Harley Quinn’s central love triangle in its first two seasons took place between the title character, Kite Man and Poison Ivy. Ivy, ostensibly in love with Kite Man, finds herself drawn to her jocular partner in crime and – in one of the show’s most gloriously funny moments – stands him up at the altar to run off with Harley. Whether their love holds up in season 3 has yet to be seen, though rumors suggest otherwise. In any case, the love triangle signaled that Harley had finally put the ghosts of her abusive relationship with the Joker to rest, and was ready to seek happiness with someone else.
Theirs wasn’t the only love triangle on the show, however. The oft-explored obsession between Batman and the Joker becomes a major story arc too, along with an unexpected third party that turns their dynamic into something unique. Commissioner Gordon, at least as he appears on Harley Quinn, can’t stop obsessing about the Dark Knight, and in the process creates a second triangle as intense as the first, and a lot more dysfunctional.
Batman and the Joker have always had some manner of pathological attraction to each other. The Joker may come closer to loving Batman than any other being on Earth. That idea recurs across multiple comics like Batman and Joker: Endgame ,which features the Clown Prince of Crime confessing his love. The Dark Knight Returns famously reflected that moment as well, as did Jack Nicholson’s version of the character in 1989’s Batman. Mark Hamill’s legendary rendition is similar, to the point where in Batman: The Animated Series Season 1, Episode 49, “the Man Who Killed Batman,” he dumps a hapless criminal lackey in a vat of acid after believing the man accidently murdered the Dark Knight.
Harley’s Joker is similarly obsessed. He can’t bring himself to kill Bruce, even when he takes over Gotham in Harley Quinn Season 1, Episode 13, “The Final Joke.” He keeps his nemesis alive to torment him, and even murders the Scarecrow for revealing Bruce Wayne’s identity to him. Batman, for his part, isn’t quite so obsessed, but the Clown Prince of Crime certainly occupies a fair percentage of his head space. Each needs the other in some sick way, and while Batman can’t admit it, he greatest foe is never too far from his thoughts.
Jim Gordon becomes a supremely awkward third wheel in Harley Quinn. The show plays Gotham’s Commissioner as a man on the verge of complete mental collapse, with the daily stressors of keeping DC’s most crime-ridden city under control turning him into a bundle of raw nerves. He fixates on Batman as his most emotionally stable relationship, which speaks volumes about his personal life. In Season 1, Episode 6, “You’re a Damn Good Cop Jim Gordon,” a perceived slight from Batman sends him into a spiral of depression, to the point where he bonds with Clayface’s disembodied hand in order to distance himself. Harley induces Batman to patch things up after he admits that Gordon means a lot to him.
The push and pull between the three of them – Gordon, Wayne and the Joker – stays constant. Gordon’s neediness is filled when he and Batman are fighting crime together, which periodically requires focusing on the Joker. Mr. J, in turn would far rather face Bruce alone the way they always have rather than pause to acknowledge an interloper in their eternal dance.
Bruce, Gordon and The Joker spend exponentially more time dealing with each other than they do anyone else. The Joker, at least, makes no pretense of wanting anything else, leaving the two heroes to continue in denial about how much they’re all bound to each other. It’s not quite romantic – not in any healthy way, at least – but it’s definitely far more emotional than any of them will admit. That makes it one more piece of the show’s subversive streak. Harley and Ivy – both ostensible villains – are far healthier in their relationship than the heroes will ever be in theirs.