Trebla Posted December 18, 2019 Share Posted December 18, 2019 I've been watching the new Harley Quinn series on DC Universe and I absolutely LOVE IT. I've tried to stay away from the smaller streaming services but the trailers for this series roped me in, especially this one with the Joan Jett cover of the Mary Tyler Moore theme song.: It's been as good as I hoped it would be. Besides the obvious black comedy and R-rated language* what it also has going for it is it's full use of the "Villains Out Shopping" trope. Normally we see villains fighting heroes and/or attempting capers but while it does have that it leans more on them doing more mundane things: being in jail, watching morning shows, having date night, attending family functions, and even gossiping in the break room of the Legion of Doom! Naturally the show makes those things VERY funny. The voice cast is also stellar. I know a lot of people were concerned about Kaley Cuoco playing Harley but I think she nails it. The accent is muted and seems to only come out when she says "Mista J" but the explosive craziness remains. Ditto for the Joker who is played by Alan Tudyk. His voice leans a bit towards the Heath Ledger Joker with more of the animated series laugh. This portrayal of the Joker might be the biggest jerk-ass out of all of them and that's saying something. I think my favorite character may be Poison Ivy played by Lake Bell. She plays the straight-woman to pretty much the entire cast so this Ivy is far less crazy and is more deadpan and snarky. She has a giant man-eating talking plant (ala Little Shop) named Frank played by JB Smoove. His interactions with Ivy and Harley are gold. Some of the other villain cast includes Wayne Knight as Penguin, Jim Rash as Riddler, Tony Hale as Dr.Psycho, Wanda Sykes as Queen of Fables, Will Sasso as Maxie Zeus, and Giancarlo Esposito as Lex Luthor. On the hero side, Dietrich Bader plays Batman, Vanessa Marshall plays Wonder Woman, Jacob Tremblay (he's the little boy from The Room) as the Damian Wayne version of Robin, ,and Christopher Meloni plays Jim Gordon. This portrayal of Gordon is vastly different from other works. He's an over-caffeinated train wreck who has clearly let the insanity of Gotham City get to him. The show is 3 episodes in so far it's been stellar. Ep. 4 looks to have Harley wanting to have Batman as her nemesis but getting a bratty Robin instead. *The show only bleeps out ONE word... Spoiler The C-word. Dr.Psycho calls Wonder Woman that and EVERYONE is appalled by it. When he uses the word again, he's actually kicked out of the Legion of Doom. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jace, Extat Posted December 19, 2019 Share Posted December 19, 2019 That... actually does look and sound fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trebla Posted December 19, 2019 Author Share Posted December 19, 2019 11 hours ago, Jace, Basilissa said: That... actually does look and sound fun. It is. What it also does is actually examine Harley's abusive relationship with the Joker. Harley was, after all, a psychologist who actually helped Ivy with some of her issues. A grateful Ivy returns the favor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jace, Extat Posted December 19, 2019 Share Posted December 19, 2019 16 minutes ago, Trebla said: It is. What it also does is actually examine Harley's abusive relationship with the Joker. Harley was, after all, a psychologist who actually helped Ivy with some of her issues. A grateful Ivy returns the favor. I've long wanted a Harley origin story. Like a full Denis Villeneuve picture with Jake Gyllenhaal as Joker in the asylum. We start with Dr. Harleen Quinzel coaching up the local gymnastics team after work every day, we end with her breaking Mistah J outta jail so he'll understand how much she loves him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trebla Posted January 2, 2020 Author Share Posted January 2, 2020 On 12/19/2019 at 3:46 PM, Jace, Basilissa said: I've long wanted a Harley origin story. Like a full Denis Villeneuve picture with Jake Gyllenhaal as Joker in the asylum. We start with Dr. Harleen Quinzel coaching up the local gymnastics team after work every day, we end with her breaking Mistah J outta jail so he'll understand how much she loves him. They actually address her origin story in ep. 5 with Harley having always believed Joker pushed her in the vat of acid. After she breaks down after being unable to make a big decision without the Joker, her crew (Ivy, Dr. Psycho, Clayface, and King Shark) enter her mind to help her and she finally realizes that it had always been her decision to jump in. Knowing that allows her to break even farther away from him. That's actually been a running theme: Harley is an unreliable narrator. In an earlier episode, she had remembered Joker giving her an engagement ring and saying "Til death do us part" when in reality he had handed her a hand grenade and pushed her towards the one he was really saying that to: Batman. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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