‘Harley Quinn’ Season 4, Episode 4 Review
by Frank Martin
This season of Harley Quinn is in a very different situation than previous ones. The past three years have been about Harley Quinn (Kaley Cuoco) and Poison Ivy (Lake Bell) working towards some sort of normal relationship — or at least something resembling normal for them. They had it, but now they are on diverging paths as Harley becomes a hero and Ivy rises in the ranks of villainy. This episode is emblematic of those two roads. It’s also a smart way to have the season unfold. Rather than start off right away with tension between the two, the story is going to build up their rift slowly and lay seeds throughout the current run.
The episode started with Poison Ivy going aboard a rocket ship to a villain convention hosted by Lex Luthor (Giancarlo Esposito) on the Moon. Meanwhile, Harley and the Bat-Family are left in a financial bind as Talia al Ghul (Aline Elasmar) strips them of their money. They decide to rent out the manor, which causes them to almost become kidnapped and robbed of the very few things they have left. Back on the Moon, Lex tries to minimize Ivy’s impact at the convention. But instead, Ivy becomes the star of the show, causing Lex to throw a temper tantrum and suck most of the attendees out into space.
Besides having two different plot lines for Ivy and Harley to showcase their diverging paths, Lex had his most notable appearance yet. He’s shown up before, but this story really fleshed out this version of Lex. Even more so than normal, he’s a complete megalomaniacal narcissist that throws a temper tantrum at the slightest hint of anybody tarnishing that image. Other versions of Lex have tried to do this in the past, but Harley Quinn’s ridiculous tone is perfect for showing just how crazy he can be.
Harley Quinn streams Thursdays on Max.
