Batman Begins Forever

Season 3
Episode 8

## All Season 3 Episodes

"**Batman Begins Forever**" is the eighth episode of the third season of *Harley Quinn*, and the thirty-fourth episode of the series overall. It was released on September 1, 2022 on HBO Max.

## Synopsis

After Harley receives access to Bruce Wayne's mind, she gets stuck in an endless loop of his most formative memory.

## Plot

Having abducted Bruce Wayne, Harley and Ivy try torturing him to find out where Frank is. They inflict all the pain they can short of killing him, but Bruce won't budge. With no other choice, Harley and Ivy recruit the help of Dr. Psycho from his Arkham Asylum rehabilitative workshop where he is running a self-help podcast. He agrees to help if Harley will be a guest on his show, and the crew (sans King Shark, who offers to guard their bodies) enters Bruce’s head.

The crew drops into Bruce’s memory of his parents’ murder in Crime Alley and realizes this event is looping everywhere they go. Harley and Psycho diagnose that Bruce has blocked out all his memories except this one. Clayface tries to interview the multiple Thomas Waynes as research for his movie, but Joe Chill swiftly shoots each Thomas and Martha before he has the chance to get his answers.

Agitated that the young Bruce is useless and that they’re no closer to finding Frank, Ivy blames Dr. Psycho. Meanwhile, Harley takes action by shielding one of the young Bruces from Joe Chill’s gunshot. Alteration of the memory causes Bruce’s psyche to eject Ivy, Psycho, and Clayface, but Harley is left behind. Clayface runs off to tell James Gunn that Thomas Wayne needs a mustache in the movie. Panicked, Ivy tells Psycho they need to go back to get Harley, but Psycho cannot re-enter the mindscape as the brain is on lock-down and says Harley has to fend for herself against the lethal memory, to Ivy’s horror.

Meanwhile, Harley gets the young Bruce away from a group of Joe Chills. In an underground cavern, she assumes a guardian role to Bruce in exchange for information about Frank. Moving forward, they find Bruce’s museum of memories, and Harley is stunned when she sees him training to become Batman.

Outside, an anxious Ivy dotes over Harley’s unconscious body and snaps at Psycho and King Shark for not doing anything helpful. King Shark, having rerouted his own anxiety by playing video games, retreats to a throne room.

In trying to hide from a newly-arrived Joe Chill, Harley falls into a portal to a memory of the Joker and her past self having captured Robin at a theme park; Harley ends up in Robin’s body.

In Catwoman’s penthouse, the Bat Family incapacitates Ivy, Psycho, and Clayface with knock-out gas. The crew, except for King Shark, is taken away

*❝ Hey, you never told me stomping baddies was this much fun. Being a hero's supposed to be lame." ❞*
— Harley-as-Robin to Batman

Back in the mindscape, adult Batman arrives and frees Robin/Harley. Harley bonds with the adult Batman as they brawl with Joker and her past self, whom she chastises. However, Joe Chill invades the memory, killing the Joker and retro Harley. Adult Batman also reverts to his child self. After delaying Chill, Harley counsels young Bruce to insert them into a happier memory.

They enter the Wayne mansion on the final Christmas before Thomas and Martha’s deaths. As they hide from Joe Chill in a closet, young Bruce expresses his trust in Harley. He confesses that he took Frank at first to thwart Ivy’s plans, but then re-engineered him to resurrect humans; Bruce intends to revive his parents and rid himself of his demons.

Joe Chill reveals himself to be an avatar of adult Bruce. He elaborates on his younger self’s woes: he blames himself for bringing his parents to the theater and insisting on walking home in Crime Alley. He considers his fixation on this terrible event and his vigilantism his rightful punishment, and does not want Harley to disrupt his penance. With this Bruce avatar willing to shoot her over it, Harley says she must counsel him in the real world. Harley also promises young Bruce she will honor his confidentiality and not to disclose his secret identity.

Harley awakens in Wayne Manor with her captured crew members. Ivy is wholly flabbergasted when she hears about Bruce’s intentions. Harley implores Bruce to abandon his toxic obsession, having not given up her sincere promise to counsel him. The orphaned hero rebuffs her and takes Frank to his parents’ graves. He injects the graves with Frank’s serum, but a horrific beast emerges…

## Cast and Characters

### Main Cast

* Kaley Cuoco as Harley Quinn
* Lake Bell as Poison Ivy
* Ron Funches as King Shark
* Alan Tudyk as The Joker, Clayface

### Guest Cast

* James Adomian as Bane
* Diedrich Bader as Batman, Thomas Wayne
* Tony Hale as Dr. Psycho
* Tom Hollander as Alfred
* Jack Stanton as Little Bruce

### Cameos

* Martha Wayne (vision; inside Batman's mind)
* Joe Chill (vision; inside Batman's mind)
* The Penguin (vision; inside Batman's mind)
* Penguin Commandos (vision; inside Batman's mind)
* Tim Drake (vision; inside Batman's mind)
* Nightwing
* Batgirl
* Robin
* Frank the Plant

## Trivia

* This episode aired on Adult Swim on September 17, 2022.
* This episode happened to premiere four days before the 30th anniversary of *Batman: The Animated Series*, which first premiered on September 5, 1992.
* Writer Jamiesen Borak confirmed on *Twitter* that the Robin seen in Batman's memory was supposed to be Tim Drake.
	+ He also revealed that one of the memories which were cut from the montage of memories in the cave were supposed to be about Batman "cycling through Robins".

### DC references

* Before the season's release, it was confirmed that one of the episodes would be a “love letter” to *Batman: The Animated Series*. The episode contains many references to that show and other Batman media, including:
	+ The title of the episode itself is a reference to the movies *Batman Begins* (2005) and *Batman Forever* (1995) while also being a nod to the motive of Batman experiencing his origin over and over again from the episode.
	+ The visual style used in Bruce Wayne's mindscape is an homage to the visual style of *Batman: The Animated Series.* In interviews, it was revealed that the crew used some actual backgrounds from *BTAS* for this episode. This is evident in the memory at the abandoned amusement park, which was a favorite hideout of the Joker in that series.
	+ The shot of Batman (and Harley as Robin) being illuminated by lightning, cape billowing, references the final shot in *BTAS*’s opening sequence.
	+ Danny Elfman's theme from *BTAS* is used repeatedly as a musical cue in Batman’s mind.
	+ Harley and the crew being aggravated at the frequency of witnessing the Waynes' murder is a jab at newer Batman media constantly showing the event despite fans and audiences being very familiar with it.
	+ Harley makes sounds similar to the sound cards that were shown on the 1960s *Batman* series starring Adam West.
	+ One of Bruce's memories featured him — as Batman — running down a dock while carrying a bomb; a reference to a famous scene from the 1966 Batman film starring Adam West.
	+ The memory of Batman fighting the Penguin is a recreation of a scene from *Batman Returns* (1992).
	+ Batman's memory of Harley with Joker featured her speaking with a thick Brooklyn accent, similar to her portrayal in *Batman: The Animated Series* along with most other portrayals.
	+ Alfred and young Bruce's “Why do we fall, Master Bruce? / To pick ourselves up” exchange in the funeral memory references Christopher Nolan's *Batman Begins*.
	+ In the memory where he checks his costume in the mirror, Batman strikes a pose (including his “Bat-glare”) similar to that depicted in posters for *BTAS*.
	+ Harley-as-Robin says "Holy sanitized curse word!" and "Holy post-traumatic stress disorder, Batman!" in reference to a running gag in which Burt Ward's portrayal of Robin in the 1960s series would say "Holy [insert word or phrase here]!" with the second part being relevant to the situation. Contrary to popular belief, he rarely actually ended the sentence with “Batman!"
* Clayface mentions that Thomas Wayne's mustache can be added in post-production. This is a reference to the infamous Superman mustache in *Justice League* (2017) where Henry Cavill had to do some reshoots, but couldn't shave his mustache due to other commitments, and his lips had to be edited in post-production with poor results.
* The callers listed for Psycho's podcast include Bizzaro ("Feeling negative"), Maxwell Lord ("Tries to wish his problems away", a reference to the plot of *Wonder Woman 1984*), and Gorilla Grodd ("Not handling divorce well").

### Miscellaneous references

* Several references are also made to the sitcom *Frasier*:
	+ The scene with Doctor Psycho hosting his podcast bears some resemblance to the character of Frasier Crane hosting his radio show.
	+ The opening title sequence, featuring an outline drawing of Gotham's skyline, parodies that of *Frasier*'s title card, which features the Seattle skyline.
	+ The closing credits feature Doctor Psycho scat-singing to soft Jazz, a parody of *Frasier*'s closing theme "Tossed Salad and Scrambled Eggs", sung by the show's star, Kelsey Grammer.
* Clayface asks Thomas Wayne what his "Rosebud" was, to which Thomas replies it was also a sled. This is a reference to *Citizen Kane* (1941).
* When little Bruce chastises Harley for eating Santa's cookies, Harley says she'll "take the heat from Tim Allen", a reference to the 1994 movie *The Santa Clause* starring Tim Allen.
* Harley mistakes Joe Chill for Joe Cool, which, as Ivy points out, is one of Snoopy's alter egos in the comic strip *Peanuts* when he puts on sunglasses and a sweater and leans against his doghouse pretending to be a college student.
* Psycho similarly mistakes Joe Cool for the camel that "sold cigarettes to children". This was a reference to the advertising character of Joe Camel, a cartoon character in the 1990s created for Camel cigarettes, who was controversially inadvertently targeted to children as one survey revealed that some children could easily identify Joe Camel before they could identify Mickey Mouse.
* Harley Quinn calls Bruce Wayne "Richie Rich". This is a reference to the character of Harvey Comics.
* Harley confuses *The Mark of Zorro* (presumably the 1940 film with Tyrone Power) with the 1998 film *The Mask of Zorro* with Antonio Banderas in the title role.

## Gallery

*See also: All images from "Batman Begins Forever"*

Teaser image*Frasier*-style title cardDoctor Psycho's new selfEntering Bruce Wayne's mindPsycho is uncomfortableWayne murderWayne funeralHarley faces her past selfBatman and "Robin"The Bat Family comes to rescue Batman
## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 *This week’s episode of @dcharleyquinn, “Batman Begins Forever,” was written by @jamiesenborak and directed by @VintonHeuck...* Patrick Schumacker, *Twitter* (August 31, 2022).
2. ↑ It was indeed scripted as Tim Drake! One of the many cut cave memories was about Batman cycling through Robins. *Jamiesen Borak,* Twitter *(September 1, 2022).*
3. ↑ Harley Quinn Season 3 Episode Will Be "Love Letter" to Batman: The Animated Series Jamie Jirak, *comicbook.com* (March 17, 2022).
4. ↑ The Making of *Harley Quinn*’s Deranged Visit to Crime Alley Esther Zuckerman, *Vulture* (September 1, 2022).
5. ↑ *Harley Quinn* EPs Break Down Their Nod to All Things Batman: 'We Wanted to Murder His Parents a Million Times!' Matt Webb Mitovich, *TV Line* (September 2, 2022).