Harley Quinn season 2, episode 2 review: Riddle U

Harley Quinn goes to college in the second episode of the season as she searches for The Riddler, but did “Riddle U” pass the exam?

Previously on Harley Quinn, Harley found out that the dystopian Gotham isn’t the fun time romp she wanted it to be.

She was made fun of by the Injustice League (Bane, Penguin, Riddler, Two-Face, and Mr. Freeze), despite being the one who took down Joker. Freeze put her in a solid block of ice, her gang eventually broke her out and Harley then brutally killed The Penguin.

Harley later found out that she was encased in ice for two months and that the Injustice League sliced up New New Gotham among the five of them. After seeing everything that was done to her, she decided to get even and take Gotham for herself. And the episode ended with the reveal that Bruce Wayne is alive but seemingly in a coma.

Side note, Jim Gordon is slowly losing everything. It’s both sad and hilarious.

Harley and Ivy’s college experience

Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy’s first target in the Injustice League was the Riddler. It seemed like the best choice since Riddle U was the only place with electricity and clean water. They (poorly) disguised themselves as young college students, got Kite Man (Hell yeah!) to drop them off, and it was off to murder Riddler. In typical Harley Quinn fashion, shenanigans ensue.

Harley and Ivy couldn’t have looked more out of place, so it wasn’t remotely shocking when they found Riddler and he instantly knew who they were. The crack on their clothing (including their chunky flats) was great – especially if you grew up in the 1990s to get the reference. If not, Google it.

The best part of their adventure was Clayface:He was way too enthusiastic. Even after everything is said and done, he was excited to get messages from his college boo Chad. This was maybe his best role to date.

Dr. Psycho King Shark’s great adventure

While all of that was going on, King Shark and Dr. Psycho went on an important mission. They were charged with getting a water purifier. This may not seem important but when your water is brown and has rodents coming out of the faucet, it becomes a top priority. This meant that the duo would have to venture into enemy territory. What should have been a simple snatch and grab turned into a very Mad Max kind of journey.

This may have been the B-story, but it was my favorite part. King Shark and Dr. Psycho built a post-apocalyptic death car complete with giant murder spike on the front and machine gun on the roof. Watching the two of them mow through goons was funny. Then, just when you thought things couldn’t get funnier, they returned home dressed like they were actually in Mad Max… only to find out they didn’t need the purifier anymore. At least they’ll always have Baneton.

Batgirl begins

On their journey, Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy came across Barbara Gordon. She was in Riddle U hoping to take Riddler down herself. She told Harley and Ivy she has wristbands to a frat party where people have been coming in but not leaving. Of course, Ivy and Harley stole the wristbands and left. Thankfully, Barbara didn’t quit as she ended up saving them and got bitten by the superhero bug.

This certainly looked like the beginning of Barbara Gordon’s journey to becoming Batgirl; there’s no way this is the last we see of her in this season. And it really was a perfect intro for her: She was skilled (though still very green) and you could see that the potential is there from the beginning. All the parkour moves she did while evading Harley and Ivy – on top of defeating Riddler’s goons – is a perfect example of this. It’s doubtful her father Commissioner Gordon (who’s living with her and has given up on wearing shirts) will even notice what’s going on.

How was Harley?

Another perfect episode. You can tell how great a show is by how fast it goes round, and in Harley Quinn‘s case, it ended before you knew it was coming. Granted, these are 22-minute episodes, but it felt even shorter than that.

While Penguin was killed in episode one Riddler’s fate may have been worse. Well, it was definitely funnier.

“Riddle U” introduced a new character without sacrificing any of the current ones. The only complaint comes from the adventure with King Shark and Dr. Psycho, as it would have been cool to see how they managed to defeat Bane’s henchmen.

Questions about Quinn

The next episode will involve Catwoman. Will she leave being friend, foe, or cat food?

Who’s next up on Harley’s kill list? If it’s Mr. Freeze, how cool would that be. Yes, that was put here just to make a cold pun.

How long can they keep Riddler? Does he escape or die on the wheel?

Do any of the villains come after Harley Quinn and her gang after realizing they’re getting picked off?

Most importantly, can Clayface and Chad’s relationship survive the Hell that is college life?!

Harley Quinn streams on the DC Universe on Fridays. What did you make of the latest episode? Let us know down below.