skins, like a bear rug for the fireplace. And then we find out that DA Fields was left on the asylum director's desk, skinned "like a bear rug".....
• Joker's rant about individuality and standing out in Episode 8: "BRB" can be creepy enough, but nobody beats learning that Henry "with the fork in the throat" did have it and him shooting the guy with the camera.
  • The bit where he flips over the table also counts; when I first saw this episode, I thought he was going to attack the cameraman or something.....though he saves that for the end of the episode
• Episode 10: "Car Trouble: The Joker has been hiding in the back of Jeremiah Arkham's car for an indeterminate amount of time since his escape in Episode 8.
• Episode 12: "Dinner with the Arkhams" is a string of Tear Jerker and Nightmare Fuel all in its own, that leaving Mrs. Arkham with a bomb set off to midnight (which later critically wounds her despite Dr. Arkham's desperate grovelling) is just the icing on the blood-spattered wedding cake.
  • Hell, the whole scene itself is nerve-wracking and scary because you have no idea what the Joker is gonna do through most of it.
  • The reveal of the bomb set to "In The Hall of the Mountain King" does not help things.
  • The follow-up, "Dragging Dr. Arkham", only shows Jeremiah Arkham being dragged away from his house, gagged and screaming, before the Joker throws him in the trunk of the car... and it's still creepy.
• Episode 13: "Road Trip": The Joker whacking Pearl across the head with the clipboard and almost making her crash the car, because "nurses should be seen, but NEVER heard"; he then threatens to cut her eyes out if she speaks up again.
  • Bonus points if you remember where the character of Pearl originated....
  • And then when Joker goes to leave the car with Arkham and Pearl handcuffed, they begin screaming for help, only for Joker to mock them and point out that they're in the Narrows, which aside from them, is completely desolate.
    Joker: No one's coming to save you
• Joker killing Gary Kopski in the self-evident Episode 14: "Killing Kopski, by framing everything to look like a suicide can chill one's bones, especially the last few seconds of the episode, where the camera is filming Garret's death-by-electrocution. Knowing that it's actually possible for someone to break in without notice, and that all these things were done just to prevent Harleen's wedding from taking place just shows us how far the Joker is willing to go to make a point. Even the most mundane one:
  Gary Kopski: THIS IS ABOUT CAKE??!!
  • Seriously, the electrocution of Garret is tough to watch. Those final, flickering shots of Garrett screaming his last...
• The scar story in Episode 16: "Three Minutes to Midnight".
  Pearl: You're nothing but a— but a big bully, you know that?
  Joker: Oh, a bully, huh? Let me tell you a little story about bullies, huh? It'll cheer you up. Like maybe, oh, I don't know... how I got these scars. So, when I was a kid, I used to love to go fishing at camp. But I never could get those little worms... on the hook. [takes out switchblade as Pearl screams] Oh, that's not the sad part, no. So, one day, these bullies decide to show me how it's done. And they take the fishing rods, and they take me out to the end of the dock... and they stick hooks in my mouth. Right there. And then they push me into the water. And reel me back in. Just like a fish. You know what I did then? I burned their cabin down. While they slept. And they roasted. And I never did have any problems with those little worms again.
• The digital download included a deleted scene where Dr. Arkham's car runs out of gas on the way to the wedding and Joker has to siphon gas from a car containing a couple of parkers. The scene starts out fairly lighthearted, with a genuinely funny bit with Joker knocking on the window and the boy's horrified reaction. But then the camera goes back to focusing on Ted the Bum, and you hear gunshots. It's truly chilling, and an example of Mood Whiplash done right.
• The climax of Episode 17: Shotgun Wedding where Joker's killing spree not only counts numerous police in casualty, but also the presiding Priest and Guy Kopski, Harleen's would-have-been husband. And to top it all, Batman's appearance did not relieve anyone who have watched at this point, since the casualties have already raked on for 17 episodes.
  Joker: Right now, they're all rooting for me! You have no one!
  • Batman appearing in general. Up until then, Joker had been completely calm and calculating throughout his whole murder spree... but the second the lights in the church go out, Joker knows he's screwed.
• When Harleen shoots Batman, presumably an accident, the Joker is left silent for a few seconds as he stares in shock at his collapsed body. Joker probably wondered if Batman just died then and there, which becomes terrifying if you believe the idea that everything was done simply to get Batman to resurface and fight the Joker again. And then Harley shoots him which turns this into a pointless plan for the Joker. You can feel the rage in his voice as he turns on her and seeing Joker unhinged to the point that he orders Harleen to shoot him makes this pretty frightening.
  Joker: You do NOT GET TO DO THAT!!!
  • Though Batman ends up surviving, he mentions how he's going to carve his dead body now that he has nothing left to lose.
• The fact that everyone Joker has interacted with, which includes Harleen, Dr. Arkham, Dr. Strange, Ted the Bum, Lyle Bolton, the Bookworm and others have their lives utterly damaged and or have driven them into a state of inertia or obsession definitely counts. No one seems to have mastered the art of Hannibal Lecture better. It's not without reason that the Joker mentions to Harleen at the beginning: I'm warning you: I get to people.
• "Further Evidence 1: He Can't Because He's Dead" gives us the details on Steve's murder from Episode 3, and puts the title of the episode into a much more chilling light.
• Even the trailer for Series 2 is enough to be unsettling; we see Harleen Quinzell, still wearing her wedding dress from Episode 17, sitting by herself in a room containing various important props from the series as the Bee Gees' "I Started a Joke" plays in the background (the song itself almost qualifies as HONF as the trailer continues). Right at the end, she slowly begins to smile...and then we cut to the Joker in a straitjacket as the "This Fire Rises" chant echoes in the background.....
• FE #2 has Dr. Arkham telling his comatose wife about his uncle taking him to the asylum on "Take Your Child To Work Day" (who thinks that's a good idea at Arkham Asylum?) and witnessed an inmate killing a bunch of people and then Jerry having to trick him into killing himself ("You go first ... I'm scared.") Steven Moloney does such a good job you will sob and be horrified at the same time. And then it ends with Scarecrow gassing a nurse with fear toxin, and then Jeremiah threatening Jim Gordon's wife through the camera, confirming what the trailer hinted at: Arkham is working with him and has completely lost it.
• Harleen in the second to last episode, during the news reel. When we last see her, her hair is dyed blonde and she's wearing much brighter lipstick then usual. Half-smirking, her voice higher then usual, she tells the interviewer she can still help the Joker and will continue to see him. It's chilling, seeing Harley beginning to take over. It's subtle but... eurgh. That's how surprisingly good the actress was. She doesn't need to be over-the-top to chill you.
• The recent preview to FE #3 has this series's version of the Penguin. His monotone voice as he breaks a man's fingers is absolutely chilling.
• FE #3 itself has a masked, hooded entity that kills one of the Falcones right at the end; the Pre-Mortem One-Liner confirms that it's the Phantasm.

  "Your angel of death awaits."

  • Bonus points for the song they play leading up to the end: Don't Fear the Reaper
• FE #6 has a very chilling ending: it's terrifying to realize that despite being locked up in maximum security, Joker still knows EXACTLY what's going to go down in the next few hours.
• Season 2 Episode 1 finally confirms what we've been dreading since FE #2: Dr. Arkham has COMPLETELY lost it, and is now a Big Bad. He also gives a chilling warning; the building is in lockdown, and anyone who fails to leave will be killed.
  • Not to mention Scarecrow sneaking up on Harleen and gassing her during Dr. Arkham's announcement.
  • The ending is equally terrifying. "Of course, you realize…this means war!" Also a Moment of Awesome for the Joker.
• S02E02: Board Games:
  • The beginning of the episode. Imagine: you're an Arkham guard who's just found out about the lockdown and are doing everything you can to stay alive. You hide in a closet—and hear the footsteps of someone else coming into the room. From the brief flashes of the person that you can see, he is NOT another guard. Now, you're trying to wriggle your way into the back of the closet, holding your breath and desperately hoping he doesn't hear you...and then the Joker suddenly PRESSES HIS FACE AGAINST THE LOCKER, SAYING HE KNEW YOU WERE IN THERE THE ENTIRE TIME. Instead of killing you, he instead picks up a camera, and goes on a strange and creepy rant about a cat stuck in a box with poison. Then, you realize that THE CAT IS YOU, and the Joker finally picks up a gun, firing several times into the locker and killing you.
    • He chooses that locker to hide in presumably because it's left open. As soon as he closes it behind him, you can see that the front was already marked with a smiley face. It boggles the mind.
    • Actually the locker isn't left open when he hides in it. He presumably just picked a random locker to hide in. It still has the smiley face, though, which makes it even worse.
  • The Phantasm effortlessly sneaking his way into the board meeting, slaughtering almost everyone there (bonus points for when he drags the chairman into the darkness), and we finally get a good look at his mask. Granted, all of those guys had it coming, but still...
  • Selina Kyle being brought in as the unwitting donor for Mrs. Arkham's organ transplant. The malicious smile on Dr. Elliot's face as he decides that she deserves it is pretty creepy for a guy who's technically not a villain yet.
• S02E03: Near-Death Experience:
  • Throughout the entire story, that isn't the Joker that she's talking to. 'How can he possibly know all these things' about her? He doesn't: it's all in her own mind. Thus, the one who's actually ripping apart her protests, while explaining the need to be free of the prison of all rules and morals? The first person seen in the dream: the young woman with hair-hidden eyes, slowly and deliberately sitting down at the table.
    • At 3:03 in the episode, something rather chilling, upon multiple viewings: the first ever close up shot of the new, Nolan-esque re-imagining of Harley Quinn. Between the room's shadowy lightning, background music momentarily giving a distant, high-pitched tone reminiscent of the "sound of anarchy" track from the movie, and a somehow vacant-yet-calculating expression fleetingly (before reverting to "normal") on her face not dissimilar to those commonly reported in Real Life clinical analyses of psychopathy, gone is the comparatively harmless, family-friendly 'crazed pixie' of the animated series where the character got her start. In her place? ...It's hard to say yet, really.
    • Thus far, many viewers have, via the video's comments section, proclaimed the episode (effectively "Harley's awakening") to be the absolute best of the entire series.
• S02E05: Axes and Allies:
  • The opening scene where a guard flees and hides in a bathroom stall. On the guard's radio, the Joker's voice says "Little pigs, little pigs.." The Joker knocks on the stall and says "Not by the hairs of my chinny-chin-chin?" He sets his camera down and drags an axe across to the stall door.
    Joker: Then I'll huff.. [bang] and I'll puff.. [bang] AND I'LL BLOW YOUR.. [bang; we hear the sound of gushing blood]
    • He then gives a creepy speech to the camera about gambling and uncertainty. He sees blood flowing on the floor and says "Is there anything you wanted to axe me.. er.. ask me?"
  • The scene where the Phantasm disfigures Sionis's face. We see his horrified face as the blade is drawn. It cuts away as we hear his muffled scream. Again, he had this coming, but still.
  • Dr. Arkham killing Pearl. It's frightening just how far he's been driven over the edge. What's even worse is that Pearl was once his ally.
    • And prior to this, Pearl was the only person to be on the receiving end of one of Joker's scar speeches, start to finish, and survive. And the look in Pearl's eyes as Jeremiah has the gun to her head shows she's fully aware she used up the last of her luck on the Joker.
  • The final shot of the episode revealing Two-Face.
• S02E07: The Other Side of the Coin:
  • Joker continues his twisted story of the Three Little Pigs with the guard and after tricking the guard into thinking he knew where the Joker is. The Joker ends up closing the door onto the guard's hand and breaks three fingers off. He then uses one of the fingers to, of course, smear the bloody finger across his face to finish his smile.
    • The gory surgery scene for Mrs. Arkham is bad enough, but at the end of the scene, Dr. Elliot tells Arkham that they need pressure on the left ventricle. Before anything else can happen though, a gun is suddenly placed onto Mrs. Arkham's new heart and the camera pans up to reveal the gun's owner as none other than the Joker. The episode then ends with a creepy hello from the clown, a bang, and a flatline.