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The following contains spoilers for the HBO series Harley Quinn, mostly from the end of Season 2.

I recently attempted to answer a troubling question: Is Lesbian TV Dying? Despite some claims that we are actually in a golden age of lesbian media, there have been recent concerns about the future of lesbian television in response to the spate of cancelations this year. It was announced just last week that Amazon has canceled their show Paper Girls, another series that featured sapphic characters in central roles but was gone too soon.

Things can feel gloomy at times, but there just may be a light shining in all of this darkness. In 2019, the now-defunct streaming service DC Universe released a new animated series called Harley Quinn, which focused on the titular character as she struck out on her own after separating from The Joker. It’s no wonder the series didn’t get a ton of attention at first being that it premiered on a streaming service no one had ever heard of, but that’s begun to change now that it has moved to HBO Max.

Season 1 of Harley Quinn follows Harley (Kaley Cuoco) as she attempts to break away from her abusive boyfriend, The Joker (Alan Tudyk), and establish herself as a fearsome villain in Gotham City. Harley forms a squad of her own consisting of Clayface (also Alan Tudyk), King Shark (Ron Funches), and Dr. Psycho (Tony Hale). Her closest friend, Poison Ivy (the wonderfully sardonic Lake Bell), is there to support her every step of the way. 

As you might be able to guess by the fact that I am writing about it in this newsletter: things get gay. Harley successfully frees herself from The Joker’s chokehold, but remains a bit of a loose cannon while she’s trying to figure herself out. Meanwhile, Ivy is also trying to sort out her life when she finds herself engaged to the loveable but dimwitted Kite Man (Matt Oberg). Harley and Ivy share some intimate moments together, which causes Harley to come to the realization that she is in fact in love with Ivy. A wild bachelorette party, a few drunken hookups, and a ruined wedding later, Harley and Ivy finally get together at the end of Season 2.

Fans quickly became attached to Harley and Ivy (aka “Harlivy”), but as always there was a worry that the writers would do something to put an end to their happiness. As it turns out, viewers needn’t worry. In an interview with AV Club, co-showrunner Patrick Schumacker noted that he has heard the occasional fan describe their dislike of Harlivy and suggest that Harley and The Joker should get back together. Schumacker wanted to make sure fans knew that would never happen. “Harley and Ivy will never break up in the series as long as we have a say,” he maintained. It may not seem like much, but Schumacker’s promise reassured queer fans who have been let down time and time again by showrunners who weren’t aware (or didn’t care) of the impact these stories can have on viewers. 

It might seem odd that an animated series about unhinged villains (anti-heroes?) features a lesbian couple that is being treated with such seriousness, but Harley Quinn really does contain multitudes. When all is said and done, Harley and Ivy find themselves in a (relatively) healthy relationship in a wholly unhealthy world. Their relationship tracks with the show's overall theme, which is about reckoning with one’s identity and going on a journey of self-discovery. Both Harley and Ivy have gone through abuse and experienced violence at the hands of others, and in many ways, their story revolves around the struggle of dealing with one’s trauma. 

While the tone of Harley Quinn is decidedly irreverent, poignant moments are peppered throughout. Harley spends much of the series planning elaborate heists and then trying to clean up the mess when things go wrong, while Ivy becomes increasingly convinced that terraforming the entire city of Gotham is the only way the earth can be saved. But, in between these hijinks, the two women learn to live with their pasts and plan for the future, all while discovering how to be an independent person and codependent person in a relationship together. Figuring out how to live with trauma and overcoming internalized fears is one of the things that Harlivy fans have found particularly compelling about the relationship – just look at the topics tackled in Harlivy fanfics on AO3. 

Heather Hogan @theheatherhogan

Well, HBO Max's animated #HarleyQuinn series has done the impossible: They've made Harley and Poison Ivy the happiest, healthiest queer couple on television, without either of them losing themselves in the relationship or losing their chaotic bite as characters.

September 15th 2022

41 Retweets560 Likes

It’s slightly perplexing that such a deceptively deep sapphic relationship has emerged within a show run by two straight white men, and the showrunners have admitted that they’re far from all-knowing when it comes to these issues. Schumacker and co-showrunner Justin Halpern have noted that they certainly have preconceived notions about queer relationships that might have seeped into the series were it not for the queer writers in the writer's room. Schumacker highlighted the fact that it was Sabrina Jalees, a queer writer on the series, who counseled them not to make the relationship into a coming-out story. “And she’s the reason that we didn’t do that. I think that was maybe our initial instinct,” Schumacker said. 

Harley Quinn may not include any coming-out stories, but it does explore the concept of identity from several different angles. Moreover, the show certainly pushes the envelope in terms of what animated television can be. The series made headlines last year when Halpern revealed that DC nixed a scene that depicted Batman (Diedrich Bader) going down on Catwoman (Sanaa Lathan). Instead, they’ve turned up the raunchiness factor in other ways. Schumacker said the writers were aware of a “real fervor” for Harlivy sex scenes, and Season 3 opens with a tongue-in-cheek response to this request. (I won’t spoil the gag here.) Their horniness for each other is frequently made clear, as the first episode of Season 3 sees Harley and Ivy going on an “Eat Bang Kill” tour after Ivy leaves Kite Man at the altar. 

Unsurprisingly, fans have become passionate about the Harlivy relationship, but that doesn’t mean there haven’t been concerns about the use of tropes involving queer characters. During a Reddit AMA, one fan asked Justin Halpern about the decision to involve Harley and Ivy in a love triangle with a man and expressed their disappointment in the fact that the writers utilized this particular trope. In response, Halpern explained that he didn’t realize it was such a common trope until it was pointed out to him, noting that “it's an opportunity to do better in the next season,” as subverting tropes is something the writers are really interested in doing. (A side note: I wasn’t especially bothered by the trope in this instance, especially since Kite Man is such a harmless and in no way antagonistic character. Think Mathew Goode in Imagine Me and You rather than any of the other asshat men in lesbian movies and tv shows.) This kind of dialogue between the writers and the fans is compelling, and it has given many fans hope for the future of the show. 

Harley Quinn’s existence within the DCEU (DC Extended Universe) makes its oddball status even more intriguing. There have long been rightful criticisms of the film and television industry’s reliance on IP (or pre-existing property), and I join those who are critical of this constant regurgitation of stories and the desire to create universes where everything must be connected to previous projects. But Marvel and DC comics are filled with interesting characters that haven’t been given the attention they deserve, and Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy are great examples of characters who are just buzzing with possibility. Moreover, the decision to not have Margot Robbie – who played Harley Quinn in the live-action films – voice Harley Quinn in the series has allowed it to flourish in ways that might not have been possible had it been connected to pre-existing projects like Birds of Prey or Suicide Squad.

Though television production seems to be very unstable at the moment due to the recent HBO/Discovery+ merger, Harley Quinn fans can rest easy knowing that the series has been renewed for a fourth season. Perhaps even more important is the fact that Harlivy fans have been promised that their favorite couple will stay together, an assurance that means a great deal to these viewers. Sometimes, a little unhinged lesbianism can go a long way.