“Are you seriously telling me that I’m going to die because I became A BETTER PERSON?!?”

[resnullius_bells]

I think one of my favorite things about the show is that Harley is still very much in Camp Villain. Lately all the stories I had read with her were all taking her down the anti-heroine road; and it’s not that I can’t enjoy that, but some of them were going so far the “anti” part felt unearned xD. There’s obviously still some of this in the show, given how often she has to fight against villains, of course, but I’d very much like to see Harley try to take control of Gotham in s2.

I really enjoyed Harley’s characterization, too. She was her quirky, obsessive, violent, self-centered self, and dealing with all of those traits made it more touching when she started valuing her crew more. Those episodes were my faves in the season, especially the one where she fell for the Joker’s tricks again (it was a necessary step in her journey and I’m glad they knew they had to take it, instead of trying to frame her as completely “over him”). And the one with her parents; I wasn’t surprised at how it developed because her father reminded me SO MUCH to the Joker lol, but that didn’t take the fun out of it, IMO.

Another part of the show I really liked was Ivy. I love how misanthropic she is, I love her classy expensive taste, I love how powerful she is, I love that she apologized for fighting the evil fairy tale plants, I love everything. And I LOVE her design, too, it’s my favorite in the show by far (I… do not like Harley’s look). Especially in the final episodes; giant!Ivy and all of those vines were good looks on her :P (if there’s not Harlivy porn with giant!Ivy I’ll be so, so disappointed in fandom LMAO). One of my fave moments in the season was when Harley’s crew immediately accepted working again with her only to save Ivy, d’aw.

I want to see her be more of an aggressive eco-terrorist in future seasons, though xD. And I’m bored by her plot with Kite Man -it’s kind of cute seeing her enjoy herself a little, but he’s so… below her. I’m never a huge fan of the “normal dude is attractive to powerful ladies BECAUSE he’s so normal” trope.

I’ve read some things from the directing team that make me feel optimistic about Harlivy becoming romantic on the show, maybe even next season (which I think starts on April? Seems I caught up with it just in time. Though knowing me, maybe I’ll still wait until s2 is over to watch it). I hope they get to go there, since it’s one of my major OTPs. So far the show hasn’t had that moment where they “clicked” as a ship for me (Harley’s desperate scream when she thought Ivy died came closest), but I’d appreciate if they became canon on principle, anyway. One thing I’d love for the show to include is some flashbacks between Ivy and Dr. Harleen Quinzel, since they’ve established she helped her back then.

The Joker as an antagonist worked surprisingly well for me too. I have to say he’s never been my cup of tea; he’s better written sometimes than others and I’m thankful when that happens, but overall, I consider him a tired, repetitive, and predictable villain lacking anything resembling an inner life. So yeah, not a fan LOL. But as Harley’s foil and monster in this show he is perfect; even his obsession with Batman didn’t make me roll my eyes this time, and I even enjoyed Joker’s reaction to Batman’s identity reveal (I think theirs might be the one hero/villain ship that I can never ever ever ever enjoy, even a little bit xD. Jury’s out as to why, though I have a few ideas). I’m even curious about where s2 will take him, now that he’s supposedly “normal” (IDK if that’ll be truth; the wristwatch he used to blow up the building reminded me of the one Harley had, with a force field? Which might’ve been able to protect him from the virus).

But basically, yeah, I liked how he was portrayed in the show, and his relationship with Harley in it. My fave moments with them were in the “getting back together” episode that I mentioned above, like when Harley fell for it despite her initial goal having been playing him into getting what she wanted for her crew. Another great moment was when they both stabbed each other in the finale xDD, or the reasoning behind his plan to get rid of her.

The guest appearances of random DC characters (best. Aquaman. Ever. And I liked the Legion of Dildos characters, especially Bane. And, ofc, Batman & co’s appearances. Now if the show ever gave me Catwoman or Red Hood, I’d love it forever and ever), and the random pop culture references (Doctor Psycho’s love for Ghost being my fave one. Seconded by Clayface appropriating Captain Kirk’s speech for Ivy’s funeral LMAO) were really well done. And it did a good job when it came to pulling off some really WTF moments, like the Harley Highway xD, which had an amazing and hilarious design. A+.

So to sum it all up: I really liked the show, for the most part (some episodes, especially at the beginning, weren’t as funny, but overall is a pretty solid season). Some of my hopes for s2 are Harley trying to rule the city (whether she succeeds or not is less important to me than the scheme itself LOL), romantic!Harlivy (or at least a clear buildup to it), and seeing how they write a supposedly “normal” Joker. Oh, and I kind of want Batman to be presumed dead for a while. That could be interesting.

I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again: every episode needs to be a twins-centric episode. Yeah, I know they can’t all be that, Hope is the protagonist, it’s an ensemble, blah blah blah. But c’mon. It’s clear who’s moved the plot here from the very beginning, okay? LOL.

Josie’s actress is a little green, IMO, so not all the dark!Josie moments landed, but I really like her physicality towards Lizzie (the tender face-touching when she said “our birthday” was super super creepy. I loved it). I’m looking forward to next episode, where we’ll get to see her (apparently fairy-tale themed. Perfect. Especially Josie casting herself as Snow White, and Hope as Little Red Riding Hood) mind prison, especially since now Josie believes she killed Lizzie and… I don’t see that sitting well for her, once she’s snapped out of her black magic high.

Lizzie was the absolute star of the episode, however. Nothing new. The actress has a comedic timing a lot of more experienced professionals wish they had, IMO. And all her lines were gold, especially the one I put in the title of the post (and it’s continuation: “SCREW personal growth! I’m looking out for number one! Fuck the Merge!” LMAO).

I don’t always like Hope/Lizzie or Hope/Josie all by themselves, but generally speaking, the way the show writes them as a “triangle” does it for me, and it did it again this episode. I loved that Hope was explicitly not enough to bring back the “real” Josie, for example. Or how consistent the fact that Hope prefers Lizzie, against all logic, remains, confirming Josie’s s1 fears about everyone choosing Lizzie over her (the fact that Alaric dived for Lizzie when the fake Merge was over wasn’t lost on me either LOL).

The few notes about the episode that rubbed me the wrong way were, of course, the MG/Lizzie kiss (at least it seemed more of a pity kiss than anything that will start something between them, but I hate that Lizzie felt obligated to give him even that much), and Alyssa’s apparent death. I guessed the Necromancer would bring her back and he did, but now I want confirmation that she’ll be alright. Same for Rafael. And even for Chad, who I liked since his introduction (I want more Chad/Necromancer moments too. I just love that a villain of the Necromancer kind imprinted on this random conspiranoic himbo LOL).

So. How's everyone doing these days? I spend my days studying for class, writing and reading and catching up with tv and films a lot less than I'd like, and eagerly awaiting for my turn to do any of the chores that'll get me out of the house xDD. Are there any friend or prompt memes around tumblr you recommend? Or music, books, videos... basically, I'm bored, I have the shortest attention span in existence, and I need ALL the distractions. For each one I'll offer one back, even :P

Comments

[wheatear]

Enjoyed reading your thoughts on the Harley Quinn show! Yeah, the episode where Harley lapsed and returned to the Joker was probably my favourite too and I thought the Joker worked very well as the main antagonist. Basically everything that worked for you about the show also worked for me.

I can see Harley and Ivy turning romantic in future as well. I didn't realize the next season is starting in April. That's really soon!

[resnullius_bells]

I really enjoyed it, overall, and part of the reason I gave it a try was your recommendation, so thank you ^^

Yeah, it apparently comes back next Friday? Reading the date gave me whiplash, like -but I just finished this?? LOL.

[wheatear]

Aw, you're welcome! Next Friday, my god. Something to look forward to!