1x06 You're a Damn Good Cop, Jim Gordon

[7.4/10] There’s three interconnected stories here, so let’s take them in turn from smallest to largest.

Look, I can't tell you why, but I got a big kick out of Commissioner Gordon forming a fraternal bond with Clayface’s disembodied hand. The concept of a grown man spilling his guts about his loveless marriage to a childlike limb, reassuring one another as friends and engaging in ridiculous stunts like alley oops together is delightfully absurd. One of the things I like about this show in its early going is Harley Quinn’s willingness to take a ridiculous concept and commit to it, and sad sack Jim palling around with a goopy hand as his emotional outlet is that to a tee.

I also enjoyed Dr. Psycho and Ivy going to track down the infamous “Cowled Critic” who acts as a tastemaker for the Legion of Doom, only to discover that it’s Psycho’s son, Herman. As someone who writes criticism, I tend to get a big kick out of bits making fun of online critics, and this is no exception. The Cowled Critic’s skeptical approach to Harley’s accomplishments, and the rest of the gang’s smash-y or incensed reactions is a good source of fun. And while total B.S., Dr. Psycho’s excuse for his mistreatment of his son being that he hoped it would turn him into the greatest supervillain ever is some great Venture Bros.-esque bullshit parenting. Plus the humor here is on point, with Dr. Psycho responding to Ivy’s question of how intercourse worked with Giganta with a flat “not well”, and Ivy nonchalantly trying to get tongue-twisting expert Brad’s attention.

Harley’s story is good too. Again, the show does a good job of centering episodes around Ivy’s efforts to stand out and make a name for herself, while giving her incremental goals and epiphanies along the way. Her efforts to rob Wayne Enterprises, ending up major Wayne Tech and getting up to some absurd Fast and the Furious style heist misadventures all makes for good comic set pieces.

But I also appreciate her realization here -- that by prioritizing her professional success over her friends, she’s forgotten what’s truly important. Her reaching that epiphany by seeing Batman’s treatment of Jim as a mere “coworker” rather than confidante is a nice way to draw it out, and there’s humor there too with her forgetting King Shark in prison and Batman’s dry acceptance of Gordon’s emotional gut-spilling. (King Shark’s prison tenure was brief but particularly hilarious.)

Overall, another fun outing from Harley Quinn, which goes for more of an A/B/C story format than we’ve seen before, but does it well.