So season 3 of Harley Quinn was good. It was just more uneven then I found the first two seasons- which I wholeheartedly loved. In a season that was billed in places as Ivy finding herself it was Harley Quinn that had the most interesting character arc.
And I’m not entirely sure I like the decision at the end. I seriously was asking myself is Harley Quinn still even Harley? Anyway SPOILERS ahead!
The Good
I’m wildly appreciative that they kept Harley and Ivy solid throughout. Oh sure they deal with some relationship stuff but they actually did so maturely and building off their solid foundation. Go figure they wound wind up the healthiest relationship in DC possibly.
I also enjoyed Joker as suburban step dad and eventually pretty good Mayor.
Nightwing joining the Bat fam was a nice touch and they used him in good measure so he didn’t get to annoying. Would have liked to see more Damian.
The best episode by far was when they delved into Bruce Wayne’s psyche and trauma and we actually get some hardcore psychological help from Harley. Who despite finding out Bruce’s big secret vows to keep it as part of doctor/patient confidentiality. I was so impressed by her work and actually by the little asides throughout that reminded you while Harley Quinn is a chaos demon she’s actually a highly educated whip smart one.
That also does have a lot of empathy even if it got messed up and twisted along the way.
Also while I missed more Kiteman (I can’t believe I’m saying this) Bane was as always great fun. I appreciated he made peace with the wedding present issue.
The Not So Good
I don’t know why but I felt this season lacked some of the wild outrageous humor of the first. And I say that even though it was definitely still pretty outrageous by normal standards. I did not care for Clayface’s whole Billy Bob Thornton thing. I actually felt like a lot of the team was somewhat sidelined.
Plus a vast amount of the story revolved around we need to find and save Frank and he’s probably one of my least favorite characters so…
That Ending
So as Ivy and Harley both grew and decided to tackle new things I was sure Harley was going to wind up back at Arkham but as a Doctor again. She had made some interesting asides throughout about mental health and her helping Bruce seemed to kick her in the direction of doing more.
I’m fine with a Harley that can’t cause pain and destruction so easily anymore but her decision to join the Bat Family (to take over for Bruce who Joker had arrested for tax fraud) I don’t know felt a little much to me.
She still could have worked with Barbara in the background. Maybe gone into some of the Oracle stuff? As Barbara has a criminal justice background… I suppose it will be interesting to see how her new career conflict’s with Ivy’s who may possibly be running the Legion of Doom.
So as torn as I was overall still enjoyed the season. Harley Quinn is one of DC’s best properties although with the mess Warner Brothers has been recently (especially to animation) I was shocked and thrilled to see they renewed it. So whatever happens with Harley at least will get to see where it goes and hopefully they can sell me on it.