A Thief, a Mole, an Orgy

Season 3
Episode 4

## All Season 3 Episodes

"**A Thief, a Mole, an Orgy**" is the fourth episode of the third season of *Harley Quinn*, and the thirtieth episode of the series overall. It was released on August 4, 2022 on HBO Max.

## Synopsis

When Frank goes missing, Harley and Ivy follow clues that lead them to a highly unconventional party alongside Gotham's elite, including Commissioner Gordon - who is hungry for campaign donations.

## Plot

*❝ Oh I'm seeing something. Wait, I'm seeing it's just you being a little bitch and not telling Harley she's being freaking annoying ❞*
— Frank the Plant to Poison Ivy

As Ivy nears completion of her serum that will allow Frank to pollinate all the plants in Gotham and terraform the city, she finds herself constantly distracted by Harley and the crew's constant shenanigans, such as installing the consciousness of Sy Borgman into the house's smart devices and them forming a "Progressive Alien Deathcore" band. Frank insists Ivy has to be honest with Harley about her annoyance, but unwilling to hurt her feelings, Ivy falsely cites texts from Catwoman declaring that the instruments (which were stolen from the 2012 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction) are not to be touched, much to Harley's frustration.

Commissioner Gordon is being slaughtered in the mayoral election polls, despite the mayor being comatose from his injury in "Harlivy". Barbara suggests Jim engage in active and meaningful politics with voters, but Two-Face counter-proposes Jim seek out campaign donations from Gotham's seediest elite. Meanwhile, after Harley makes (rather loud) enjoyment of Catwoman's high-tech Japanese toilet, Ivy manufactures another text from Catwoman to ban use of the toilet. Enraged, Harley asks how Catwoman even knows what they're doing, to which Ivy reminds her of the security cameras throughout the apartment. Reaching her limit, Harley goes off on her own and smashes every camera in the apartment.

Later, Ivy announces she finally perfected her serum. The crew - minus Frank, who is in a fugue state, producing enough pollen to cover all of Gotham - heads to Mama Macaroni, a favorite restaurant of theirs, to celebrate. After returning home, however, Ivy finds the lab ransacked and Frank missing. She wakes up Sy so he can check the security cameras, but he finds the cameras broken, leading Ivy and the others to think the intruder was responsible for the sabotage, which Harley plays along with.

King Shark finds the only clue in the form of a golden broach shaped like owl eyes. Harley recognizes it and realizes who can help them; Joker, who is currently busy helping his step-son with homework. He explains that the broach is the symbol of the Court of Owls, which he once was a member of and used to be one of the most prestigious secret societies in Gotham, but is now "just a bunch of old white dudes jerkin' each other off". He says they will be holding their meeting tonight, and supplies Harley and Ivy with two owl masks and the password ("hoot-hoot", which Harley finds uncreative).

Harley and Ivy arrive at a mansion and are met by a strange gathering of robed individuals wearing the same masks as them, where a leader begins with a live sacrifice, in the form of a goat-shaped piñata with red confetti following complaints from animal rights supporters. Gordon and Two-Face arrive shortly thereafter, with Gordon wearing a mask that keeps him from securing his glasses on his head, seeking to find potential donors. After recognizing Bruce Wayne (who was worried about Gordon realizing he's Batman), Gordon continues to pester him for money during the evening. Wayne eventually offers to write him a check to get him off his back, but ultimately uses it as an excuse to slip away.

As Harley and Ivy talk with party guests hoping to uncover something about what happened to Frank, Harley recognizes Catwoman and confronts her about her prohibiting the use of the fancy toilet. Catwoman denies sending any texts and points out that Ivy is the one she should be mad at. At that moment, Ivy is talking with Sy, who found a photo taken of the intruder from the toilet's in-bowl camera (the only one in the apartment Harley didn't smash) and is able to present Ivy with a picture of a buttocks with a hairy mole on the right cheek. Sy also lets it slip that Harley was responsible for destroying the rest of the cameras.

The two lovers confront each other in the middle of the room. Ivy says she knows about Harley's camera-smashing, while Harley shoots back, "Catwoman told me the truth about you guys!" Ivy misinterprets this, and admits that she and Catwoman used to hook up some years prior, a revelation that horrifies Harley (but amuses Catwoman, who watches their discord from afar before leaving the party with Bruce). As Harley angrily demands Ivy tell her more about the relationship, the lights are turned off, and the leader announces, "let the grand orgy begin!" as he and the rest of the party guests begin to strip down and engage in intercourse with one another, much to the horror of both Ivy and Harley.

As they retreat to the side of the room, Ivy suggests using the naked bodies of the party-goers to try and find the mole on the butt of Frank's kidnapper. However, Harley still demands she tell her more about her relationship with Catwoman and why she never told her about it earlier. Ivy lashes out and says she didn't say anything for fear of Harley reacting as she is now, a statement that leaves Harley speechless and visibly hurt before walking off. At that same time, Gordon steps out of the restroom into the darkness, and drops his phone with its flashlight on. It gets kicked around the floor by various people. As Gordon goes chasing after it, he fails to notice what anyone around him is doing.

Ivy catches up to a still-upset Harley and apologizes. Ivy explains that she got defensive because she cringes at her time with Catwoman. In retrospect, she feels she was made a fool for hopelessly wishing Catwoman would make their relationship something more. Ivy explains that it was hollow, whereas her romance with Harley means everything to her, a sentiment that drives both women to tears. As they join the rest of the orgy with make-up sex of their own, Harley accidentally hits the light switch, turning the house lights on and ruining the orgy for the rest of the party-goers, causing them to leave.

Gordon is finally able to pick up his phone, but confused by what the lights have revealed. Outside the mansion, Two-Face scolds Gordon for not getting any donations. While Gordon tries to save face with a selfie he took with Bruce, he notices several pictures taken when his phone was on the ground. Two-Face realizes they can use these photos to blackmail the orgy participants into providing campaign donations.

On their way out, Harley insists she and Ivy be completely honest with one another, willing to name all of her sexual partners before Ivy stops her. Harley expresses relief that they've worked everything out, but Ivy then reminds her that Frank is still missing. At that moment, Frank wakes up in a mysterious lab tied to a bed and begins to yell out in fear.

## Cast and Characters

### Main Cast

* Kaley Cuoco as Harley Quinn
* Jason Alexander as Sy Borgman
* Lake Bell as Poison Ivy, Toilet
* Ron Funches as King Shark
* Christopher Meloni as Commissioner Gordon
* JB Smoove as Frank the Plant
* Alan Tudyk as Clayface, The Joker

### Guest Cast

* James Adomian as Bane
* Diedrich Bader as Batman
* Briana Cuoco as Batgirl
* Andrew Daly as Two-Face, High Owl
* Sanaa Lathan as Catwoman

### Cameos

* The Mayor
* Benicio
* KGBeast
* Killer Croc

## Trivia

* This episode aired on Adult Swim on August 20, 2022.
* Part of the plot of this episode is foreshadowed in the episode "So You Need a Crew?" when the text "Court of Owls: secret society or underground sex club?" can be seen briefly during a news segment.
* The orgy uses a lubricant from the "Legion of Dildos" sex shop, originally a one-off gag from the season one episode "L.O.D.R.S.V.P.."
* The Court of Owls being an underground masked sex cult is a reference to the 1999 Stanley Kubrick film *Eyes Wide Shut*.
* When Harley turns down the amp of her guitar the dial clicks from 11 to ten, a reference to the phrase "turn it up to 11" coined by the Spinal Tap in their 1984 film.
* People in the polls mistake James Gordon for real-life comedian and actor James Cordon, referencing "Carpool Karaoke" a recurring segment on his late-night talk show.
* Poison Ivy's song about "Mama Macaroni's" was improvised by voice actor Lake Bell.
* A smiley face button can be seen on one woman's underwear during the orgy scene which is a reference to to *Watchmen*, another DC Comics property.
* Gordon happens to address Bruce as "Mr. Owlman" when they have their owl masks on. In some DC stories, Owlman is Batman's evil counterpart from an alternate dimension, and has an owl motif because owls hunt bats.

## Gallery

*See also: All images from "A Thief, a Mole, an Orgy"*

Teaser imageHarley's crew all together againThe Blackened Plains of Zeerathan
"Rock on"Barbara and Jim GordonCelebrating#1 Dad!The Court of OwlsCatwoman and Batman at the Court of OwlsHarley and Ivy make upBane carbo-loadingGordon's selfie with Bruce WayneFrank has been kidnapped
## References

1. ↑ *This is one of a handful of things I didn’t write for the show. Did you know @lakebell improvised it ON THE DAY? That kind of talent you cannot teach...* Jefferson Friedman *Twitter* (August 5, 2022).