Season 3 of the HBO Max cult phenomenon takes an unexpected Bat-turn.
When a sitcom really works, you start pre-laughing.
It was a wedding present for Poison Ivy (Lake Bell) and Kite Man (Matt Oberg).
Harley Quinn (Kaley Cuoco) and Poison Ivy (Lake Bell) on the ‘Harley Quinn’ animated series.HBO Max
But Ivy ran off with new girlfriend Harley (Kaley Cuoco) and the pasta maker was never returned.
“It’s gauche to keep the gift!!!”
insists Bane, with that voice that sounds like a frog sneezing a cannonball.
Harley Quinn.HBO Max
First, Bane tries to blow everybody up.
Then, he seeks counseling.
This isn’t a DC movie where two people kiss once in a three-hour running time.
“We’ve been doing a ton of f—ing!”
is how Harley sums up her first few weeks with Ivy.
But there’s also a low-key sweetnessandan edge of genuine provocation that goes beyond shock value.
Some of the oldest characters in comic books appear in a new light.
Now here comes another corporate ravaging, and I desperately hope the show continues to thrive.
(Hands off, Zaslav, no tax write-offs here!)
Season 3 took two years to arrive, and it’s generally great.
Watching this week’s episode, I realizedHarley Quinnwas my favorite current superhero TV series.
Then I got to the finale; we’ll discuss that later.
In the grand scheme, season 3 goes Full Ivy.
The plant-controlling super-scientist once yearned for a world reclaimed by the prehistoric flora.
It’s also a solution to a sacred sitcom problem.
The near-perfect second season accelerated HarlIvy’s will-they-or-won’t-they romance toward a blissfully queer happy ending.
Now they’re just a regular couple, with problems that are familiar even when they’re bonkers.
Harley and her progressive alien deathcore band are practicing too loudly when Ivy needs quiet laboratory time.
The ladies go to a party (the 83rd Annual Supervillain awards!)
where their exes awkwardly show up.
And it turns out Ivy never told Harley that she hooked up with Catwoman (Sanaa Lathan).
Living-together issues, ex issues, trust issues.
We could be watching any bleak-confessional FX relationship sitcom.
Previously, this version of Batman (Diedrich Bader) was a dick-ish Dark Knight joke.
The season moves in a different direction from there, with Bats taking a headline role.
(The eighth episode is titled, with no exaggeration, “Batman Begins Forever.")
There is, to put it mildly, a lot of comic book television these days.
Like, I recently watchedSandmanpainstakingly recreate a 33-year-old comic book issue as a multi-million dollar CGI-blasted TV episode.
It’s a fine recreation, but the original issue wasn’t a museum piece.
It was punk rock, dangerous new.
At best, that’s theHarley Quinnfeeling.
Consider the subplot about the Court of Owls, a whole big Gotham Illuminati mythology thing.
That table-flipping sensibility offers serious renegade appeal.
To be clear, I badly want more seasons.
(Stay away, Zaslav!
Go cancelPennyworthor something!)
Both subplots come from the same instinct, I think.
AsHarley Quinngets bigger, it becomes more recognizable as a certain kind of comic book story.
History is full of supervillains who became so real-world popular that they simplyhaveto become heroes.
Do we even need another (very good!)
story where a lot of characters worry about Bruce Wayne’s feelings?
I’ll take the progressive alien deathcore.Grade: B+
Related:
