"Harley Quinn" Season Four Talkback (Spoilers)

[Yojimbo]

Harley Quinn Season Four! Show your support for Harley Quinn on Twitter by live-tweeting @DCUHarleyQuinn and #HarleyQuinn to @Max during today's episodes!

Harley Quinn
Episode 37: Gotham's Hottest Hotties
July 27, 2023
Harley and Ivy struggle to find their footing in their new respective roles in the Bat Family and the Legion of Doom.

Episode 38: B.I.T.C.H.
July 27, 2023
After breaking the Bat Family's #1 rule, a demoted Harley shadows Alfred, while Ivy finds an unexpected mentor at a networking event.

Episode 39: Icons Only
July 27, 2023
In Vegas for some much-needed QT, Harley struggles at the Strip's evilest hotel while a desperate lvy tries to secure tickets to Clayface's show.

Episode 40: The First Person to Come Back From a Business Conference Without Chlamydia
August 3, 2023
Lex Luthor keeps Ivy on a short leash at a conference on the moon, while the Bat Family rents out Wayne Manor after Talia slashes company finances.

Episode 41: Getting Ice Dick, Don't Wait Up
August 10, 2023
When Batgirl goes missing, Harley goes on an adventure with her roommate, while a spotlight-shy Ivy connects with a PR team after her Malcon success.

Episode 42: Metamorphosis
August 17, 2023
Harley investigates the sudden death of a hero, while Ivy tries to take down the Jons and Joker announces a career change.

Episode 43: The Most Culturally Impactful Film Franchise of All Time
August 24, 2023
Harley and Ivy use the time sphere and visit the future and learn of a pending apocalypse.

Related Threads
-Official Website
-Harley Quinn News & Discussion Thread
-Harley Quinn Season One Talkback Thread
-Harley Quinn: The Complete First Season (DVD)
-Harley Quinn Season Two Talkback Thread
-Harley Quinn: The Complete Second Season (DVD)
-Harley Quinn: The Complete First and Second Seasons (Blu-ray)
-Harley Quinn: The Eat. Bang! Kill. Tour Comic Book Talkback (Spoilers)
-Harley Quinn: The Real Sidekicks of New Gotham Comic Book Special Talkback (Spoilers)
-Harley Quinn: Legion of Bats! Comic Book Talkback (Spoilers)
-Harley Quinn Season Three Talkback Thread
-Harley Quinn: A Very Problematic Valentine's Day Special Talkback (Spoilers)

Comments?

Mod Note: Please feel free to start discussing the episodes right away after it is released!

Discussion is encouraged, but please keep your posts civil, relevant and insightful. Feel free to comment as the episode streams, too, providing your own running commentary, though AVOID successive posting or posts with only three words and under. However, do not post any improper or inflammatory material, as we will issue warnings if we believe it necessary. And please remember to keep the discussion ON-TOPIC! Any mention or implication of viewing an episode through illegal means will not be tolerated - the post will be deleted and/or an infraction will be issued.

 

[Fone Bone]

Harley Quinn "Gotham's Hottest Hotties"

The show is dark, perverted, and violent. It should not be as wonderful and enjoyable as it is. But Harley and Ivy are SO cute together, and it's just empowering what they are both doing in their opposite careers.

I love that Alfred hates Alvin. Let me be blunt. I do too. I think he's bad news.

I love that Robin is cool with the death. To be perfectly blunt so am I. Professor Pyg is one of those rare unsympathetic Batman rogues with no redeeming qualities. Something he shares with the Mad Hatter, who, surprise, surprise, Harley ALSO wound up killing.

Mysterious Woman is Talia. Bank on it. Mommy's coming home, Damian.

I like this show more than I would any other show with an identical premise and tone. Because unlike Titans, the tone is only horrible on the surface. The subtext to the ships and the characters weirdly make you feel GOOD. Which I love. ****1/2.

Harley Quinn "B.I.T.C.H."

So Alfred is more than a little bit insane. And more than a little bit stupid too.

I cannot get a bead on this Joker. He is literally unlike every other interpretation. That's good in a way, but usually when it comes to the Joker, I know where I stand. This guy makes me nervous because part of me actually likes him.

And yup, Talia. And yeah, it turns out she's the worst absentee mother possible.

Snitches get stiches in the Batfamily. Literally. Anyone tells you the idea of the Batfamily is morally sound and justified, here's your counterargument wrapped up in a bow.

I love even at the end, Ivy and Talia are relating to their frustrations over being powerful woman and the painful cliches they have to pretend to be okay with to get ahead. It feels very right to take that on.

As far as The Rule goes, if you don't hear a fish stuck to a board singing it first, it doesn't count. That's sort of how I've been living my life, and ALL of the voices there can't be wrong.

This show is nuts. In a good way. ****.

Harley Quinn "Icons Only"

That "Is this your card?" moment was like a PERFECT climax. Whatever problems you could ever have with the series, it had that moment, which says it has merit. Full stop.

I love that Harley and Ivy think the babies are ugly. You know what? They are. Totally.

Tiny Starro waiters? Funny.

I'm about to hand the show a BIG compliment. The last DC cartoon show able to pull together climaxes that worked so well was Justice League Unlimited. I'm not saying this show is as good as that. But this is the first episode of an animated DC show with a climax as tight as that. That's how long it's been.

That card trick moment made me say, "Wow, this show is special." *****.

Harley Quinn "The First Person To Come Back From A Business Conference Without Chlamydia"

I loved watching Ivy repeatedly punk Lex Luthor.

But the endings with both the Joker AND Harley really worried me. What is going on there? ***1/2.

Harley Quinn "Getting Ice Dick, Don't Wait Up"

I actually kind of hope Nightwing actually IS dead. I really don't like him.

Ivy didn't have a very good showing this episode either.

And holy crap, I did not miss Jim Gordon. There were so few characters in the episode to like and root for.

Is Supergirl an eye doctor? Why?

I love that Babs' roommate says she'll tag along because Harley is basically a cop now and she doesn't want any brown people getting hurt. That's great.

So-so week. ***.

Harley Quinn "Metamorphosis"

I didn't like it, but the last line of Harley wondering if she's dreaming hints there might be something larger going on. But really, this show shouldn't be killing off Nightwing.

What's interesting and horrible about Joker's return to evil is that he doesn't have to give up his wonderful family he loves and who loves him. He's already won them over. So they are on-board instead of appalled. It's something I really don't like seeing, and I feel a lot of the characters behavior in the episode was the show at its nihilist worst.

I hope Harley is right that something going on is hinky. Because that did not sit right with me. *.

Harley Quinn "The Most Culturally Impactful Film Franchise Of All Time"

I feel like the pacing on the show is so tight because the dialogue is so fast paced itself. The patter is like a machine gun with the characters rattling off crucial information and non sequiturs at equally ridiculous speeds, and us trying to keep up with that while the things occurring onscreen themselves are already so bananas.

Have I gotten the selling point of the show right in the previous paragraph? Or at least for the episode itself? ****.

 

[Yojimbo]

Harley Quinn "Gotham's Hottest Hotties"

The show is dark, perverted, and violent. It should not be as wonderful and enjoyable as it is. But Harley and Ivy are SO cute together, and it's just empowering what they are both doing in their opposite careers.

Agreed!

Harley Quinn "B.I.T.C.H."

I cannot get a bead on this Joker. He is literally unlike every other interpretation. That's good in a way, but usually when it comes to the Joker, I know where I stand. This guy makes me nervous because part of me actually likes him.

Yes, but with the way this show goes that can change with the wind.

Harley Quinn "Icons Only"

That "Is this your card?" moment was like a PERFECT climax. Whatever problems you could ever have with the series, it had that moment, which says it has merit. Full stop.

That card trick moment made me say, "Wow, this show is special." *****.

I liked that it was tied in with a nod to 101 Dalmations with the ninth pup having to be rubbed alive.

Harley Quinn "Getting Ice Dick, Don't Wait Up"

Is Supergirl an eye doctor? Why?

In the comics, she's had a long history of random jobs/careers with little explanation so I think this was just a nod to that.

Taken from my reviews:

Episodes 1-3

Contrary to season three's slow meandering pace that doesn't really kick into overdrive until the final three episodes, season four is much more streamlined and kicking on all cylinders right from the start much like season two. The comedy still slaps and season four retains the familiar biting unapologetic commentary like Lex Luthor insisting on a scientific reason for the shape of space shuttles. Or the news stands in Gotham are categorized by good and evil periodicals. Ivy trying to talk sexy to Harley. The cliches of an evil Vegas hotel. Commenting on commercials if you don't have the pro account. Riddler's voice mail message. And you can't talk about how funny this show is without Bane being Bane and Frank being Frank. Naturally, it turns out Harley's instagram knowledge aids the Bat Family with the murder case but Harley's violent ways are played for a laugh in the second episode when she's schooled on being a hero by Alfred to her annoyance but she learns he's got some pearls of wisdom to share. It's also great seeing Ivy connecting with other people like Talia after well the Ivy we know doesn't really connect with very many people and coincidentally earns her respect. And in contrast, the humor of Talia being an absent mother and totally unaware of how hold Damian has become. There's also Mayor Joker who misses being in on evil plans and will sign off on a permit if he gets to learn what the twist will be. My personal favorite was King Shark's quest to make gumbo in episode 3, the magic trick succeeding, shark doulas, and Harley and Ivy having fun making fun of things.

As usual count on a lot of new characters popping in like Volcana, Veronica Cale, and Talia al Ghul, the occasional DC easter eggs like Red Hood being in Harley's contact list or Icicle on a dating app and callbacks like Harley realizing she still had Scarecrow on her phone or Bane having a new mission involving the infamous pasta maker. And this season doesn't wait long before making a Batman: The Animated Series reference, see the photo Talia has when she first meets with the Bat Family. The cameos and references step up a notch in episode 3 with even Doll Man, Ragdoll, Bouncing Boy, and Weasel showing up. The episode is also galore with contemporary references like Sex in the City and Baby Shark.

The only real gripe I had with the premiere and the season is how it splits the original cast up even more than season three did. Harley's old gang is definitely no more in season four. Harley's a good guy with a Batsuit, Ivy's the head of the Legion of Doom, King is a dad with an IT job, Clayface is a Vegas celebrity and diva, and Psycho has a podcast. It was a little confusing why there was such a rift between Clayface and Ivy that I wonder if I forgot something from season three or the special. While the core of the show was always Harley and Ivy and season 4 has foregone the real meat of the show in the backburner: the chemistry of the whole gang week to week. The new chemistry between the stars and the new gangs doesn't quite mesh, still entertaining, but not like in the beginning. While King is a recurring role and Nora's presence is expanded to fill the hole, the same can't be said for Clayface, Frank, Sy Borgman, and Doctor Psycho. Still, on the flip side, season four does present a lot of character development, world building, and has yet to jump the shark.

Harley Quinn season 4 starts running on all cylinders and is a welcome return to form hot off the heels of the wildly entertaining Valentine's Day Special. The main cast goes through new changes and takes on new roles but are still the same hilarious, violent irreverent villains we've come to know and love. The three episode premiere sets up Harley and Ivy trying to gain the respect of their new peers while they try to figure out their new status quo but still remain the same person they've always been. While the gang has gone their separate ways for the most part, they are still connected and this season seems ripe for more plot twists and putting them on a collision course in the season finale.

Episode 4

Aside from a ridiculously long title quoting a supporting character in the opening scene, "The First Person to Come Back From a Business Conference Without Chlamydia," there isn't much to down this episode for. Like the previous three, it's a relief this episode continues to steamroll, in a good way, much like season two did. While some might cringe at the not-so-subtle jabs at two specific tech CEOs, the shapes of rockets or super villains using sex surrogates, it is what it is. Things get down to business. Ivy is sidelined by Lex at the convention because he wants to be the center of attention and he's totally emasculated when she ignores his itinerary for her and becomes the convention darling, even impressing the Apokoliptian warlord Steppenwolf whom everyone, including Lex, fanboys over. This is a welcome expansion over the season premiere in which Ivy had to assert dominance over the rank and file's prejudice in the Legion of Doom by wiping the floor with them. Naturally, Lex vents the convention into space after reporters still fawn over Ivy even though he invented the Earth Saver to restore the O-Zone layer (so evil people can keep destroying it over and over). Ultimately, it seems like the episode is setting up an eventual battle over the Legion of Doom between Ivy and Lex. Lex's fragile ego in this episode foreshadows his inability to acknowledge Ivy's success and as soon as that becomes the Legion's success in spades, it won't be long before Lex calls backsies and Ivy refuses. A showdown in the making since season one, the showrunners and the crew are brilliantly reaping what they've sown since the beginning of the series. An all-out slug fest between Ivy and Lex is a long time coming.

On the flip side, Harley and the Bat-Family save Mayor Joker from Two-Face. While it was a surprise, Two-Face's return on the heels of last season was a one-note side story where he got taken out fairly fast, the real surprise is the Bat-Family and Wayne Manor get liquidated by Talia to cover the company's rapid fall thanks to Ivy's socially conscious evil. But so juicy that the tables have turned and Harley is in the top spot having to teach them how to live on scraps again without Batman's patronage, namely all his cutting edge gear. Certainly easy to scoff at that development as a contrived plot device made to ascend the lead star at the expense of our traditional heroes. The Bat-Family are trained by Batman to be at the top of their game, they shouldn't be such pushovers without batons or a batarang! But hold up. I get that a pair of drugged up Swedes looting Wayne Manor isn't as in-your-face as Bane crippling Batman in his hi-tech Batsuit to get the lesson across but looking back on the season premiere, the bureaucratic jab at the nature of the Bat-Family updating files and exercising constantly while they wait for the computer to tell them about a crime was a clever hint that they were skimping on real training this whole time. If you think about it, they haven't really been with their backs on the wall trying to survive day to day like Harley has been in this whole series. Whenever we saw Robin for the majority of the series, his face was planted to his video game. Even in his debut appearance, he was busy putting on an act on TV. Only Barbara really had to bootstrap when he was starting but I guess once Batman made her official, she got soft, too.

Another curious aside, that was again seeded in the season premiere, is that Joker really misses being evil. Since this new season is about putting the majority of the leads and recurring into new roles, makes sense Joker's new role as mayor would come into the forefront. His focus was his family and becoming mayor was to help his family but now that that's done, he's missing the old life and has to make due with small dalliances. If you call blowing up the city yard guy for his boring meeting a dalliance. Perhaps we'll see Joker regress further and further this season if there's enough room. While it was interesting to see Harley going from the probie to the agent in charge, still... it got away from her season arc of learning how to be a hero that seemed to be picking up steam until Alfred got locked up.

"The First Person to Come Back From a Business Conference Without Chlamydia" is another perfect episode for Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy. Not even the sky's the limit to Ivy's success but Lex sees that for himself and not like he'll cave to petty jealousy... the stage definitely seems set for a reckoning in the villain community. On the Harley Quinn show? Shocker. Harley however is witness to the Bat-Family hitting rock bottom thanks to Talia's cutthroat business tactics but she's now firmly in a place to school Batgirl, Nightwing, and Robin and finally vibe and bond like she set out to in the premiere. However, while Harley's got newfound excitement in her life, the Joker is saddled with boredom as Gotham's mayor so things like to be heating up for not only Lex but Joker to get radical again. Despite with all that, the big question still looms if this back and forth dual format will hold the fans' attention effectively for the season and pay off in an effective and satisfying conclusion.

Episode 5

After Gordon fell off season 3, it's nice to finally see him back on the show. Rather than accepting a happy ending in retirement and rekindling things with Barbara Senior, he throws it all aside just to have a security guard job at the Hall of Doom and being alone and miserable. Gordon has often struggled with his relationships: Barbara, Barbara, Batman, Two-Face throughout the series. Like most of the cast this season, Gordon has taken on a new role but is still dealing with old problems. Gordon being okay with working for the people he spent most of his adult life hunting feels a bit out there but on the psychological level, when Gordon was a cop and living within the conflict between good and evil – he was probably at his best. Immersing himself among the super villains seems like the next best shot at returning himself to a safe, well-treaded status quo than moving on to something new. Also side-bar, it's a surprise Barbara turned out a functioning adult considering her parents are who they are. Asking your daughter to look up lube facts? Yeesh.

Harley is still really craving acceptance from the Bat-Family, Nightwing in particular. Even after moving into Wayne Manor and trying to make them friendship bracelets, Harley has still hit a wall. Even with corrective eye surgery, the gesture falls on deaf ears and Nightwing still won't call her family. With last week's sleepwalking incident, Harley's 8 hour nap and Alysia's theory about repression – it sounds like Harley is on a season arc-long path to admitting she's not cut out to be a good guy. The new mystery of who murdered Nightwing, seen wearing the bracelet, seems to all but point at an evil sleepwalking Harley. I mean come on. This is the Harley Quinn show we're talking but there's no way Nightwing was killed by a parrot handler... hmm. In any case, Harley's quest for acceptance is really shaping to be a journey of accepting she's always going to be a villain. Well, an anti-hero perhaps.

Ivy is feeling herself after Malcon and it is only exacerbated by an overbearing PR team that won't stop at molding Ivy into something she's not. It seems clear that Ivy will eventually exit the ego trip and come back down to Earth and probably murder the Jons in horrific fashion. You may have noticed them in the background but this episode cemented that Ivy's been mentoring three new members of the Legion of the Doom: Volcana, Terra (the first time this version has been in animation and no, this isn't the Terra Markov associated with the Teen Titans), and Tefe (also animated for the first time, Swamp Thing's daughter). Thematically, they all have elemental based powers so natural for Ivy to take them under her wing. With the trio feeling ignored, stands to reason that this will end with Ivy rejecting the "new Ivy" and accepting three super villains in training matter more to her than three billion adulating groupies.

This week was as always, a surprising mish-mash debut of who's who in the DC universe. First, there's Supergirl appearing but not in a typical super hero capacity. Supergirl working as an optometrist seems way out of left field but this appears to be a hat tip to Supergirl's comic book history of random jobs. While Volcana was properly introduced already this season, this episode formally introduced Terra and Tefe. While both aren't supervillains in the comics that I could recall, stranger things have happened on this show. Atlee, in the comics, is the third person to use the codename Terra and also has geokinetic powers. Tefe is the daughter of Swamp Thing and in the comics has a connection to both the Green and the Red, the forces that govern plant and animal life respectively. Barbara's room mate Alysia Yeoh is introduced. Yeoh is from the recent Batgirl comics circa late 2011. As hinted at in the episode, Yeoh is transgender. Lastly, and probably the most obscure of this week's debuts were two Wonder Woman villains, Minister Blizzard and Blue Snowman. Along with them is also Icicle, whom we saw on a dating app earlier this season.

"Getting Ice Dick, Don't Wait Up" continues to balance focus on Harley and Ivy as they navigate their own "worlds" and orbit of supporting cast while continuing to expand on the season long arc of accepting or not accepting the new status quo, introducing new characters, world building, and throwing in a last second shocker for fans to stew on for a week until the next episode drops on Max.

Episode 6

Well, it looks like the Bat-Family is just as dead as Nightwing. To think the Bat-Family was just a house of cards that easily toppled without Batman's leadership is hard to swallow but this incarnation wasn't together for that long to have that strong a bond in the first place. For some time, it was just Batman and Robin when this series started. Then Batgirl was inserted into the team. Then a couple months later, Nightwing returns to the team. Then Bruce goes to jail, Harley joins, Alfred gets arrested so be can be with Bruce, Nightwing gets killed, and Robin is fine with being taken to Talia. The fragility of the team is illuminated by Barbara's downward spiral and metamorphosis into a total wreck; emotional, ignoring the rules of detective work, getting drunk, telling off her father, and picking a fight.

Harley has undergone her own metamorphosis and oddly the only sensible person on the Bat-Family. But more importantly, she learns about her sleepwalking episodes from Frank but then gets an existential shocker of her own when she sees someone exactly like her across the room. Is Harley asleep again but now able to see her doppelganger's actions? Hallucinating? Being screwed with by a shape-shifter like Clayface? A robot? A clone? A time traveling variant? An AU Harley from a parallel universe? On the flip side, Ivy rejects her own metamorphosis into the perfect PR darling and decides to go back to being herself and uses a PR event to deal with her PR team once and for all. Quite an image for Ivy to use her mentees to horrifically murder a giant Jon. Like beating up the old guard in the Legion in the meeting room, Jon's death is seemingly another sign that Ivy isn't going to held down by the male-dominated world of supervillainy. I don't think it will be long before Ivy and Lex have a showdown or Harley and Ivy's work lives clash.

Joker's return to supervillainy is a long time coming but he's been on quite a unique character arc. Lost his memory, became a non-descript white male bartender, fell in love, got turned back by Harley, chose to stay with his new family, became the Mayor. Is he still Mayor or is Gotham back to anarchy? What's this mean for all his new measures or actions as Mayor like arresting Bruce? It seems to make perfect sense Joker would use a classic move to announce his return by killing someone in the Bat-Family. But this is a Harley Quinn show so could be a red herring and maybe he isn't really the killer. Nightwing wasn't exactly killed in a spectacular, flashy way. It really lacks Joker's M.O. so it's fishy. We also saw how Joker was eager to still have a foot hold in the world of villainy this season from the permits to blowing up the yard guy. Perhaps he's using Nightwing's death as a prop for his return. Oddly more surprising was Bethany and her kids' quick turn to share in Joker's villainy after being portrayed as normal people. But heck, that's Gotham for you I guess. And we did see some sparks of evil in Bethany in season 2, like during that road rage flashback.

As usual, the humor, callbacks, references, and commentaries are on point and "Metamorphosis" is another strong, solid episode. My favorites go to Harley's meta line about anyone getting to close to the Bat-Family getting killed off, a Crazy Quilt mention, the Jons attempted to send Frank to Bialya, how Talia backs up her pin number, talking full English or full Spanish only, and Ivy having no idea where Bane is. We even got another piece of Poison Ivy's back story this week, with Ivy mentioning she got her powers through a freak accident in a lab. In "Metamorphosis," Batgirl goes on a bender, Ivy rejects her PR team's plans for her, the Bat-Family further fragments, the Joker returns, and Harley has another Harley to deal with. Heading into the second half of season 4 and things are looking bleak and shocking while other developments as expected or confounding. Sounds about right.

Episode 7

Well, turns out all is not lost with Batgirl. After that rage fest, drunk bender, and brawl, she got her act together with a cold shower between episodes and is back on brand. From a narrative point, it's interesting the show quickly gets up to speed that she doesn't believe Joker nor Luthor or Ivy had anything to do with Nightwing's murder. But unlike Luthor and Ivy, Joker is publicizing his return on the foundation of lying about being the killer. Also very hilarious Batgirl is still considering the handler for Jeffrey The Parrot from Tawny's show. In a very Oracle-move but in an equally Harley Quinn animated series send-up, Batgirl dispenses with trying to be an anonymous techie and outs Joker during Psycho's podcast. To add insult to injury, it was a hilarious move that the evidence was Joker was being tested for sleep apnea. Props to Batgirl this week! However, there's still the central mystery of who killed Nightwing and Batgirl is now seemingly on Joker's radar. Sidebar, nice to see anyone from the old crew, even Doctor Psycho.

Sure, of course. The only way to make Harley and Ivy reunite and come to terms with this season's arc is to put them in a hellish future that they somehow had a hand in causing and the impetus to spur them back into Harlivy mode was their daughter! The implications of that alone. Sure, it's a possible future and now that might be screwed up and she'll never be born. But Harley and Ivy are a couple that lives together and hashing out their work lives. What would a hypothetical season 5 entail for them. Getting married or having a child is a plausible next step. In any case, Princess Ladyfingers being the embodiment of the best and worst traits in both Harley and Ivy, keeping her true nature under the surface until the betrayal, and being a cruel mirror exposing their own b.s. was simply brilliant. And it was once again thanks to Harley's impetuousness and booting up the Time Sphere in the first place. At least a small sliver of the future didn't suck and one of King Shark's sons turned out okay. After seeing Ivy and Harley pretty much separated all season for the most part and/or distracted by work, it was a welcome sight to see them back... pummeling their future daughter. This show.

And it wouldn't be a season of Harley Quinn if something wasn't going on with Gotham. Back to chaos and some apocalypse is going on that involves Harley, Ivy, and Lex Luthor. There's only one real culprit yet to be seen in use after being introduced earlier this season and that was Lex's Earth Saver for his Ozone project. Perhaps something went wrong with the tech or the Earth Saver was just a cover for Lex's real evil scheme? With just 3 episodes left, it appears this season's dual format of Harley and Ivy is gearing towards a dual big bad of Joker and Lex Luthor. I think it will ultimately revolve around the question of will Harley continue to be a hero and honor the no-kill rule against someone like Joker and for Ivy, will she continue to be a disruptor in the evil business and off Lex, staging her own corporate coup of sorts. Oh yeah, and solving whoever killed Nightwing and is there another Harley running around. Yadda yadda.

Season 4 is hitting all high marks that makes this show so entertaining and running on all cylinders with its brand of humor, callbacks, references, and commentaries and "The Most Culturally Impactful Film Franchise of All Time" is another strong, solid episode. Not much to complain about. The production team knew where to trim the fat, like not wasting time on Batgirl investigating suspects and coming to the conclusion Joker wasn't the killer – just straight to he's not the killer – and staged a quirky set of events and encounters to jilt Harley and Ivy back into each other's arms. For the fans that like to look for DC references, this episode sure had it. A second reference of Starfire this season (the first being in the premiere during the photo shoot livestream). This time, a photo of her on the Batcomputer. So there is a character design. Same with Red Hood. Similarly, we saw Minister Blizzard and Icicle on Nora's phone then episodes later, make a full appearance. Hmm. C'mon, let there be a season 5 that introduces those Red Hood and Starfire proper! And Joker's poker game as funnily had the Book of the Black, Kryptonite, a Flash Ring, and a magazine featuring Giganta among the winnings plus a callback to last week's Lazarus Hot Springs. Psycho's live stream followers had some nice little nods to Spoiler, maybe Punchline, and Mister Mxyztplk. Lot of fun series callbacks like Nora mentioning Jazzapijizza or Ladyfingers having a Cobb Squad tattoo and the usual random assortment of pop culture references like Joker spoiling Passover for kids, James Corden (although I guess that's a bit dated now), Harley and Ivy ragging on Avatar, Joker in contention with Amy Schumer, Harley's one embarrassing thing about watching The Iron Lady, and King Baby being a fan of Mama Mia! Plus Future Robin's collection has a who's who of this show including characters who have hardly appeared or not at all this season like Batman and Kite Man. Hands down, my favorite line was Harley commenting on Steve being a voice actor. Steve.

"The Most Culturally Impactful Film Franchise of All Time" restores Harlivy just in time for the end of the season and for an apocalypse to fix in addition to their other problems looming over them, namely the return of the Joker to villainy, whatever Lex is scheming, who killed Nightwing, and the second Harley. It's never just one thing but better together, shouldn't be anything Harley and Ivy can't deal with. For the most part. Usually. Nah, they will. They will.

 

[Yojimbo]

​

Episode 8 "Il Buffone" - August 31, 2023

Bane seeks the solutions to his problems in Italy. Nora defends the LOD from Lex's assault -- on a long weekend, no less.

Comments?

Mod Note: Please feel free to start discussing the episodes right away after they are released!

Discussion is encouraged, but please keep your posts civil, relevant and insightful. Feel free to comment as the episode streams, too, providing your own running commentary, though AVOID successive posting or posts with only three words and under. However, do not post any improper or inflammatory material, as we will issue warnings if we believe it necessary. And please remember to keep the discussion ON-TOPIC! Any mention or implication of viewing an episode through illegal means will not be tolerated - the post will be deleted and/or an infraction will be issued.

 

[Neo Ultra Mike]

Man feels so weird being back here after so long but hey not going to spend much time dwelling on it just going to do some quick reviews on like 4/5th of this season.


"Gotham's Hottest Hotties" - Honestly this was a really great way to start off the season as I really loved the flow of two plots. Harley now working with the Batfamily and finding out those people were offed because of Professor Pyg harvesting their parts (and the only good use of Dick Grayson butt jokes they went mad overboard this season. I get it's a thing but they rant that joke into the ground even before running him into the ground) while Ivy has to realize she can't simply be nice and welcoming to get the LOD to follow her and has to be more assertive which I felt were very interesting places to take their character and still a lot of great jokes. I mean come on this episode introduced Snowflame to like any expanded DC Canon that has to get it some high points.

"B.I.T.C.H" - Aka "The Harley Quinn show introduces the best version of Taila Al Ghul we've ever seen in any show/movie" as her being this awesome high powered business queen but still natural assassin but also this super terrible mother (the runner of how she treats Damian I never got sick of) is great and I have no problem it's different then how I pictured her in this show and that we haven't seen or heard about Ra's yet. And the two plots are still really solid; Ivy learning more how to try and play the game with and then a bit against Talia (and well done teasing Joker's eventual return to villany since hey even at the end of season 2 he still wanted to be a villain) while Harley get sidelined by the Bat Fam to quell her more violent killing tendencies and I really like her team up with Alfred. As well as Alfred pulling a crime just to be with Bruce and that not turning out how he planned. Probably a bit below the premiere but still good.

"Icons Only" - So far in retrospect this seems a bit like "filler" story wise compared to the rest of the season but I don't really care as I just love the concept of this one; now that Harley is becoming more of a hero it's harder for her and Ivy to bond as a couple especially going to this more villains retreat so Harley tries adopting a new more villanious persona and how much she's going to allow that to maybe fully retreat into her relationship with Ivy. I like too that though the two bond at the end making fun of King Shark's babies it's clear they still have problems that need to be worked through and you know major props to the team who committed to having this relationship and not wanting to ever break it up despite it seeming many other lesser shows easily could. Add in how much of a diva Clayface is and how that stirs things up with him and Ivy and you have another really great episode. Sadly bundling these three together may have hyped up the season some as things start taking a dive from here...

"The First Person To Come Back From A Business Conference Without Chlamydia" - Okay the Ivy stuff here does work. I do like her managing to outsmart Lex and then get in good with Steppenwolf and though some of Lex's pety jokes don't work (I mean yeah Lex is a pretty petty person but you usually see him not breaking down so easily I mean this isn't supposed to be Eisenberg Lex heh heh) the idea of this villain con and it's guests are great. Sadly the Harley stuff is pretty wonky. I do really like the idea of Talia cutting into their business with budget cuts to make them less effective but "oh you guys relied too much on your weapons and now they aren't there anymore" is not the place to take it. Like wasn't Harley and Babs even just last season and even in the premiere of this one Damian and Barbara had no problem mowing through Pyg's goon and like isn't Dick's whole thing his incredible acrobatic/ hand to hand talent that's supposed to be the best in the DC? Like seriously they should have done "Talia conficates all the various rides the team used and now they have to try getting money without resorting to things like the bus or something" been the funnier move to go through. Also the big threat being this random pair of Air B&Bers is also pretty weak. Thankfully next ep is better for Harley... though worse for Ivy sadly.

"Getting Ice Dick, Don't Wait Up" - I do really like this one's Harley plot as Harley is someone who had learned to really connect and be pals with the people she works with her old crew so I like her trying to do that here but learning how Damian and especially Dick don't really care for her and her desperate efforts to try and connect while finding Barbara are great. And I do like the mystery of where that went and stuff like Supergirl being an eye doctor and the stinger with Dead Nightwing are great. However two things pull this down. First off they reintroduce Jim Gordon into his season who may be my least favorite character in this show now. I mean they do something good with him in the next episode at least but man his whole pathetic loser schitck being happy at having a job just does not work for me. Worse though this is the first and thankfully kind of only bad Ivy plot of the season. I will say it is actual clever of Lex to try and pretty much Evita Ivy by giving her his PR team and turning her into this villain concerned so much with image and what not but.... that's not really much of a fun plot especially when it's stretched out in more then one ep. Thankfully this one does introduce her team we'll see used better later but that whole plot does kill some of the vibe of this one for me."

"Metamorphosis" - I will say I am glad they did the super quick apology version of Ivy having betrayed her roots and not dwelling on it and rather it being able her and her team getting back at the Johns and that was fun and seeing their ending battle was great. I also liked how Joker revealed himself to his family at trying to get back at villany and them being on board. I mean again back to the season 2 finale seemed that Bethany did have a temper (also shown in that season 3 killing vote ep) that could lend itself to villany and I'm glad it's not a "oh Joker has to choose between the two" sort of thing and him trying to take credit for Nightwing's death worked. Sadly a lot of things with the Harley plot I'm not a fan of. Again they do Nightwing a disservice here and sadly due to how this comedy is style this isn't a show that can really do good funeral scenes as they still have to constantly be cracking jokes yet trying to still have you care as shown even with Ivy's "funeral" at the end of season one. Plus feels off that even a super licquored up Barbara would be able to crack so much of the LOD and even if she could why was she so easily able to be stopped by Harley after Joker revealed he killed Nightwing? I did like the idea of Barbara becoming hardened from this whole thing and again this one did have a good Jim Gordon plot with him bonding with King Shark in how to take care of kids around the office but yeah some issues here...

"The Most Culturally Impactful Film Franchise Of All Time" - That thankfully went away cause this is a great return to form. Watching this and the new Superman episode it is weird how both of them synch up with their episode 7s being this super high concept idea compared to how more "grounded" the rest of the season was. There it was the multi verse while here it's time travel but both really work. I am glad to finally see Harley and Ivy back on more the same footing and working more together since I get putting them on multiple career paths and yeah there's catharsis seeing this after some weeks apart but if it's what youre' grounding the show in it wouldn't kill to have more and this certainly shows it. I also really love the idea this started just because Ivy wanted the Timesphere as a power move and then Harley just wanted to use it to vent to an older Ivy and it ending up with the two of them in the future seeming teaming up with their future daughter. And cracking at Avatar like it's supposed to mean something when it doesn't was greatly used here and I do like the fact that "Nefriytiri" did have a legit reason to hate her moms despite them trying here to be good proud parents and that leading to this big fight. Just lot of fun what iffery there and yeah great ending bit with them apparently only going 6 days in the future and things gone to hell that I was kind of afraid the next ep would kind of muck up but didn't.

"Il Buffone" - Since I really liked the climax of the last one I was afraid this would be a "eh we aren't going to do anything with that here's our now standard let's focus on other characters for the most part not the lead episode of the season" which have been a hit and miss. "Batman's Back Man' is great but I still had problems with "Joker The Killing Vote" mostly in how it just made me hate Jim Gordon. Thankfully this one actually does work really well. The whole Bane plot of him learning how to make great pasta did go on a bit long with him constantly messing up but works just because of how this goofy version of Bane operates (though didn't he have a lady he was into in the Valentine's Day special? What happened to her) and him doing all of this for Nora who just sees him as the "splosions" guy and not much else. Probably helped that the old lady teaching him was pretty funny especially her saying "what you think I taught you my secrets just so you could leave without getting me anything" and him having to get her Clayface tickets which he'll only get for humliating Ivy. What actually surprisingly tied this one together though was Nora who... I'm probably going to get pushback on this but I don't care; this is certainly the most interesting version of the character. Like we had her work really well even in this series for her standard use of a Mr. Freeze sort of plot device/love connection and played up the drama there but then the team wisely realized "you know why not have this whole experience change her and make her this more fun character we can play with" and yeah I've been digging the small uses of her this season but this is a really shining example. her just fed up with Lex trying to show off his swaggering might but then just want the LOD office to get some with Captain Cold and annoyed at him bonding over tech stuff with King Shark and then enjoying the idea of the apocalypse to get free stuff is just great. There's a fun unhinged energy from the character that gets to be used well here and I also dig showing off Volcana more and more as a brownnoser which also seems like a better take on the character then most. Plus this episode did have a purpose in actually SHOWING what the whole apocalyptic event was: Lex's supposed plan to stop global warning was really just to plot out the sun which super screws over super man. Like THAT'S the kind of mad genius insanity pettyness you expect from Lex Luthor so well done on this show for going for it.

So overall a couple of weaker episodes but most of the season has been great and looking forward to how it ends in two weeks.

 

[Trueblade74]

I still don't know if I actually like this show.

 

[Yojimbo]

Much like season 2's "Batman's Back, Man" or season 3's "Joker: The Killing Vote", "Il Buffone" is the side-story of the season. Seems we'll have one each season, no complaints from me. What timing <sarcasm> just when they leave in the Time Sphere, that's when Lex Luthor is planning to fire the Earth Saver he debuted at MalCon Forum earlier this season. lmao, the ray's range is 304 centimeters short and naturally the visual is an impotency joke. But more importantly, considering the timing, it's interesting for really the first time Luthor is in villain mode matching wits with Nora, which totally an unexpected delight. Tries to make off with the unsuspecting Volcana, sends in a personal hit squad, traps them in the Hall of Doom, messes with the air conditioning by accident and Captain Cold's comments lmao, and then tries to poison the air. But he gets what he wants anyway when Nora blasts an exit open. Shrug. (also what's up with him regrowing his hair)

And so "Il Buffone" confirms Lex is the reason for the apocalypse as King Baby warned Harley and Ivy in last week's episode. Harley is still a hero and undoing an apocalypse seems like a natural move. Ivy, while still a villain, probably is pretty concerned with the environment and undoing the effects of the Earth Saver would be in her interest. Considering her powers, she needs the sun, too, in theory. Sounds like next episode will be Harlivy vs. Lex Luthor. Or maybe Ivy vs. Luthor. I mean, we've pretty much had that seeded since season 1 when Lex told Ivy he was only recruiting Harley so he could get her in the LOD and that whole thing.

I agree with Neo, that I like what they're doing with Nora. Ever since she was revived and cured of her disease in season 2, Nora has had a recurring role in the series but in season 4, she's seen a more elevated role now that she works for Ivy. "Il Buffone" also served to give a big focus on Nora as she essentially takes the lead upon deciding the rule of succession in a couple seconds and effectively proves a match for even Lex Luthor. While sure, on one hand a lot of it is self-preservation. One on the other, Nora does show she somewhat cares about the Legion of Doom in Ivy's absence, preventing Luthor from taking off with Volcana and doesn't hesitate to help slaughter his men. But on the other she's still Nora and she'll brush off sex for a chance at some end-of-the-world pillaging. Nora has grown and come a long way since her introduction on the show, but she's still the entertaining wild card she's always been.

After all this waiting for Bane's return, of course it turns out the broken pasta maker handle was discontinued. The unhelpful receptionists clenched it. Explosion time! The eye twitch and quick cut to the explosion, lol. Naturally, he then ends up an apprentice of a pasta master hermit who happens to be the bonafide real deal Mama Nacaroni the restaurant chain is named after! It looked like Mama was going "Misery" on Bane but thanks to his whimpering, she easily rolls over for some front row tickets to Clayface's Icons Only show in Vegas. rofl. Bane returns to Gotham in triumph and nobody cares or wants any pasta. Yep, that's about right.

While it seems same old same old with yet another season finale marked by Gotham in utter peril, each time has been vividly and entertainingly different and off the wall. Not to mention things reaching full circle with Lex Luthor finally making his big evil villain move in this series, that alone is worth the price of admission. With two episodes left this season, who knows what kind of twists are left to be dropped (and yeah, there are still some).

this goofy version of Bane operates (though didn't he have a lady he was into in the Valentine's Day special? What happened to her)

I saw around the time of the special, Schumacker confirmed it happened as Harley and Ivy predicted and it ended between them off-screen and thus why in season 4 he was back to looking for love and developed a crush on Nora.

that we haven't seen or heard about Ra's yet.

Yeah, but there were a few easter eggs about him in the series. Most recently was the magazine stand Harley and Pyg were at in the first episode. Another was in "A Thief, A Mole, An Orgy," when Two-Face name drops Ra's before sending Jim into the party.

"Metamorphosis" - Plus feels off that even a super licquored up Barbara would be able to crack so much of the LOD and even if she could why was she so easily able to be stopped by Harley after Joker revealed he killed Nightwing?

To be fair, most if not all the LOD were drunk, too. But Babs was angry and fed up so the rage was her advantage I suppose. I think she stopped was Joker showing up and claiming he did it was her worst fear and that was a deer-in-headlights moment and reality came crashing down on her and flight mode took over.

 

[Fone Bone]

Harley Quinn "Il Buffone"

That was weird. This show is weird.

Bane isn't the only punchline on the show. Looks like Superman will be a total joke too.

I love that King Shark reflexively bites the head off a dude who attacks them.

I can't say this is the best version of Nora Fries that ever existed. But it's the one most unlike all the others.

Good burn at the Snyderverse at the beginning. Although I question how the characters know what it is.

And yes the whole thing was just a petty prank on Superman by Lex. Evil didn't create the apocalypse. Idiocracy did. Sounds about right. ***1/2.

 

[Yojimbo]

Harley Quinn "Il Buffone"

Good burn at the Snyderverse at the beginning. Although I question how the characters know what it is.

Movie studios in this continuity make shows about heroes and villains like in other properties like TTG.

 

[Frontier]

This has definitely been a season of Harley Quinn.

 

[Yojimbo]

Episode 9 "Potato Based Cloning Incident" - September 7, 2023

Ivy competes in a celebrity golf tournament. Harley learns a dark truth about herself ... from herself

Comments?

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[Neo Ultra Mike]

"Potato Based Cloning Incident" - Minor Quibble: Since this episode does establish the Flash can go back with his treadmill to alter events... is that something he only does for pranks cause if he can just do that for whatever, why not go back and at least stop Lex from blocking out the sun? Like maybe he can't because technically Lex wasn't breaking the law to do that but feels like one of those things that should have some sort of explanation. Or maybe a reference like Flash only changes super minor things in the past... yeah again this is a quibble cause this isn't Flash's show and I get it wouldn't be satisfying or interesting to have the problems be solved by some in this series unrelated force and not like we know the laws of how far back Flash can time travel in this show, just one of those minor things that bugged me as otherwise I felt this was a really solid story.

I admit I kind of read the synopsis of this one kind of confused going "okay I know this is a comedy show but isn't focusing a story on one of the heroes besting the villain over a golf game the kind of absurd ridiculous nonsense you'd get in Teen Titans Go? Isn't this show smarter then that?" And yeah it is since this goes through the notion that yeah, Lex Luthor didn't just block out the sun to mess with Superman's powers but Ivy's as well since obviously without the sun there wouldn't be any natural flowers or plants she could use as much and would be a lot weakened as well so it's obviously a take that to her. And I also appreciate them showing "yeah he also thought ahead of just going in and smashing plan" so the whole reason that Ivy is doing this golf game is a Succession style "let's meet up with other board heads and elect to vote Lex out and the other board head she needs to impress just happens to be an old gold advocate businessman". That tracks better and I have to say that though story wise this was the least interesting plot of the episode it did have a lot of great jokes. I really like Lex goons just cutting the wire and Ivy and the two Harleys falling down into the wilting trees, Talia admitting she still gets off on guys humiliated when giving Ivy advice on who to go after and Ivy admitting her dislike for shows like Succession but having to use it's tactics, Ivy and Lex's petty squabbling actually on the green and Ivy killing the guy twice after gloating to Lex, Bane actually headbutting her as Ivy was trying to make a point (like I didn't think they'd actually follow through on that bit from the last ep but glad they did. Wonder if it would have been funnier if we saw Bane just do it then get the reminder "oh yeah Clayface asked him to do that" but still good either way), Ivy's poor tired point before the wife gave the winning vote. And yeah pretty clear Lex still has some sort of plan with him just going off to the moon and reversing the rays not fully clearing out the black and white so wonder where we're going with that.

The much more interesting stuff was with Harley this week though. And honestly there were a lot of good comedic bits with Harley and her double (the entire story of being cloned from a potato, how she got Psycho to go into her head by promising to do that interview from last season she promised in latex, Clone Harley being all Justice Lord and arresting people who download torrents as criminals) plus the big fight the two had on the roof top was actually really well staged and liked how Babs knew which one to take out because of that whole "the world isn't black and white" thing they bonded on. What I find most interesting is like others suggested Harley in her sleep walking unintentionally was the one who wound up killing Nightwing. And then tearfully admitting to Barbera she can't be a member of the Bat family because even if she wants to be a hero and do good it can't be on their terms which I actually do really like. Harley Quinn throughout this show has been going around from various group to group trying to belong and really click since at first with Joker then trying to be her own super villain then helping Ivy out as a super villain then joining the Bat Family and it's clear none of that is really fitting her so I do like it's clear their specific rules and ideals would be crushing her. And I also like that it was specifically her NOT the clone that killed Nightwing. Feels like a lesser show would try and get her off the hook by blaming it on the clone and trying not to take account of her actions but yeah much as the clone has her issues clear she knows her view of justice while Harley doesn't. And yeah Harley tries lying and blaming it on the clone but yeah karma instantly bites her when Barbera gets shot dead because of Joker which... you know I was wondering "how are they going to tie in that plot point of Joker wanting to reclaim his villainhood back" and then having him kill Barbera who was the one who not only outed him but proving he did it and did take out a member of the Bat family (technically the only one still around) made for a great somber ending point. Part of me still feels they're going to try and find a way to revert this (then again maybe Barbara's not dead and she'll just wind up becoming Oracle) but if that's the case that's the next season's problem though yeah unsure how all of this is going to wrap up in the next episode but curious to see them try.

So yeah really good stuff. Maybe not the greatest jokes even if Harley and Clone Harley and the golf stuff was pretty funny but just the arc Harley went through and the reveals and twists of this one are great stuff so major props there.

 

[Frontier]

I just find it funny how Harley and Ivy are talking about being better together before separating to deal with their own plots again. I guess at least they're in better communication with each other this time ?

I didn't have "Jim Gordon makes a Harley Quinn clone fused with a potato" on my bucket list but okay. I wonder why it is the clone was so justice/hero oriented compared to the original Harley? Was it just her frame of mind at the time of the cloning ?

Am I the only one who sees Lex's hair and thinks Ra's Al Ghul ?

Honestly I'd been kind of underestimating Lex but I have to applaud him coming up with a plan that both de-powered Superman and Ivy so they couldn't oppose him .

I love how they talked about teaming-up as crime-fighters but were just enjoying ice cream together rather than stopping most of the looting .

So Harley actually did kill Nightwing. I feel like the creators wrote him as such a dick to her to make you feel less bad about her killing him, or because the writers generally just don't like him, but watching the sequence play out and how Harley felt like she was on autopilot was kind of freaky .

I didn't expect to see Ivy's solution to stopping Lex involve...hobnobbing with his board of directors, including Riddler and Clock King. But hey, Ivy in a bikini !

It's nice to see the show still rope in Dr. Psycho when they need him for a mind-trip...even if they still beat him up because they don't care for him .

Did they forget Scott Porter voiced Flash in season 2? Or could they not get him to reprise? Not that I mind Zeno Robinson, I could just tell the voice was different. Unless you headcanon that Flash is Wally instead of Barry now, I mean...they did make a Kid Flash joke about his balls .

Everybody gets golf outfits! Ivy looked especially good in hers .

Jeez, these women just can't help but kill people, huh? Poor Clegg. Although I guess this is karma for making Ivy play up her feminine weakness, even if she didn't seem to mind it that much as it went along. Also Flash keeps a portable Cosmic Treadmill for quick time travel, but it seems like some events still happen no matter what, like Clegg dying .

I had a feeling Clone!Harley would try to arrest OG!Harley for killing Nightwing, and they'd set up that she was "off" because she was taking vastly minor crimes as seriously as major ones. Although it was kind of funny how both Harley's ended up handcuffing themselves...and not in a kinky way .

Harley continuing to corrupt Batgirl. I mean, I'm not surprised Harley would try to hide what she did from Babs, but trying to spin it so that Babs thinks the world is more "grey" to alleviate her own sense of guilt and make Babs just basically accept Harley just rubbed me the wrong way. Oh and I guess Babs thinks it's okay to kill murderers at this point .

Harley's save from the first episode comes through for Ivy! Should I feel bad for Clegg that his wife helped his killer...? Even if her reasons for supporting Ivy were legitimate. But even having gotten one over on Lex, it still feels like nothing's really been resolved .

Why am I not surprised the two Harley's ended up kissing? I'm almost surprised we didn't get a threesome with Ivy

Harley really thinking she can get off scott free by blaming Nightwing's murder on her clone, huh? And Babs is so gullible she'll believe her. I guess quitting the Batfamily is her way of trying to take responsibility, but this is Harley we're talking about so it doesn't feel completely genuine. It just feels like she's bailing and not owning up to her mistakes for the umpteenth time .

I honestly didn't expect Babs to get Killing Joke'd so out of the blue. Guess Joker was that desperate to get his villain cred back and get payback on Batgirl. Will Babs be paralyzed now? Is she going to become Oracle? Will they do something completely different? I mean, with the Batfamily the way it is, who would she even Oracle for (other than...ugh, Harley)? Is Harley going to be on the warpath against Joker? Will Babs ever find out the truth about Harley ?

 

[Yojimbo]

A lot like last season, the central threat of the season is resolved in the second to last episode of the season, one of the stars screams in anger, and Ivy is left feeling like a failure.

Dial it back. Luthor recruited Ivy to run the Legion of Doom at the end of season three and at the start of season four, he advised her to uproot and disrupt the establishment. And she did just that to much acclaim. When it comes to dealing with Luthor and the apocalypse, it shouldn't be a non-starter or shocker for that matter that Ivy would need to think like an evil woman executive and beat Lex the business way instead of the supervillain way. Thus, the final battle took place in the board room. Though taking no active part in it, Harley plants the seed of the strategy and Ivy runs with it, aided by her inner circle of friends to keep her propped up – namely Talia who she connected to this season and thus, it all comes full circle. Although the plan isn't without its... let's say hiccups. Still, another welcome surprise tying a season long thing, is the winning vote she needs is held by Clegg. Yeah, all those blatant product placements this season? Harley going to a Clegg Bucks, Cleggslist, AirClegg, Harley turning the Wayne Manor into a ClegBnB, selling Ivy's underwear on the Dark Clegg, Jim Gordon drinking Clegg Whiskey, and Psycho being sponsored by Cleggpedic – Clegg was really an actual middle aged dude. Ivy wins his vote by playing to his ego and learning golf from him then impressing him with an eagle but she's hoist on her own petard when she accidentally kills him. But in another twist, it turns out Professor Pyg's surviving victim Devora was his wife and thanks to Harley offing Pyg, she pays it forward and gives her inherited vote to Ivy for the win. The apocalypse is averted! Everything is coming together a bit too neatly... and Ivy knows it. In the long term, Lex got voted out of his own company and there'd better be another season to explore that paradigm shift. On the flip side, eerily another similarity to season 3. One of the big businessmen of the DC universe is utterly humiliated at the end of the season. Huhn.

This show isn't without it's great timing (or pop culture jabs, hello Succession and Blake Lively) and just when Harley and Ivy are re-energized and resolved in the fact they work better together, they get split up this week again when it turns out Harley isn't going more insane, there was a clone of her running around Gotham this whole time! Eh, sure. In case you forgot about it, Nightwing's murder is finally solved. Not in grand fashion of course, the clone simply tells Harley she killed him in her sleep. Not justifying it but considering how this show's take on Nightwing wasn't too likable and he was a total jerk to Harley – eh, it makes sense. All that pent up resentment and frustration manifested in the sleepwalking and Harley offed Nightwing. But what's a season of Harley Quinn without a head trip? Before Harley goes on Psycho's podcast as promised in last season's "Batman Begins Forever," Harley sweetens the pot so she can take a quick jump into her head to verify the clone's claims. Does it say something that Harley wouldn't even trust the words of her own clone? But I guess Harley has grown, shrug, as she ties up loose ends by tricking Flash into helping her change the timeline with the Cosmic Treadmill so Psycho no longer knows about the murder. And side bar a rare recast here but Flash is voiced here by Zeno Robinson instead of Scott Porter.

But now Harley has to deal with her clone and that's where the action this week is centered on. The final is your standard comic book clone rooftop showdown where the unsuspecting ally learns the truth and culminates in the anti-climactic clone deathfall. But in hilarious Harley Quinn fashion, she pins the murder on the clone instead of admitting the truth to Batgirl. That won't come back to bite her. Instead, Harley admits she can't be a hero anymore. And in that tender moment of truth and admission... another shocker! Joker is good on his word and gets back at Batgirl for humiliating him. Probably one of the more haunting scenes of Joker just laughing and backing up into the dark.

So "Potato Based Cloning Incident" leaves both Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn with Pyrrhic victories. Luthor is out. Except we know how petty Luthor is, so I don't think we've see the last of him this season. Does Luthor's exit affect the Legion of Doom? Will Ivy have to take charge of Lexcorp, too? Or will someone worse with no love for Ivy take over? The business world on this show has really taken two to the balls. First, Wayne Enterprises is crippled not just by Bruce being in prison working as a DJ but by Ivy's tree replacement initiative and now Lexcorp just lost its founder. But Talia is seemingly still in charge of Wayne Enterprises as its conservator and Ivy might be taking on Lexcorp. Sounds like a big win for the Evil Woman in Business Collective. Ivy's embraced being a supervillain and ran an organized group of them this season, now what?

In terms of the hero world, the Bat-Family is effectively over with Batgirl getting shot. Or is it. We all know in the comics, Barbara went through a similar but more traumatic and horrifying game changer in The Killing Joke but she continued in heroics as Oracle (and even a run in politics). Batgirl outing Joker on Psycho's podcast easily foreshadowed that outcome happening in a theoretical future season. But more importantly, how this affect's Harley's season arc about being hero. All season, Harley's had to adjust and abide by the crucial no kill rule the Bat-Family lives by. Harley just renounced being a hero and quit the Bat-Family. So if she's going back to old Harley, she gonna avenge Batgirl and take out the Joker once and for all? Or will she still be conflicted with honoring the Bat-Family and by extension Batgirl and sparing Joker?

"Potato Based Cloning Incident" resolves the major mystery and threat of the season in Harlivy fashion but a clean win they it is not. A lot of loose ends have been tied up and paid off, come quite brilliantly and entertaining, but Harley and Ivy are far from resolving their identities in the wake of the new roles they took on this season. The penultimate episode sets the stage for Harley and Ivy's reckoning and who knows what last minute twists. The question is will Lex Luthor, Joker, and Gotham live through it?

Honestly I'd been kind of underestimating Lex but I have to applaud him coming up with a plan that both de-powered Superman and Ivy so they couldn't oppose him .

Well, the jury's out on that. When Ivy confronted him, it sounded more like his plan was to keep everyone week and make money off of the people who wanted to relocate to his SpaceLex base on the Moon.

Harley continuing to corrupt Batgirl. I mean, I'm not surprised Harley would try to hide what she did from Babs, but trying to spin it so that Babs thinks the world is more "grey" to alleviate her own sense of guilt and make Babs just basically accept Harley just rubbed me the wrong way. Oh and I guess Babs thinks it's okay to kill murderers at this point .

It's ok to murder clones that are 5% potato I guess is the lesson? I suppose it's to show Batgirl is growing up and learning life lessons. She is college age and some of that naivete we saw in season 2 is gone. Plus, how far she's come is illustrated by her flipping the Batsignal on and off. Remember a similar scene of Jim doing it in season 1?

I guess quitting the Batfamily is her way of trying to take responsibility, but this is Harley we're talking about so it doesn't feel completely genuine. It just feels like she's bailing and not owning up to her mistakes for the umpteenth time .

Feels like karma. She lied about the murder and Batgirl gets shot immediately after. Still one episode left, we'll see if Harley fesses up...

I honestly didn't expect Babs to get Killing Joke'd so out of the blue. Guess Joker was that desperate to get his villain cred back and get payback on Batgirl. Will Babs be paralyzed now? Is she going to become Oracle? Will they do something completely different? I mean, with the Batfamily the way it is, who would she even Oracle for (other than...ugh, Harley)? Is Harley going to be on the warpath against Joker?

At least the show spared us on full-on Killing Joke.

 

[Frontier]

Dial it back. Luthor recruited Ivy to run the Legion of Doom at the end of season three and at the start of season four, he advised her to uproot and disrupt the establishment. And she did just that to much acclaim. When it comes to dealing with Luthor and the apocalypse, it shouldn't be a non-starter or shocker for that matter that Ivy would need to think like an evil woman executive and beat Lex the business way instead of the supervillain way. Thus, the final battle took place in the board room. Though taking no active part in it, Harley plants the seed of the strategy and Ivy runs with it, aided by her inner circle of friends to keep her propped up – namely Talia who she connected to this season and thus, it all comes full circle. Although the plan isn't without its... let's say hiccups. Still, another welcome surprise tying a season long thing, is the winning vote she needs is held by Clegg. Yeah, all those blatant product placements this season? Harley going to a Clegg Bucks, Cleggslist, AirClegg, Harley turning the Wayne Manor into a ClegBnB, selling Ivy's underwear on the Dark Clegg, Jim Gordon drinking Clegg Whiskey, and Psycho being sponsored by Cleggpedic – Clegg was really an actual middle aged dude. Ivy wins his vote by playing to his ego and learning golf from him then impressing him with an eagle but she's hoist on her own petard when she accidentally kills him. But in another twist, it turns out Professor Pyg's surviving victim Devora was his wife and thanks to Harley offing Pyg, she pays it forward and gives her inherited vote to Ivy for the win. The apocalypse is averted! Everything is coming together a bit too neatly... and Ivy knows it. In the long term, Lex got voted out of his own company and there'd better be another season to explore that paradigm shift. On the flip side, eerily another similarity to season 3. One of the big businessmen of the DC universe is utterly humiliated at the end of the season. Huhn.

This Clegg thing actually had a surprising amount of build up to it .

This show isn't without it's great timing (or pop culture jabs, hello Succession and Blake Lively) and just when Harley and Ivy are re-energized and resolved in the fact they work better together, they get split up this week again when it turns out Harley isn't going more insane, there was a clone of her running around Gotham this whole time! Eh, sure. In case you forgot about it, Nightwing's murder is finally solved. Not in grand fashion of course, the clone simply tells Harley she killed him in her sleep. Not justifying it but considering how this show's take on Nightwing wasn't too likable and he was a total jerk to Harley – eh, it makes sense. All that pent up resentment and frustration manifested in the sleepwalking and Harley offed Nightwing. But what's a season of Harley Quinn without a head trip? Before Harley goes on Psycho's podcast as promised in last season's "Batman Begins Forever," Harley sweetens the pot so she can take a quick jump into her head to verify the clone's claims. Does it say something that Harley wouldn't even trust the words of her own clone? But I guess Harley has grown, shrug, as she ties up loose ends by tricking Flash into helping her change the timeline with the Cosmic Treadmill so Psycho no longer knows about the murder. And side bar a rare recast here but Flash is voiced here by Zeno Robinson instead of Scott Porter.

Honestly I wish they had made Nightwing more likeable or at least more nuanced so there was more complexity to Harley offing him, but by making him a jerk to her it just makes it feel justified in the eyes of the audience even if the characters in-universe still treat it like a big deal .

But now Harley has to deal with her clone and that's where the action this week is centered on. The final is your standard comic book clone rooftop showdown where the unsuspecting ally learns the truth and culminates in the anti-climactic clone deathfall. But in hilarious Harley Quinn fashion, she pins the murder on the clone instead of admitting the truth to Batgirl. That won't come back to bite her. Instead, Harley admits she can't be a hero anymore. And in that tender moment of truth and admission... another shocker! Joker is good on his word and gets back at Batgirl for humiliating him. Probably one of the more haunting scenes of Joker just laughing and backing up into the dark.

Harley doesn't deserve to call herself a hero after her actions in this episode. Even her "hero" clone went too far in the other direction .

Joker really is back to business in the most tragic way possible .

So "Potato Based Cloning Incident" leaves both Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn with Pyrrhic victories. Luthor is out. Except we know how petty Luthor is, so I don't think we've see the last of him this season. Does Luthor's exit affect the Legion of Doom? Will Ivy have to take charge of Lexcorp, too? Or will someone worse with no love for Ivy take over? The business world on this show has really taken two to the balls. First, Wayne Enterprises is crippled not just by Bruce being in prison working as a DJ but by Ivy's tree replacement initiative and now Lexcorp just lost its founder. But Talia is seemingly still in charge of Wayne Enterprises as its conservator and Ivy might be taking on Lexcorp. Sounds like a big win for the Evil Woman in Business Collective. Ivy's embraced being a supervillain and ran an organized group of them this season, now what?

I think this show has a thing against rich men .

Honestly I feel like Ivy is going to learn that none of this really matters to her. The Legion, corporate politics...

In terms of the hero world, the Bat-Family is effectively over with Batgirl getting shot. Or is it. We all know in the comics, Barbara went through a similar but more traumatic and horrifying game changer in The Killing Joke but she continued in heroics as Oracle (and even a run in politics). Batgirl outing Joker on Psycho's podcast easily foreshadowed that outcome happening in a theoretical future season. But more importantly, how this affect's Harley's season arc about being hero. All season, Harley's had to adjust and abide by the crucial no kill rule the Bat-Family lives by. Harley just renounced being a hero and quit the Bat-Family. So if she's going back to old Harley, she gonna avenge Batgirl and take out the Joker once and for all? Or will she still be conflicted with honoring the Bat-Family and by extension Batgirl and sparing Joker?

When you think about it the Batfamily has been slowly detiorating ever since Bruce went to prison. Harley didn't really help. I'm not even sure if there's a lesson to be learned here other than she's not cut out to be a hero unless she can play to her better angels in the end .

Well, the jury's out on that. When Ivy confronted him, it sounded more like his plan was to keep everyone week and make money off of the people who wanted to relocate to his SpaceLex base on the Moon.

He could probably have people from Gotham move for free considering what they have to live with on a day-to-day basis .

It's ok to murder clones that are 5% potato I guess is the lesson? I suppose it's to show Batgirl is growing up and learning life lessons. She is college age and some of that naivete we saw in season 2 is gone. Plus, how far she's come is illustrated by her flipping the Batsignal on and off. Remember a similar scene of Jim doing it in season 1?

I've never liked the effect Harley has on Batgirl and it's just gotten worse .

Feels like karma. She lied about the murder and Batgirl gets shot immediately after. Still one episode left, we'll see if Harley fesses up...

Just another in a long line of instances of Harley avoiding responsibility for her actions or the people she's hurt .

At least the show spared us on full-on Killing Joke.

I guess it's okay because she's not being crippled for a male character ?

 

[Yojimbo]

Honestly I wish they had made Nightwing more likeable or at least more nuanced so there was more complexity to Harley offing him, but by making him a jerk to her it just makes it feel justified in the eyes of the audience even if the characters in-universe still treat it like a big deal .

It's also really awkward there's been zero reaction from Bruce who's been mostly off-screen this season. Too bad we'll never see what he was like as Robin. Don't really have much context for why he was so portrayed so emo on this show.

Harley doesn't deserve to call herself a hero after her actions in this episode. Even her "hero" clone went too far in the other direction .

Still think she's better off as an anti-hero at this point.

Honestly I feel like Ivy is going to learn that none of this really matters to her. The Legion, corporate politics...

Agreed, Harley and Ivy's parallel arcs should end about the same way.

I guess it's okay because she's not being crippled for a male character ?

It's "okay" because it being just straight up revenge over being embarrassed on a podcast. Thankfully the nod has none of the convoluted ideology and sadism found in TKJ. It was still a gut punch that the show decided to do something horrendous to its Batgirl but overall not totally surprising yet another show cripples her (and I guess to a lesser extent reverting the Joker after how much he's 'changed' over the series). Idk, if we needed this. True this season seems to be about identities and rejecting their new roles: Harley quits being a hero, Ivy quits being a supervillain, Jim quits being retired, Joker quits being Mayor, while others embrace new ones like Alfred becoming a crook and wine magnate, Bruce becoming a DJ, Clayface a Vegas diva, Psycho sticking with his podcast, King becoming a dad. But now they're using Batgirl as a prop for Harley to make one last decision this season. Idk.

 

[Frontier]

It's also really awkward there's been zero reaction from Bruce who's been mostly off-screen this season. Too bad we'll never see what he was like as Robin. Don't really have much context for why he was so portrayed so emo on this show.

Yeah...it's weird how Bruce has so little to do with anything. We've seen more Alfred than Bruce .

I think the idea is that trying to get Bruce's approval and a bad stint in Bludhaven just emotionally wrecked him .

Still think she's better off as an anti-hero at this point.

Or not a hero at all .

It's "okay" because it being just straight up revenge over being embarrassed on a podcast. Thankfully the nod has none of the convoluted ideology and sadism found in TKJ. It was still a gut punch that the show decided to do something horrendous to its Batgirl but overall not totally surprising yet another show cripples her (and I guess to a lesser extent reverting the Joker after how much he's 'changed' over the series). Idk, if we needed this. True this season seems to be about identities and rejecting their new roles: Harley quits being a hero, Ivy quits being a supervillain, Jim quits being retired, Joker quits being Mayor, while others embrace new ones like Alfred becoming a crook and wine magnate, Bruce becoming a DJ, Clayface a Vegas diva, Psycho sticking with his podcast, King becoming a dad. But now they're using Batgirl as a prop for Harley to make one last decision this season. Idk.

Man, I hope this is what gets Jim to finally get serious...

 

[Yojimbo]

Yeah...it's weird how Bruce has so little to do with anything. We've seen more Alfred than Bruce .

I'm guessing if Joker has vacated the position of Mayor, wonder if Bruce's lawyers will use it to get his sentence cummuted to time served. Not that I'm an expert at law.

Or not a hero at all .

Coin toss at this point. I think anti-hero would better serve this Harley.

Man, I hope this is what gets Jim to finally get serious...

Can only go up from having your pants crotch lit on fire.

 

[Eldorado]

I honestly didn't expect Babs to get Killing Joke'd so out of the blue. Guess Joker was that desperate to get his villain cred back and get payback on Batgirl. Will Babs be paralyzed now? Is she going to become Oracle? Will they do something completely different? I mean, with the Batfamily the way it is, who would she even Oracle for (other than...ugh, Harley)? Is Harley going to be on the warpath against Joker? Will Babs ever find out the truth about Harley ?

When Batgirl hacked into Psycho's podcast I felt that "Oracle" would've been better than "Madame Justice", now I wish she did because it looks like she's actually gonna become Oracle!

Looks like it's Harley versus Joker in the finale!

 

[Fone Bone]

Harley Quinn "Potato-Based Cloning Incident"

Unpleasant and unfun.

But if they don't use Flash's time treadmill to redo all of this crap I'll be surprised.

In the meantime, I'll call it a bad week. I think the thing that bothers me about the show's nihilistic episodes is it's not always that. Whenever it sucks it is. Whenever it's great, it's weirdly empowering instead. I don't understand the logic of this show deliberately making episodes that suck and work against the good things about the show. Another reason I simply do not understand the mindset of superhero comic creators. *1/2.