Harley Quinn Season 4 struggled to catch my interest in part because the show kept looking for ways to separate Harley, Ivy, and all of the other main characters. They’d developed such strong relationships between all of these characters and then asked the difficult question “what if we did nothing with that?” While there was a lot to like about Harley Quinn Season 4, it didn’t live up to the ones that preceded it. Light spoilers for Harley Quinn Season 5 follow.
Harley Quinn Season 5
Thankfully, that’s not the case here. Right from the jump, Harley and Ivy are sticking together. The part they leave behind, though, is Gotham City. When Metropolis announces the unveiling of the Superman museum, she sees it as a chance to dress up and get out–only to find that the city itself is appealing as well.
This whole show has been about the relationship between Harley and Ivy. Ivy had to admit that she might be in love with someone who doesn’t fit her outlook. They had their honeymoon phase. Then they had to work on communication, and surviving the inevitable times in which a couple has to be apart for longer than they’d like. Now, it’s about sustaining the relationship. Harley’s worried that she and her lady-love are stuck in a rut, and she’s afraid of turning into her parents–two people who deeply resent each other and have largely given up on making life fun. Metropolis is an unfamiliar backdrop meant to put the characters out of their element, so that we can focus on them. and the elements that want to separate them.
Season 5 adds two new stars to the cast in the form of Brainiac (Stephen Fry) and Lena Luthor (Aisha Tyler). Stephen Fry’s dour tone is, of course, an excellent fit for the cold and calculating Brainiac. Tyler brings tons of charm that hides even more rage, especially when it concerns her brother, Lex Luthor.
Harley and Ivy get the most to work with, of course. Harley has to work through her own fears about her relationship with Ivy, but many of her best moments come when she lets her therapist side come out. Harley stories often discount how intelligent she is, and Harley Quinn has certainly been better about that, but Dr. Quinzel does some of the heaviest lifting when Harley’s bat is too weak or unsuitable for her challenge.
Ivy, too, has plenty to work on. She has to face the fact that, in a relationship, your problems are your significant other’s problems, too. That includes the return of Swamp Thing villain Jason Woodrue, who played a key role in Ivy’s transformation from college student to dangerous villain. The writers show off their usual deep-cut approach here, as Woodrue is also known as the Floronic Man, a character who has been present in some key DC moments but barely qualifies as a D-tier villain in the minds of everyday comic readers.
One of the best storylines goes through Clayface who, upon seeing a negative review for his latest one-man play, kidnaps Daily Planet editor Perry White and steps in as his yellow-teethed doppelganger. The nature of the Brainiac storyline ends up with Bane writing and Clayface performing alongside Harley in a story about Brainiac’s tragic life, which becomes pivotal to the plot. In the background, A-tier heroes are dealing with their own stuff. Joker, at this point, is happy with his home life and children, and is mostly just hanging around to tease Bruce Wayne (who he still doesn’t know is Batman, somehow).
Bruce is having to admit that the women he’s attracted to are not healthy for him, while Superman struggles with the idea not being needed in a city where he’s eliminated most crime, and in which Lex is in jail (but don’t worry about Gotham across the river, Supes).
Harley Quinn has always been about how Harley and Ivy are better together, and that extends to the rest of the main cast–Clayface, Bane, Joker, King Shark, and Batman. Together, all these weirdoes bounce off of each other nicely in the plot and writing alike. Splitting them up with murder mysteries and the like for the sake of serious drama was never the right move, and putting them back together to save the world like a bunch of dummies just feels right. That they manage to sneak in some poignant moments, including one particularly good one for Lois Lane, is confirmation that the writers know how to balance the silly absurdism with a good story.
This feels like a return to form for Harley Quinn, and I hope the show keeps getting seasons as long as the cast is into it.
Disclaimer: HBO provided Batman-News with early access to Harley Quinn season 5 for the purpose of this review. They were watched to completion before beginning this review.
