3x01 Harlivy

[7.4/10] A solid beginning to the new season. The show launches the titular couple with enough fun and mayhem to entertain us, but also throws in challenges and differences that mean their coming together is not some instant Happily Ever After either. And I like that part.

But let me tell you about my favorite gag in the episode, and maybe in the whole show. When Gordon debates the mayor, and fends off a question from none other than Cheryl about threats from super squirrels, potholes, and kids driving buses, I chuckled mildly at the absurdity of the line. When, in a bit of rube goldberg-esque brilliance, a stray campaign button tossed out the window by Gordon sets off one of those super squirrels, and unleashes a chain reaction involving every ridiculous thing that Cheryl mentioned, resulting in the unexpected death of his political opponent, I couldn’t stop laughing.

The lunacy! The creativity! The paraode of different mice caught up in this strange course of events! Two-Face’s bon mot about living by polls and dying by poles! The hilarious suggestion that this grisly series of events resulted in the creation of a rodent Batman! It is one of the most elaborate, layered, and hilariously out there gags Harley Quinn has ever done, and the show could get by on that alone if it had to.

But it doesn’t! It’s nice to open things up with Harley and Ivy going on a rampage of delight, living it up and going wild after all the stresses of the past couple of years. “The Eat, Bang, Kill” tour leans into the raunchy and violent, as is the series’ wont, but also reveals some fissures, or at least subtle struggles, in the couple’s relationship.

Harley is going a little overboard in trying to show Ivy that she cares. All the elbarote gifts and “eighteenth day anniversary” stuff feels sweaty and too much, and more than that, seems to be making Ivy a little uncomfortable. But you can tell it comes from a good place, of Harley wanting to prove herself as a good girlfriend and demonstrate how much she cares about Ivy, which is always an interesting reason for things to go overboard.

Likewise, there’s a difference we’ve seen glimpses of, but never seen drawn into such stark relief. Ivy likes to be a quiet nerd sometimes. She wants to geek out in her “I-den” acre of paradise, away from technology and excitement,and just geek out over ph balances and root systems. Harley wants to be a supportive girlfriend, because she wants to give Ivy the things she desires in life, but she’s also bored to tears and uses any excuse to go find drama.

It’s a solid conflict! Both people can mean well and even love one another, but figuring out how to give each other space for the things that move you but might not move your partner is a core part of any relationship. The distance between what you want and what you want to want can be significant. Playing that out with Harley and Ivy is good stuff.

So is the idea that Harley can't live without the drama. SHe busts in to rescue King Shark and Clayface (nice to get some closure there!). She threatens to go knock Gordon's block off. And worst of all, she kidnaps none other than Suicie Squad head Amanda Waller back to I-Den to pay for disrespecting Ivy, which ends up starting a firefight (er, bomb fight) that destroys the whole acre. It’s a nice lesson in how Harley’s rambunctiousness can disrupt Ivy’s goals that don’t fit into Harley’s wild and impetuous style.

But I also like the fact that, however overboard she goes, Harley means well. Even when Ivy gives her an out, she wants to be there with Ivy through it all. Most importantly, after two seasons of ivy helping Harley achieve her goals, Harley wants to return the favor, and help Ivy achieve her dreams of reclaiming the Earth for the plants. Ivy’s lamentation that she’s a failure and doesn’t have it in her to tame the world is pathos-ridden, and there’s something weirdly wholesome about Harley wanting to help Ivy take over the world. The prospects for Harley being able to set aside her own chaotic desires and achieve it without more relationship problems are slim, but the likely conflicts are compelling.

That just leaves Clayface auditioning for the real James Gunn. The Guardians of the Galaxy director cameoing in a D.C. superhero show is a nice nod to his current role as impresario of the D.C. Universe on screen, and the show wrings plenty of laughs from Clayface’s less-than-great audition, clear desperation, and willingness to be a chair to stay on set.

Overall, this is a solid launch point to the season, albeit one that's a little jankier than Harley Quinn’s two prior season premieres. But man, that extended super squirrel gag is an all-timer.