This is some masterful mixing of tones. The infusion of Ivy into what has always been Harley and Joker’s beginning is canon to me now.
Two things: 1) Both "Suicide Squad" and "Birds of Prey" should have been this good and 2) Joker did not just bring up the whole JT thing... Too soon....
[8.2/10] It’s nice to see Harley Quinn doing its own spin on the famous “Mad Love” story from Paul Dini, which tells Harley’s origins and her earliest interactions with the Joker. Remixing that story to include the beginnings of Harley’s friendship with Ivy, a thinly-veiled homage to The Dark Knight, and the seed of Harley remembering that the Joker is full of crap in the present is a smart way for the writers to make the Clown Princess’ origins their own once again.
Origin stories in ongoing series always come with the thrill of the flashback, and the chance to see where characters began. This is the most concentrated dose of “Harleen Quinzel, criminal psychologist” we’ve seen to date, and it’s both encouraging and tragic to see a version of Harley who was plenty sharp and resourceful even before she donned the greasepaint. We see a version of Ivy who hated humanity, and had no trust in any of her fellow human beings. We see a pre-scalding version of Two-Face, with Dent as a shameless and craven politician more interested in poll numbers and seeming tough on crime than in serving justice. In more comical terms, we even see a version of The Riddler with long luxurious hair and stray stands on the hairbrush. The chance to see where all these characters began in earnest makes us appreciate (or rue) where they’ve ended up all the more.
The same goes for seeing an earlier, if not exactly embryonic version of the Joker. The scenes between Harleen and Joker aren’t especially funny. That's a bit of a bold choice from this show, if not exactly an unprecedented one. Recreating and remixing iconic parts of the Joker/Harley lore, like making their ballroom dance an act of assault, or delving into Joker’s supposed backstory without Harley flinching, makes for an intense set of scenes that justifies both the sympathy Harley has for Joker, but also the manipulative undertones that were with their relationship from the beginning.
Joker is scary and cunning here. When he tells the story of “Ferris the Ferret”, it pierces you, even if longtime Batman fans know he’s unlikely to be telling the truth. A regular undercurrent of Harley Quinn from the beginning has been abuse: Joker abusing Harley, Harley’s dad abusing her, and so on. The sense of Joker being the product of an abusive father as well would add up, both in terms of ideas the series likes to hit and in something that would evince a sort of mutual understanding between Harley and Joker.
Only, of course, it’s not Joker’s backstory; it’s Ivy. There is a grim poetry to the fact that the story that first brought Harley under Joker’s spell was, in fact, stolen from her true friend. It’s sad because it’s another way in which Harley’s relationship with Joker was built on a lie, another way that he was manipulating her and toying with her rather than being upfront with her, despite him pretending to be open and vulnerable. But it’s beautiful because the thing that drew Harley to Joker is, in a weird way, what also drew her to Ivy, who is a true friend, through and through. But it’s sad because that means that this brutal story of cruel parental abuse is Ivy’s.
And yet, there’s poetry in that too, because we know there's a happy ending there. The whole point of Harley retelling this flashback is that it’s an effort to prove to Ivy that people can change. Ivy had lost her faith in humanity. Harley saw her being treated cruelly and unfairly by the folks at Arkham, and so she offered Ivy a small act of kindness. Ivy returned the favor, and not only did we have the first brick in the wall of Ivy’s recovered view of humanity, but the first brick and the wall of the show’s wonderful (if unusual) friendship.
In true Harley Quinn style, it’s a twist that redirects Harley’s beginnings from Joker and points them toward her better, better half. The results may not prove that people can change, but they do reveal that while Harley was falling into her worst relationship, she was inadvertently planting the seeds for her best one. I will take it.
Along the way, there’s plenty of other strong material. The Dark Knight riffs with Joker’s bomb are all well-done with a comic edge to them, up to and including the bomb at the “heart of Little Italy” turning out to be in the chest of Arkham’s resident chef. The advent of Normie Joker is low key incredible, and I’m intrigued to see this white bread, Flanders-esque version of the Clown Prince of Crime in action, particularly with hints that despite his bland inoffensiveness, some of the mania still lurks under the surface. And Joker clocking Harley as only interested in getting the big story, whether or not it’s true, is an interesting spin on their dynamic.
But the bigger picture is that our Harley has a more complete history than when she started, one that centers her and Ivy rather than her and Joker, while accounting for how she ended up with the latter before finding the former. It’s a clever, well-written, and at times harrowing spin on a familiar tale, which has become the norm for Harley Quinn, but is no less impressive for it.
Both "The Dark Knight" and "Joker" should have been this good.
Ok, that was cool. We like our backstories.
SCORE: 7/10
Shout by justinpinkmanBlockedParent2020-05-12T06:08:49Z
This show is like a giant ‘fuck you’ to teases and Easter eggs and all that stuff that modern day comic book medium consumers have become accustomed to, including myself of course. I just love how it gives you everything you want, you get the brutal Batman v Joker scenes, you get the big name drops, while never losing focus of the main core of characters.