Harley Quinn season 1, episode 2 review: A High Bar

The second episode of DC’s Harley Quinn was a decent follow-up to the mature animated series’ pilot.

Harley Quinn follows up its strong series premiere with another off-the-wall adventure in “A High Bar”. Spoilers for the second episode will follow.

The Joke’s on You

“A High Bar”, opens with Bane (James Adomian) and Scarecrow (Rahul Kohli) at the Legion of Doom H.Q. discussing The Joker (Alan Tudyk) and his relationship with Harley Quinn (Kaley Cuoco). As both enemies of The Batman have a chat, The Joker himself comes right over. Bane and Scarecrow briefly chat about how things went over the break up. Joker, though, is apparently not bothered, but his deranged personality is tested as he shakes over his hot decaf.

Meanwhile, Harley, who is currently staying at Poison Ivy’s apartment is about to watch a cooking segment on the Good Morning Gotham show. Joker, who cannot help himself, makes a hostile takeover of GMG and straps Howie Mandel with explosives. Talk about making an entrance!

The Clown Prince of Crime also pushes the narrative that Quinn was insignificant during their coupling (clearly no Joquinn was involved.) This drives Quinn off the rails and causes her to smash the TV set with her trademark baseball bat.

High Bar at the Gotham Mint

Joker’s shenanigans have got under Quinn’s skin, she and Frank the Plant (J.B. Smoove) convince Poison Ivy (Lake Bell) to crash the party at the Gotham Mint to give Joker a piece of her mind. Unbeknownst to Quinn and Ivy, the party is a bit on the PG side with many kids barely in puberty in attendance headed by the Cobblepots. Despite this, Quinn decides to make an impression with the bigwigs of the Legion of Doom, leaving Ivy to get hit on by D-lister Kite-Man (Matt Oberg).

Bane calls Joker about Quinn’s appearance at the Gotham Mint while she wants to launch a plan to get rid of Batman and take over Gotham. She tells Two-Face (Andy Daly) and the rest of the Legion her schemes, just when the Joker appears. He brushes Quinn off, so she attempts to rob  from the vault for a chance to be taken seriously by the rest of the supervillain group, but her heist fails.

Following the pilot episode of Harley Quinn, “Till Death Do Us Part”, to say the adult-comedy series went out with a bang is an understatement. Aside from Young Justice, the series’ off-the-wall antics and one-liners are a great way to balance out DC’s programming on its streaming platform.

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In “A High Bar”, writer Jane Becker, managed to reil in the f-bombs as that was a primary concern for many fans of the show. This writer doesn’t mind profanity, but when it’s uttered candidly instead of naturally, it can get irritating. Sometimes even very much so *cough* Wolf *cough* of Wall *cough* Street. Swearing aside, the gags do come off as more organic and with more flow, even some of the gratuitous violence, which we will get to in a sec.

The strengths of this series so far are Kaley Cuoco’s Harley Quinn and her synergy between Bell’s Poison Ivy and Tudyk’s Joker (Cuoco is even one of the producers of the show through her Yes, Norman Prod. label.) Ivy really balances out Quinn’s co-dependence and hyperactivity, but of course, not for long as her super-insanity gets the best of her.

Although not the best animated show that spurred adult content like American Dad, Big Mouth or Robot Chicken for that matter, the overall tone and direction the series is going in is very much appreciated. If the violence, humor and f-bombs can simmer at the right levity and consistency, then we are in for a show that can run for multiple seasons.

Downers that hit where it Hurts

The show deals with important issues that are definitely a cause for concern today, such as gender inequality, abusive relationships and bullying in the workplace – in this case organized crime – but as it moves forward, it feels the protagonists’ abuse survival is not addressed as it should be. This is something that Forbes picked up on and discussed in depth.

While the main points that grant this series’ longevity such as the gags, voice cast and the core issues that are being dealt with in the show are more refined in this episode, hopefully the writing gets better.

Forbes’ columnist, Linda Malen makes some valid points and, if it carries on this way,  it could run out of steam fast as the questionable direction may divide audiences.

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The only other issue here is Rahul Kohli’s Scarecrow. As a native to the UK, this writer is not a fan of his attempt at a Statutory British accent. Though it is fine here in terms of performance, it doesn’t feel like it fits the character, as it would be preferable if the voice performer balanced Scarecrow’s intimidation factor with his fears and past insecurities.

Off-The-Wall Observations:

• Harley Quinn rocks her New 52 outfit from her solo title during the Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti run in the comics.
• Poison Ivy’s kiss is a reference to Uma Thurman’s portrayal in the film Batman and Robin, especially her ability to arouse the male sex and its toxic effects.
• Canadian actor and comic, Howie Mandel, appears as himself in this episode but is taken out by The Joker.
• Mandel’s brief cameo may be a subtle reference to anchorman George Stephanopoulous on Good Morning America. The network Mandel appeared on – Good Morning Gotham – is a direct reference to GMA.
• Bane’s declaration of “Breaking the Batman…” is from the classic storyline Batman: Knightfall. His stature and look is very Batman: The Animated Series but his camp and hammy antics are ripped from Tom Hardy’s Bane from The Dark Knight Trilogy.
• When Bane mentioned blowing up the stadium, this alluded to when Bane blew up the football stadium with the Gotham Rogues before his speech in The Dark Knight Rises.
• All five of Batman’s main rogues, including The Joker, Penguin, Scarecrow, Bane and Two-Face appear as part of the Legion of Doom.

Did you enjoy this week’s installment of Harley Quinn? Are you a fan of the show? Let us know in the comments below!