The DC Universe animated series was a very welcomed and pleasant surprise for me. Season one of Harley Quinn introduced us to a great ensemble of voice actors, and some genius versions of famous DC Comics characters. Justin Halpern, Patrick Schumacker, and Dave Lorey, the creators and writers, did an amazing job with the show. The cast – Kaley Cuoco as Harley Quinn, Lake Bell as Poison Ivy, Ron Funches as King Shark, Tony Hale as Dr. Psycho, Jason Alexander as Sy Borgman, Christopher Meloni as Commissioner Gordon, J.B. Smoove as Frank the Plant, Alan Tudyk as Clayface & Joker are returning and being joined by Sanaa Lathan, Briana Cuoco, Rachel Dratch, Alfred Molina, and Tom Hollander.

Last season: After he breaks up with the Joker, Harley Quinn strives for emancipation by making a name for herself and striving to become a member of the Legion of Doom.

Premise: After defeating the Legion of Doom, instead of joining them, Harley’s penchant for anarchy and her unwillingness to take control of Gotham leaves the door open for other nefarious forces to step in. The situation gives an opportunity for new heroes to rise up and new alliances to be made.

Review: The previous season was a blast, very funny, with great storylines, and amazing voice acting. It highlighted how perfect Kalley Cuoco is for the role of Harley, on this show and the possibility in live-action.

Season two is still funny, the cast is great, and the pop-culture references are hilarious. I loved the nods to The Little Mermaid and Magic Mike. However the first part of the season, with the Injustice League, felt like a procedural, a good one though but still, it was kind of weird. The season really took off for me in episode six – it’s also when I dove back into the show, the weekly episodes are not the brightest of ideas.

The smart way the writers introduce and slightly reinvent well-known characters is a blast. It’s always done so organically that it doesn’t put you off, even though some of them – well one – didn’t exactly need to be featured this season. But I guess, actually hope, that they’ll pull a Kiteman and give them more to do next season – and there’s better be one. Speaking of Kiteman, he’s becoming one of my favorites, he’s more fleshed out this season and really stood out. I feel for him.

As for one of the relationships on the show, I love that the writers didn’t just use some queer coding that they would never pay off, instead, they went for it in an intelligent and grounded way. It was more subtle in the first season but it became obvious this season – unless you were obtuse – to finally pay off. The relationship was complicated, not for the sake of drama but for reasons that made sense for both characters’ personalities. It’s pretty obvious who I’m talking about but just in case I’ll stay vague.

Harley Quinn is a smart bloody funny show with good social commentary throughout.