"I Am the Night" Rewatch: "Harlequinade" & "Time Out of Joint"

Batman The Animated Series

We ended last time with a pretty lackluster episode, which is no bueno. Did the trend reverse this week? Let's not waste anytime and find out.

Harley Quinn: "Oh, the irony of it! The stalwart Dark Knight and his greatest female adversary, working together to save the city!"

[She takes Batman's hand and raises it into the air with hers - cut to her hands, handcuffed in her lap, as she rides shotgun in the Batmobile.]

Harley Quinn: "I sense a lack of trust."

[after Harley ties up Batman and Robin with a cable gun stolen from the Batmobile.]

Harley Quinn: "Gee, it's amazing the things you find in people's glove compartments."

The Joker has stolen an atomic bomb. Batman is having a hard time tracking him down so he turns to the one person who knows the Crown Prince of Crime the best: Harley Quinn. Batman cuts a deal with Quinn, help him stop the Joker from leveling Gotham City and she'll get a clean slate. Can Harley really turn her back on her puddin' and help put him away?

She's not bad, she's just drawn that way.

"The Terrible Trio" was pretty awful, but the great thing about B: TAS is that it can have a not so great episode and bounce right back with a winner. That's exactly what happens here. Paul Dini continues his stellar track record and turns in an episode that serves not only as a palate cleanser from the last episode but also continues his journey with Harley Quinn.

We've talked about this a little bit, but Harley has been on a journey. She started out hopelessly devoted to her dear "Mistah J" no matter what he did to her or how horribly he treated her. She's tried to worm her way out from under him, but getting out of an abusive relationship with deep psychological roots isn't that easy and Paul Dini uses these episodes with Harley to really illustrate that. It's very impressive that he does it within the confines of a children't television show.

There's a lot of great stuff in this episode. The Joker using a fake grenade to scare off the buyers for the atomic bomb is priceless. His plan to kidnap Mayor Hill and use him to keep the police from freaking out is really smart and I'm actually pretty surprised that no other writer had thought about it first.

Batman and Harley Quinn have a great dynamic and anything that injects some humor into the proceedings is awesome. My favorite part of the episode is probably when Harley sings a song to distract the thugs from Batman and Robin. The song itself is really clever and the whole scenario plays with our expectations. We all expect Harley to eventually double-cross the Dynamic Duo, but this quickly. This fake out makes it a little more surprising when the double-cross actually happens.

This brings me back to my point about how difficult it is to get out of abusive relationships. Harley wants to believe that the Joker feels about her the way that she feels about him. Like her bringing Batman and Robin to him will finally prove that she has worth to him. Batman using that trauma that Harley has gone through to his advantage is not great, but this is another really strong episode in the series and another strong step in Harley's evolution.

Grade: A

(The Clock King suddenly enters Hill's office.)

Mayor Hamilton Hill: "You! But how did you get past..."

The Clock King: "Good evening, Mayor! Nice to see you again, too. And who's life are you ruining now? A poor pensioner? A malnourished orphan, perhaps?"

Temple Fugate aka the Clock King is back. He's been working for a scientist who has been developing technology to warp time and travel at super speed. Of course, he steals the technology and uses it to continue his vendetta against Mayor Hill. Can Batman and Robin stop the Clock King and end his revenge scheme against Mayor Hill once and for all?

Time to go really fast.

I really enjoyed the first Clock King episode. I loved them taking a villain that I knew mainly from the camptastic "Batman" series from the '60's and making him a legit menace. It was fun and unexpected and it's part of what makes B: TAS great. I was really looking forward for a return visit from Temple Fugate so I was a little disappointed when this episode felt mainly like a retread of the first. 

The plot of the episode is very reminiscent of the first Clock King episode. Fugate wants revenge on Hill, so he goes to great lengths to get it. There's even an action scene that heavily involves a subway train. Don't get me wrong, Fugate is a great character and his vendetta against Hill is almost satirical and makes for some funny moments, like the quote referenced above.

My main issue is that the device that Fugate uses to accelerate time and move at super speed is laughable in practice. Take the scene where the Batmobile is stuck in that time loop. Robin's dopey slack jawed look is hilarious and I'm sure that's not what they were going for. Also, I get Batman and Robin are no dopes, but learning the ins and outs of that device in like five minutes and then running around like the Flash? Seriously? Fugate's humiliating defeat happens so fast after that. He was much more formidable in his original episode. 

This is an entertaining episode and I didn't hate watching it. I'm just hoping that if the Clock King comes back they find a new, more entertaining angle.

Grade: B-

Next up, Catwoman may go back to her criminal ways and a certain someone is coming to break the Batman.

What did you guys think of these episodes? Are you loving watching Harley's evolution? Was the Clock King's return a little too familiar? Let me know in the comments.