Episode 46 Review
Harley Quinn
"Killer's Block" brings season four to an explosive close filled with destruction, victories, new starts, returns, and teases of payback. Harley and Ivy make a decision on where they stand in the world of heroes and villains but when enemies fall, new ones rise up.
Season four's finale is perfectly executed with the right balance of action, humor, action, twists, and setting up a probable fifth season. The finale wastes no time with Harley finding the Joker but she can't figure out the best way to kill him. And with her indecision, hilariously Joker is totally humiliated throughout the episode in front of the villain community. Suffice to say, his comeback has backfired and not sure if there's a way back from being led around on a leash at Lex Luthor's birthday party. But Harley decided to leave him with Jim Gordon just as he learns Joker was one who shot his daughter. And Jim's ready to torture him in an odd flip the script when it comes to a nod to Killing Joke. Barbara's been crippled by Joker's gunshot but that's the only similarity. Instead of Joker torturing Gordon to make a point, Gordon's gonna torture the hell out of Joker in revenge. The other story is Ivy not being satisfied with ousting Lex from Lexcorp and shutting down the Earth Saver and deciding to ruin his birthday party and take him down for good. Sounds like a plan but plans on this show tend to... not work out. So all the weird things Lex was doing this season was because his plan was to steal Superman's powers for himself. Okay, points for that twist. And Lex didn't really even need them to defeat Ivy, just attack her insecurity by confirming her ascension to leading the Legion of Doom was just a farce to keep the seat warm while he worked on his personal project to power up. And everyone shows their true colors – no one in the Legion of Doom helps her, the usual advice of the Evil Women in Business Collective doesn't help, no one cared about socially conscious evil, Talia burns bridges with Ivy and ultimately, it's Harley who has Ivy's back. And together, they decide neither was going to work out as a hero and villain respectively: they don't do rules, they can't join and change the systems in place, and there were always outsiders so they should stick to that! Took 'em four seasons and a special but they've figured that out. Harley didn't need to be in the Legion, didn't need to prove to anyone she's better than Joker, Ivy didn't need to get married, Harley didn't need to be a hero, Ivy didn't need to be a supervillain and lead the Legion. All they need is each other (and sometimes Barbara and Catwoman) and mayhem will follow.
Freed of their new roles, Harley and Ivy return to their wild card, chaotic ways and the back half of the season becomes sheer entertaining carnage. Thanks to the only real friendships they struck up this season, Harley and Ivy easily defeats Lex thanks to Barbara Gordon and Steppenwolf. Then focus on totally torching Gotham City with a space laser. Talia and Veronica take one to the portfolios when Ivy targets and destroys the EWIBC and Wayne Tech buildings then the ultimate middle finger to Lex, blows up the Hall of Doom and Lexor Hotel and keeps firing even though it continues to destabilize the Moon. An added bonus is Clayface's luck seems to have run out and to add insult to injury, is in the Lexor Hotel when Ivy blows it up. I mean, sure he probably survived but Clayface hitting rock bottom figuratively and literally by the end of another season tracks. But in a neutral third party kind of way, Harley saves the emaciated powerless Superman at the last second. Lucky thing, he more or less fixes up the Moon once his powers return.
But of course it wouldn't been a Harley Quinn show or season finale if their actions don't have unintended consequences. Seeing the chaos unfold jilts Bruce Wayne into getting out of prison and returning to being Batman. But inadvertently (and hilariously) puts a screw to Alfred's plan to reunite with him in Blackgate! And they've made an enemy of Talia who resurrects Nightwing with the Lazarus Pit at her hot springs and naturally, Nightwing is gunning for Harley. It was also a nice moment when Harley acknowledges Barbara and thanks her in the cemetery. So now, it seems Harley, Ivy, Barbara and Catwoman will be operating as the Gotham City Sirens – do a bit of good, a bit of bad, but mostly do want they feel like matters without being held down by rules or systems. In a way, Ivy got her all-female LOD after all. And they already got their first mission but got a feeling that "mission" is gonna find them first.
As of right now, what's the status of the show? Unofficially, there's two clues a season five is already in development. On Twitter when it was still called Twitter a few months ago, director Kiki Manrique made a now-deleted post saying she started work on Harley Quinn right around the time post production on season four would be winding down. And in the EIDR, an entertainment database where show and movie information is posted, a season five is already listed. While that's a not a given if it's on EIDR, the writing is on the wall. And the show has clearly left a starting point for season five should it happen. In the meantime, while we wait for Max and Warner Bros. Animation to make the official announcement way after the point when they should, the Kite-Man: Hell Yeah! 10 episode spin-off series will be premiering at some point between now and next year. Not announced yet but hopefully, we'll be seeing the Valentine's Day special and season four on Blu-ray by next year.
That's a wrap on Harley Quinn season four! "Killer's Block" completes Harley and Ivy's exploration of their new roles as hero and villain... well not such as complete as much as them quitting and deciding what's best is they do their own thing and form their own team. And looks like Barbara Gordon and Catwoman will be along for the ride. Gotham City can't catch a break as usual and takes some space lasers to the balls, obliterating major business headquarters like Wayne Tech and EWIBC but Batman and Superman are back in business, along with... Nightwing?! Don't think there's "revenge" in the hero code so things could be heating up. The Legion of Doom is headquarter-less, not the first time, but now they're leader-less. Who's gonna take up the reigns? Regardless, the Sirens already have a formidable big bad to deal with in Talia al Ghul as well as a pretty angry Nightwing. Once again, the chess board has been reset after it's been smashed to a bloody pulp and I enjoyed every second of that ride. And what's coming next is looking as intriguing and entertaining as always for this streaming series.
Rating: 9.8 out of 10