Season 2
DC Universe exclusive
April 3, 2020
Episode 1 – “New Gotham”
Following the events of season 1 closer, Gotham City is wrecked, the President has now declared Gotham as “not part of the United States.”
It’s total anarchy and Harley is loving it. She is riding around in an anti-Joker sled with her two hyenas pulling it.
The problem is nobody is in charge, so everybody is doing what they want. Harley tries to empower “the goons” to not be working for the villains, but “be” the villain (IE. Don’t be for Penguin, be Penguin). This makes it so instead of having a few villains, there are a 1000 villains.
So, a new supervillain group forms and they call themselves the Injustice League featuring Penguin, Two-Face, Riddler, Bane, Mr. Freeze. They want Harley to “get in line” with them. When she doesn’t agree with their plan — as it sounds like just another Legion of Doom to her — they freeze her in a block of ice.
Tune into the episode to see if Harley’s crew can free her from icy prison, what happens to the Injustice League and somewhat of a shock ending.
Summary
Watched this three times through before writing this review.
So stoked to see the second season kicking off again. Is the fun and excitement there that drove the first season? Yes, and no. It’s not as awesomely energetic and inspired as the season one opener, but it’s still pretty inspired. Tough to match the frenetic pacing episode after episode.
The pacing is a bit awkward, it’s off in this one at times, particularly after the opening scenes, perhaps with a script that is pulling or pushing everything in too many different directions (the Gordon sideplot was interesting, but slow). It’s a smart allegory on the episode itself which is clearly about the logistical challenges of a society ruled by anarchy.
Some nice side character development. We see Robin dressed as Batman and delved into what Commissioner Gordon is doing without his beloved police force and Batman, but didn’t get much of the Injustice League carnage, which would have been been more exciting and entertaining had it been interspersed with the other scenes.
Harley’s interaction with the henchmen and goons is fun and frolicy — which is what this series does best. The Ivy and Harley friendship remains with Ivy trying to talk sense and Harley barely listening and/or not understanding.
I was thinking the episode was unfocused until the third act, which expertly pulls it together. This rises the overall episode rating by at least a half star. It’s a promising beginning to the second season, but I missed Kite Man and Frank The Plant. Despite a few missteps, it’s great having this series back.
Overall episode rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️½
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