TV Review: ‘Harley Quinn’ Season 4, Episode 7 — A Relationship Repaired (By Means Of Violence)

Since this season began, Harley Quinn has done a pretty good job separating Harley and Ivy. This episode rectifies that after a fashion, but it doesn’t come out of nowhere. Ivy (Lake Bell) even has a line where she says she tried to compartmentalize their relationship from their work because she thought it would be better for them in the long run.

This episode was a reckoning for that concept. While Harley (Lake Bell) and Ivy had separate story lines in the episodes before this one, they both shared an adventure here and it played out in hilarious fashion.

As Harley believes she’s losing her mind, she decides to look for Ivy at work. It turns out Ivy is in the middle of stealing the Justice League’s time sphere. The heist goes awry, and Harley decides to use it see what their relationship will be like in the future. What they find is a post-apocalyptic Gotham run by a bratty, grown-up Robin. A resistance to his rule is led by their daughter, but she betrays them to Robin. Ivy and Harley have no choice but to team up and beat on their daughter, thus solidifying their shaky relationship as they make an escape back to the past.

Harley Quinn is prone to ridiculousness. But ridiculousness just for its own sake is not great storytelling. Episodes need to use it for characterization and plot. The scene of Harley and Ivy reconciling their troubled relationship by teaming up to pummel their adult daughter is bonkers. It’s just the kind of thing that might actually be seen in a comedic Harley Quinn comic. And that’s why the show has been as successful as it has been. It knows how to push the right combination of comic book storytelling and comedic absurdity.

Harley Quinn streams Thursdays on Max.