"Kite Man: Hell Yeah!" Season One Talkback (Spoilers)

[Yojimbo]

Episode 5 "Prison Break, Hell Yeah! - August 8, 2024

As Kite Man, Golden Glider and Bane attempt a rescue at The Pit, Malice juggles two unexpected visitors: her boyfriend and a health inspector.

 

[Frontier]

Villigans feels like if Lex Luthor was a suburban mom CEO .

Dang, Golden Glider is not doing too well with this mom drama! Also, that's all eye makeup on her face right ?

Ah yes Bane, Glider definitely wants to hear all about how much you want to have sexual relations with your mother. But hey, she's in the pit too! You guys might actually be a match made in Heaven !

Kite-Man has finally upgraded his arsenal! He actually is moderately more useful even if he's also just as liable to get them all killed .

I know that this version of Bane is basically parodying Nolan Bane but I honestly didn't expect them to use his Rises backstory with the Pit and LoS .

Is Captain Cold still living with them and able to appear whenever the plot needs him too? Just not on planes because he got on the TSA's bad side .

Hey now, that kid should not have been drinking water out of a toilet. Bane did nothing wrong .

Malice with the typical Influencer storyline of dating a pretty boy that's little more than a carefree shallow relationship that she maintains mostly for her image and doesn't really feel that strongly about...Jeremy kind of felt like posh Constantine, and Malice can definitely do better .

I feel like a guy who will take an excuse to treat you as a servant and sexually harass you is definitely a major red flag. Well, aside from the fact that even Heaven's opposite number wanted no part of him. Then again, we are talking about a girl who hails from Apokolips .

Do I buy that Malice would care enough about Jeremy killing people in the bar or protect Noonan? Well, Noonan is genuinely cool, so I kind of get that. I guess it doesn't make any difference now that she has no choice but to make it work at Noonan's .

Richard Kind has gone from Gotham Mayor to Gotham Health Inspector! But at least he's happy. And surprisingly durable, though I guess with how often people get stabbed, bisected, shot, and generally mutilated, it makes some sense Gotham Citizens would be pretty sturdy .

I guess Moe couldn't keep denying the obvious when Joe's head flies off his body. And now he and Queen of Fables are sharing a body! Will this carry for the rest of the season or will Fable body jump again? Who can say ?

Bird, Trog, and Zombie! Bane's goons from the comics! Finally adapted into animation! And of course Bane ends up needing to kill them all .

I can totally see this version of Talia selling the pit to a corporation .

I guess Lisa's powers aren't unstoppable, she's as effected as anyone would be by Meta Dampeners .

So why was Rebecca being held captive by the League of Shadows before Villigans inherited her? Obviously she's a deadbeat mom who has no interest in being involved with her kids (sorry Lisa) but what could she have done to get the prisoner treatment ?

 

[Yojimbo]

Like HQ, they really have some interesting guest picks on this show that you'd never guess. Jeremy Karne from the Shadowpact comics? Huhn.

Pretty great swatch of humor in this one - Malice's Kohl's/TJ Maxx burn, Malice invoking Mariah Carey rules, putting the bag over Sixpack, Golden Glider referencing both Michael Myers, passing off Diet Pepsi as Diet Coke is a health violation, why Captain Cold can't fly on planes, Kite Man and Glider easily descending the Pit, a Bruce Forsyth mention.

Ok, so the gas is just to make the prisoners compliant.

Villigans feels like if Lex Luthor was a suburban mom CEO .

It's surprising lil ol Kite Man now was 3 big bads on this show. Bad enough we're likely heading to a face off between Lex and Darkseid over the hidden Anti-Life Equation but now the corporate side of things with Helen who is after some 'device' in order to further upgrade her company. Has there been any significant device? Malice has her Mother Box. There's the time traveling toilet. Or it hasn't appeared on the show yet.

Kite-Man has finally upgraded his arsenal! He actually is moderately more useful even if he's also just as liable to get them all killed .

The jabs at Amazon were on point - bad worker conditions, Villigan Crime=Amazon Prime on the box, terrible delivery - while I haven't had a box chucked through a window still some delivery people do dumb things, Helen mentioning her company is a data company, but the funniest to me was Kite Man's instructions . The jab at Hardee's was great, too.

I know that this version of Bane is basically parodying Nolan Bane but I honestly didn't expect them to use his Rises backstory with the Pit and LoS .

Well, him making his own version of The Pit in HQ season 2 implied that. And him quoting lines from that movie. I want to say he said that line Golden Glider decodes before in HQ episodes.

Also, great callback with Kite Man pitching the same idea Bane pitched to Lex in the pilot and Bane loving it.

Richard Kind has gone from Gotham Mayor to Gotham Health Inspector! But at least he's happy. And surprisingly durable, though I guess with how often people get stabbed, bisected, shot, and generally mutilated, it makes some sense Gotham Citizens would be pretty sturdy .

Kind was a great get! So in the realm of the HQ humor that an immortal finds the most pragmatic thing to do is to get a steady government job.

I guess Moe couldn't keep denying the obvious when Joe's head flies off his body. And now he and Queen of Fables are sharing a body! Will this carry for the rest of the season or will Fable body jump again?

Oh I'm sure she'll jump ship or get decapitated again. Gotta be the running joke. It's pretty sad that Moe is in denial still and that no one is saying it out loud.

Bird, Trog, and Zombie! Bane's goons from the comics! Finally adapted into animation! And of course Bane ends up needing to kill them all .

Ha ha, yeah, but at least Egghead survived his cameo. Anarky, too. Guess Anarky has a thing for Pits.

I can totally see this version of Talia selling the pit to a corporation .

That's exactly what I thought, too!

So why was Rebecca being held captive by the League of Shadows before Villigans inherited her? Obviously she's a deadbeat mom who has no interest in being involved with her kids (sorry Lisa) but what could she have done to get the prisoner treatment ?

Guess we'll have to wait and see as we're only halfway through the season.

 

[Frontier]

Like HQ, they really have some interesting guest picks on this show that you'd never guess. Jeremy Karne from the Shadowpact comics? Huhn.

A part me of thought he was probably somebody but these shows continually educate me on the wider DCU .

It's surprising lil ol Kite Man now was 3 big bads on this show. Bad enough we're likely heading to a face off between Lex and Darkseid over the hidden Anti-Life Equation but now the corporate side of things with Helen who is after some 'device' in order to further upgrade her company. Has there been any significant device? Malice has her Mother Box. There's the time traveling toilet. Or it hasn't appeared on the show yet.

Or maybe some device related to the Anti-Life Equation? I feel like it's all going to connect somehow. And maybe destroy Gotham by the end of it .

The jabs at Amazon were on point - bad worker conditions, Villigan Crime=Amazon Prime on the box, terrible delivery - while I haven't had a box chucked through a window still some delivery people do dumb things, Helen mentioning her company is a data company, but the funniest to me was Kite Man's instructions . The jab at Hardee's was great, too.

I feel like they took a lot of jabs at Bezos in season 4 of HQ too .

Kind was a great get! So in the realm of the HQ humor that an immortal finds the most pragmatic thing to do is to get a steady government job.

Better than MCU Mr. Immortal .

Oh I'm sure she'll jump ship or get decapitated again. Gotta be the running joke. It's pretty sad that Moe is in denial still and that no one is saying it out loud.

Why do I feel like she and Moe are going to contemplate self-sex before that happens...

 

[-batmat-]

Pretty great swatch of humor in this one

"Now Im gonna be able to bring my powers to the next level"
"Level 1?"

That one made me really laugh!

 

[Yojimbo]

Episode 6 "Mother/Daughter Day, Hell Yeah!" - August 15, 2024

Golden Glider plans a mother/daughter day to bond with Rebecca, while Kite Man finally decides he's done being powerless.

 

[Neo Ultra Mike]

You know I did actually like the last episode a fair amount. Like it was nice getting an episode seeing Chuck and Lisa as a couple with Bane going on this adventure and honestly the jokes with the airline to Bane having to kill the people he knew at the pit were decently amusing plus the idea of Golden Glider wanting a relationship with her mother actually did feel like something different we haven't gotten in the HQ Universe yet. Like a "hey I just found you again and want to make something of our lives" which yeah you did know the mom left and obviously didn't really see any value in her daughter but that could still be interesting. I was kind of worried though that there would be a plot where somehow Rebecca would force a wedge between Chuck and Lisa and like Golden Glider would wind up losing this relationship she really cherished for one with her mom that would go sour anyway but hoped they wouldn't go in that more obvious annoying direction.

Which I guess they didn't but I feel they went in a WORSE direction. Like honestly the first half of this was fine. The runner of Bane's monologues started good and got kind of bleh but I do like the relationship he and Betty had. I thought they were cute together in the Valentine's Day special and making it like she gets never being someone's first choice and Bane always being ignored as a reason they could be together worked and there were amusing parts of Lisa's desire to have some sort of mother daughter day. But yeah Rebecca just being this one note sour b*tch doesn't really work. Maybe if this was something more new to this universe but man EVERY main character in the HQ universe seems to have horrible HORRIBLE parents which man I don't want to say it says something about the writers except they kind of have tapped that well dry especially with someone who doesn't even try. I do like the idea of touching on "you killed your father I don't know if you'll kill me" but again it's wrapped in this such one note character it really feels hard to connect to.

Worst off though was the whole Kite Man gets a power plot and... you know another thing I'm hating this universe doing that HQ Season 4 had a subplot as well? Having the character we care about either be tricked or stupidly tricking themselves into changing entirely for no good reason. And you know at least with Poison Ivy that was manipulation in a field she isn't aware of and didn't really trash the romantic relationship the core of the show is about. This though is about showing the power of Kite Man's kindness but then him becoming a literal D-Bag to get a power because he doesn't think he's worthy enough not having a power. Which yeah I know the show and universe have been beating down on him before and it is a touchy nerve but I don't think it's worth totally trashing the character the show's supposed to be around to make him this one joke character we have to put up with likely for another episode. I guess he's a D Bag also because Helen Villigan has plans but... honestly this show doesn't feel like it has like this grand storyline in place more like it has various story ideas for an episode that has a tag that will relate to something totally different by the next episode. I felt annoyed by some of the choices in My Adventures With Superman in their dramatic moments but you know at least they were put there to build to an overall story but I'm not feeling that connective tissue here so yeah weak episode. I'm still sticking by this show and I still am not off this universe but this spinoff has been pretty lacking and the small improvements it's made last couple of weeks feel miniscule and now we've gone even more backwards here.

 

[Yojimbo]

Feels like it was meant to be a turning point for season one as one of our leads reaches the lowest of lows, another becomes an unwitting pawn. While some break away from each other, some finally make a connection. Helen Villigan's limitless reach continues to overshadow our stars as her evil plan continues to take shape. No surprise, the three leads were together one week - and totally off on their own the next week.

"Mother/Daughter Day, Hell Yeah!" doesn't waste anytime with expounding on Golden Glider's insecurities and revealing just how terrible a person Rebecca Chen is. In trying to rush and force a connection with Rebecca that was never really there, Glider finally learns the truth that her mother walked out on her and her brother on the day she accidentally murdered her father, is a total ingrate about being freed from the Pit, she never wanted to be a mother, and doesn't want to be around her. To add salt to the wound, Rebecca hits it off with Malice and in the context of the season long arc, she poisons Kite Man's thoughts in a way that leads him right into the hands of one of the show's big bads. Glider comes to the realization she was always better off without her parents and gets rid of Rebecca with a flush (though let's hope that doesn't further screw up the timeline). Though it would be fitting if in 1986, Rebecca does the same thing and ends right back up in The Pit. However, one problem is dealt with but another springs up but more on that later in the review.

While Golden Glider's relationships break apart, things turn out a bit better for Bane, Moe Dubelz, and Queen of Fables. Moe finally comes to terms with the death of Joe, as much as he can, but the tenuous and heated exchanges with Queen comes to a head when she interrupts Joe's funeral because she has to go and she murders his favorite mob tailor. But in an unexpected turn of events, their mutual hatred for each other leads to them getting turned on and making out. Meanwhile, Noonan, the voice of reason, convinces Bane to go find someone to get over the unattainable Rebecca. On the plus side, it's a bit of an update from the Harley Quinn Very Problematic Valentine's Day Special. Bane goes out on a date with Betty the dominatrix he met during the special. It turns out she still holds a candle for him and is going through similar feelings of inadequacy. Bane confesses what he is going through at the moment, and the two still end up connecting. A win in the romance column for Bane feels like a long time in the making.

Kite Man tries to be accommodating and dotes on Rebecca only for her to speak bluntly about he has no money, no prospects, and no super powers. The usually unflappable Kite Man is shook and mistakenly thinks Glider will be happier if she has a boyfriend with powers. He ends up at Etrigan's Ocean of Potions & Lotions, another update of sorts from the Valentine's Day Special, but for us viewers, it looks a bit different. We, the audience, finds out the store was bought out by Villigan and turned into a drab dime store pharmacy. Etrigan, voiced by James Adomian instead of John Stamos, reveals he doesn't grant powers anymore and he'll have to see Helen Villigan but warns she only has a janky selection to choose from. Undaunted, Kite Man heads to corporate headquarters – Villigan's Tower and in hilarious fashion, makes it through the gauntlet of security and secretarial challenges with... kindness – pairs of homemade mittens for the guards, dog treats for the vicious guard dogs, and lending an ear to the ignored secretary. Kite Man is given a Faustian offer from Helen, super powers in exchange for his beloved kite. After a montage of Kite Man's childhood: receiving the kite one Christmas or the kite saving him during a school dance, he makes the big sacrifice. And very much the Monkey's Paw of wishes, Kite Man gets powers but his personality completely changes and he becomes a total douchebag to the point that he uses telekinesis to beat up everyone in Noonan's trying to throw him out, breaks up with Glider in the most hurtful way, and steals petty cash from a child. And somehow that's part of Helen's big plan.

The only real critique I have so far with the series is that Malice is underutilized. Her overall arc and characterization is going at a slow pace to a point that most of the time she is more of a prop that part of the cast. This week, she's more of a mirror held up to Golden Glider to bring her insecurities to the forefront and vocalize the hard truth that she'll never bond with Rebecca. While yes, there was the guest appearance of Darkseid and just last week her now ex-again-boyfriend Jeremy but her focus episodes feel too far and few between. With an ensemble cast, it's always and unfortunately a given that someone doesn't get enough screentime. But on the flip side, with the screen time Malice does get, she's hilarious with her barbs and like Noonan, is a voice of reason for others in the cast. I suppose she's the "Carla" of the cast. It's still up in the air with four episodes to go if Malice is meant to be a less-is-more situation or if her arc was reduced and left on the cutting room floor. Presumably she will have a bigger role when Darkseid returns for the Anti-Life Equation. Yeah, remember that thing that was a bid deal in the pilot? Ok, two critiques.

In "Mother/Daughter Day, Hell Yeah!", the Rebecca/Glider relationship (or lack of) comes to a head but further heartbreak follows when Kite Man's well meaning (but unnecessary) gesture to gain a super power turns him into a pawn of Helen Villigan and he becomes a totally unlikable arrogant uncaring d-bag of a doppelganger of himself. Kite rubs salt in the wound and says the worst things Glider could hear at the moment and the break up you never wanted to see happens. And in the face of this misery, things go great for everyone else. While Glider picks up the pieces of her life, will she and the others bother to try and restore Kite Man back to normal? Just what the heck is Helen's evil plan? Oh, and points for the Austin Powers and Notting Hill references. Groovy.

 

[Frontier]

Poor Lisa. Not only was their dad a complete jerk, but their mother has no interest in being a mother and can barely even remember she is one half the time. And she wants nothing to do with her daughter in any form .

I guess it does kind of make a nice parallel with our lead that Chuck is obsessed with his dad while Lisa is obsessed with her mom...we haven't really seen Chuck's mom since season 2 of HQ, but she did appear in his brief flashback to the Christmas where he got his first kite. Surprisingly it seems like back then she actually cared about him. more than his father did at any rate .

Imagine doing a funeral for a head that died in the first episode...in episode 6. I love how they even had the brothers' mugshot on the coffin and you could tell they were trying to do one photo for the one half of Dubelex because the other head stretched in to mess up the photo .

Bane does not do well with internal monologues. He MUST speechify! And of course being Kite Man's self-proclaimed best friend means he can also blame Kite Man for hurting his love life .

I wonder how adding Captain Cold to this family drama would have changed things...frankly it seems like he was way less worked up about what happened to their family than Lisa was, so finding out his mom really is a complete deadbeat likely wouldn't have effected him that much .

Just a reminder that Queen of Fables is still a psycho murderer when she kills the tailor for having a laugh at her expense .

Etrigan (can't say I'm surprised they didn't bring back John Stamos for a small guest appearance on a spinoff show, but credit to James Adomian for doing a good Etrigan voice) is no longer running a magic sex shop but instead has been incorporated into the Villigans family and turned into a generic grocery store with no distinct identity leaving Etrigan with nothing more than his passive aggressive rhyming. I wonder if Jason Blood is secretly happy Etrigan is utterly miserable ?

Speaking of the Harley Quinn's Valentine Special characters...Betty finally returns! I'd been wondering where she was all throughout HQ season 4 as Bane was hopelessly pining for Nora but lo and behold she's back just as he's pining for yet another woman who won't pay attention to him. Turns out Bane was just self-conscious because he felt bad for destroying her apartment when he was giant-sized and didn't think he could return Betty's feelings. But honestly Bane truly deserves a woman who is head over heels for him and values him, just as much as Betty deserves a man who cherishes her and sees her as more than her dominatrix job (not that that doesn't also spice up the bedroom). I hope these two can make it work now .

Lisa, never do anything to your body just to win the approval of someone else lest you end up with tacky piercings on your chest that you'll probably be regretting long after this is over .

No wonder Malice and Rebecca got along so well, they're both self-absorbed and vain women who only care about themselves and disrespecting Golden Glider :mad;.

The irony that Kite Man was able to infiltrate Villigans with the power of kindness...when his superpower upgrade robbed him of his ability to be kind .

Man, Chuck and that kite have been through a lot! Like, actually scoring him a dance with a girl, somehow !

Honestly I'm not surprised Moe and Queen of Fables finally came to blows...or that it ended with them making out. In the same body. This is totally selfcest, right ?

"Beast Mode" - I thought we were getting discount Beast Boy, but instead Chuck now has the power of a Superhero bod and being a totally mean and sexist tool who bullies people with the power of his middle finger. He actually even does a proper villain crime...of stealing a kids' lunch money. How awful .

They keep talking about Gliders' powers and the problems they cause her (and Rebecca uses it as an excuse for why she bailed) but are they ever going to explain how she got them ?

I can only hope the time traveling toilet sent Rebecca far enough back in the past that she has no chance at success in any form. Although wouldn't it be funny if they sent her back and she walked down from the apartment just in time to get killed by her daughter like she was supposed to? Now no one will miss her .

Well, there's our mid-season breakup. Glider ditched her mom but Rebecca still managed to take the one good thing in Lisa's life. Where do they go from here? Will Chuck be able to break through the brainwashing? Will Lisa try to bring back the man she loves? Will one of the Noonan's gang (Bane?) do something ?

 

[Yojimbo]

Etrigan (can't say I'm surprised they didn't bring back John Stamos for a small guest appearance on a spinoff show, but credit to James Adomian for doing a good Etrigan voice) is no longer running a magic sex shop but instead has been incorporated into the Villigans family and turned into a generic grocery store with no distinct identity leaving Etrigan with nothing more than his passive aggressive rhyming. I wonder if Jason Blood is secretly happy Etrigan is utterly miserable ?

I found it funny but depressing because it's basically a CVS buying up the local pharmacist and sanitizing any individuality the store had.

"Beast Mode" - I thought we were getting discount Beast Boy, but instead Chuck now has the power of a Superhero bod and being a totally mean and sexist tool who bullies people with the power of his middle finger. He actually even does a proper villain crime...of stealing a kids' lunch money. How awful .

They keep talking about Gliders' powers and the problems they cause her (and Rebecca uses it as an excuse for why she bailed) but are they ever going to explain how she got them ?

I feel like the device might be able to do the opposite, too, and strip powers away. They'll trick Beast Mode somehow. But then maybe Glider will be tempted to use it to get rid her astral projection power, they keep mentioning or showing it, but then Helen transfers it to herself -- I feel like she's probably going to infuse herself with a bunch of powers or some mech suit or something. Chaos ensures. Some of Gotham gets destroyed. Maybe even Noonan's gets totaled.

Well, there's our mid-season breakup. Glider ditched her mom but Rebecca still managed to take the one good thing in Lisa's life. Where do they go from here? Will Chuck be able to break through the brainwashing? Will Lisa try to bring back the man she loves? Will one of the Noonan's gang (Bane?) do something ?

I'd be surprised if Beast Mode isn't dealt with next week if the past resolutions in this show are any indication.

 

[Yojimbo]

Episode 7 "Sexiest Villain Alive, Hell Yeah!" - August 22, 2024

As Beast Mode competes for the Sexiest Villain Award, Golden Glider tries to find a way to turn him back into Kite Man.

 

[Neo Ultra Mike]

I do like the idea that we don't have a super long forced "oh she just hates him now and doesn't realize what's actually happening" and the focus becomes less on Lisa's annoyance of what Chuck became but rather turning him back into Beast Mode. And you know though I do feel it's a bit duex ex machina for Lex's ASMR to wind up allowing Glider to control her powers and wind up finding a way to save Kite Man it's not only Lex's fault but yeah pretty clear these powers being under control aren't going to last and Lisa still has to find an ACTUAL way to control over her powers without totally blanking out and this is just a step to that. Plus the idea at least of using Clayface to get past Helen's security is fine (more on why it doesn't work later) and in the side plot I did actually like Queen of Fables finding her old body and forgetting about rescuing Doubles. I kind of still preferred her just being taken out but you know them finding a way back and if she had her full powers now and becomes a big threat this season that is solid build up. And you know there were some decent jokes here like "Beast Mode" saying hummingbirds are lame and to go with Jaguars, or the end where Bane went "does that mean he still wins the award" after everything that happened.

The thing is though this show is just not really that funny. Like I still felt a lot of gags worked in the later seasons of Harley Quinn but I don't know if it's just the timing or them pounding these character bits into the ground but they just aren't working even when the set ups feel like they should. Like Bane's whole made up speech about what his name stands for that just became about not touching his bag... that should have been like at least worth a minor chuckle but not only did it go on wayyyyyyyyyy too long but just how it was phrased and presented just wasn't appealing. Plus you know in HQ the character even when given spotlight worked because we weren't subjected to him every single episode and they knew to space out his useage better but here they really hammering this guy in without really giving him anything funny to say because yeah eventually the Dark Knight Rises mocking voice needs like something really funny or unique to say and jokes about being a Milwaukee 8 aren't cutting it. Beast Mode for the most part I know is supposed to be obnoxious and yeah pretty clear Lisa trying to get his dad to talk sense to him wouldn't work but you know I think he's supposed to still be funny to us but just seeing Chuck flip people off as a power doesn't work and yeah that's thankfully taken care of at the end but you still had to put up with him throughtout. And my god whatever charm Clayface had in HQ did not transfer over here. And you know even in season 2 of Harley Quinn I found some of his theatrics more annoying then funny and the character just calling them out doesn't work but they were able to work in more good lines about it. Plus couldn't Clayface also control his powers so he wasn't giving his own big silly grin in the person's mouth and their lips still looked like their own? Why is that different here exactly?

Also I think I brought this up before with this universe but I think it's especially worth bringing up here; I get that our main leads are suppose to be better people even operating as villains and have some sort of code and ethics. but it feels like lazy writing when you have Lisa just kill waves of goon after getting her power to not just off Helen after getting Kite Man back after all the other crooked crap she's done when you should realize if she did this to him she probably isn't going to just let you take him away go off without a hitch. That's a problem with this show being so brazen about killing off characters and yeah I know that's also a thing with DC but even in the comics there usually is more rationale when following the villains why they won't specifically go after one another but to have that happen here weakens things. Plus again the story beats here don't feel like they organically mesh from one to another; this just felt like a plot they wanted to do to have ANOTHER Award shows epsiode even though HQ already did one as well as do bits about Bane in a tux with a bag which yeah didn't even land anyway and really end just as the episode gets really interesting now that Golden Glider has the briefcase with the Anti Life equation getting back Kite Man... that feels like a weird place to stop. I guess still better then the last episode since it at least ended better but yeah this show still feels like a mess and really one of the weakest DC animated properties I've seen in awhile. Like I hate to say it but you know at least Teen Titans Go would of had more laughs in seven episodes then this show has.

 

[Yojimbo]

"Sexiest Villain Alive, Hell Yeah!" is a highly entertaining, well paced entry leading to the season finale amid the backdrop of another villain award ceremony. Storylines and big bads converge and vie for the MacGuffin, something is thankfully resolved with the help of a special guest star, one star levels up just at the right time, Bane has another hilarious arc, another supervillain gets a surprise comeback which could spell doom for Gotham, and if you like an episode spent naming a boatload of cameos, this is your week.

"Sexiest Villain Alive, Hell Yeah!" does the best thing possible and resolves the white elephant in the room or in this case the white ****** in the room. Yes, Beast Mode is dealt with and Kite Man is back by episode's end but not without having some fun with him – the basics like having a crew of like-minded folks, crossing Malice, being a jerk to other supervillains, winning over Darryl, debating leopards with Helen, and utterly roasting Lex Luthor. The pain and anguish Darryl feels when Beast Mode vanishes for good is probably the most emotional we've seen worst dad ever display and it's so good. Great idea to get Golden Glider along by adding in chinks in Beast Mode where Kite Man breaks through briefly and a sense of a ticking clock on restoring him said by Noonan, gets the episode going.

Once again, Bane is used to perfection. As the dark horse nomination for Sexiest Villain Alive, Bane has zero chance of winning but thanks to a careless act from Beast Mode, Malice is emboldened into making sure he wins it. After a makeover at a hilariously named clothing store, Malice still needs a finishing touch and lo and behold finds the briefcase containing the Anti-Life Equation hidden by Lex in the pilot (and hilariously makes a meta comment about it taking so long to show up). And the best joke, it's what's on the outside that matters. She doesn't bother to see why it glows, to her it's just the perfect accessory. Malice's instincts are right and Bane kills it with his suit, scarf, hat, and briefcase. Even his impromptu song at the awards is a hit! Totally unaware of what's in the briefcase, he resists Lex's charms in a bid to win the award to amusing effect. My favorite probably goes to Beast Mode commenting on him literally saying "grumble, grumble" and to boot you later hear Bane saying he thought it was good comeback! It seems there's a competition for have the best ending with Bane. In my opinion, Dean Lorey just topped Bane's "who cares?" in "Villigan's, Hell Yeah!" with this week's ending.

Golden Glider and this episode's guest star Clayface make for an entertaining duo. Glider has little patience for Clayface's long winded rambles to our amusement. The show made the right call and didn't get overly reliant on guest stars from the Harley Quinn show so by the seventh episode of the season when Clayface reveals himself, it's the exact right time for a guest star and he's used brilliantly as a foil to Glider. And if you think about, it's even more funny because he was Glider's back up idea since her first choice was to use Darryl. All Glider wants is to bring Kite Man back to normal but thanks to the machinations at the award ceremony, she ends up with the briefcase. Lex tries to pacify her with some hamster ASMR before her fugue state massacres everyone but in a surprise twist, she gains control of her fugue state and dispatches Lex's goons to brick laying effect. Even 'ol Lex has to back up in horror.

Yes, turns out Helen wants the Anti-Life Equation, too. Surprise. She used Kite Man as pawn and the award show as the chessboard. There you go, all laid out. Well, I'm sure we'll find out what Helen plans to do with it in relation to her company in due time. And now Golden Glider's got the Anti-Life Equation but doesn't know she has it. Oof. Sounds like we're in for a three way battle between Lex, Helen, and Darkseid and who will be left standing will be anyone's guess. Or for that matter Noonan's and Gotham. The chess pieces are moved around to perfection this week and every twist and turn beautifully leads to one of the best endings this season and lays the groundwork for an explosive season finale. But not to keep it straightforward, a wild card is also in the mix. A murderous one. Moe Dubelz and Queen of Fables are back to squabbling but Queen, in the end, goes to save Moe from being eaten by his date Insect Queen. Whatever altruistic reasons or real feeling she has for Moe go out the window when Queen discovers her original body has been preserved this whole time in solid honey in Insect Queen's hive. A Queen of Fables back to 100% can only spell a whole other kind of doom for Gotham if this three-way-conflict over the Anti-Life Equation wasn't enough. I doubt Queen will waste any time causing chaos and getting too big for her britches yet again but I can totally see by episode 8 or 9, she gets her comeuppance yet again, gets decapitated again and maybe even worse, her body is destroyed for good – forced to go back to Noonan's with her tail between her legs. Although I am apprehensive this might be a little too much like Dr. Psycho, it remains to be seen how it will play out. Fingers crossed.

In real life, awards season is a thing. There's a show for the Emmy's. One for the Golden Globes. One for the people's choice. And so on. Makes sense in the world of Harley Quinn, there's another villain award, too. Harley and Ivy's absence from Sexiest Villain Alive while glaring at first, makes perfect sense if you recall they were so over the Villy's in season three of Harley Quinn and they totally ignored an invite to this one. Joker's absence this and all season can be explained as well if you've been watching Harley Quinn and didn't just start with Kite Man: Hell Yeah! Being the first thing you've watched in this canon. In the season four finale, we learn he was left in Commissioner Gordon's care with a note outing him as the one who shot Barbara Gordon and he's probably still being tortured with A24 movies.

In "Sexiest Villain Alive, Hell Yeah!", there's nothing to hate: the pacing is on point, a lot of storylines come together without getting messy, things actually get solved, things get answered but not all just the right amount, there's jokes, character level ups, a timely guest star, Bane is still awesome, tons of cameos to i.d. if you're into that, the final battle is expertly set up without it being in our face, Kite Man's back, and we're left with an existential dread that the Queen of Fables is also back in business. This episode could do no wrong and if this week is any indication, the final three episodes of the season are gonna be a riot.

 

[Frontier]

Ah yes, classic Bane to call out an archaic and shallow award show until he gets involved and suddenly all he cares about is winning it. And he does clean up nicely in a suit. He should've won! Also kind of a bummer that Malice dumped him as a friend when he lost though .

Of course if you want to bring back the real Chuck, you'd capitalize on his daddy issues, right? Only it turns out that his dad finally has the son he always wanted in Beast Mode and joins his dude bros. But hey, robbing him of said son at the end means they finally stick it to that utter tool of a father and Glider will probably not hold up her end of the bargain that Chuck stop pestering him for a year, so it's a win .

I wonder if some of those dresses for the lady villains are reused from HQ. I feel like Tawny's dress might be new? And the Double Dare Twins because I think they first showed up in this show. And obviously Malice .

Well, it does tie the two villain plots together well that now both of the main villains want the Anti-Life Equation...and our protagonists still obliviously have it .

The irony that someone from Apokolips was this close to the Anti-Life Equation and just...gave it away like it was just a prop .

Clayface! I was wondering who was posing as Helen but I should've known it was the most auteur shapeshifter in this universe. And any chance to hear Alan Tudyk as Clayface is worth the price of admission .

I love it when things don't go Lex's way. Especially coming from Kite Man, the one guy who he treated the most like a joke and as a patsy. Even Bane got to call him out !

Aw look, Riddler and Clock King still together .

Toyman seems really nice. Awkward, but nice. Too bad Queen of Fables has had a taste of Dubelex and she can't get enough .

It just amuses me to think that underneath Fables' dress she was wearing Moe's undershirt and boxers. But who would have thought all this body jumping drama would lead her back to her own body? And we'll obviously follow that up next week as she turns her powers back on Insect Queen .

How convenient that Chuck got transformed back into his normal costume as if his clothes were part of the power process entirely! But what about his kite ?

Wow, great job Lex! You trying to calm Glider down has now let her master her powers! Meaning she's basically unstoppable at this point ?

 

[Yojimbo]

Episode 8 "Just Right, Hell Yeah!" - August 29, 2024

Kite Man and Golden Glider hide out with the Anti-Life Equation, while Bane adds babysitter to his résumé.

 

[Neo Ultra Mike]

"Just Right, Hell Yeah" - You know another reason why if you're telling an ARC based series instead of standalones you need to make sure they properly transition between episode to episode because quite honestly just also feels like you're just making up new rules between episodes for the sake of the drama of that episode which if you're still trying to pay off more long form arcs makes those feel weaker because suddenly you're just changing the rules from what was previously established. Like the last episode seemed like it made it pretty clear Golden Glider was only able to access her full powers because of being put in that temporarily REM state by Lex Luthor but here it's "oh she was like that because of the Anti life Equation which is now taking over her and trying to get in her mind to use it" which yeah is supposedly tying into things from previous episodes but at the same time, feels like it was just a thing for THIS episode. Quite honestly if the show wants to have these bits of more serious lore or drama which yeah it clearly does there does need to be more times of cutting the comedy down and you know explaining things better. It needed to be established more the power the Anti Life Equation has over someone WITHIN the show before this point (like maybe Luthor was hiding it because he wanted to study it's power before using it realizing it had sway over people) not just something dropped on us now especially when we haven't just been following Chuck and Lisa around since yeah it otherwise just feels like it's coming up with things for the sake of the following story not the overall show.

Then again this episode especially proves this show isn't really good at properly spinning off the series it originally comes from despite obviously owing ties to that. Seriously I was kind of excited last week at the idea of Queen of Fables getting her body back like "hey we were building up this as a side character joke throughout the season but yeah now a swerve into actually fully returning her" because Queen of Fables in the Harley Quinn show was a big deal antagonist who yeah was one of the main villains of Season One so you'd assume with her body back she'd go on a rampage or at least you know want vengeance on Harley or something like that. But again this series prefers time wasting subplots so instead she's just into Moe Doublez and lounging around and can't even be bothered to put back Goldilocks when she gets out which like how does that even make sense when it was established Fables pulls the character out of the story not that they come out on their own. And honestly though their making out is funny for like a second Moe is a pretty lame character as honestly the idea of one twin being alive and the other being dead was maybe funny in one episode but just kind of sucks as a gimmick now. Though not as obnoxious as Goldilocks. I know that's the joke but quite frankly them overly stretching out the "this is too warm" "this is too cold" just isn't funny. You know that was a joke I remember also getting old in Puss In Boots the Last Wish too but not only did they do DIFFERENT JOKES with Goldilocks there but like that was still within the narrative of not only a more kids story but also a fantasy story book tale. There's nothing subversive about this and again Bane has kind of worn out his welcome. I don't think he was as bad as the last episode since the graphic of his "splosions" and him trying to be a better parent for Goldilocks wasn't as cringe as his stupid bag song from last week but still too much time developed to this crap. Also I kind of thought him hooking up with his old girlfriend proved he had worth why are we still running in the bit of him totally sucking?

And you know speaking of being very disrepsectful to the original show, I realllllllllllly do not care for Frank The Plant selling out Kite Man. Okay Frank yes is an a-hole and I can see him being particular about who he lets in on his spa (and I am glad this show admits how raw a deal Kite Man got with Ivy... again wish they remembered that HE broke up with Pamala but thought is there) but you know bro was also supposed to be a chill guy whose worst qualities were just dumped on strangers not on people actually considered friend. Not to mention a character who tries to talk down worst evil impulses like when he pointed out to Ivy in season 3 her going full plant queen mother would be an issue in her relationship with Harley. So him working with Helen and handing over Kite Man and Golden Glider felt wrong. You can also tell a lot of the staging in these fights aren't that well through considering how much involves people just standing around and yeah they are clearly cutting corners having Glider glide around instead of walk and it is very noticable whenever she's moving in this episode how not that much time was placed on her movement as it really should have been.

Like this wasn't all awful though as honestly if this was much better built up, the idea behind Kite Man and Glider's arc here is really great. I do like Chuck being worried about Lisa being possessed by the Anti Life equation and not sure how nice he should be confronting her about it and admitting after stopping being Beast Mode he doesn't want a power anymore seeing how that went to his head which yeah that does track. And like the idea of the Anti Life Equation representing Lisa's mother promising her that getting control of her power and using the Anti Life Equation will make her proud and finally be worthy of respect and Kite Man trying to get her to drop it in the Nuclear reactor did have somewhat tense pacing in how it was placed. I mean it's still not that good an episode and really though kind of an amusing joke of the case still being around the fact this is still the plot that Glider and Kite Man have the case with it but still don't know what to do with it especially with how this show treats a flowing narrative feels especially weak. But there are still decent ideas here that don't make a decent episode sadly I do hope this one ends a lot stronger then it started because yeah still easily one of the weakest DC Animated series we've seen for ages.

 

[Frontier]

It's kind of surreal to see Kite Man without his kite. Now he's just...Man. Meanwhile now instead of Beast Mode being a raging jerk because of power brainwashing, Golden Glider is a raging jerk because of the Anti-Life Equation stabilizing her powers .

You're not a true Outlaw Couple unless you're on the run together .

I know this whole universe treats people being killed and murdered so casually, but assuming those two dudes Lisa killed were not working for Lex or Helen, Golden Glider just murdered two innocent people .

Of course Noonan knows about the Anti-Life Equation .

Queen of Fables is back in her body! And has her powers back! I'm just disappointed we didn't get to see her put the fear of Fables in Insect Queen on-screen .

I see even without sharing a body the belligerent sexual tension between her and Moe is still palpable and they'll still pounce and be all over each other after chewing each other out. Good for them .

So what made Malice puke in her purse? Just the idea of Fables and Moe having sex ?

I'm kind of amazed none of the drunk bachelorettes ended up biting it. The actual male stripper was not so lucky !

Bane discovers fatherhood as he's left in charge of Goldilocks! Knowing how Fables' powers work I was half expecting her to secretly be homicidal and psychotic, but no...she's just annoyingly picky. But she picked Bane !

Lex and Villigan are working together but will obviously betray each other at he moment one of them gets the Equation. I also love how Villigan has her own Lexbots. I'm sure Lex appreciated that .

I thought it was interesting that Helen seemed to show genuine maternal affection towards Goldilocks. Well, at least until she got annoying .

Frank! I'm glad to see things have picked up for him since the last season of HQ. Too bad he was a dirty traitor and got rewarded as a traitor deserved with his entire resort going up in smoke .

Ugh, the Anti-Life Equation just had to hit Glider where it hurt with her mom issues. But luckily the Power of Love is more powerful! Though not even a nuke can stop the Anti-Life Equation. Will someone swoop in and grab it or will Chuck and Lisa keep being on the run ?

 

[Yojimbo]

"Just Right, Hell Yeah!" is the opening salvo in the battle for control of the Anti-Life Equation and Kite Man finds himself in a tight spot trying to stop Golden Glider from going Gollum while Bane also learns a lesson about letting go and accepting what the universe brings him. But don't worry this ain't a Saturday morning lesson about the power of love, things blow up real good, too, and somehow Kite Man's pretty damn useful in a fight against killer robots. Kite Man: Hell Yeah! continues to pump on all cylinders like a well oiled machine that's just right.

"Just Right, Hell Yeah!" continues right from last week's "Sexiest Villain Alive, Hell Yeah!" and Kite Man and Golden Glider's attempts to lay low don't go well. It wasn't a blatant "I know that reference" and I'm not even that knowledgeable about Lord of the Rings but it's as much a part of pop culture that I enjoyed the subtle allusion to Golden Glider and the Anti-Life Equation and Gollum and the One Ring. An all-powerful object corrupts its flawed owner and twists them into thinking everyone is against them, casting paranoia and false illusions, and making promises. The Anti-Life Equation doesn't waste any time preying on Glider's insecurities and promising her control of her life for once through giving her full control of her fugue state. Then it starts to project itself to her as her absentee mother Rebecca Chen and really getting her hooks in. Thankfully, this conflict comes about at just the right time narratively. It's like they planned it that way! Kite Man, just recently restored to normal, finds the roles reversed and now he must be the one to save Glider from herself. But the lure of power, control, and respect the Equation spins in Glider's head takes hold. Ultimately, it may be a bit too Saturday Morning but Kite Man professes how much he loves and cares for her and refuses to give up then plants one on her and it works? However, lesson learned, dropping the Anti-Life Equation into a nuclear reactor isn't the same as a highly specific fictional volcano. Kite Man and Golden Glider are still stuck with how to get rid of the Anti-Life Equation without letting it slip into the wrong hands. Helen Villigan's robot army is wiped out but she and Lex aren't done yet. And Darkseid is likely to join the foray by next week's episode so they better think of something...

Bane, ever the whipping boy, jumps at the chance to be brought back into the fold by Lex and Helen despite forgetting the lessons learned this season about Lex and the Legion of Doom, the Villigan's corporate evil, and finding a niche at Noonan's. All the while, it's painfully obvious to everyone else, they don't want him. Lex was just going to use him to find Kite Man then toss him aside when all was said and done. Luckily and again through narrative luck (and a successful writer's room), Bane is thrown a curve ball and is stuck with babysitting one of Queen of Fables' story book minions, Goldilocks. It is from watching Lex and Helen's true nature explode out of them in the face of Goldilocks' trademark picky nature that Bane realizes the truth about them and hopefully gains a bit more self-worth. Bane's journey continues to be a strength of this spin-off and it's surprising yet entertaining and interesting to watch Bane gain new friends, finally fall in love with someone who loves him back, and now, something of a surrogate daughter that has a similar personality quirk as he does. But of course this is Bane we're talking about. It's feels like the universe is just waiting to pull the proverbial rug from under Bane's feet.

Going back to Queen of Fables, she's got her body back and is chomping at the bit to go back to killing people. And tempers flare once again between her and Moe and to shift to angry make up sex to everyone's dismay. Despite never being thanked or Moe believing Insect Queen was really going to eat him, she still summons the Three Bears to do away with his honey prison. We haven't exactly seen Queen back to her evil ways but Fables returning to full power comes at crucial juncture narratively (seeing a pattern here). Having a powerhouse like Fables could tip the scales for Kite Man and Golden Glider but you have to wonder, will she help? Or will she part ways with Noonan's. She does have a bone to pick with Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy after all. But feels like either way, she'll get sucked into the battle for the Anti-Life Equation whether she wants to or not. If I were a betting man, the briefcase lands in Goldilocks' hands, it's just right, and she takes it back into the Fairy Tales storybook and whoever wants and goes after it gets trapped in there forever or at least for one season when they're needed again.

Coming off last week's guest star, we treated to another Harley Quinn guest star this week with Frank the Plant, voiced by JB Smoove. In a bit of an update for Frank, we learned he bought some land on the cheap near a nuclear power plant and built a resort and spa catered to Gotham's rich elite, La Planta Franca Resort & Spa. And things have been going great. But in standard Harley Quinn-fashion, the resort's days are numbered once our protagonists step foot on the property. I was a little on the fence about Frank's self-serving heel with a heart Lando turn but then oh yeah, he is a bit of a self-serving heel with a heart Lando. We just haven't seen that in ages. He spent a whole season in the equivalent of a soap opera hospital bed after Bruce Wayne kidnapped him then he had a smaller presence in Harley season four so it was great to see a back-to-basics Frank with a new scheme going. Plus, he's Ivy's friend and was Kite Man's by periphery when he was engaged to her so the level of loyalty there is eh. And in hilarious fashion what was once a boon then hoists Frank up on his petard and the attempt to destroy the Anti-Life Equation levels Frank's resort. Hope he had some great insurance...

If that wasn't enough, there's a lot of neat little referenced and in-jokes if you look hard enough right from the start of the episode with the Best Western pastiche. And you'll see one of their signs advertising HBO Max has been subtly edited for humor's sake if anything else. Why Amber was a relation to Georgia O'Keeffe went over my head but yay for art fans? And probably taken out of personal experience, the anger and despair from trying to fit in a trip the local printer store, getting there just in time, but being denied your urgent errand felt all too familiar to me and I'm sure others. This episode also has a super random super villain cameo! Lightning Lord hanging with KGBeast at La Planta while Frank is giving the tour. Now, to be fair we've had Bouncing Boy inexplicably show up in an episode of Harley Quinn. Lightning Lord looks a lot like one of his later looks in the "Legion of Super-Heroes" animated series and a quick check of the credits shows two of the story boarders just so happened to have worked on that show. Coincidence, I think not.

In "Just Right, Hell Yeah!", power and status are nice on paper but the consequences of getting it or the people you surround yourself. The Anti-Life Equation is a nice short cut to Golden Glider gaining full control of her powers but turning into a completely neurotic killing machine with delusions of grandeur isn't the best trade off. In the end, Kite Man and Golden Glider reaffirm all the need is each other (and a little tongue). Meanwhile, Bane once again learns he doesn't really need Lex Luthor or his Legion of Doom and it's his own personal happiness and valuing his self-worth is what matters. Round one in the battle for ownership of the Anti-Life Equation is over, but two episodes remain this season. And with no clear way to get rid of the Equation, can Kite Man and Golden Glider continue keeping Helen Villigan and Lex Luthor at bay when Darkseid has yet to make his move? On paper, hell no. In the universe of Harley Quinn, hell maybe.