I’m no prude but there is entirely too much sex in “Harley Quinn: A Very Problematic Valentine’s Day Special.”
What could and should have been a story with important messages about listening to your partner’s needs, self-love and not comparing current to past – especially traumatic – relationships felt distracted by several factors. There was no less than a florally censored sex montage, a kinky humiliation scene, the entire population of Gotham City going at it in the streets and – I kid you not – a giant-sized Bane thrusting into multiple buildings because he’s so horned up for Brett Goldstein due to a combination of steroids, sex spells and potions.
To backtrack, Poison Ivy wants a quiet night in watching documentaries with Harley Quinn. On the other hand, Harley wants to give Ivy the best Valentine’s Day ever and jumps from one harebrained scheme to the next to achieve her goal.
It can be tough for a comedy show to balance jokes with mature subjects like getting over an abusive relationship. The over-the-board nature of the sex comedy in this episode seems so tonally out of place with the story that the rest of the episode is telling.
On top of the whole sex thing, the joke writing doesn’t feel as sharp as it has been in past seasons. While “Harley Quinn” has used both meta and name-drop comedy before, Poison Ivy talking about “binging one of the many fine scripted or non-scripted shows that HBO Max has to offer” during an emotional conversation took me out of the episode completely.
If that wasn’t enough, “A Very Problematic Valentine’s Day Special” not only references various celebrities and other TV shows left and right, but also turns a joke about Goldstein into a major plot point.
The HBO Max joke at least makes sense because “Harley Quinn” is an HBO Max Original. The only reason I can think of that anyone would want to relive the eighth season of “The Office” is that Comcast paid beaucoup bucks for the writers to include it.
More positively, the voice acting from the main cast was strong as usual. In addition to Goldstein playing himself, “A Very Problematic Valentine’s Day Special” features special guest stars Quinta Brunson and Tyler James Williams as well as a surprise appearance by John Stamos as Etrigan the Demon.
Hopefully, this episode won’t spark a severe drop in viewership that leads the cutthroat regime of Warner Bros. Discovery to cancel the show entirely and remove it from HBO Max so that its cast and creators won’t get paid residuals.
“Harley Quinn: A Very Problematic Valentine’s Day Special” lives up to its name, though probably not in the way the writers intended. Season four is coming later this year though, and I’ll still be watching.
It was disgusting just like season 3 was. After season 1, the show butchered all the characters. Just call it the Hardly Quinnpool show.