Climax at Jazzapajizza

Season 3
Episode 9

## All Season 3 Episodes

"**Climax at Jazzapajizza**" is the ninth episode of the third season of *Harley Quinn*, and the thirty-fifth episode of the series overall. It was released on September 8, 2022.

## Synopsis

When an inadvertent zombie apocalypse breaks out in Gotham, Harley fights to save the city, while Ivy embraces her inner supervillain.

## Plot

Still keeping the villains tied up, Nightwing and Batgirl doubt Harley and Ivy’s insistence that Bruce is being reckless in trying to resurrect his parents. However, everyone is shocked to see Bruce enter the study and gleefully introduce his zombified parents as if they were humans. The zombies, more well-behaved than rabid, allow themselves to be marched to the (Batcave) laboratory.

Upon seeing a horde of zombies outside, Batgirl releases Harley’s crew so they can help. An uninfected Frank makes it to the door, and the crew wrestles him in. Frank explains that his serum spread throughout Gotham’s root system, hence the widespread zombies. Hearing this, Clayface runs off to do some “errands”. Dr. Psycho reveals he got some of the zombies’ vomit on him, and he turns into a small tree with glowing eyes.

*❝ Okay, we gotta figure out how to reverse this before people we ACTUALLY care about are turned into THAT. ❞*
— Harley upon seeing Psycho turn into a zombie tree

Ivy reasons that since they zombies are infused with plant DNA, she could control them through the Green, confident that the link won’t debilitate her this time. After reassuring Harley, Ivy instructs her to join Nightwing and Batgirl in managing the zombies. Harley pilots the Batwing alongside Batgirl’s motorcycle and Nightwing’s jet-powered pennyfarthing, and they follow the zombie hordes sauntering towards Gotham Central Park.

Inside the Green, Swamp Thing tells Ivy the Green can grant her the power she needs for the task at hand, but he implores her not to use it for evil. Ivy nonchalantly accepts, and she radiates tendrils of energy while also transforming her outfit. Meanwhile, seeing clusters of zombies on the Batwing’s radar, Harley calls King Shark to go to Wayne Manor and guard Ivy. Harley is disappointed to learn she can’t obliterate the zombies because the Batwing has no lethal armaments.

A fully empowered Ivy shows Frank she can control the zombies like puppets. She decides that rather than wrangling the zombies, she will harness their vomit — which can generate plant matter even without a human target — to salvage her terraforming plan. She ignores Frank’s suggestion to consult Harley first, and vines transport them to the park.

*❝ I think your dad just ate your cat and that cat looked expensive ❞*
— King Shark to Bruce

By the time King gets to Wayne Manor, Ivy and Frank are gone, but he runs into Bruce and the zombie Waynes.He tells Bruce that there are masses of zombies beside his parents. King relates to Bruce over the deaths in their families, but notes that Bruce has been paralyzed in his grief for 30 years while Bruce is horrified of the chaos he caused in Gotham.

From the sky, Harley observes the zombies acting more deliberately, and is shocked when she figures out they are under Ivy’s control. Inside Gotham Central Park, Ivy and her zombies infiltrate the Jazzapajizza festival being held. She declares to the crowd that she and plant-kind are striking back at humanity.

A zombie’s vomit creates a giant vine arm that swats the Batwing out of the sky. Batgirl recovers Harley, and they reconvene with Nightwing. The two heroes consider killing Ivy, but Harley insists Ivy will listen to her.

Harley makes it to Ivy on the jazz festival stage. The eco-terrorist says that she feels a level of confidence she never felt was attainable, and attributes it to Harley’s love and support. Harley expresses both joy at her lover’s self-actualization and her horror at the apocalypse’s carnage and the deaths of innocent people. Ivy counters she was simply adapting to Bruce tampering with Frank.

Seeing Bane nearby about to be vomited on by a zombie, Harley jumps between them and saves Bane. A grateful Bane forgives her for the pasta maker matter and leaves. Harley starts morphing into a zombie, and she lets loose bloodcurdling cries from the pain.

Back at Wayne Manor, Bruce decides to fix what he can and re-kill his zombie parents in the graveyard. To save Bruce from further trauma, King volunteers to kill them on his behalf. Bruce accepts his offer.

With no other way to save Harley, Ivy surrenders her power from the Green. Living people turned into zombies, including Dr. Psycho, are reverted to normal, while zombies of the dead are reverted to corpses.

Though Ivy expresses relief that Harley is restored, she looks around the remnants of Edin, her greenery replaced by dirt and ruin. Poison Ivy falls to her knees and screams with grief and fury.

## Cast and Characters

### Main Cast

* Kaley Cuoco as Harley Quinn
* Lake Bell as Poison Ivy
* Ron Funches as King Shark
* Alan Tudyk as Clayface, The Joker
* Tony Hale as Dr. Psycho
* JB Smoove as Frank the Plant

### Guest Cast

* James Adomian as Bane
* Diedrich Bader as Batman
* Briana Cuoco as Batgirl
* Harvey Guillén as Nightwing
* Sam Richardson as Swamp Thing

### Cameos

* Thomas Wayne
* Martha Wayne
* Robin
* Thomas or Martha

## Trivia

* This episode aired on Adult Swim on September 24, 2022.
* The title refers to a jazz festival occurring at Gotham's Central Park. This is a callback to "Devil's Snare" when the "Jazzfest" that Ivy was very excited about was canceled due to mutant trees terrorizing the city.
	+ Ivy also confirms that Jazzapajizza is a rebranding of the same Jazzfest.
	+ While emceeing Jazzapajizza, Joker wryly acknowledges his role in the destruction that canceled Jazzfest back in "Devil's Snare".
* While mind-controlling the zombies, Ivy has them do the dance associated with the 1996 party song "Macarena".
* The restaurant Mama Macaroni's, being the only location in the city spared from Ivy's terraforming, is a callback to the fourth episode of the third season, "A Thief, a Mole, an Orgy".

## Gallery

*See also: All images from "Climax at Jazzapajizza"*

Teaser imageTeaser image released by the official *Twitter* accountDoctor Psycho starts turning into a tree.Psycho as a tree zombieZombiefied Thomas and Martha WayneHarley saves Bane.Bruce sees the devastation he has caused.