Showing the DC criminal underground in a darkly hilarious and blood-soaked new way, DC Universe’s Harley Quinn quickly became something new and unique for DC Comics. Right from the first episode, viewers were immediately introduced to a style and tone so perfectly fitting for Harley Quinn as she strikes out on her own after cutting ties with Joker. With her heart-warming gal-pal relationship with Poison Ivy, her building up a crew of her own with Gotham’s lesser known zeroes, and discovering and reconciling with her own personal struggles, the first season was as battily hilarious an experience as it was heartwarming.
With the first season literally just ending in February, it was shocking to hear that the next season was just a couple months away. Now that April has finally come, it’s time to see what Harley and her crew have been up to since the season finale that left Gotham in ruins as her final battle with Joker created an apocalyptic setting that sends the series in a new direction.
With Gotham in disarray, the Justice League and the Legion of Doom being taken out, and Batman nowhere to be found, Harley (Kaley Cucuo, The Big Bang Theory) is truly in her fantasy land as anarchy and violence consuming the city. Hell, it’s so bad that even the President declares Gotham a lost cause and says that they’re no longer supporting the city, meaning they’re truly on their own. This news frankly couldn’t make Harley happier. We first see her roaming around the carnage occurring in Gotham with her trusty hyenas and hanging with her crew. Ivy (Lake Bell, In A World…) is skeptical that this sense of freedom will continue to last as a new regime is on the rise. Harley doesn’t listen to her, as usual, and ends up in the hands of the Injustice League as they look to take her out and divvy up Gotham for themselves.
Just like it did in the first episode last season, the second season premiere holds nothing back in letting Harley run wild and letting the bodies hit the floor. The streets of Gotham are an absolute bloodbath with a guy seeing his dismembered arms being used for an onslaught of fights occurring around him and bloody knife-fights on every corner. It’s literally Harley’s fantasy vision of Gotham come to life and there’s something so gleefully destructive and gruesome about it that it’s hard not to smile as a fan. Gotham’s literally turned into a villain’s playground and some of Gotham’s worst are making good use of it.
With every big player, both good and bad, seemingly gone from Gotham, it’s a prime opportunity for Harley and her crew to take control. However, due to Harley’s lack of focus and an overabundance of goons, there’s too many obstacles in her way to take control. So, there’s a great moment of Harley rallying the goons, which some prefer to be identified as a hench, against some of Batman’s most well-known foes and becoming knock-off versions of their original bosses. From Two-Face’s (Andy Daly, Review) finely dressed goons turning on him in the middle of robbing a bank to one of Riddler’s (Jim Rash, Community) goons interrupting his broadcast, it was a glorious sequence full of hilarity that also sets up the main plot thread of this season.
Just like things always seem to backfire against Harley, her actions in rallying the goons of Gotham end up creating a new opposition in the Injustice League. Made up of Two-Face, Riddler, Bane (James Adomian, Comedy Bang! Bang!), The Penguin (Wayne Knight, Seinfeld), and a new face to the series in Mr. Freeze (Alfred Molina, Spider-Man 2), the Injustice League is only looking to give her the smallest piece of the pie and end up betraying her anyway. There is a sequence in this episode where Freeze freezes Harley and each villain comes up to her in a beautifully haunting shot as they say their peace. It’s a perfect set-up for what’s going to be a wild ride as Harley looks to take each of them down and her and her crew already get to work with the premiere.
Seeing the entire crew again is an absolute treat and it’s like reuniting with best friends. Even better is how Harley and her crew are still working out their kinks, and there’s a nice moment of her crew realizing how her guidance and leadership really matters. Overall, their return doesn’t disappoint, and their rescue of Harley from Penguin leads to some gruesome hilarity and a genuinely surprising and gory death. We also catch up with one of my favorite characters of the series – drunk Commissioner Gordon (Christopher Meloni, Law & Order: SVU). He’s easily my favorite depiction of the character because of how damn ridiculous he is. Hearing him constantly remind himself that he’s a damn good cop throughout the episode is great, and there’s even a great interaction between him and Robin (Jacob Tremblay, Good Boys), who’s dressed in an oversized Batman costume since Batman’s gone, and his desire for a good old-fashioned bromance with Batman still puts a smile on my face.
The true scene stealer is still Bane for me though, as everyone’s continued dismissiveness of him and his blubbering lines are just fantastic. It’s almost a shame that him and Harley have to be on opposite sides because he’s just so damn lovable that it’s hard not to hate him. Every time he enters a scene, he never disappoints and continues to deliver lines in a blissfully ignorant fashion – and it’s an absolute treat. While it’s a little disappointing that other great supporting characters like Frank the Plant (J.B. Smoove, Curb Your Enthusiasm) and Kite-Man (Matt Oberg, Veep) seem to be put on the bench here, I’m sure their time in the limelight will come soon enough and I can’t wait to see what they bring.
The second season premiere of Harley Quinn continues the momentum of the first in delivering the kind of batty bloodbath fans have come to know and love while setting up a main plot that’s going to be a lot of fun to watch. So, as Harley and her crew look to take down the Injustice League every week, I’ll be waiting to see what unfolds for one of DC’s best pieces of content to date.
