Where 'Harley Quinn' Went Right And 'Velma' Went Wrong

TV & Film

Mar 12

One of HBO Max’s most successful series is the animated Harley Quinn series which premiered in 2019. One of the streaming service's least successful series is its newest animated series, Velma. On the surface, the shows are almost identical. They both star strong female characters, are a reimagining of a classic series and its characters, and are full of violence and adult humor.

So what made one so successful and the other so hated? Let’s take a look at a few of the things Harley Quinn got right and Velma got wrong. Contains spoilers for Harley Quinn and Velma!

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Characters:

One of the most successful things that Harley Quinn did was make its characters likable. Even though 90% of the characters in the series are villains and murder people, you still like them and are rooting for their evil plans to succeed. Even Dr. Psycho who routinely uses the C slur for a woman is likable for the majority of the series. Unfortunately, this formatting was not used when creating the characters in Velma. One of the biggest critiques fans have had during the show’s first season was that the characters were so unlikable that no one cared what happened to them. Velma, the titular character, was honestly the worst and that was saying something since the other characters were vapid, killers, and/or sexist.

Reimagining:

This is a big one! Both of these series are reimaginings of classic characters and stories, and both choose to go a route that explores “what if” style questions with their character design. In Harley Quinn, this is explored by looking at how Harley would be different if she wasn’t a villain, what a “family man” style of Joker would look like, and what would happen if Bruce Wayne wasn’t a genius and instead created more problems than he solved. This is done expertly and creates a great story without ruining any of the past series, comics, or movies. In Velma, this was done by removing Scooby-Doo, making Fred a sexist rage machine, and creating a horrible Velma who treats everyone terribly. The only two characters that had any redeeming qualities were the new versions of Shaggy (Norville) and Daphne, but even that is a stretch. The show routinely made fun of the classic show and even made some horrible insinuations about the original characters and creators. What we were left with was a show that seemed to despise its source material and made fans genuinely uncomfortable.

Humor:

This is probably the biggest mistake that Velma made. Adult cartoons are booming thanks to shows like Ricky and Morty, Tuca and Bertie, Bojack Horseman, and the reboot of Futurama. These shows routinely push the envelope of what is and is not appropriate, and Harley Quinn does this expertly. The humor is typically at the expense of the characters and utilizes violence and blood whenever it can. It avoids humor that is derogatory, sexist, or outright offensive. In Velma, the humor starts out in a good spot, toeing the line between appropriate and offensive similar to the humor in Rick and Morty. This quickly turns, and the humor, if you can call it that, is overtly offensive and feels as though it is only there to offend the audience and get people talking. The last half of the show’s first season is like nails on a chalkboard with practically every “joke” falling flat on the floor.

Story:

A show without a story is destined to fail, and that is what happened with Velma. In the first few episodes, the story was clearly laid out for the audience. Velma’s mother was kidnapped, and Velma wants to find her but is suffering from dangerous hallucinations. There is also a killer on the loose that may or may not be tied to Velma’s mom. Each episode gave us clues and new questions which kept the story interesting and moving at a great pace. That was all traded in for an absolute mess in the second half of the season. The story began to go in a hundred different directions and none of them made sense with the original story or characters, so by the season finale, no one really cared who the killer was. In Harley Quinn, the story is focused on Harley trying to figure out who she is independently, and every other story is woven into this but never overshadows it. This works great to keep a central story going without getting boring. The show also uses expertly placed flashbacks to push the story rather than doing what Velma did which was to use flashbacks just to fill space.

If Velma does get another season, I am keeping my fingers crossed that they will listen to fans and take a few notes from the writers and creators of Harley Quinn so that the next season can actually be enjoyable from start to finish. Velma and Harley Quinn are currently available to stream on HBO Max.

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