2x01 New Gotham

[7.3/10] Like most season 2 premieres, “New Gotham” is something of a re-pilot for Harley Quinn. Harley essentially completed her arc last season, so now the show has to find a way to move forward, and give her a new goal beyond moving past the Joker.

As overarching objectives go, reclaiming Gotham City from the rest of Batman’s rogues gallery isn’t bad. It paints a nice picture of week-to-week challenges from other Bat antagonists for turf in the newly abandoned-by-the-government locale. But there’s not the same level of character investment in the challenge.

“New GOtham” tries though. The show paints this episode as an ideological conflict between the traditional villains, who want to divvy up turf and cut Harley in, versus Harley’s anarchic, proletarian spirit, wanting New Gotham to be a state of nature where goons aren’t subservient to supervillains and everyone can go out and do what they want. I have faith in this show to land the plane, but it’s a kind of strange conflict. A chaotic, outrageous show like Harley Quinn is a strange cheerleader for the idea that what’s truly needed is more hierarchy and authority (especially when that view is articulated by Poison Ivy, the show’s voice of reason), but this series has earned the trust for me to see where it goes.

I do like the notion that having brought down the Joker, Harley is in a position to take charge of Gotham, but doesn't want to in favor of a more on-brand and generalized free-for-all. Ivy warning ehr that things will go badly if she doesn’t exert some control is an interesting character conflict, even if it seems to conflict with the counter-cultural perspective of the show. But again, I expect they’re going somewhere with all of this, and taken apart from this specific scenario, there’s good grist for the mill when it comes to the idea of starting something but being reluctant to rise to the next level and take responsibility. We’ll have to wait and see.

Apart from whatever perspective Harley Quinn is trying to evince here, this is still enjoyable as a comic romp. The dynamic among the Injustice League, particularly the ragging on Bane, is a lot of fun. I am over the moon for the goons trying to perpetrate crimes on their own, especially the hench who dubs himself “The Inquisitor” and tries to horn in on Riddler’s racket. The absurdity of the whole thing really works for me.

I’m a little colder on Jim Gordon trying to rally the cops during the no man’s land phase, but there’s still fun to be had from his rambling faith in Batman’s return, Robin’s pint-sized attempts to fill the void, and especially the riffs on coconut water. The other bits of humor involved in the free-for-all period of New Gotham are worthwhile, including the loopy heist to retrieve Harley after she’s frozen by Mr. Freeze. And I know it’s a small touch, but as a fan of the Harley character since her debut in Batman: The Animated Series, it's nice to see the show incorporate her pet hyenas.

Overall, this one feels a little shaky in its efforts to reposition the show and its eponymous lead character toward a new goal, but I’m still interested to see where things are headed from here.