Fantastic season 3 expands the field

Everything you need to know about harley quinnthe resolutely adult cartoon about the DC Comics anti-hero, can be embodied in an instant from its third season. Harley and her best friend-turned-girlfriend Poison Ivy have a tender, emotional conversation about their relationship… amid a Eyes wide closedlike an orgy. As Ivy gets to the root of her deep intimacy issues, Harley kicks a naked masked guy masturbating behind them, who croaks, “Unleash my filth” as his body hits the wall . Ivy returns to her heartfelt confession without wasting a moment.

It’s this wild combination of emotional honesty, dirty humor and graphic violence that makes harley quinn one of the most underrated series on television today – and dare we say the best Batman-related property of the modern age. And following a second season that paved the way for LGBTQ+ representation in the crowded superhero genre, season three continues to fire on all cylinders.

Created by Justin Halpern, Patrick Schumacker and Dean Lorey, the series debuted in 2019, a few months before Birds Of Prey and the Fantabulous Story of Harley Quinn brought the titular therapist turnedJoker moll in the spotlight. Margot Robbie gave us the definitive version of the character in the DC movies, but the animated version, voiced by Emmy nominee Kaley Cuoco, is just as iconic.

like the movie, harley quinn begins when Harley finally separates from The Joker (Alan Tudyk), the shitty boyfriend to end all shitty boyfriends. Season one saw Harley team up with Ivy (Wonderfully Dry Lake), Clayface (also Tudyk), King Shark (Ron Funches), and Dr. Psycho (Tony Hale) to prove to her ex that she can top him. in a Gotham city teeming with costumed villains. The series also spends a lot of time on the hero side of the equation, including a deeply brooding Batman (Diedrich Bader), a sad Commissioner Gordon (Christopher Meloni), and a spunky Batgirl (Briana Cuoco).

In season two, Harley briefly embarked on all-out villainy, bringing an army of Parademons to Gotham amid her budding but charged romance with Ivy, who was engaged to sweet model Kite Man (Matt Oberg). Meanwhile, Bane (a truly hilarious James Adomian) opens up his own prison, Psycho turns against the team, and a memory-erased Joker moves in with a wife and stepchildren in the suburbs. The episodes culminated in a moment when longtime “Harlivy” shippers passed out, as Ivy abandoned Kite Man at the altar to run away with Harley. (Both have been in the comics since 2017.)

Cut to the show’s third season (its HBO Max premiere), which begins with the pair on what Harley dubbed their “Eat. Bang! Kill. Tour” – that is, travel the world and wreak havoc, while taking time to canoodle in the Fortress of Solitude. But circumstances soon bring them back to Gotham, which is embroiled in various dramas: Gordon gets presents badly at the town hall; Nightwing (Harvey Guillén) has returned to town to overtake his mentor; and the real life The Suicide Squad director James Gunn (Gunn himself) is making a movie about the death of Batman’s parents called, yes, A Hard Wayne will fall. The show can be called Harley Quinn, but this latest installment expands the scope considerably. There’s a full episode dedicated to the Joker, back in his green hair look, walking the fine line between agent of chaos and family man; and in another, the newly reformed “bat family” works through its complex dynamics.

But the biggest swing of season three is that it essentially makes Ivy the show’s co-protagonist. With Harley’s encouragement, the newly self-actualized eco-warrior returns to her evil roots – literally – as she hatches a plan to reclaim Gotham from humanity and turn it into a verdant jungle. harley quinn devotes a considerable amount of its runtime to tracking Harley and Ivy’s messy growth as a couple. They may be in love, but they’re also two deeply traumatized people. And despite the show’s cheerfully creepy approach to most things, including the violent murders, the creators pack more thoughtful character growth into a handful of episodes than Christopher Nolan’s entire set. Black Knight trilogy. (In a gift to wary fans, the creators have confirmed that Harley and Ivy won’t break up on the show.)

Speaking of the Caped Crusader, this season gives him more than his due. In one notable episode, Harley enters Bruce Wayne’s psyche to help him overcome the childhood PTSD that led him to become Batman. It’s funny and crazy, but it also tackles the germs of mental illness in a way that fits with reality and Harley’s background as a psychologist.

If that all sounds heavy for a 23-minute cartoon about an ass-kicking clown with pink and blue pigtails, rest assured season three is a pure delight, too, with crude jokes, shark regicide, kinky sex. in the swamps and lots of easter eggs for Batman devotees. Not to mention that voice cast: the show features everyone from great comedians (Amy Sedaris, JB Smoove, Rachel Dratch) to acting heavyweights (Giancarlo Esposito, Tom Hollander, Meloni).

harley quinn is both a tender kiss on the cheek and a baseball bat to the face, and we wouldn’t have it any other way.