'Harley Quinn' Season 2 Episode 1 Review: When anarchy fails, it's time for Harley to take control
Spoilers for 'Harley Quinn' Season 2 Episode 1 'New Gotham'
We're introduced to the new status quo for Gotham City fairly quickly as an official presidential speech declares Gotham to be "civitas non grata" — in other words, "No Man's Land".
Picking up straight from the event that gave Harley Quinn (Kaley Cuoco) her comics debut — complete with an earthquake of 8.6 magnitude — and with no Batman (Diedrich Bader) to tamp her down, New Gotham should be the hotbed of anarchy that Harley Quinn has been dreaming about all her life!
Unfortunately, as Poison Ivy (Lake Bell) accurately predicts, anarchy isn't a state that can exist for too long. Powerful people want to use the opportunity to be in charge and Ivy urges Harley to fight to be that person. Having apparently learned nothing from Season 1, Harley does not listen to Ivy, living her best life by encouraging a goon (and henchmen) insurrection, which naturally ends up poorly for her.
Despite the new status quo, this episode feels like a natural progression from Season 1, which had its own status quo shifts late in the season. What's being set up here is an interesting series of antagonists that Harley will likely have to take down, one by one, in the new territories Gotham has carved up for itself.
With Gotham no longer under regular rules, and with no Batman to protect it, the show has given itself a lot more room to really make the war for Gotham a villain-centric free-for-all.
It's a slightly darker introduction, though no less zany. The sitcom feel of the first series is replaced by a story that seems to be taking itself more seriously, with a more focused storyline, clear antagonists and a mission of statement for the titular character who has put nails in her bat just to emphasize how much more of a badass she is. While Season 1 spent most of its focus re-establishing Harley's identity, Season 2 is apparently going to run with things and see just how far they can take Harley's story.
The new New Gotham is a ridiculous place, each area themed to the villain that controls it. But it looks to be an exciting ride ahead as Harley brings it all crashing down again, one villain at a time.
The next episode of 'Harley Quinn' airs April 10, on DC Universe.