Harley Quinn Pays Homage to The Dark Knight After Harley Bumps Into “Normal” Joker

Harley Quinn's latest episode, "Dye Hard," saw the titular character forced into a John McClane-type situation after a night out turns deadly. Now that Harley is back in Gotham after her recent bachelorette excursion to Themyscira, she decides to hit the bar and find someone to hook up with, hoping to forget about Ivy. Unfortunately, things go awry when she bumps into "Normal" Joker (who we like to refer to as Zaddy Joker). We recently learned that Joker survived the end of the first season and is now living his life as a normal bartender, unaware of his past life as the Clown Prince of Crime. While unexpectedly drinking at Normal Joker's bar, Harley and the bartender find themselves in a tight spot when some goons hold the place hostage.

While attempting to escape (naturally, through the air vent, Die Hard-style), Normal Joker gets Harley to open up to him about her feelings for Ivy. Normal Joker reveals that after meeting Harley in a previous episode, he had a dream about her, and Harley starts to realize he's having flashes of his former life. In fact, he's starting to have moments where the Joker pops out, and he even uses a pencil as a murder weapon in a similar way to Heath Ledger's Joker from in The Dark Knight. (This isn't the first time Harley Quinn's Joker channeled Heath.)

It's soon revealed that the Riddler is behind the bar attack and that the villain has teamed up with Doctor Psycho, who has turned on Harley and the crew. Unfortunately, between her former crew member's new plans and the parademons that are still roaming Gotham, Harley realizes she must make a tough choice. She decides the only way to save Gotham is to bring back the Justice League and only the Joker knows where they are. She tries to get the information out of Normal Joker, but he can't remember the details, so Harley is forced to push him into a vat of chemicals to turn him back, bringing their relationship full circle.

Recently, Harley Quinn showrunner Patrick Schumacker took to Twitter to brainstorm an idea for the show's third season but also confirmed that a new batch of episodes are not yet in the works. Musing on the series and current events, Schumacker tweeted: "Well, I think Harley Season 3* will open with Gothamites on a Zoom screaming obscenities at Commissioner Gordon and his fellow cops. *If we get a season 3."

What did you think of the latest episode of Harley Quinn? Tell us in the comments!

New episodes of Harley Quinn drop on Fridays.