Joker: The Killing Vote

Season 3
Episode 6

## All Season 3 Episodes

"**Joker: The Killing Vote**" is the sixth episode of the third season of *Harley Quinn*, and the thirty-second episode of the series overall. It was released on August 18, 2022 on HBO Max.

## Synopsis

When The Joker runs for Mayor of Gotham, Two-Face attempts to sabotage his campaign.

## Plot

Joker is tormented by nightmares of a mom from his stepkids’ PTA named Debbie Shirley, who belittles his competence as a parent. With his subconscious even putting her in the Batsuit, Joker deems her his “most challenging enemy yet.”

After dropping Benicio and Sophia at school, Joker asks the receptionist whether they’ve been accepted into the Spanish dual-immersion program. Debbie enters and reveals her children were accepted instead due to her connections, to Joker’s disgust.

Gordon’s mayoral campaign isn’t making any headway. Barbara suggests he could make a breakthrough if he actually had a political platform and principles. Two-Face’s advice is to muddle their way to victory with techniques like “trailing off” when speaking.

While cooking, Joker talks to Bethany how much the kids’ self-esteem in their heritage could benefit from the dual-immersion program. Case in point, Benicio’s schoolmates make him feel self-conscious about his name. Meanwhile, during a televised “debate” with Gordon, the comatose Mayor of Gotham dies.

To get into Debbie’s good graces, Joker approaches her with a home-made dish. She is unimpressed with the “ethnic” food, and adds that the only one who can help Joker would be someone higher than her like the mayor.

Two-Face and Gordon are celebrating that the latter will win by default due to the mayor’s death. However, on the news, Joker announces via an explosive stunt that *he* is now running for mayor of Gotham. When interviewed, Joker talks about his planned policies like bilingual education and universal healthcare paid for by the city’s wealthy.

Instead of presenting policies like Joker to actually win people over, Two-Face suggests playing dirty to get back on top, but Barbara pleads with her father to stop listening to him. When Gordon sticks with Two-Face, Barbara leaves to support Joker.

Joker starts to get drunk on the praise he receives while campaigning, and it warps his familial duties. At a campaign event, however, Two-Face calls him and says he has Benicio held hostage. Joker drives the parade float off to their location: the abandoned pier amusement park.

Gordon is shocked to find Two-Face holding Joker’s stepson hostage. Two-Face, in turn, is perplexed that Gordon keeps trusting a corrupt player like him, revealing he poisoned the mayor to secure victory. Two-Face’s endgame is to prop up a mayor who will make him District Attorney again.

Arriving at the pier, Joker agrees to Two-Face’s terms, dropping out of the race in exchange for Benecio’s life. However, Two-Face puts them both on the derelict roller coaster anyway. Having come to his senses, Gordon knocks Two-Face out and manages to save Joker and Benicio from death.

Joker dissuades Gordon from shooting Two-Face dead, pointing out it is not the Commissioner’s nature. Impressed by how much the Joker has changed for the better compared to him, Gordon officially forfeits the race. Joker notes that he will be dismantling the police department once in office. Before Two-Face can retaliate against them, he is downed by Bethany’s van.

The crowds and posters rooting for the newly-elected Joker astonish Harley and Ivy, who have returned to Gotham from four days in New Orleans. Later, Joker flaunts to Debbie that he now has her VIP parking spot, and quips to himself, “I’m your nightmare now, bitch,” before laughing maniacally.

## Cast and Characters

### Main Cast

* Lake Bell as Poison Ivy
* Christopher Meloni as Commissioner Gordon
* Alan Tudyk as The Joker

### Guest Cast

* Krizia Bajos as Bethany
* Tisha Campbell as Janice, Tawny
* James Corleto as Benicio
* Sammi Corona-Lampa as Sophia
* Briana Cuoco as Barbara Gordon
* Andrew Daly as Two-Face
* Amy Sedaris as Debbie

### Cameos

* The Mayor
* Harley Quinn

## Trivia

* This episode aired on Adult Swim on September 3, 2022.
* Kaley Cuoco is credited for the voice of Harley Quinn in this episode despite not having any lines.
	+ This is the second episode of the series where Harley only appears in a cameo, the first being "Batman's Back Man".
* Tisha Campbell is not credited for the voice of Tawny Young despite having lines in the episode.
* Joker using the slogan "Like Joker Do" in his mayoral campaign is a call-back to the episode "The 83rd Annual Villy Awards" where he sang a song of that name as his opening number at the Villys.

### DC references

* This episode's title is a reference to the classic comic "Batman: The Killing Joke" by Alan Moore.
	+ The ending confrontation which sees Two-Face trying to kill Joker at an abandoned amusement park but Gordon saves him, and then the Joker stops Gordon from killing Two-Face in revenge is a parody of "The Killing Joke" storyline, where the Joker tries to drive Gordon crazy and Gordon convinces Batman to spare his life.
* When the Joker is dancing down the stairs it's a reference to Joker's dance from *Joker* (2019).
* The Joker's parade is inspired by the one depicted in *Batman* (1989), with the big balloon clown and the purple/green suit. His goons use guns to fire money at the people, the same way the Joker does during the parade in the movie.
* The school chalkboard showing history dates at the end of the episode are references to Joker's years of appearance in comics and TV.
	+ **1939**: Batman's introduction in comic books, just a year before Joker's first arrival in 1940.
	+ **1966**: Joker's TV appearance (played by Cesar Romero) in the *Batman* '66 series.
	+ **1989**: Joker's film appearance (played by Jack Nicholson) in Tim Burton's *Batman*.
	+ **2005**: Joker's joker card easter egg at end of Christopher Nolan's *Batman Begins*.
	+ **2008**: Joker's most iconic film appearance (played by Heath Ledger) in Christopher Nolan's *The Dark Knight*.

### Miscellaneous references

* The intro montage featuring Joker and his family is a riff on classic family sitcoms with the fonts being reminiscent of the ones used in the *Full House* opening.
	+ The song "Wait'll They Get a Load of Us" features several lines taken directly from previous Joker appearances.
* Joker references *Reservoir Dogs* (1992) when one of his goons shoots the other goon after their robbery stating "Dammit Garry, I said we're not doing the stupid *Reservoir Dogs*-thing".
	+ The scene is also a reference to the opening of *The Dark Knight*, where the Joker killed his accomplices after commiting a heist on a mob-controlled bank.
* Gordon calling Barbara a "Joe-Bro" is likely a reference to "Bernie-Bro" a term used for supporters of socialist politician and former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders.

## Gallery

*See also: All images from "Joker: The Killing Vote"*

Teaser imageJoker takes out his frustrationsThe Mayor diesJoker announces his mayoral campaignJoker as the new mayorJoker and his familyHarley and Ivy are shocked by what they see
### Video

The Joker Becomes A Father - Harley Quinn - HBO Max
## References

1. ↑ *"Wait'll They Get a Load of Us"...* Jefferson Friedman, *Twitter* (August 20, 2022).