2x07 There's No Place to Go But Down

[7.7/10] Holy hell, I was not expecting the show to pull the trigger on Harley/Ivy, especially not like this. But I don’t mind it either! There’s a certain soap opera quality to it, with the best friends only discovering (or more charitably, admitting) their feelings for one another while Ivy is in the crest of an engagement. But it also makes sense.

Harley and Ivy have been there for one another. They’ve helped each other get through the worst stretches. They’ve come through when it matters. It’s not hard to see how that could bloom (if you’ll pardon the pun) into something more like romance than friendship. I’ve loved the friendship of these two crazy kids to date, but I don’t mind their relationship blossoming into something more.

I especially appreciate the show contrasting Harley’s contented and consented plummet into the pit for Ivy with her devastated and unwilling plummet into the sea for Joker last season. In the latter situation, she’s been forced to risk her life, against her will, by someone who doesn’t care for her, so he can save his own skin. Here, she willingly chooses to sacrifice herself for Harley, because she cares about her friend’s happiness, and how much Ivy has to lose, so much so that she’ll gladly give her life to preserve it. It’s a sign of how far Harley’s come, how close her and Ivy’s relationship is, and how, in the throes of mortal conflict, some wild epiphanies can come out.

It’s worth noting that Ivy saves Harley right back. Unlike Joker, who went on his merry way and didn’t even bother to bust Harley out of prison when she took the fall for him, Ivy is there for Harley when it counts. In truth, Ivy being able to just bungee right back down and rescue Harley from Bane’s fiery drag is a little cheap, and undermines Harley’s sacrifice a bit, but I’m willing to let it slide on the strength of the emotional logic of the moment, even if it suffers on the, you know, actual logic front.

The meat and potatoes of the episode is good, even apart from that heartrending and mildly shocking ending. The premise of Harley and Ivy being sentenced by “Judge” Bane to life sentences in The Pit, which he’s turned into a rehabilitation center, is a recipe for comedy. Bane’s magnanimous approach to penance and Harley and Ivy’s elaborate plans to escape are both great fodder for humor. Bane has been a real boon for this show, with his devotion to art and talent, and being stickler for well-made beds all bringing the laughs here.

I also appreciate how Harley’s attempt to start a riot through insult comedy transitions into Ivy doing some more personal, confessional stand-up that ultimately wins the crowd over (and starts a riot). The idea of crawling out of an emotional pit, with the help of people like Harley, helps justify the big romantic move later, and it’s nice to see closed off Ivy so open in a public setting. The fact that it means Bane’s rehabilitation program is inadvertently working is the icing on the cake. Really, the only strike in this portion of the episode is the inclusion of unfunny George Lopez, but he’s thankfully a minor part of the proceedings.

The B-story sees Jim Gordon and Batgirl teaming up, as promised in “Batman’s Back, Man.” There’s more drama here than solid laughs for me. Here’s where I admit that I don’t find the Commissioner Gordon character that funny. Chris Meloni is giving his all, so I can't fault him. I don’t know. There’s just something a little stock about the archetype that fails to get a lot of chuckles out of me outside of the Clayface’s hand episode.

Still, I appreciate Barbara trying to get him to quit drinking. I appreciate her coming out as Batgirl to him, with the pip that he was her inspiration. And I appreciate that it’s enough to inspire Jim to give up the booze and get back into fighting trim. The show plays much of it as goofy and exaggerated, like you’d expect. But there’s a wholesome core to the commish being renewed through his daughter’s faith in him, kicking the bottle, and taking charge once more.

Overall, this is a milestone episode for the show, one that advances the Harley/Ivy relationship in an unexpected but natural way, brings the Bane-based laughs, and even develops Jim Gordon in a way that's goofily inspiring.