Harley Quinn: Season 3

There were two or three things I liked, but my reaction was overwhelmingly negative, mostly due to the orgy. It made me cringe and stuff like that is the specific thing I hate about the show. It's the thing I hate about ALL the DC Universe / HBO Max shows.

I liked Ivy's telling Harley the total truth as the end. It was an honest emotional beat in an entirely cynical episode.

Joker being a dad is funny, especially because the psycho seems to be making a sincere effort there.

I also laughed at the joke that Gordon immediately could tell from the jaw and the broad shoulders that the guy in the owl mask was obviously... Bruce Wayne. What a great joke.

But really, this episode was bad. I couldn't stand it. *.

Some of it was good, some of it was not-so-good.

They psychiatric deconstructions the characters give each other are often interesting, but it's a well that's getting a bit dry at this point. I found most of these "insights" annoying, instead of insightful.

Bruce Wayne being Frank's kidnapper and the Big Bad is a great twist.

And I don't believe Diedrich Bader did his own singing in the Batman: The Brave And The Bold Music Meister episode. For good reason. His singing voice is awful. As as far as annoying psychiatric deconstructions go, Music Meister was easily the worst.

Matt Ryan as Constantine is DC throwing us the meagerest of bones. I have never heard the character called "Connie" before and now I can't unhear it.

Swamp Thing having a manbun is both obnoxious and par for the course for this show.

Selina's cats like King Shark. Hmmm. I wonder why.

Bruce naming the cats after his dead parents might not have been so bad if he had known that was what he was doing. Frankly, the "good, Christian names" excuse makes him sound like a lunatic.

I like Clayface describing Nora as going through what is called some s-word. More literate than that vulgar joke deserved, which is why it got a laugh from me.

It was mixed bag this week. ***.

Is this right? Is this the most interesting version of the Joker I've ever seen? We'll have to see how things go in the future, but right now they are NOT going down as I would have predicted.

I love Joker's frustration with Gary. The David bit was funny too.

Also the episode is getting a good grade just for hearing Christopher Meloni talking about crimes that are considered especially heinous. ****1/2.

The King Shark stuff started off okay, but it turned into a bummer by the end.

No DC continuity was ever made poorer for killing off its Mad Hatter.

I like Harley suggesting that it's not like Bruce Wayne is Superman. Because that would be nuts, right?

I'm a little iffy on Batgirl and Harley's supposed friendship. I have mixed feelings about it currently, and believe it would probably better to wait and see to reserve judgment.

Pretty good though. ***1/2.

Honestly? That was one of the best premises for a Batman story I have EVER seen. I think of "Almost Got 'Im" and "Legends Of The Dark Night", and that's pretty much it for high-concept premises as can't miss as this. And don't insult me with the ludicrous idea that "Over The Edge" qualifies as one of those. I'm not a tourist. Don't treat me like I am.

Why did this show suck for so long if it had THIS in it? Man.

The villains have the whole store the entire episode and don't even realize it. That's the irresistible hook. But Harley is going to keep the secret out of patient confidentiality. And it's because Bruce lives in that one memory that it's such an arduous process for Harley to even get THAT much, and the rest of the villains are already out of his head by that point. I love the idea that Batman's secret is protected when villains enter Bruce Wayne's mind, because Batman is not the thing that matters to Bruce. And the realization for why he wanted Frank says two extra things. First, Bruce is not the Big Bad of the season after all. Second, he is definitely crazy and delusional. I can't see why Harley got attached to him. She can relate to a person this damaged and wounded.

I love her making fun of the accent in the dream. I feel like one of the reasons Tara Strong is such a horrible Harley Quinn is because she can't do the accent. Hynden Walch can't do the accent either. Margot Robbie ESPECIALLY can't do it. Hell, Kaley Cuoco can't do it either (as she proved here). The only person who can do it is Arlene Sorkin. Why does every Harley actress save Cuoco ape the one thing about Harley they'll never get right? And them failing that specific thing makes Harley sound WRONG, no matter who is voicing her when they attempt it, and utterly fail at it. It's probably why Cuoco is the only other acceptable Harley besides Sorkin. Because she doesn't even TRY to do the part of Harley no-one but Sorkin can. I loved the joke about the accent for that reason. I felt it was a bit of a shot across the bow at Strong, Walch, and yeah, Robbie for having the nerve to try to mimic the only thing about the character Sorkin brought to it that cannot be replicated. And it's super frustrating.

I don't trust Dr. Psycho, but it's a decent place for him to end up. And we get a Frasier parody out of it too.

This is the best episode of the series so far. I ragged mercilessly on this show in season 1. I could almost say my judgment is now suspect, but I genuinely think Season 1 was bad. This show being awesome was an actual process here. *****.

I didn't love it, but I'll tell you what I liked. I liked that it poked an enormous hole in the entire conceit of Batman, (which is what I live for). But it's been 30 freaking years! Bruce should be over it by now, or at least talked to somebody about it to have properly processed it. Maybe the show is portraying Batman as secretly crazy because that's what somebody obsessing about this one thing for 30 years actually is.

Damian just doesn't give a crap about any of this, which just makes him the only incarnation of that character I don't actually loathe.

But the rest of the episode didn't impress me much. ***.

Okay, you can say a LOT of bad things about this show, but I believe it has hands-down the most interesting version of the Joker in ANY Batman continuity. Literally out of all of them. The shocking thing about the Joker is that his plans as Mayor are not just beneficial to Gotham. He actually believes in going after the 1 percenters and making the tax code fair. And it's not actually a put-on in hindsight with the show pulling the rug out from under us in the finale. Joker says people can be two things at once and actually means it.

Mark Hamill gives a better Joker performance than Alan Tudyk does. But I think Tudyk's Joker is far more interesting than the DCAU one.

Him knowing it's Lex behind the death warrant and being utterly pissed off because it's such a stupid, tiny small tax percentage for him, is interesting as hell. I'm sorry, it just is. The idea fascinates me.

How great is it that Joker has no idea Bruce Wayne is Batman, but has him arrested for tax fraud, no doubt flagged for his secret Batlife tech and vehicles? And Bruce can't exactly explain those discrepancies, can he? Messy as hell. Just the way I like it.

I am not on-board Harley deciding to be a hero yet. Because it's what I want. And I don't trust myself for wanting that. I don't believe I want that for the right reasons. I want that because heroes are easier protagonists for me to root for. And maybe it's not in this show's best interest to make that easy for me. I'm glad she's joining the Bat-Family, and think it's probably a big mistake at the same time.

Her scenes of therapy with Bruce were great. I think she actually cares about him. It's not just because of patient doctor privilege that holds her tongue. She cares about young Bruce Wayne in a way she never did Batman. It's not Batman's secret she's protecting. It's Bruce's.

If you gave me the fates of both Young Justice and this show, and said I could only keep one, this is the one I would have chosen. I'm not actually surprised things worked out the way they did there. *****.