We are at the end of season four of Harley Quinn Hyenas. Time sure does fly when you are having various levels of fun. This season was all about Harley and Ivy trying to balance their separate yet similar work-life balancing issues, Harley and her contentious Bat Family drama, and Ivy’s struggles as a woman CEO being gaslit by her male boss. How does a power couple survive on opposite ends of the good/evil spectrum? The answer is straightforward. Despite the season’s antics and pitfalls, Harley and Ivy remain a united front and firmly in each other’s corner. That is a relief as many stories like this in a sitcom, or procedural-style show would opt to give the couple a needless conflict and split them up for a time to keep fans engaged. I am looking at you, Burn Notice, or any USA show from the early 2010s. Harley Quinn stays on course, maintains our hero/villain couple, and doubles down on their commitment to each other. So, as tradition, we will examine this final episode of season four with an excellent old-fashioned Five Thoughts. Spoilers are incoming if you didn’t already suspect.
1. Neutral Harley
A theme in this episode is Harley has become an outside neutral party. She isn’t the murderous clown queen she once was, nor is she a hero. The character’s progression over the last four seasons has brought her to a strange middle ground that doesn’t serve HER show’s absurd, frankly violent nature. The show is called Harley Quinn, and she has become its least interesting character. It’s like Family Matters, a show about a blue-collar family being taken over by the incredibly annoying and charismatic Steve Urkel. The family was the least exciting aspect of the show, post-Urkel. Harley has found herself in that category. Why are we even watching this if she is no longer willing to bust heads with her trademark bat? I understand that comment is crazy, but you did this to me Harley Quinn writers.
2. Wait, Super Lex?
Lex Luthor fulfilled a few of his dreams in this episode. He finally took Superman down and imprisoned him. Lex stole and assimilated Clark’s powers. He slapped on that sweet power suit he loves so much. And finally, and most likely his most sought-after dream, Lex scored a full head of hair. It was a massive episode for Lex, and yet he failed miserably. Even with the power of Superman, he couldn’t truly get the best of Ivy in a fight, and that’s just pathetic. Everyone seems so neutered all of a sudden. Some folks, like our protagonists, have plot armor, while some antagonists are dumb or lazy. You grant Lex the power of Superman and the Luthor Power Suit, and he gets taken out by a Moon buggy crash? Why even give him hair at all? He doesn’t deserve it. Also, what happened to his body dysmorphia? I need closure!
3. Oh, how the mighty have fallen
We are treated to a great fight scene between Harley and the Joker’s wife, Bethany. Harley is looking for Joker, and Beth isn’t about to give up her man’s whereabouts. Harley gets the upper hand by threatening to fight Bethany’s kids, a classic Harley move. Long story short, Quinn nabbs the Joker for shooting Barbara. Then we see the Joker paraded around like a damn dog for the rest of the episode. How the mighty have fallen. This dude became the Mayor of Gotham, for Chimney’s sake. What a wealth of opportunity for that character to enact chaos on another scale. Instead, he’s bound and gagged and delivered to our favorite Jim Gordon for some classic A24 horror torture at the end. The Joker has been a great foil in this series, and has been fridged. It’s not as bad as Maria Hill in the MCU, but it’s still pretty bad. I know these thoughts are gripes, but I am working with what they gave me.
4. The Birth of Oracle and Deathwing?
By the end of the episode, Barbara is now in full Oracle mode, hacking and computing for Harley and Ivy. Also, Nightwing is back because no one dies in DC. His miraculous resurrection is thanks to the Lazarus pit and the vindictive Talia Al Ghul. There are evil versions of Nightwing, including his time as a Vampire King, and the evil copy called, wait for it, Deathwing. As Grayson emerged from the green pit of life, he announced his intentions to find and probably kill Harley. Harley Quinn is great at end-of-the-season cliffhangers and keeping fans interested until the next installment. They also do a great job writing their own canon while incorporating original story beats. An evil Nightwing could be fun, and seeing Oracle was a nice touch despite how she got there. Next season, we will get a clash between Darkwing and Batman. Speaking of Batman…
Continued below5. Bruce is back
And just like that, Bruce is out of prison and ready to be Batman again. The inciting incident for this was Ivy blowing up a bunch of Gotham’s evil buildings. That is a good reason for Bruce to quit prison DJing and don the cowl again. My question is, where the hell was this resolved when Lex was blotting out the damn Sun? Bruce, you need to get your mind right. So much has happened that would have 100% gotten back to Bruce in prison, including the death of his freakin’ adopted son! Yet, a couple of evil buildings get evil blown to hell, which gets him off his lazy bat-ass and back in the game? C’mon. That’s not the Batman we know. Heck, that isn’t even the Batman from this series. Also, all you have to do to get out of prison in Gotham is give some privileged step-nepo-baby an internship? Most internships are unpaid. What a low bar to clear for Bruce. I get it’s for the comedy, but damn. You could have made him say anything, and you chose an internship? For one kid? At a record label? Man, I can’t be with these people anymore.
The Wrap Up
My friends, that’s all for Harley Quinn season four. It’s been a strange, up-and-down season for sure. Similar problems from other seasons, like the lack of story for King Shark and Clayface, remain, but that is their place in the series now. Harley and Ivy remain the power couple we need them to be, overcoming everyday couple obstacles to help reinforce their love for each other. It is a beautiful sentiment in a cartoon about a clown and a plant. Harley has lost some of, if not all, her edge, so hopefully, she finds a more definitive place in her own show and doesn’t get outshined by more interesting characters like Bethany or Nora Fries. That’s all from us for now. Go forth and be awesome, Hyenas.
