Considering Goomba's request, I've decided on a two-for-one today with the common theme of the Joker picking on poor members of the general public.
First off is, of course,
Joker's Favor.
The beginning of the episode sets the entire mood of the episode and sets up the satisfying finish. Charles Collins, a middle-class family man, is driving home on the freeway. A ballgame's radio broadcast has been interrupted with notification of the Joker's escape. His boss turned down his raise. His kid needs braces. Worst of all.... his wife is making
meat loaf for dinner. He is having a Bad Day.
To top things off, he has to move in his lanes due to oncoming police cars. Then he has to do it again for the Batmobile. Finally, an average looking vehicle cuts him off. Charlie gives in to road rage. He pulls alongside, his window goes down, and he begins ranting. "For 2 cents I'd..." And then he realizes who he's talking to, whom the viewer has already likely noticed.
The Joker.
Meekly Charlie puts his window up. "I just cussed out the Joker." And then becomes his frightened attempt to escape the dogged pursuit of the Joker. He flees into a wooded area, and starts running on foot. Just when he thinks he's safe.... two pennies land at his feet. The Joker is behind him. Terrified for his life, Charlie makes the Faustian deal; his life for a favor.
Then comes the next scene, with the header of "Two Years Later", and the meat of the plot begins. It's the usual evil plot by the Joker; crash a party being held for Gordon, pin a bomb on him while everyone is affected by paralysis gas, and leave. For fun he decides to call in Charlie, whom we are soon shown living in suburbia, clearly not Gotham (Gotham rarely has the sunny and bright-looking appearance we're shown), and we learn Charlie has changed his name and moved to Ohio (Ohio, man! He really WAS desperate!). Unfortunately the Joker has still found him, and his family's safety is threatened. Charlie returns to Gotham to give his favor, the seemingly innocent role of opening a door. Save, of course, that in his usual brutal humor the Joker has arranged for his hand to be glued to the door and clearly planning on Charlie to die in the bomb blast.
Of course, this is where Charlie has managed to succeed, by cleverly losing an object in the "Hall of Invention" to simulate a bat symbol hovering in the window, calling the attention of Alfred as he drives Bruce away. Batman arrives in the nick of time, gets rid of the bomb, and frees Charlie from the door. Next comes the usual action sequence of Batman against Harley and the Joker's thugs while the Joker escapes. And thus we come to the final scene, with Charlie getting to turn the tables on the Joker, in the end getting the last laugh and even eliciting a chuckle from the dour Batman (Joker, like any other prankster, isn't as easily amused when he's the butt of the joke). Charlie ends up feeling so good that even that horrible abomination known as meat loaf sounds appetizing to him.
All in all, this episode is one of
the classics of the Batman Animated Series. It had a fun twist to the old style Joker caper. Mark Hammil is excellent as the Joker, naturally, and as this was the first aired appearance of the Clown Prince of Crime in the Timmverse it was an excellent first start into establishing the sinister and menacing tone - so cleverly tinged with insane jollity - that has characterized the character and Mark Hammil's acting of him. Arleen Sorkin likewise introduces Harley Quinn to us all and sets the tone for future performances, while Ed Begly Jr., who voices the Joker's innocent victim Charlie Collins, also deserves credit for his excellent performance. And someone like me can't end the review without mentioning the musicians, who gave us the first "look" - so to speak - at their whimsical, circus-style musical theme for the Joker.
Like I said, this one was a golden classic of the series, helping it get off to a strong start that would be a harbinger of things to come for over thirteen years.
And so I give it a 5/5.
And now on to the second episode,
"The Laughing Fish".
This episode started out uniquely, in that it had no title card like most Batman episodes but simply showing a pub sign of a smiling fish. We pan over to a fishing vessel which reviews its catch.... and the fishermen recoil in horror at realizing that every fish looks like the Joker. And so the plot begins, and while Batman dissects a Jokerized fish, the Joker himself pops into the patent office to terrorize an innocuous-looking bureaucrat named G. Carl Francis (and for a fun touch, when Joker begins to speak to him, the man's completely innocuous nature is reinforced when the Joker goes "Mr...." and holds the sentence as he glances at the name plate on the desk before finishing "Francis", reinforcing the anonymity and obscurity of Mr. Francis). He even slaps the poor man with a fish as he goes on about how he wants to earn royalties on sales of fish off Gotham's waters now that they look like him, prompting Harley Quinn to spray Francis with perfume to eliminate the fish smell (or does she...?). The ordeal of Mr. Francis is finally summed up when the hapless man, later that night, asks Batman why the Joker's after him. "I'm just a paper pusher, I can't change the laws," he pleads, and the Dark Knight's reply is coldly accurate: "In his sick mind, Mr. Francis, that's the joke." Only too late does Francis tell Batman about Harley spraying stuff on him, and Batman's shout of "Get this man to a hospital!" comes too late to do anything but make Gordon and Bullock look on in bewildered amazement before a swordfish projectile crashes into the room, nearly impales Francis, and then emits a gas that sends Francis into the Joker's patented toxic laughing fits.
Of course, the Joker's bureaucrat-terrorizing spree isn't over yet, and another is targeted, this time by a drugged cat, and we're led to believe for a brief moment that Batman himself has fallen victim until we realize that Batman and the man changed places. Here Bullock, never a fan of the "glory-hoggin' long-underweared geek", loses his patience and stomps out, determined to find the Joker on his own, and we soon realize he has, following the same clue that Batman points out to Gordon after the detective's departure; the fish that had been carried in by the drugged cat is exotic. Next stop, the aquarium, where Bullock gets himself caught (reinforcing that the donut-chowing portly detective is out of his league) and Batman arrives to the rescue to keep Bullock from becoming shark bait and nearly becoming bait himself. The episode ends in yet another "Is he actually dead?" ending for the Joker, as he falls into the harbor where the aforementioned shark has just been released, and to reinforce this potential outcome the episode ends as a joker card is drifting on the surface oif the water when the shark erupts from the sea and devours it.
Though not at the same level of classic as
"Joker's Favor", it is still a highly entertaining episode that hasn't lost its charm over the years. It even includes one of the more amusing Harley/Joker exchanges in the series (copped from IMDB by me due to laziness):
Harley Quinn: Eyugh! Again with the fish, I *hate* fish!
[off Joker's glare]
Harley Quinn: Uh, no offense, Mr. J.
The Joker: Poor Harley. This entire caper's been really rough on you, hasn't it?
Harley Quinn: Uh-huh.
The Joker: Cheer up! You can be my very own little mermaid.
[Harley squeals with joy, then Joker pulls a giant rubber fish head over her, and laughs]
Harley Quinn: You're really sick, you know that, boss?
The Joker: Mmm-hmmm.
Therefore, I give it a 4.3/5. Since the Joker and round-numbers don't always go together.
Maybe I should change
Joker's Favor to 4.999999/5 or something...
Both of these episodes are among the best episodes of the entire series, and typically Joker episodes can always be counted on to be among the better outings given Mark Hammil's talents. The menace, cruel insanity, and sadism of the Joker comes out strong in both, important for keeping the character fresh and entertaining (the Joker must always have that delicate balance of being funny and being menacing to work).
) overall.
"
- PeZook
