Hollywood Insider - News Entertainment & Culture

Substance & Meaningful Entertainment

Against Gossip & Scandal

Independent Media Network

Global Stories From Local Perspective

Factual Culture News

The Hollywood Insider Harley Quinn Season 3

Photo: ‘Harley Quinn’ Season 3 

We are buried in superhero content these days. It seems like every week there is a new ten-part series, or upcoming Cinematic installment from a tentpole franchise that swoops in and commands the attention of fandom at large and dominates the discourse for a while. And yet, within the torrential deluge of super-powered content in which we find ourselves, the freshest storytelling and cleverest writing of the entire, overcrowded genre is quietly being done on DC’sHarley Quinn.’ In its first three seasons (now streaming on HBO Max) ‘Harley Quinn’ has seemingly pulled off the impossible, by sincerely utilizing all of the rich lore and characters inherent to the DC comic book canon, while also relentlessly poking fun at itself, and all of the previous, more self-serious iterations of Gotham City and beyond, that fans are so familiar with. Best of all, the show’s voice only appears to be getting funnier, sharper, and more tonally-layered with every subsequent season. 

Things to do: 

  1. Subscribe to The Hollywood Insider’s YouTube Channel, by clicking here. 
  2. Limited Time Offer – FREE Subscription to The Hollywood Insider
  3. Click here to read more on The Hollywood Insider’s vision, values and mission statement here – Media has the responsibility to better our world – The Hollywood Insider fully focuses on substance and meaningful entertainment, against gossip and scandal, by combining entertainment, education, and philanthropy.

Related article: ‘DC League of Super-Pets’: A Funny, Heartwarming, and Hilarious Look at DC Furrier Side

Related article: ‘Batgirl’ Will Not Fly: What Exactly doe Warner Bros. Have Planned for DC?

The Good, The Bad, and the Harley

The main narrative thrust of season three lies in the perilous emotional balancing act shared between Harley and Poison Ivy, as they attempt to navigate the choppy waters of their now-official romantic relationship. The classic, ongoing “will they/won’t they’ sitcom dynamic between Harley and Ivy finally came to a close at the end of season two, when Ivy called off her engagement to Kiteman in dramatic fashion, and finally embraced her truest love, the titular, clown-faced-calamity that is Harley Quinn. It goes without saying, that despite what animation-skeptics may say, seeing iconic characters like Harley and Ivy engage in an unapologetically loving, queer relationship on screen is hugely significant for LGBTQ+ representation. The casual reality and believable depiction of their relationship serve as a real step forward, toward a more progressive atmosphere in comic book storytelling in general. In season three, both characters are in the midst of their own personal evolutions. This sense of dueling metamorphosis forces them both to grapple with their respective identities as either heroes or villains, and whether they’re increasingly branching ideologies can coexist within the context of their new love. 

Related article: Merge of the Titans: The Completion of Discovery Media Taking Over Warner Media to Create Warner Bros. Discovery

Related article: ‘Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey’ – Margot Robbie’s Film is Fantastic & THE DC-est One That Gets the World Of Gotham Right In Every Way

Related article: The Hollywood Insider’s CEO Pritan Ambroase: “The Importance of Venice Film Festival as the Protector of Cinema”

Related article: The Masters of Cinema Archives: The Hollywood Insider Pays Tribute to ‘La Vie En Rose’, Exclusive Interview with Director Olivier Dahan

Related article: – Want GUARANTEED SUCCESS? Remove these ten words from your vocabulary| Transform your life INSTANTLY

Everything, Everywhere, All at Once

With Harley and Ivy’s central relationship solidly anchoring season 3, the show is able to give itself permission to quite literally, go anywhere and do anything within the expansive world of DC comics. This season is overflowing with memorable characters, side-stories that often turn into crucial plot points, and authentically hysterical, politically-charged pop cultural dialogue that runs through each and every episode. ‘Harley Quinn’ essentially dumps the entirety of the DC canonical toy box onto the floor, and starts reinventing, parodying, and deepening all aspects of it in wonderfully unpredictable ways. From poking fun at headlining DC fixtures like the comically-dower, bang-swooshing, crime-fighting Bat-family, to shining the spotlight on esoteric baddies such as Clock King and Plastique. A standout and now iconic deep-cut moment happens in episode five titled, “It’s a Swamp Thing.”

The moment occurs during a side story in which Batman and Catwoman (voiced by Diedrich Baker and Sanaa Lathan) are forced into a couples therapy session led by the villainous crooner, Music Meister. Armed with the power of musical sorcery and an electric keyboard, the tuneful tyrant proceeds to enchant the Bat and the Cat into belting out an absolutely hysterical duet, that actually crescendos into a legitimately somber conclusion to their clearly one-sided relationship. A moment like this seems so bizarre on paper, and yet the show is always able to ground the humor and the humanity of any given situation, no matter how absurd, precisely because the writers understand the identity of every character so well –  down to a random henchman with a single throwaway line. 

Related article: What is to blame for ‘Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey’ Box Office Earnings? The Long Title? De-Sexulization of Super Hero?

Related article: My Letter To DC Film: The Secret Ingredient You Should Use More = Levity

Related article: MUST WATCH – The Hollywood Insider’s CEO Pritan Ambroase’s Love Letter to Black Lives Matter – VIDEO

Related article: Why Queen Elizabeth II Is One Of The Greatest Monarchs | Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II of United Queendom of Great Britain & Northern Ireland (Video Insight)

Related article: All Best Actor/Actress Speeches From The Beginning Of Oscars 1929-2019 | Hollywood Insider

Laugh Now, Cry Later

Perhaps the episode that most epitomizes this series’ unique ability to slam together disparate elements of DC lore and mine them all for brilliant comedic insight and unexpected emotional payoff, is episode three, “The 83rd Annual Villy Awards”. Joker (who, by the way, becomes the full-blown socialist mayor of Gotham City seemingly in season three’s spare time), is hosting Gotham’s annual celebration for achievements in Villainy. This glitzy, Academy Awards-esque ceremony, is an unabashed cavalcade of entertaining and absurd characters, one-liners, gags, and includes a memorable jam in “Like Joker Do” performed by series MVP Alan Tudyk, to boot. During all of this, Catwoman calls out the pandering voting body of ‘the Villys’ for giving her an award simply in order to shamelessly appease their collective white guilt, Clock King weeps insecurely over his “big stupid clock for a face” and how it cost him and the Riddler a chance at winning best couple. This episode, among several others, illustrates the precarious tonal tightrope that the show walks with Catwoman-like agility across the series, and especially in its finest moments like this one. 

Related article: ‘Deadpool vs. Shazam’ Who is the Best Wisecracking Superhero?

Related article: Which Streaming Service is Best for You and Your Watching Habits?

A Voice Cast For The Ages

The final ingredient that makes ‘Harley Quinn’ season 3 such a potent creation, is its stupendous cast of voice actors, who all bring fresh, uniformly hilarious interpretations to the famous comic book characters that they are portraying. Seasoned comedic actors like Andy Daly (Two-Face), Ron Funches (King Shark), James Adomian (Bane), and the newly added Sam Richardson (Swamp Thing) to name a few, all deliver the sizzling comedic dialogue with endless aplomb. Adomian’s deeply self-conscious and perpetually frustrated Bane, is flat-out one of the funniest recurring characters on any TV show from the last five years. Fan-favorite Alan Tudyk (Clayface, Joker, etc.) is routinely doing triple, sometimes even quadruple duty as a performer, voicing numerous characters often appearing in the same episode together. Obviously, most of the narrative and performative weight of the story is carried by Lake Bell and Kaley Cuoco, whose romantic chemistry as Ivy and Harley has only amplified in season 3. So rest assured, the voice acting talent of ‘Harley Quinn’ works in tandem seamlessly with consistently excellent writing. 

Related article: Rosario Dawson Powerfully Shines in HBO Max’s ‘DMZ’ – Intense New Dystopian Thriller | DC Comic

Related article: Apple TV’s ‘Wolwalkers’ is a Serene Delight from the Director of The Secret of Kells

The Beating Heart of ‘Harley Quinn’

A show like ‘Harley Quinn’ is far too acerbic, wry, and self-aware to ever earnestly spell out its moral or political ambitions plainly for its audience, but nevertheless, its radically progressive perspective is clear to any discerning viewer, and it deserves recognition. Season 3 literally climaxes with Joker, the newly elected mayor, throwing the naive billionaire Bruce Wayne, in prison for tax evasion. The show reflects the attitude, and the ideals of its main character. Meaning that it takes immense pleasure in calling out the toxic masculinity, moral and social irresponsibility, and innate silliness of the traditionally unassailable, overwhelmingly white male characters in DC comics. But while the show heavily skewers certain aspects of its source material, ‘Harley Quinn’ never loses its palpable sense of adoration for the history of its world and the legions of  colorful characters that occupy it. It would take a long time, and an even longer memory in order for one to properly celebrate the overwhelming amount of witty jokes, indelible voice-acting performances, and compelling story choices that season three of ‘Harley Quinn’ manages to pack into only ten short episodes. So do yourself a favor, and watch it all instead! 

Cast: Kaley Cuoco, Lake Bell, Alan Tudyk, Ron Funches, J.B. Smoove, Andy Daly, Tony Hale.

Creators: Justin Halpern, Dean Lorey, Patrick Schumaker. 

Producers: Julian Coutts, Jennifer Coyle, Kaley Cuoco, Justin Halpern. 

By Dillon Goss-Carpenter

Click here to read The Hollywood Insider’s CEO Pritan Ambroase’s love letter to Cinema, TV and Media. An excerpt from the love letter: The Hollywood Insider’s CEO/editor-in-chief Pritan Ambroase affirms, We have the space and time for all your stories, no matter who/what/where you are. Media/Cinema/TV have a responsibility to better the world and The Hollywood Insider will continue to do so. Talent, diversity and authenticity matter in Cinema/TV, media and storytelling. In fact, I reckon that we should announce “talent-diversity-authenticity-storytelling-Cinema-Oscars-Academy-Awards” as synonyms of each other. We show respect to talent and stories regardless of their skin color, race, gender, sexuality, religion, nationality, etc., thus allowing authenticity into this system just by something as simple as accepting and showing respect to the human species’ factual diversity. We become greater just by respecting and appreciating talent in all its shapes, sizes, and forms. Award winners, which includes nominees, must be chosen on the greatness of their talent ALONE.

I am sure I am speaking for a multitude of Cinema lovers all over the world when I speak of the following sentiments that this medium of art has blessed me with. Cinema taught me about our world, at times in English and at times through the beautiful one-inch bar of subtitles. I learned from the stories in the global movies that we are all alike across all borders. Remember that one of the best symbols of many great civilizations and their prosperity has been the art they have left behind. This art can be in the form of paintings, sculptures, architecture, writings, inventions, etc. For our modern society, Cinema happens to be one of them. Cinema is more than just a form of entertainment, it is an integral part of society. I love the world uniting, be it for Cinema, TV, media, art, fashion, sport, etc. Please keep this going full speed.

More Interesting Stories From The Hollywood Insider

Want GUARANTEED SUCCESS? Remove these ten words from your vocabulary| Transform your life INSTANTLY

A Tribute to Martin Scorsese: A Complete Analysis of the Life and Career of the Man Who Lives and Breathes Cinema 

Do you know the hidden messages in ‘Call Me By Your Name’? Find out behind the scenes facts in the full commentary and In-depth analysis of the cinematic masterpiece

A Tribute To The Academy Awards: All Best Actor/Actress Speeches From The Beginning Of Oscars 1929-2019 | From Rami Malek, Leonardo DiCaprio To Denzel Washington, Halle Berry & Beyond | From Olivia Colman, Meryl Streep To Bette Davis & Beyond

In the 32nd Year Of His Career, Keanu Reeves’ Face Continues To Reign After Launching Movies Earning Over $4.3 Billion In Total – “John Wick”, “Toy Story 4”, “Matrix”, And Many More

harley quinn, harley quinn, harley quinn, harley quinn, harley quinn, harley quinn, harley quinn, harley quinn, harley quinn, harley quinn, harley quinn, harley quinn, harley quinn, harley quinn, harley quinn, harley quinn, harley quinn, harley quinn, harley quinn, harley quinn, harley quinn

Author

  • Dillon Goss-Carpenter

    Dillon is a writer, and a lover of storytelling and creativity across all mediums. He studied Film and Digital Media at UC Santa Cruz, where he became a voracious consumer and ponderer of the creative arts. He has a background in screenwriting, as well as freelance film theory and pop culture journalism. Dillon connected to the inclusive, empowering mission statement of The Hollywood Insider, because of his shared belief in the power of storytelling, and its facility to engender empathy and understanding, as well as entertain. He believes in finding joy and purpose through making, watching, discussing, and dissecting the diverse collection of creative media that inspires him. He has particular interest in stories that come from largely unheard, historically excluded perspectives.  

    View all posts
Website It Up