Episode 12 Review
Harley Quinn
Things couldn't get any worse for the gang or the city, right? Things do and then some. Harley, Poison Ivy, Sy Borgman, King Shark, Clayface, and Dr. Psycho think the Legion of Doom is to blame for all their troubles, but it's none other than the Joker staging a major coup and taking the city for himself. And he has an ally in the Queen of Fables. To make matters worse, the Justice League is neutralized and Batman is busy playing cat and mouse with Scarecrow. Just when it sounds like the tide has turned, the gang suffers a tragic loss and sets the stage for the final battle between Harley and Joker.
"Devil's Snare" starts essentially right after "Harley Quinn Highway" with Harley and Ivy confronting some of the monster trees. Harley refuses to move to Metropolis if Gotham is destroyed but Ivy realizes the trees are immune to her plant controlling ability because of their mutations. They opt to run for it. Commissioner Gordon wants to blast Gotham Park to kingdom come with tanks paid for by taxpayers but Batman stresses being surgical and prudent because of the innocent civilians. Just when Harley and company seem boned, the Justice League arrives and destroys many trees but they think they're the cause of the monster trees and decided to banish them to the Phantom Zone. Ivy has a last minute idea and uses Wonder Woman's Lasso of Truth on herself to convince the League of their innocence. Did not take her for a Nascar fan. Queen of Fables gets the jump on them and traps the League in her enchanted book then she beanstalks the gang up to the Giant from Jack & The Giant Beanstalk. Ivy realizes Kite Man is the perfect candidate to rescue them and to her horror, Harley realizes they are dating.
Batman is too preoccupied with fighting Scarecrow amid a cloud of Fear Toxin while Gordon presses on with a tank. Harley carjacks him but the gang watches as Joker's Face Tower rises up from under the Hall of Doom and destroys it. The Joker announces the Legion of Doom used to stand for top tier evil until they decided to recruit Harley so he's going to kill Gotham City himself. Ivy gets an idea and becomes a giant with the same serum used to make the monster trees. Despite her predilections, kills several trees. It works and the entrance to the Face Tower is left unguarded. Harley and the others almost make it but Fables steps out and sends the Big Bad Wolf after them. To Fables' surprise, the Wolf loses in morbid fashion and she gets her head knocked off by Harley's bat. Ivy saves Harley from a tree but she takes a harpoon through her chest and dies in Harley's arms. Everyone is too shocked to speak. Flowers bloom around them as the Joker gloats.
Sparing the Queen of Fables comes back to bite Harley (and doesn't do wonders for the Justice League) but thankfully, Fables gets her just desserts. I don't think anyone saw a decapitation by bat coming or Harley wearing the Big Bad Wolf. Grotesque but ballsy choices there. I wonder what's to come of the Justice League. I'd guess somehow that enchanted book has to get into Zatanna's hands for her to undo the spell but doesn't seem like that's in the cards for the season finale and we may not see any resolution until season 2, whenever it comes out. Fables got what she deserved. Sending her off to Arkham didn't seem like the right call for this show. Makes sense. The Joker is the real big bad, not the Legion of Doom. He's always been the central threat. A Harley-Joker rematch for the season finale seems all but a foregone conclusion and the ending of this episode cements it will happen.
It was a great reveal when Harley finally found out about Ivy and Kite Man. The show didn't force it early in the season and executes it so well here: Harley running up a giant's arm, hear the admission, and gets swatted off. And Ivy's all public about how much she loves him. Short of agreeing to get married during a nightmare apocalypse but still, she loves him. And no retort, just cussing Psycho out for questioning her love, heh heh. I liked they didn't just have Ivy hulk out when she goes big and she's very repentant about killing the monster trees. And the stuff of juicy writing: just as Harley and Ivy are about to make amends, the ultimate gut punch. Makes sense Poison Ivy got so much focus lately, something awful and terrible was planned to happened to her. Yes, this is a big dramatic ending. Ivy, a main character, gets killed off. But it's a series rooted in the comics and Ivy has plant physiology... so I think there's a chance she will get buried, the earth will heal her right up and she'll return at a really crucial point in the season finale. There's just no way Ivy will stay dead. I mean, right? Right?
"Devil's Snare" pulls back the curtain and reveals the big bad is all too familiar and obvious. The stage is set for a climactic showdown between Harley Quinn and The Joker but she's going to have to pull it off without her BFF Poison Ivy and she can't count on any super heroes saving the day. It's all on her to take the lead...
Rating: 8 out of 10