Batman the Animated Series Episode 22 Joker's Favor

It’s time to take a look at Batman the Animated Series Episode 22 Joker’s Favor. This episode features a man who thanks to bad luck crosses paths with the Joker, and thus owes him a favor. This also is the first appearance of Harley Quinn in any medium. Batman the Animated Series Episode 22 Joker’s Favor first aired on FOX on September 11^th 1992.

Batman the Animated Series Episode 22 Joker’s Favor

You ever had one of those days. A day where nothing seems to go right, a day where you have to deal with any number of idiots in your jobs. When you get on the road, you want to drive home, just to relax, but you are about ready to be pushed, then some joker cuts you off in traffic. So you lose your mind and basically start cussing them out.

Now more often than not, that person is not going to care about someone on the road. However, what if that joker that cut you off was the Joker?

That’s what happens to accountant Charlie Collins who was having one of those days. If not for his sudden outburst, he would have made it home without the Joker chasing him down. The Joker goes right after him and then scares the absolute crap out of him. The Joker agrees to let him go with a warning, for one favor. A favor that the Joker has not decided what it is but he will and he takes the driver’s license of Charlie as identification.

So you do the obvious thing when a homicidal maniac who resembles a clown goes after you. You move your family away, you change your name. Yet the Joker if nothing else is obsessive and he’ll find you right now. With the not so subtle hint that he has henchmen watching your house all of the time and all it takes is one single word and your family is dead. When someone like the Joker makes you your hobby, that is a rather horrifying thing.

Obviously we have to mention this is the first appearance of any kind of Harley Quinn, the Joker’s girlfriend/mistress/henchwoman/punching bag/whatever. One of the most infamous female villains in comic books, this is the first time she’s appeared in any medium and while her character is not quite fine-tuned to what it would in fact be later but the foundation is rather there. With a new villain, I’d normally go a bit into their backstory, but given that she’s an original character invented for this cartoon series, Harley Quinn’s backstory is more than well explained.

The favor as it turned out, is to hold a door open, while Harley Quinn, in disguise, wheels in a cake. Charlie, tries to find a way to let Batman know of the Joker’s plot. And what is the Joker’s plot? To blow up Commissioner Gordon and the Gotham City Police Department, after gassing them. He also promises to send Charlie home when he performs the favor. The key thing is that the Joker never technically said alive. So he glues Charlie’s hands to the door and leaves to allow the bomb, which is disguised as Gordon’s medal to tick down.

Batman naturally saves the day, and disposes of the bomb, before freeing Charlie. Joker knowing that the explosion came from outside, realizes that there is a Batman in his Belfry. So we had a pretty decent fight with the Joker and Batman, which Joker decides to slip away, running off to fight another day, but he runs into Charlie Collins, who appears to have finally snapped, and threatens to blow the Joker up with another one of his bombs.

It is a fake but not before Joker essentially freaks out, begging for Batman to saving. And Batman is amused by the situation. Batman rarely laughs but obviously even he can find some humor in the situation with the Joker being freaked out by this guy that he stalked for two years and this blowing up in his face. 

I enjoyed this episode all and all. 8.5/10 rating for this episode. You can Watch Batman the Animated Series Episode 22 Joker’s Favor on Batman the Animated Series DVD Volume 1 and also Batman the Animated Series the complete collection.