Sup hyenas. Season four is upon us, and where did the time go? DC Comics and Warner Bros. produced this show so quickly. It feels like yesterday that we were watching the status quo get upended in Harley Quinn. Our girl Harley is now part of the Bat Family, the Joker is the Major of Gotham City, and the ever-radiant Ivy is now running the Legion of Doom as CEO. I’m not telling you anything Ivy didn’t already recap in the first 30 seconds of the episode, so let’s dive into the premiere of Harley Quinn Season Four.
The power couple of Harley and Ivy are balancing a healthy work-life balance on opposite ends of the Justice system. Are vigilantes part of the Justice system? I digress. Everyone is adjusting to the new norm, including the Bat Family. Let’s get into the first Five Thoughts of episode one.
1. Gotham Knights, plus one
Have any of you played the video game Gotham Knights? Essentially, it’s a Batman game without the Batman. It could have been a better gaming experience for technical and casting reasons. Watching this episode reminded me of that game with Harley Quinn sprinkled in. The Bat Family only works for me with Bats at the helm. He helps frame the rest of his crew and provides context for why these young kids are running around dressed like idiots. He’s the mirror you hold up to every other character. Without him, everyone lacks focus. I can buy a lot, but thinking a bunch of teens will go out of their way to fight crime without a parental figure constantly pressuring them to do it is more fantastical than anything else in DC Comics. Then add Harley, who is just insane, and nothing makes sense. I like the pairing, but I guess I would believe it more if Harley was older and more of a looney Aunt they reluctantly follow. I have kids and teenage nieces and nephews. This is how my mind works now.
2. Being a new boss must suck
I feel for Ivy. Walking into a new leadership role is complicated. Exponentially more so when the business is a haven for misogynistic super psychopaths. My initial thought was of the old “prison rules” scenario. Take out the largest guy in the room to establish dominance. Ivy eventually got there but took all the terrible roads first, such as agreeing to everyone’s crappy ideas to get folks on her side.
Here is some free advice for anyone who leads a team: You don’t need people to like you, but they must respect you. In the real world, that means doing your job right, respecting others, and making decisions that will accomplish goals, not your personal ambitions. In DC Comics world, that means killing one of these overgrown babies in your first Legion of Doom team meeting to prove you shouldn’t be messed with.
3. Nightwing has a great ass
It was the main focus for the back half of the episode, but it bears repeating. My guy had a bubble on him. A thick dumper is deserving of its own Instagram feed. If the vigilante lifestyle falls apart, Mr. Grayson can always open an, ahem, Fan’s account and make easy rent money. If there is one certainty coming out, the other end of this episode is that Deviant Art must have an influx of new Nightwing content now. Fans of man’s ass got a treat today in a show that periodically shows lady parts. To those folks, this is the episode for you. Cheers
4. Harley does what bats don’t
There is a criticism of Batman that has been around for decades. His unwillingness (not inability) to kill thus leads to every villain in his rogues gallery simply escaping and causing more chaos later. Bruce draws the line at outright murder, but our girl Harley doesn’t. Her murderous background oddly makes her the most effective member of the Bat Family. Without Batman’s guidance, Harley will likely corrupt the rest of the crew. We all know Damien is ready to cross that line.
Professor Pig was a throwaway villain of the week so that we could get all-out carnage on a bad guy from the Bat-In-Training Harley. What major villain will Quinn take the bat to next? Is it an ironic joke that Harley Quinn killed him with a bat while Batman was gone? Is that even irony? Honestly, I don’t know what qualifies as irony, so let’s move on.
Continued below5. Speaking of Professor Pig…
This guy’s plan was dumb as hell. He was also a terrible Frankenstein, as his creations were so quickly kicked to shit by the good guys. The limbs were in the right place, but the shoddy quality makes that point moot. His Thumbtack review would be super low, consisting of reviews stating, “After Professor Pig left, everything fell apart the moment I touched it.” I will give him credit for cleanly removing the body parts of his victims, which is not the worst thing I have ever written, but it’s up there. I will not condone him using his terrible skills to connect Nightwing’s glorious can to what I can only assume is a sex Doll-a-Tron for himself. Go back and watch. All his original dolls are curly-haired dudes who vaguely resemble a bloated James Woods. The new lady doll has all the best parts of female influencers and one dude’s ass. That realization made me laugh something fierce and spoke to the quality of Nightwing rump. Also said something about Professor Pig. No judgments.
The wrap-up
Thus ends episode one and begins our journey of season four. It’s an excellent start to the season, and the show pushes the envelope just a bit every time. The new status quo allowed the show to have more fun with its cast and tell a wider variety of stories with the toys available. Harley and Ivy remain an engaging and sometimes insufferable power couple trying to make it work in what we would consider a crazy world. Actually, I will take that back. At this point, is Harley’s world crazier than ours? The scales are balanced on this one. Catch you next week, Hyenas.
