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#the only character other than harley and ivy who is taken seriously is batgirl
gothamcityneedsme · 8 months
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There is something deeply flawed and just wrong with s4 of the harley quinn show and im like. Trying to make a concise point about it but its really difficult to not make this a 20 min rant
#Shitpost#im trying to tldr this but i cant#talked to my sister for like an hour about it lol#the MAIN issue is that its trying to be vbros in a universe that doesnt WORK as vbros#like. A crux of vbros is that. 1. It isnt a superhero genre focused story. It is a boy adventurer hanna barbara cartoon spinoff#Vbros is Johnny Quest before it is superhero genre#And 2. In vbros the paperwork and systems of arching are developed slowly AND inherently work. Because in vbros THE VILLAINS AND HEROES.#ARE. TO A DEGREE. PLAYING A GAME. a ridiculous pretend where sometimes people die and like. If anyone takes it too seriously they are seen#as psychopaths that need to be put down. Etc#the harley quinn show is trying to have the same universe while using the dc universe which has over 80 years of history#and established characters. And it is NOT working#like on a fundamental thematic level#S 1-2 werent that strong. S3 was the best so far. S4 is hot garbage though its such a fucking mess#Another factor is that this show doesnt treat its characters with respect which leads to like#there is almost no engaging secondary cast. It doesnt use its characters well#because it isnt taking them seriously#the only character other than harley and ivy who is taken seriously is batgirl#So a show full of characters has 2 main characters and 1 secondary one#and like. Thats SUCH a terrible design#also the forced joke writing is a mess#and the 'mystery' of this season just shit the bed so hard in the ep that just came out#legitmately making this entire season pointless and. Sort of miserable to watch tbh?#just. Wow. I am amazed at how theyre using so many moving parts and literally none of them are fitting together#even the harlivy feels so forced and nonexistant this season#like their chemistry fucking died#And harleys arc is just so fucking shit this season. Like. Wow it shit the bed hard#i was giving it a chance but this most recent ep. Wow. It was so bad.#I dont think the season can be fixed now
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Batwoman Could’ve Been the PERFECT Batfamily Show
After Gotham ended so recently, Batwoman should've positioned itself as the Ying to that show's Yang by focusing on Batman's allies instead of his enemies.
The 'Bruce disappears hook is a brilliant way to do this
Kate is our audience entry point into this world
ORACLE + GORDON
Barbra Gordon has already been paralysed via The Killing Joke, and hasn't yet become Oracle - she's still recovering
Comissioner Gordon took an early retirement after his daughter was paralysed, which is why Kate's Dad's private security force the Crows runs the streets
Batwoman and the series' events inspire him to return and reclaim Gotham for the Law by the end of season 1
TIM DRAKE + WE ARE ROBIN
Robin disappeared with Batman, so we can introduce the We Are Robin gang. At the beginning of the season they're just criminals, but after Kate defeats their ringleader she shows them a better outlet for their rage, and inspires them. Duke Thomas (future Signal) is among them
Once the we Are Robins are established Tim Drake returns to Gotham. Kate is surprised - few people outside of Gotham know there have been multiple Robins. This way we can explain the different versions to people not in the know
Just like after Bruce was sent back in time in the comics, Tim has gone travelling the world as Red Robin, searching for him. Tim heard about the Robins causing civil unrest and is concerned about them marring Robin's good name.
Tim and Kate clash over the Robins' chaotic, violent modus oprendi - Tim enforces a philosophy of Robin as the light to Batman's dark - promoting positivity, not violence. A loose adaptation of the Robin War storyline follows where Duke Thomas emerges as the Robins' leader and rallies them to be more controlled and less violent
Tim leaves after this mini-arc, satisfied Gotham is in good hands. He also teaches Kate more about the detective side of Batman - he isn't just a blunt instrument. Tim will be our primary link to the 'Bruce's location' mystery throughout the series
NIGHTWING
Dick arrives in Gotham on a case from Bludhaven. Kate thinks he's abandoned Gotham - he should've taken up the mantle while Bruce was gone.
Explore Dick's troubled history with Bruce (not to F**k Batman levels), how Babs being Batgirl caused him to quit, and the one-two punch of Jason Todd's death and Barbra's paralysis only validated his getting out while he could
Tender scenes between Dick and Babs alluding to thier teenage crushes on each other.
As a cop, Dick hates the Crows being on Gotham's streets and more actively conflicts with Kate's father, driving up the tension between them and Batwoman
RED HOOD
This arc would be like a finale-style thing
Jason Todd returns and starts assassinating criminals with the ambition of 'controlling' crime. Kate is a soldier, more brutal than Bruce, so she has greater sympathy for Jay's methods
Jay is after the Joker. Like in The Dark Knight Returns, the Joker has 'retired' to Arkham since Batman left - he got bored pretty quickly. This arc introduces him properly after a few teases earlier in the series.
Jay learns of Barbra's paralysis (which happened after he died) - even then Bruce wouldn't kill him. A scene where Jason visits Babs (little brother/big sister dynamic).
Both Dick and Tim return for this arc, losing their shit over the Joker. Kate's reaction to the Joker is much like Terry McGuiness's in Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker. She doesn't get why everyone is so scared of this stupid clown.
Tim is the one who figures out how Jason was resurrected; just like in the Red robin comic he's been travelling through the world of assassins and knows about the Lazarus Pit.
I think doing the Red Hood arc without Bruce - the main target of Jason's anger - is super interesting. Most people share his anger at Bruce for disappearing.
It also lets us dig deep into the inter-Robin dynamics - Jason hates Dick because he always had to live up to him (do that thing in the comics where Jay had to dye his red hair black to 'look like Robin')
Jay hates Tim for replacing him, for being proof Bruce didn't learn his lesson, for Bruce treating Tim better, the way he should've treated Jason
Kate is instrumental to this arc because, being outside all the drama, she has objectivity. She forces Dick and Tim to get their heads out of their asses and talk to Jason, forces them to confront the problem.
Instead of taking the Joker to Bruce as he does in the Under the Red Hood movie, Jason takes Joker to Babs, who has suffered the most because of him. Confronted with the man who 'ruined' her life, Babs proves bigger and stronger than him. She refuses to kill him. Unlike Jason, she's moving on and growing past her trauma, not looking for revenge.
Joker (being the Joker) turns the tables on Jay and has him at his mercy. Kate swoops in and, like Terry in Return of the Joker, messes with the Joker's head by refusing to take him seriously. The Joker is distracted, screaming about Kate not being Batman, and Babs gets to knock him the fuck out.
Jason escapes, but not before dropping a clue connecting Bruce's disappearance to the League of Assassins
I know the showrunners admitted they have no clue where Bruce is yet, so in my version he's off on some quest with Ras Al Guhl. In the time since he's been gone he's married Talia and had a kid. no-one in Gotham knows this yet.
VILLAINS
We can explore how Batman’s absence has had a strange effect on Gotham's villains - many have gone into states of hibernation similar to the Joker.
Two Face gets his dark Knight Returns plotline where the attempt to repair his face, 
Mr Freeze has a similar ‘cure’ story a la Batman Beyond
Clayface (as in the Rebirth run of Detective Comics) is trying to go straight - using his shape-shifting gift to make a name for himself in the movie business. He thinks he's finally been accepted, but people are just sucking up to him because of his talent - the reality of their disgust threatens to push him back over the edge
Without Batman there to fight her, Poison Ivy has pretty much taken over Gotham's main park space, but a kind of stalemate has been reached - she won't attack the city as long as the city doesn't move against her plants.
Kate's central dilemma is navigating these unusual waters - she toys with the idea of putting Ivy behind bars and we get an episode of her exploring the micro-climate of the transformed Park. Kate's disturbance makes Ivy threaten the city, and she has to stretch her underused negotiation muscles to talk her down.
I like the idea of Ivy as an ambivalent character, not good or evil. She'll do whatever she wants. Also she and Kate would have killer sexual chemistry.
Harley. Exploring Harley in such a strongly feminist show would be fascinating. Joker has closed off, given himself up. Harley is forced to fend without him, and finds an antihero niche with the Gotham City Sirens (hi, Ivy!)
With Bruce's disappearance, Wayne enterprises is designing revolutionary new weapons for the Crows. It's revealed that they’re using the Riddler to design these. After Batman disappeared it was presumed Nygma went through therapy and was moved away from Gotham - in fact he's here.
This plot point is inspired by the New 52's Zero Year arc. Kate discovers the foul play when the Crow's systems go haywire because of a virus Nygma planted, sending Gotham into a blackout and giving the Riddler control of its municipal systems
Kate finds Nygma and exposes Wayne Enterprises' corruption, but in the process Riddler escapes.
Similar to Ivy, Kate's appearance excites the Riddler and he reactivates his Saw-like trap rooms across the city. Kate has a different, much blunter way of solving puzzles that frustrates him, used to Bruce's genius-level intellect.
This raises the question - is Batwoman a liability to the city?
BATGIRL(S)/BIRDS OF PREY
With Riddler's re-emergence triggers the appearance of Spoiler. In the comics Stephanie Brown is Cluemaster's daughter, but no-one really gives a shit about him. The benefit of a decade-plus old Batman means his rogues gallery can easily have kids - Stephanie had her name changed in witness protection.
Steph helps Kate beat the Riddler in collaboration with Bab's hacking skills. Kate sees potential in Spoiler and sends her to Babs to be trained.
As Batwoman's appearance reawakens super-crime in Gotham, the Crows get desperate. They hire world- renowned assassin David Cain to start taking out targets
Intro Cassandra Cain.
Cass + Steph + Babs are this series' version of the Birds of Prey
Babs teaches Cass sign-language to communicate. Steal her friendship with Clayface from the Rebirth Detective Comics - Clayface leaves the movie business again because it was unhealthy, and is trying to do good
Everyone is very protective of Cass and determined she won't fight
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