'Harley Quinn' Episode 8 Review: 'L.O.D.R.S.V.P.' offers Harley just what she's wanted but at what cost?
Harley Quinn (Kaley Cuoco) has finally made it to the big league after stealing Aquaman’s (Chris Diamantopoulos) family jewels (gemstones!) earns her a nomination to the Legion of Doom from none other than Lex Luthor (Giancarlo Esposito) himself. There’s just one catch — joining the Legion might just cost Harley her friendship with Poison Ivy (Lake Bell).
As if stealing from Bruce Wayne and Ted Kord wasn’t enough, Harley sets her sights on an actual prime member of the Justice League — the King of Atlantis, and son of Atlan, as he’ll keep reminding you — Aquaman. Diamantopolous’ performance of the character is so over-the-top that Clayface’s impression of him has got to be hamminess at its peak. It’s a shame the two characters don’t get more time to bond and practise their unnecessarily grandiose declarations together, but with one stealing from the other, their friendship is doomed.
The heist would not have been possible without help from Poison Ivy, whose constrictive vines leave Aquaman helpless even out on the sea, his home turf. The show reminds us just how powerful Ivy really is, as single-handedly taking out a Justice League member is no mean feat, but her power levels turn out to be the real problem. The Aquaman heist seemingly earned Harley attention from the Legion of Doom, who invite her to their headquarters. Scarecrow (Rahul Kohli) gives Harley and her crew the tour, but when Ivy later confronts Lex Luthor about why he’s suddenly showing an interest in Harley, she learns that it’s all a cover to lure Ivy onto the L.O.D.
It’s telling that Ivy’s kept quiet about the Legion’s invitations — and her feelings about the L.O.D — for as long as she has. She’s put those feelings aside as best she could to support Harley’s career, but being told by Lex that Harley won’t get into the Legion unless Ivy joins as well is exactly the kind of office politics that Ivy’s been keeping away from.
At a formal dinner that’s a real who’s who of DC villains, the open seat at the Legion of Doom table is down to Harley and KGBeast (Matt Oberg), but when Aquaman attacks the party, Harley Quinn is able to defeat him without the help of Poison Ivy with some creative thinking (only with Aquaman can the classic villain move of endangering innocent civilians work just as well with fish), which is enough to convince Lex that Harley deserves to join the Legion on her own merit. He keeps that decision to himself, though, just long enough for Poison Ivy to tell Harley that the Legion never really wanted her in the first place.
It sparks a major row between the two. Harley, who is used to Ivy’s unquestioning support, lashes out at Ivy when it looks like that support might be withdrawn. She’s misinterpreting Ivy’s distaste for the Legion as Ivy’s belief that Harley isn’t good enough for them, and harsh words are exchanged.
‘Harley Quinn’ continues to deliver fun and hilarity at a nonstop pace, but the nuances of the Poison Ivy/Harley relationship highlight the depth the series gives its leads. For better or worse, though, the series has established a new status quo, and we are about to see how Harley deals with getting everything she thought she wanted, including being able to deal with the Joker (Alan Tudyk) as a career equal.
The next episode of ‘Harley Quinn’ airs on January 24 on DC Universe.