Wow.

I should not have watched as much of this as I did with the boys around…

SPOILER WARNING:

The Premise: Harley Quinn, the once famous sidekick of the Joker, has decided she’s had enough mistreatment and lying. It’s time for her to strike out on her own, to make a name for herself, to finally stand on her own two feet as a villain in her own right.

The only problem?

She has no idea how to do that.

Lots of swearing, blood, and antics follow as this show twists the DC Universe around Harley’s warped mind, feeling like both it’s own thing and the best of Adult Swim.

What Worked For Me: Did I mention the blood, swearing, and antics?

Backstory: Harley Quinn was a character who started annoying me a few years ago. While it was cool the sidekick of The Joker, a character popularized by Bruce Timm and Ed Radomski’s “Batman: The Animated Series”, was getting her time in the limelight, I was more excited about the attention it would bring to comics in general. She hit that mainstream appeal, connecting with girls and women with her cooky attitude alongside her multi-colored hair streaks.

Basically, she was what Deadpool was to adolescent males in the early 2010’s only more recently. And,  like Deadpool, she went from awesome to annoying fairly quickly as she was suddenly EVERYWHERE in the worst ways. That’s right. I’m looking at you, photoshopped Tumblr GIFs.

So, I wasn’t excited for this show.

And then I watched it.

And then I took back and apologized for every negative thought I might have had about it. The show is so smart, so fast, and so witty, it’s hard to keep pace with the jokes. (Get it? Ha. Ha.)

Poison Ivy, voiced by the deadpan-delivery of Lake Bell, is a standout for me. It’s not what she says on the surface, but the little off-handed remarks, or the way her voice goes high when she sucks up to Mrs. Cobblepot at a Bar Mitzvah only to go back to her low, droning tone, that really make me chuckle.

Speaking of voices, Alan Tudyk is a freaking voice acting all-star god and will soon be respected as such because he voices a trillion characters on this show (including The Joker) and it’s great.

What Didn’t Work For Me: Nothing so far.

At least, nothing I’m not aware of and dealing with.

My brain works on comic book logic, where the rules and history have clearly established scenarios for me to call back to. I constantly remind myself this is a zany, irreverent show with little to no rules so things don’t always have to line up perfectly.

It’s okay for Harley to beat everyone while she keeps on surviving. It’s okay for Poison Ivy to come back to life as she and Harley take down The Joker.

Let it go. In the long run, it doesn’t matter.

Final Rating: 4 out of 5.

While put off by the premise at first, the creative team has assembled an amazing voice crew, quickfire comedy with a seemingly free license to mess with the DC Universe proper and make them, well, UN-proper.

Thanks for reading,

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