Review: Harley Quinn 2×01 – “New Gotham”
[Editor’s Note: This review may contain spoilers]
Director: Vinton Heuck
Writer: Adam Stein
Starring: Kaley Cuoco, Lake Bell, Alan Tudyk, Ron Funches, Tony Hale, Jason Alexander
Reviewed By: Danny Saab
Summary
In the aftermath of Gotham’s destruction at the finale of season 1, Harley and her gang find themselves enjoying the chaos and destruction that is New Gotham.
Positives
It was absolutely incredible that the WB was able to crank out season 2 of Harley Quinn so soon after the first season ended. Given the global situation right now, or perhaps the creators took a page from “Batmans: No Man’s Land” story arc, New Gotham certainly was a natural transition from season one.
This episode was definitely all about the villains. No Batman, no GCPD, and villains like Two-Face and the Penguin are vying to take over. Of course, that doesn’t sit well with Harley. In classic Harley form, she comes up with the idea that if these super villains don’t have goons to back them up, then New Gotham will remain the apocalyptic wasteland that she enjoys. Seeing the goons turn on their leaders and double-crossing them was incredibly fun to watch.
James Gordon was his typical “desperate for confirmation” acholic self in New Gotham. He did his best in keeping positive, trying to rally the GCPD to stop the violence. At the end though, even his wife couldn’t be with him anymore. You really have to feel for his character, but watching him try and not let the misery get to him was a staple of season 1, and am so glad it continued into season 2. The addition of Robin as a miniature form of Batman was also great. Hopefully will get to see more of the Bat family in this season.
The introduction of the Injustice League was fantastic. In New Gotham where the super villains played an important role, it was fun to see the banter between all of them. The writing staff should be commended on taking a monster like Bane and making him so entertaining to watch. He could easily have his own series.
After what the writers did to Poison Ivy at the end of last season, it was clear that they had no issues killing off main characters. That was pretty evident with the surprising ending of New Gotham. Shocking for sure, but definitely makes the show much more unpredictable.
Negatives
Maybe it’s just me, but I really missed Kite-Man in this episode. His interaction with the A list villains would have been great. I’ve really enjoyed his character in this series, and would have been great to see what happened with him in New Gotham.
Verdict
New Gotham was an entertaining and a fun start to season 2. It was a strong direction to where this season is going, and looks to be even crazier then the first season.
