DCAUResource.com

Menu:

Episode 47 Review
Harley Quinn

Great start to the season. Since season three, I think each season has improved and with the season five premiere "The Big Apricot" we're finally back to the near perfection of season two. The narrative quickly sold me on the new arc for Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy, Harley is afraid of being in a rut, Ivy feels seen finally, the move to Metropolis, they figured out a way to get Superman out of the way in a sensible relation to the season arc like they do with Batman every season, bonus points to the crew for also getting Lex Luthor out of the way in an obvious but hilarious way given how much of a mainstay he has been this whole series and just recently in the Kite Man spin-off, established the main villain in the closing seconds, the season premiere was rightly focused on Harley and Ivy, and introduced a new Luthor to suspect or serve as a red herring.

It was the right move not to jam everyone into the season opener with status updates and just focus on the two leads. I suspect next week and the one after will get into the rest of the cast moving to Metropolis and Nightwing's revenge scheme. Considering the sometimes frenetic pace of plotlines, coming into season five I had a feeling they would disband the Gotham City Sirens in a quick flashback so when it happened, I didn't fight it in my head. I was worried about Eclipso once they identified the diamond as the Heart of Darkness but of course he got killed off in the same episode unceremoniously. And to add insult to injury, after all these years we learn Metropolis has been pretty much right next to Gotham but whatever happens in season five to Metropolis that Brainiac doesn't do is Clock King and Riddler's fault for getting in Harley's head about a relationship rut.

The odds and ends were well placed and didn't stick out like a sore thumb. Despite his vow in the season four finale, Batman failed to save Gotham and it seems even worse off year or so after the Earth Saver wrecked havoc and the city is stuck with the unexplained giant rats. Even he, well Bruce Wayne, seems to have bailed. I guess Ratcatcher hatched an evil scheme between seasons and succeeded. Giant rats. It was nice to see Enchantress without Croc or the Suicide Squad in the mix. Even her nor the skeleton not getting the Gotham City Sirens brand was gold.

Now, Lena Luthor. I want to think she's a unwitting pawn of Brainiac. We just came off a season of Kite Man where one of the big bads, Helen Villigan, turned out to be pretty reasonable. While not explicitly stated, sounds like Lena introduced the Automaton Sentry security bots to Metropolis and Brainiac is co-opting them and no one noticed. Or he uploaded the idea into the Lexcorp R&D computers and looking for a win Lena found them and implemented them. But she's a Luthor. But she's voiced by Aisha Tyler. But she's a Luthor offering a sweat deal to Ivy to go green. Sound familiar? Superman and his cool reporter friend Clark Kent leave on a much needed sabbatical. Harley and Ivy thinking he and Clark are lovers behind Lois' back was more comedy gold for this premiere. With Superman now off-planet, Brainiac undoubtedly is free to perfect Metropolis then remove and shrink it for his collection.

Lot of nice nods to Superman lore in the museum: the space suit from Superman: The Animated Series, the parallel universe Superman's suit from "Brave New Metropolis," the Power Armor from Action Comics #659, the New 52 suit from Action Comics #1 (2001), the Fleischer Superman's suit, both Electric suits from Superman #123 (1997), the Recovery suit from Action Comics #689 (1993), replicas of a bunch of Kryptonite - the classic deadly green, red that causes random effects, the gold that takes powers away, the blue the cures effects red, the white that kills plants, and the pink that swaps genders, the giant key to the Fortress of Solitude, I think both the white and the blue ships are different versions of the rocket Kal-El came to Earth in (I think the white one could be based on the one in Super Friends), the Kryptonian Warsuit from World of Krypton Vol. 2, headlines from the Death and Return of Superman, Black Mercy, a depiction of the destruction of Krypton, the Phantom Zone Projector, the Fortress of Solitude, Jor-El & Lara statues, and the Superman Diary (that is an entry about eating spinach and it getting stuck in his teeth and he realizes he doesn't even like spinach and prefers romaine lettuce).

Naturally a lot of callbacks to last season's "Killer's Block" with the Sirens, Barbara getting paralyzed by Joker, looking for Nightwing's body, Harley saving Superman's life, and Wayne Tower being hit by the Earth Saver. Even worked in a mention that Joker was officially impeached from the Mayor's office and a season one callback to "Being Harley Quinn" with the Suicide Squad T-shirt when Harley packs. Pastiches of Cirque du Soleil and New York's Tavern on the Green and a direct mention of the real world Sotheby's auction house. A mention of the Flash, Martha Wayne, and Superman's turning back time, a nod to "Superman". We see Centennial Park, Heart of Darkness, Krypto, Jimmy (in his classic color scheme even), Lena, Eclipso, and Brainiac debut proper (though Brainiac was previously seen in that season 1 episode "So You Need A Crew" from Queen of Fables and of course his ship showed up at the end of Kite Man: Hell Yeah!). A couple recasts with Catwoman, Enchantress, and Clock King. Barbara is officially going by Oracle now and is credited as in the voice credits. Seems like a lot but the script was so well balanced, it wasn't a deluge of information by any means.

"The Big Apricot" is a strong opener for Harley Quinn season five and a much welcomed return to form. Harley and Ivy's arcs are set up, the villain is set, new characters and new locations are gelling well, the action, drama, and comedy hit their marks... there's not much to nitpick or complain about. If the rest of season five can keep it up, we're looking at one of the best seasons of the series.

Rating: 9.8 out of 10