Episode 9 – Suicide Squad: Another World

“I’m glad the princess got her empowering moment,” the critic quipped. Okay, maybe that’s a little mean. Still, there’s nothing interesting about the first half of the episode, although you could argue it’s a necessary inclusion that establishes the overall appeal of the show we’ve been talking about since day one. Suicide Squad from Another World is taking exaggerated characters from comics and placing them in generic isekai situations. The show is nothing more than a bunch of set-pieces and funny scenes with this group of misfits tearing up the predictable and standard rules of this type of narrative. The natural conclusion to this type of setting is that the characters and fantasy world will either rebel against the squad or adapt to them, which we see in the second half of the episode. However, we first have to get to the show’s most universal situation in the first half of the episode.

We see a dark twist on a generic villain, an army of the undead rising from the grave, an empowering moment for a passive princess who was previously unable to stand up for herself, and more. I don’t think you need to draw all of this out in the entire half of the episode, but the payoff in the second half works narratively speaking. The team’s appearance sets off a climax, finally revealing the nonsense that permeates this fantasy world. Ironically, only a group of criminals forced into a situation they don’t want can free an entire fantasy world from an evil force seeking to conquer them all. There’s not much to say about the second half of the episode, as it’s just one action set piece after another, with some questionable endings. The payoff is debatable as I don’t believe Harley’s dragons grew that big in a short amount of time. Granted, the show is also very vague about how much time has passed between this episode and the last one, so what do I really know? My favorite part is when the knight berates the squad. There’s real gunfire throughout the show, and he even has a nice moment in “Deadshot.”

I’m not sure how I specifically feel about Harry being the inspiration for the princess. I know the idea is that Harley is unhinged and crazy because the Joker helped her escape from society. Over the years, the princess was forced to trust a system that was corrupt from the start, and as a result she developed a lot of pent-up aggression. Harley is this symbol, which feels weird because in almost every iteration of Harley’s backstory, she’s been gaslighted and manipulated by the Joker. Maybe this is supposed to be sarcastic and further emphasize how similar their situations are. But since the show doesn’t emphasize Harley and the Joker’s abusive relationship, I’m not sure that’s the case. If anything, if this cartoon was your first introduction to Harley and the Joker’s dynamic, you might think of them as the ultimate Bonnie and Clyde couple. I guess I’d chalk this up to a missed opportunity that the show wasn’t interested in exploring. The question now is, what kind of buzz will this show bring?

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Suicide Squad from Another World Currently streaming on Hulu and Max.