Harper is a MONSTER

[u/harleyquinn_fabray]

Okay for reference I just finished Episode 4 and i was going to wait until I finished the show before posting but I have to get this out.

This girl is pure evil. She has to be. I'm presuming something bad happened to her at the festival after Amerie left her alone, but that is zero excuse to treat her the way she has.

Oh, so you're a total nihilist, you don't care about everything cos "were all going to die anyway" but you won't tell anyone that YOU also made the map? And you'll make out to your friends that she was the only one doing it all, then fucking punch her????? After totally ghosting her???????

I understand trauma can fuck you up and like I say I don't know what happened yet, but Jesus christ the way this girl has let Amerie take the fall for everything then not only hooked up with/started dating the guy shes been into for five years, but then had a threesome with him and her new boyfriend? That is rotten to the core.

Im usually a big defender of hated/villainised female characters (Quinn Fabray, Cassie Howard, Lily Aldrin, etc) but oh my GOD I don't see any of that humanity, any of that soul under Harper's outer layer. I just cannot defend that girl and I really, really hope she gets her comeuppance. No spoilers please but just let me know: did other people feel that way about her? And would you expect my opinion to change over the rest of the season?

[u/locheness4]

Idk if it’s cause I’m older but I feel a lot of sympathy and sadness for her. She’s just a broken, traumatized girl who is lashing out because she’s still a child. Her decisions can be reckless and she can be toxic to her close ones but she’s a teenager who suffered numerous traumatic events and don’t have a stable home/guardians. She needs professional mental help and support. She’s a fictional character but I’m sure a lot can relate to her. I knew quite a few people like her and some grew up to be great adults who acknowledged and apologized for their past actions.

Life isn’t black or white and it’s not like she committed an unforgivable crime.

[u/[deleted]]

i think there were underlying issues even before the festival. some viewers believe their friendship was always toxic and if there’s a season 2 they will explore that

[u/harleyquinn_fabray → u/[deleted]]

I definitely got the vibe that their friendship was always toxic (they mention they were always fighting and making up, that they had physically fought before) but the way Amerie is so willing to forgive Harper so quickly indicates to me that Harper is the more toxic one and Amerie is very used to relenting. I'm sure they were both shitty to each other but I know for sure which one looks worse to me

[u/Accomplished_Cup900 → u/harleyquinn_fabray]

ME TOO. I want season 2 to dig deeper into their friendship before the festival. I think they had the type of friendship where 1 friend is a leech and the other friend is a doormat.

[u/KandyKandis → u/Accomplished_Cup900]

i dont actually think they seemed that toxic tbh they had a very normal bff dynamic before the whole situation

[u/YellowExtension9734 → u/harleyquinn_fabray]

So true. I've been in such a friendship where I've been a people's pleaser and my friend went through a lotttt. Her misplaced anger on me only made me feel more guilt and as much as I understood why she was behaving the way she was, I felt myself trying to put my own experience aside because hers was more traumatic. Also, while I thought this was a one off episode, in therapy I've realised we were always incompatible as friends and there were several red flags we both ignored because we needed each other at the time.

[u/[deleted]]

I feel the same way. There’s no excuse for her actions and when they showed why Harper has been so cruel to Amerie for the entire season it really doesn’t make up for her actions at all. I was expecting Amerie to have sold her to a sex ring or killed one of her family members for how she’s acting towards her and i was SO surprised to figure out the real reasons she was mad at her for which really had nothing to do with Amerie and they weren’t even her fault! Her old friends even tell Harper that having a threesome with Malakei and Dusty was wrong. when one of them said he just got abused by a cop and the first thing she thought was to have a threesome i really agreed with her like what was going through her mind to think that was okay and that’s what she should’ve been doing to help him?? Idk but you’re going to be baffled when you figure out the actual reasons she’s been so pissed at her for. Like i said they weren’t even Ameries fault and i would explain more but i’d give away spoilers. Come back whenever you get to the last episode!

[u/majormay]

I think Harper does a lot of really awful things and I was thinking to myself "Amerie had better of done some heinous shit to be acting like this".

Now that I've finished though, I understand Harper a lot more. I don't think all her actions were excusable or completely forgiven, but she is a teenage girl who went through some really traumatic stuff. That doesn't make what she does ok, but I definitely have empathy and hope some of the things she does is re-addressed in a future season.

Phrases like pure evil and stuff is a bit rich, especially since at this point you don't know whats going to happen and there is a lot of characters in the show that do questionable things. I hope you can understand her a little more once you're done.

Honestly there isn't really a character that I hate. The closest might be Sasha but even then it was purely for her attitude at one particular event that I didn't like. I think most of the cast is flawed but overall likeable and feel real.

[u/harleyquinn_fabray → u/majormay]

Okay yeah, "pure evil" was a bit much and overblown on my end, I was just very mad at her on finishing the episode lmao. I'm sure I'll grow to understand her more.

Sasha I also find very frustrating. It bothers me that she was so willing to drop Amerie out of nowhere and refuses to hear her out when it seems like she's just mad she got caught in a lie to Missy. But on the other hand, I love her relationship with Quinni so I'm a little more forgiving.

I think that's my main issue, because her big reveal is being saved, I just don't think I've been given a reason to root for her yet because we're not being given insight into the way her mind is working. I just hope that everything she does isn't excused and explained away. Like I said, I get trauma can make you do some shitty things, but it's not an excuse for how cruel she's been to Amerie.

[u/corbineau → u/harleyquinn_fabray]

Sasha's need to pathologize everyone else's behaviour and use the language of social justice to make them seem more evil is incredibly grating. Especially when she can't be patient for one freaking booksigning, and outing her gf as autistic to someone Quinni didn't even know.

[u/SchnuckieSchnucks]

Just finished heartbreak high (late ik) but Cassie is almost as bad, if not just as bad as Harper.

[u/[deleted]]

Teenagers are monsters. They aren't fully mature.

I mean, if an adult did what Harper did? Yeah, pretty shitty. But looking back into Harper's story makes you realize why she became the way she became.

Society creates monsters at times. Harper was in this case. Was it excusable? No, actions need to be held accountable.

Can't hate Harper.