REVIEW: ‘Harley Quinn’ – A Very Problematic Valentine’s Day Special

What began as a wacky show way in 2019 has evolved into chaos incarnate as Harley Quinn debuts its most absurd, outright raunchiest episode yet, “A Very Problematic Valentine’s Day Special.” This double-length HBO Max special sees our titular Harley Quinn (Kaley Cuoco) obsessively vying to give Poison Ivy (Lake Bell) the best Valentine’s Day she’s ever had. But in classic Harley fashion, she takes it way too far and winds up sewing more chaos and Bane (James Adomian) than Ivy would prefer.

Where Harley Quinn has always thrived is in its willingness to do quite literally anything. No joke goes too far, no violence is too graphic, and no amount of sex is too un-superheroic. Yet, somehow, the Harley Quinn Valentine’s Day Special is far and away the most of all of those things the show has ever produced. And, nonetheless, it manages not to feel like it’s gone overboard.

Without giving too much away, the special revolves around Harley and Ivy and a climax so enormous that it makes the entire city start having sex on the spot. One of its B-plots finds Clayface (Alan Tudyk) in search of love only to find, shall we say, love with himself. And the other side plot is about Bane being lonely on Valentine’s Day, accidentally getting involved with a dominatrix, and then taking too much of a magical enlargening potion, to put it the least graphically.

But despite all of the violence and lust, the show never veers into being too crude or gross. You’re not getting anything more physically graphic than you’re used to from decapitations or explosions. And the copious sex isn’t any more graphic than you’re used to either. Everything is just turned up to a 12 over the show’s usual 11, so there’s so much more of the debauchery, and it has a bit more heat to it, but it doesn’t turn sour from overdoing it. Kind of like Harley herself, who doesn’t know the meaning of chill, yet you still find her endearing at the end of every caper.

Which is certainly the case here. For as much as the episode intentionally revolves around being so, so much, it still has a sweet heart at its core. The When Harry Met Sally-esque interviews starring your favorite heroes and villains are a nice touch too, but in the end, Harley and Ivy’s relationship is what we’re here for in Harley Quinn at this point, and this Valentine’s Day Special is a keen reminder of why.

Particular kudos to the episode for being not only the most far-and-away sex-driven story a Big Two comic property has likely ever told but for making it, without a doubt, the queerest one too. There’s by far more non-heterosexual romance and sex in this episode than anything else. I’m not sure why none of the interviews that happened reflected the same because those were actually all sweet compared to all of the very joke-laden queer stuff happening in the actual episode. I’m not thinking about it too hard, but it does feel noticeable.

Also noticeable is that the writers on the show are clearly too used to doing 22-minute chunks because this 44-minute affair feels distinctly like two separate episodes with a clean split in the middle. By the end, it was fine, but when the middle came, it felt like we were switching to a totally different episode rather than continuing on one complete story. It was a small irk that smoothed out with the ending, but evident nonetheless.

Harley Quinn’s “A Very Problematic Valentine’s Day Special” is a great bonus special, taking a show that’s already known for its debauchery and turning it up one more notch still, without managing to overdo it in the process. Feel free to jump straight into this special whether you’ve seen the rest of the show or not; there are no true spoilers or any background information necessary to enjoy this fun and extremely raunchy episode.

Harley Quinn – “A Very Problematic Valentine’s Day Special” is streaming now on HBO Max.