I think we're approaching this from the wrong direction. The episode wasn't making the case that Harley is better the Batfamily (given the context of the rest of the season). What the episode was doing was trying to play up a meme: that is, the joke that Batman and co only win because of their gadgets and are nothing without them.
It's wildly inaccurate, but so are most of the memes this show makes fun of. This show does that a lot: taking a meme about DC characters and playing it as if its accurate, and then having Harley and Ivy be the Only Sane Man outsiders commenting on how stupid it is.
Like the episodes that play up the meme that Batman cares more about their relationship with The Joker than he does other people. Or the joke that Bruce Wayne doesn't know what a homeless shelter is.
The show is funnier when it's not doing that, but they still do it from time to time.
Edited by KnownUnknown on Aug 12th 2023 at 9:32:21 AM
I tend to agree, though I still think they got the wrong end of the stick. What they wanted was 'the Batfamily can't get around without the Batjet/Batmobile/whatever' or 'the Batfamily can't investigate without their million special tools' or 'the Batfamily can't hear about anything that's happened without their Batcomputer and cell phones' all of which Talia can take away with no trouble, making it 'they can't fight without their tools...' I don't even think that's a meme, but I admit I'm not hooked into that culture.
Killer Croc, Death Stroke, and Bane...
They probably couldn't fight Kiteman or Calendarman.
Rules of the Internet 45. Rule 45 is a lie. Check out my art if you notice.So Nightwing is really dead? AND Joker’s family is going into villainy with him?
Edited by BigBadShadow25 on Aug 17th 2023 at 7:25:59 AM
You’re Gonna Carry That Weight.
The latter...apparently? The former my guess is he's coming back? We saw a lazarus pit and then a doppelganger? Clone? Copy? Hallucination? of Harley. I won't love that as I do think resurrections and such undercut stakes. But it'll hardly be the first one on this show. I'm not 100% convinced on Joker. He's definitely trying to go back, though I think by stealing responsibility for Nightwing, but whether his family is actually going along, or his wife is just humoring him, I wasn't sure.
Edited by ECD on Aug 17th 2023 at 12:14:54 PM
I feel like this show likes to run a joke ino the ground.
Anyone surprised how little they're using Suicide Squad? You'd think they'd be perfect for this. You could have an episode with Harley being taken on a mission while she complains that she's a hero now.
Last episode was odd because it for once acknowledges that treating being a supervillain as just another career is seriously messed up but also very much continues having everyone but Batgirl treat it like a normal thing. Are they going anywhere with it?
I'd hope so. Otherwise it would be like seriously forced drama.
Latest blog update (November 5th, 2022).So now that Nightwing being butt of the joke was done to death, Ba dum tish, I sure hope Power Girl shows up next so we can keep making jokes about her Most Common Super Power.
You guys think the show will have a tribute to Arleen Sorkin? She WAS the first voice of Harley, after all.
You’re Gonna Carry That Weight.Not just that. Dini and timm created the role on seeing Arleen during a dream sequence where she was a jester in days our our lives.
Their would be no character without her.
So yes I hope they do. It's probably to late for this season. But for the next.
Edited by miraculous on Aug 27th 2023 at 5:41:43 AM
"That's right mortal. By channeling my divine rage into power, I have forged a new instrument in which to destroy you."Yeah, it was a really unfortunate loss of the OG Harley Quinn voice. I think Arleen Sorkin deserves more credit for influencing the creation of one of Batman's most iconic rogues.
I do hope that this show will at least pay tribute to her. At the very least, I could see DC Comics doing a special Harley Quinn-focused issue spliced in with interviews from Paul Dini and various actresses who've played Harley over the years on how Arleen impacted them.
Trailer for the Kite Man spin-off:
Edit: Of course it’s age restricted. But the point is, it’s happening.
Does Queen of Fables sound different to you?
Edited by BigBadShadow25 on Sep 14th 2023 at 11:07:39 AM
You’re Gonna Carry That Weight.God, Arleen Sorkin was a legend.
It's also why the "Harley's parents" plot in the show here never sat quite well. "Abusive naggy Jewish parents" is already a frustrating trope. "jewish parents try to sell their own kid out for a payday" when Harley was so influenced by a Jewish creative is...
NOT great
It’s worth noting that the head writer of the series is Jewish, and that Self-Deprecation is a cornerstone of Jewish comedy.
That’s not a kind of joke that’s rare among Jewish comedians or sitcoms. It’s sounds like exactly the sort of joke Mel Brooks or Jerry Seinfeld would’ve made, for instance.
Edited by KnownUnknown on Sep 14th 2023 at 8:58:05 AM


I'm comfortable saying its a bad storytelling decision. The Bat Family having serious horrifying psychological problems but being REALLY GOOD AT KARATE seems far more likely than being bad at fighting.
And would also play to Harley's strengths.
"So, you have Daddy issues and want to fuck Bruce Wayne even though you're dating Nightwing."
"What? No!"
"And you were raised to be a Child Soldier by a weird cult leader father figure."
"That's accurate."
Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.