Welcome to Adventure(s) Time's 141st installment, a look at animated heroes of the past. This week, two stories from the world of Batman: The Animated Series that hint at a softer side of the thorny villain known as Poison Ivy. And if you have any suggestions for the future, let me hear them. Just contact me on Twitter.

May 2, 1994, saw the debut of "House and Garden," from writer Paul Dini and director Boyd Kirkland. The setup is an intriguing one -- wealthy bachelors are being poisoned and robbed across Gotham, which leads Batman to naturally assume Poison Ivy is on the loose. But Batman quickly discovers his prime suspect has convincingly reformed, having married her Arkham psychiatrist, Steven Carlyle, and becoming the stepmother of his two boys, Chris and Kelly. Ivy -- who insists Batman refer to her as "Mrs. Carlyle" now -- explains her hyper-immunity has prevented her from having children, but with this second chance and new family, she now feels like a whole person.

RELATED: Batman: How the DCAU Animated Series Lived On in Comics

The premise is as sharp as you'd expect from one of Dini's episodes. Not only is there an intriguing mystery for Batman to unravel, but he's put in a position where he has to do more than terrorize back alley criminals after midnight. In a rare move for the show, we see Batman travel around in the daylight, parking the Batmobile in front of a modest suburban home and slinking his way through Ivy's new neighborhood. The score is less gothic this time, creating notes that fit the perfect sitcom world of Ivy's new life, while also hinting at something dark underneath. And when the true horror of Ivy's home is revealed, the score evokes something reminiscent of a Hitchcock film.

The episode also utilizes the lax attitude Batman exhibited towards episode-to-episode continuity. We're told Ivy left Arkham Asylum six months ago, enough time for her to marry and adopt a new life. Some Batman episodes might take place only a few hours apart from each other, while others might have months-long gaps. As long as there are no outright contradictions, the show plays fair with the audience, leaving only the most hardcore of continuity purists to work out a specific timeline of episodes.

While Batman investigates Ivy's shockingly domestic new existence, a mysterious creature continues to stalk Gotham's elite. Bruce Wayne is the next target, as his ward Dick Grayson is kidnapped for ransom. From there, we discover the monster targeting Gotham bachelors is a twisted plant creature, one that's grown in the hidden compartment of Ivy's greenhouse.

RELATED: Batman: The Animated Series Almost Had a Catwoman Spin-Off - Here's Why It Didn't Happen

The real Steven Carlyle is being kept as a DNA farm, while Ivy uses her horticultural skills to create plant clones. Their accelerated life cycle goes from little boy (Chris and Kelly) to adult clone of Dr. Carlyle, to mutated monster with spiky hair. Ivy insists she did want the traditional domestic life -- she just had to create it on her own terms.

The battle with Ivy and her plant monster concludes with the revelation that the Ivy who's shown up for the climax (garbed in her traditional costume and spouting some of her classic villain patter) was in actuality a plant clone herself.

RELATED: 5 Classic Superhero Games Overdue For A Remaster

The true Ivy is slipping away on a private plane, but she isn't exactly rubbing her hands and cackling over her escape. We see her poring through her photo album, lingering over her wedding portrait, dropping tears down on it. An accompanying voiceover from Batman has him explaining to Robin that he believes she wasn't lying -- Ivy was happy for once in her life with this family, regardless of how they were created.

Interestingly, there's another Ivy story years later that also teases us with the idea of her earning parole and starting a new life. 2017's Batman and Harley Quinn #2 was a digital release many fans don't know about, created to promote the DTV Batman and Harley Quinn film. (The first animated DCAU project in years and the return of the 1997 New Batman Adventures redesigns.) Set after the movie, writer Jeff Parker and artist Luciano Vecchio present "A New Leaf," a story of Ivy again adjusting to life in Arkham.

RELATED: An Unmade Batman: The Animated Series Movie Almost Gave Bruce Wayne a New Love Interest

Only hours after returning, Ivy manipulates a naïve young guard into freeing her, a scheme foiled by Batman at just the right moment. Rather than returning Ivy to her cell, Batman takes her on a tour of the facilities. They discuss her fellow inmates, as Batman attempts to convince Ivy she's only in Arkham because no other facility will hold her. Ivy counters that she belongs with these other misfits.

Luciano Vecchio does a fantastic job on this story, rendering some of the best renditions of the New Adventures designs ever. Truthfully, the redesigned Ivy never looked this good in the cartoon. And the brief confrontation between Ivy and Clayface has more visual flair than probably any moment from the Batman and Harley Quinn film.

RELATED: Batman: What Really Happened in the Animated Series' Lost Years?

After touring the halls, Batman leads Ivy to Arkham's rooftop garden. Even though he just witnessed her escape, he affirms that he has faith she can reform. He even tells Ivy that he'll work to have her cell moved to the roof...she can enjoy her plants and the open air while being isolated from any of the inept guards who keep letting her out. He points out that she easily could've made another escape attempt on the roof, but chose not to. The concluding moment has Batman telling Ivy to stick close to the reformed Harley Quinn...but not to tell her he said that.

DESIGN-Y

The monster of "House and Garden" is one of the strangest designs in the show's run. Rather than going for the typical retro-look, the corrupted Dr. Carlyle looks like he could've been a '90s Go-Gurt mascot.

CONTINUITY NOTES

A later story in the final Batman Adventures volume from writers Ty Templeton and Dan Slott reveals that after this episode, Pamela Isley adopted a new life in the Louisiana bayou with Dr. Alec Holland -- not yet Swamp Thing in this continuity. The green Poison Ivy of the New Adventures episodes was just another duplicate she left behind in Gotham.

HEY, I KNOW THAT VOICE

One of Dick Grayson's classmates, the girl flirting with him in his dorm room, is voiced by a pre-Will & Grace Megan Mullally. And animation veteran Jim Cummings voices Ivy's monster. Cummings has voiced everyone from Darkwing Duck to Winnie the Pooh to the Savage Dragon!

RELATED: Batman: The Animated Series Already Has a Perfect Blueprint to Return

APPROVED BY BROADCAST STANDARDS & PRACTICES

Ivy explains that Dr. Carlyle provided "certain raw materials" needed to create her family, which has certain implications the censors surely hoped kids didn't pick up on.

"GOOD LUCK...MRS. CARLYLE"

The traditional idea behind Poison Ivy is that she's the equivalent of a poisonous flower -- a beautiful façade that hides something deadly underneath. She's the classic femme fatale from the pulps with a green gimmick attached. For many, she wasn't a classic villain until reinvented by this series. Dini's earlier work emphasized the eco-terrorist angle, while also reminding the audience of her genuine contempt for all mankind. "House and Garden" adds another wrinkle, teasing the idea that perhaps she secretly wants a quiet life amongst the humanity she despises. The story naturally has to have a twist, but by the end, we're not so certain Ivy is as heartless as she might've seemed.

"A New Leaf" also hints at the idea of Ivy reforming, emphasizing that even Batman sees something in her he doesn't see in the other members of his rogues gallery. And, while the story is impressively rendered with some nice moments...it's hard to square this with the Ivy we've seen in the past. Considering the tragic origins devised for villains like Clayface and Mr. Freeze, and comparing this to Ivy's heartlessness and scant backstory, it's odd to see Ivy treated with such regard by Batman. "House and Garden" evokes sympathy by revealing Ivy's deepest desire, but makes clear she is absolutely ruthless when pursuing her goals.

RELATED: Batman: The Animated Series Gave Harley Quinn Her Birds of Prey Story Before the Movie

Returning to the concept twenty-three years later, after numerous Ivy stories in numerous continuities have done little to make her sympathetic, is a harder pill to swallow. Perhaps Batman is understanding of Ivy's hopeless desire to create a family -- a recurring theme with the hero himself -- but surely he isn't as naïve as this story suggests. If anything, given DC's adamancy that Harley should be an anti-hero, if not an outright hero, Ivy should probably be pushed even more into the role of villain. She's the voice tempting Harley to go the wrong way, while Batman is nudging her towards the boring, non-criminal path. If we're told both have unrevealed depths and the potential for good (told this by Batman himself!) isn't this removing two perfectly fine villains from the Dark Knight's rogues gallery?

KEEP READING: How Batman: The Animated Series Influenced the Comics, for the Better