What They Say:
Harley (KALEY CUOCO) & Ivy (LAKE BELL) go undercover as college students to take down Riddler, who’s made himself dean of the local university with sinister plans for students.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
The shift to Gotham being New Gotham and under the control of villains is certainly an interesting and not unfamiliar approach in a general sense. The opening episode of the second season put a lot of the basics into play but it also has me kind of wary that it can sustain itself for an entire season of it if that’s the plan. A lot of the charm of the first season was even though Harley was trying to establish herself with the Legion of Doom she was also just doing a lot of other things unrelated to it. This kind of setup can certainly consume a lot of the oxygen in the room. That said, the creative team behind the series earned themselves a lot of space in my book to try things and out and see what works because even when it’s weak it still left me laughing a lot.
With the new normal of New Gotham now set, that puts us into a place where Harley and her group have to take down who they can in order to take over Gotham herself. And even that just feels like it’s something they’re doing as a gag. Harley’s intent this time around is to break into the Riddler University and take it over as it’s one of the few places with power to it. Riddler’s got a hilarious kind of gig going since everyone has to suck up to him to stay alive and have the amenities to do so. Harley’s just excited to go to college for an episode and that means Clayface is all set to join in as he transforms into a cute girl named Stephanie. While Clayface is denied it’s hilarious to watch as Harley and Ivy go undercover and hitch a ride with Kite Man, who has the best lines with Ivy. The ladies look great as they “go normal” here and are pretty surprised when they discover that Clayface snuck in ahead of them already and has become one of the popular girls. Figures.
Amusingly, the one person that the pair keep running into, the tour guide that’s handling things at Riddler U, is one of the regular students, Barbara. Who happens to be quite the Batman fan at that. Eventually, Harley and Ivy end up trying to find out info from her only to discover that she is Gordon’s daughter, giving us some good Batgirl time. It’s a hilarious introduction to Babs in this form that I’m hoping we see more of – and less of Gordon’s hairy chest. It’s a wonderful diversion as is the subplot with King Shark and the Prof dealing with Two-Face’s goons that have taken over the police department. That provides the action and big bloodshed moments. The real fun is seeing how the Riddler is powering the university and the main battle between them. The ladies underestimate him at first but it just leads into a pretty good sequence overall, though a lot of the dialogue between them all are what delivers the most enjoyment – especially his critique of their outfits. And yeah, the brief semi-Batgirl material we get. She’s just adorable.
In Summary:
The introduction of a new hero certainly makes my day with the show as it’s pretty well done within the context of how this series works. I don’t expect to see her on the regular outside of some cameos here and there but every appearance of Batgirl ought to be fun. The bulk of the episode focusing on Riddler U works really well with our out of date leads doing their best to take him down. The subplot with the other guys works just as well as they deal with Two-Face’s goons and some of Bane’s as well, resulting in them building a deathmobile that delights. It’s a lot of good carnage and laughs throughout that delivers and has me hopeful they can pull off this style well enough for as much of the season as it’s set for.
Grade: B+
Streamed By: DC Universe
