Review: Harley Quinn “A High Bar”

Overview (Spoilers Below)
After leaving the Joker, Harley’s ready to strike it out on her own and prove she’s a cream of the crop baddie. To prove herself to the tip of the top villain group, the Legion of Doom, Harley heads out with Poison Ivy to a Legion of Doom-attended party. Unknowingly though, the party turns out to be the Penguin’s nephew’s bar mitzvah. Undeterred, Harley still tries to impress the Legion, causing chaos along the way.

Our Take
Surprisingly enough, this ended up being better than expected. The various comedic elements landed a lot better this time around as if I was hit with a case of Joker gas. I’m not sure if it sets a high bar, but if this is the direction the series is heading, I think I’ll like it after all.

The comedic elements here seem to be flowing better this time around. The series really balances the raunchy comedy here with other comedic moments. Several jokes here cracked me up, such as when Ivy immediately swears after Mrs. Cobblepot tells them to tone down the language. Heck, seeing Joker get infuriated over Harley dumping her is a gold mine of entertainment. I was sincerely afraid this series would solely rely on raunchy, “mature” comedy throughout its run. While it’s still here, it’s nowhere near in your face this time around. Harley gets top marks from me in comedy this week for sure!

The overall experimentation with throwing Batman’s rogue gallery into the world of R-rated comedy gains a whole new level of enticement here. It feels odd at first having Gotham’s villains act wacky and semi-out of character, but there’s a certain charm to it this time. Their personalities here enhance the overall comedic style of the series. It gives it a flavor that begs to be devoured upon sight. It’s an element I wasn’t too sure about last time, but I’m beginning to take pleasure in seeing the new levels of insanity these characters get into.

This episode additionally felt like a window into the lives of Gotham’s villains outside of committing a crime. We get to see a new side to these characters that we didn’t really ever see portrayed beforehand. The majority feel like actual, every-day people here. They’re socializing and having a great time while doing so. It’s such a surreal feeling seeing these famous bads act in such a civilized manner the majority of the time. I’m definitely game for this element popping back up in the future.

An immensely nice touch that, admittedly, I should have seen coming sooner (given Joker’s constant bossing around of everyone), was the episode’s anti-bullying message towards the end. Even in adult-skewing shows, its a quite comforting and useful aspect to showcase. It hits home the message of standing up to abuse whenever possible. It’s unfortunate that such situations happen in society. No one deserves any sort of maltreatment against them. However, perhaps this little comedy program will make a difference in that. It’s an important message that needs to be passed along everywhere, and one that I’m glad the creative team decided to include here.

My only displeasure whilst viewing this episode involved some of the casting choices within. Bane’s voice sounds honestly a bit goofy here, a far departure from his other appearances. I’m not entirely sure how to feel about it. His voice lacks the signature roughness that articulated Bane into a powerful force of destruction. Yet, the near parody of his voice has a certain charm to it that I can’t shake off easily. It’s definitely amusing hearing such a stark contrast come out of Bane’s mouth in all honesty. While it may be different, this change may just grow on me over the course of the series.

The casting choice that really had me confused was that of the Penguin. I’m definitely much more used to the squeaky, penguin-like voice that’s come out of his mouth in many appearances. All I hear in this episode though is Newman from Seinfeld. Wayne Knight’s version of Penguin strikingly feels odd and unfitting to me. His voice here doesn’t really scream Penguin to me. While Wayne Knight is most definitely a talented actor, I have to wonder if casting him as Penguin was the best choice overall. I’d personally rather see Tom Kenny reprise the role. He can most definitely hit comedic territory, while also giving Penguin his signature sound. Best of both worlds.

Overall, this felt like a much better output than the series premiere. It balances the raunchiness of everything and crafts it into a magical array of crack-ups. It really makes one wonder if they just pushed it so heavily last episode to set the mood for the entire series. Whatever the case may be, if Harley Quinn keeps walking down the path of hilarity and deep insight, I’ll be rooting for her the whole way.