After a trio of fairly self-contained episodes, “The Stress of Her Regard” feels like an episode of Batman: Caped Crusader streamlining its narratives; by the end of the half hour, most of its major players and narratives are all operating on the same wavelength, even as it seemingly bids farewell to one of its most intriguing central players. And though “The Stress of Her Regard” still feels remarkably light on having anything to say about its titular character, Caped Crusader‘s focused fifth episode is a very welcome step in the right direction.
As Caped Crusader‘s origin story for Harley Quinn, “The Stress of Her Regard” is mostly going to be remembered for its darker, more muted take on the disturbed psychologist; however, what really makes this episode shine is how it examines the existing relationships of Caped Crusader‘s central characters. At the core of this is Barbara, Harleen, and Renee, whose overlapping professional pursuits have blossomed into a shared friendship – when “The Stress of Her Regard” opens, the three are meeting for drinks and laughing, while hints of Harleen and Renee’s shy attraction to each other are bubbling to the surface.
These moments are so much of what the first four episodes have been missing; the meticulously straightforward narrative choices of Caped Crusader haven’t left a lot of room for atmosphere, and the scenes between the trio illuminate their friendship – just as it begins to dissolve in intriguing fashion, as Harley Quinn makes her public debut and Barbara starts to become suspicious about missing billionaires in Gotham.
Of course, the concept of missing billionaires is going to draw the attention of Batman, once again bringing him into contact with Barbara when an insane man insisting he was a pharaoh appears, turning both of their attention to Harleen and her increasingly absent list of patients. All in all, Barbara and Batman’s initial interactions are pretty standard, uninspired fare: a beleaguered Barbara watching her defeated father struggle against the corruption surrounding him, naturally is hesitant to work with someone who willingly breaks into houses, talks in a gruff voice, and isn’t afraid to leave a conversation in the middle of sentence.
However, them meeting under the same pretense outside a billionaire’s house (one Harley’s set up a dungeon to torture billionaires into donating all of their ill-gotten gains) is the moment where “The Stress of Her Regard” begins to turn. The two break into the mansion’s basement, discovering what Harleen’s been doing in most of her spare time – save for that exact moment, where she’s at a fancy dinner putting the moves on Renee Montoya.
This whole sequence, from Batman discovering the basement to Harley returning to save Barbara before the mansion self-destructs, is the best Batman: Caped Crusader‘s offered so far: grounded emotional stakes, some creative takes on iconic imagery (I will admit, I love Harley Quinn’s costume here) – and for the first time, a Batman fight scene that feels like Batman, as he uses the strengths of Harley’s brainwashed generals against themselves… until, of course, ego takes over, he slips, and ends up gassed in one of Harley’s chambers.
It’s a great bit of tension, Barbara banging on the glass while Batman, an entity she doesn’t particularly enjoy seeing, lies passed out in one of Harley’s cells (which… how did that all get set up in there? Did Hastings have a dungeon already, or did she get that built?… Questions for another day, I suppose). But when Harley reappears, abandoning all pretense and showing her face to Barbara to convince her to leave; when Barbara pushes her, she even gives up trying to kill Batman, releasing the lock on his door just moments before it plummets into the ocean (with him still inside, the first of two failed attempts by the ocean to claim a life in this episode).
In but a few minutes, Caped Crusader establishes a more focused, serious version of Harley to the Batman mythos – but one still grounded in her identity as Harleen Quinzel, in easily the most interesting new take on existing characters to date in this series. It’s not just a Harley Quinn with a bit more morality – DC Comics have done that take for years on the backs of her 2010s film appearances (and ‘wacky’ Max comedy, a series I really wish I found more pleasure in watching). Here, she’s a character trying to have it all; the benevolent psychologist, the devastatingly effective antihero, the best friend, the romantic interest. It’s a high wire act even the most talented performers couldn’t pull off, and ultimately, it’s her empathy for life that sells her out – that absence of all-out nihilism isn’t only new to her character, but new to Caped Crusader, and sets the stage for a much more interesting second half of the season.
“The Stress of Her Regard” is not a traditional “standout” episode – it still suffers, to varying degrees, with the show’s sometimes-thin characterizations and godawful walking animations (seriously – some of the animation in this is so bad, it feels like placeholder art). However, a renewed focus on its serialized storytelling and a much-improved second impression for Harleen Quinzel makes “The Stress of Her Regard” perhaps the first episode of the series I’d consider a ‘must watch’, a half hour I really hope provides a runaway for the second half of the season to follow.
Grade: B+
Other thoughts/observations:
- This episode gets off to a really odd start, with two individual vignettes only connected by the show’s (still great) title sequence.
- “Let’s roleplay?” “no.”
- Lot of mixed takes on Jamie Chung’s raspy Harley Quinn voice – I think it is exactly the tone for this series: dark, a bit self-serious, but with just a hint of complexity.
- The first act also features a botched attempt by Flass and Bullock to capture Batman
- There’s a Howard Schulz vibe to the executive complaining in Harleen’s office about his employees “wanting to unionize… I don’t deserve this!”
- So where did all those billions go exactly?
- I can’t get over the stiff walking animations and the fake newspaper text – it screams “cutting corners” in a way you wouldn’t expect from an Amazon production.
- “How many criminals do you have to catch until you feel better, Batman?”