If you haven’t seen the first season of “Harley Quinn,” stop reading this review. Either go watch the show and come back or continue on with your everyday life in our shared dystopian nightmare.
To those that have seen season one, the second season should be a highly anticipated addition to the show’s current roster of unceasing dark humor, impressive voice talent, shameless violence and surprisingly expressive animation.
Picking up where last season left off, with Gotham City in ruins following the Joker’s apparent defeat, this season follows Harley, voiced by a surprisingly dynamic Kaley Cuoco, finally taking charge of her identity as a solo villain with her finger on the pulse of evil. Alongside her is her trusty team of loveable morons: Dr. Psycho (Tony Hale), King Shark (Ron Funches) and Clayface (Alan Tudyk). Together they struggle to take control of the apocalyptic “New New Gotham” from a mob of iconic supervillains who have joined forces: The Penguin (Wayne Knight), Mr. Freeze (Alfred Molina), Bane (James Adomian) and Two Face (Andy Daly). This runs parallel to the main conflict, being Harley’s best friend, Poison Ivy (Lake Bell), who struggles to reconcile her growing relationship with Z-list supervillain Kite Man (Matt Oberg), her newfound emotional vulnerability, and her identity as an eco-warrior.
This season grapples with some interesting concepts and complex emotional beats, and while there certainly are some muddled executions, there are more than enough laughs, killer fight scenes, loving homages to the DC Universe canon and interesting character turns to keep fans invested. Harley, for instance, starts on the next part of her journey as both a supervillain and as a person. Now fully done with the Joker, and thank God they stick to that, she has to come to terms with the damage their relationship has left her with and the fact that she doesn’t have any way to recognize real love. This is a running theme of the season which ends up impacting her relationships with other people, particularly Poison Ivy, as she learns what it means to care about someone and to have someone care about her. No spoilers, but let’s say that what the writers decided on in this case is a mix of sweet, deconstructionist but ends up rushed, probably due to them being unsure of whether or not they would be getting a third season.
The world and lore of the show also undergoes a large expansion, with new locations including the Amazon island of Themyscira, a Bane-run prison pit in the desert, and a visit to the planet Apokolips to meet with none other than Darkseid, who, like all iterations off classic characters in this show, is incredibly funny. A whole episode is also devoted to this series’ version of Harley’s origins as a doctor in Arkham Asylum and serves as one of the season’s standouts, showcasing where her relationships with both the Joker and Poison Ivy began.
If you were a fan of the first season, you’ll likely be a fan of this season. Though there are certain details left unironed, the themes, jokes\ and characters of “Harley Quinn” stand strong and provide a worthy addition to the DC animated canon.
Image from Gamespot Universe Trailers via YouTube
