Episode 56 Review
Harley Quinn
The fifth season of Harley Quinn has reached its tenth and final episode. For better or worse, the story wraps up in a predictable fashion: the big bads get their comeuppance, Harlivy comes out of it stronger than ever, many of the cast's arcs come full circle, Vril Dox realizes the error of his ways and his story comes to a bittersweet conclusion but the cast punches up the finale with heart and humor. "The Mess Is the Point" leaves our motley crew in a good place. Should a sixth season be greenlit, there's plenty left to explore and if not, well, this could serve as a satisfying series finale.
There was some great full circle moments and things coming to a head throughout the episode. Namely with Vril Dox. As the antagonist of the season, he has had quite a compelling journey. From the perfectionist ready to eliminate anyone messy and shrinking cities, to a flashback dedicated to revealing his tragic loss and new purpose, learning about his insanity through a hastily written musical and falling into depression, finding out from a middle-aged woman his whole stance on life was wrong, doing right by Harley, Ivy, Sharon, and Frankette, and going out on his own terms, with the memory of his family. Compared to all the past season villains, Vril Dox was given a complete rich journey and a rather unique one compared to all the other iterations of Brainiac in animation. Lena and Lex get their comeuppance all right. Not only does Harley play them off against each other like cheap fiddles and fizzles their alliance in an instant, they are gobbled up by Frankette while running from their childhood model train. Somewhere, Frank is saying revenge is a dish best served cold. Feeling powerless and useless at the start of the season, Superman gets to be a hero again and save some lives. Ivy and Harley move back to Gotham and into the apartment Ivy once rented from Sy Borgman back in season one of the series. Bane's family is going to grow by one in a couple months. Of all the characters, Bane getting happiness compared to season one Bane is nice way to finish his story if need be.
We've certainly learned a lot about Sharon in just her fifth appearance in the show. And most of it accounts for how Harley turned out. Like withholding love from your child. My favorite bit was Sharon flirting with Vril and just how awkward he looks and Sharon even admits she was going to make him her sugar daddy out of self-preservation. Guess Lex is chopped liver. Well, slowly digesting chopped liver. But for all of Sharon's flaws and of all the characters in the series, it comes down to Sharon Quinzel to jilt Vril Dox out of his funk and save everyone's butts. I'm there with the running joke of Ivy being concerned she's going to live with them. The other great punchline was Bane not compromising his script and revealing the ending of the musical rather than lying. And everyone's natural reaction in the background was priceless.
As great as things were, there felt like lot of things were left hanging like how did they restore Metropolis without the Hyper-Ray? It didn't look like anyone took that gun with them and we just assume Superman had similar technology at the Fortress of Solitude to restore Metropolis. I guess. What is Bruce's next move going to be. It isn't confirmed or not if the Bat Family is back. Is Lois really going to become the new editor-in-chief at the Daily Planet? Did someone remember to let the real Perry White go? With Lex gone, who's going to lead the Legion of Doom? Gulp. Joker? What's Oracle been up to all season? The biggest unanswered question is who or what destroyed Colu when Vril Dox left for his final job assignment off-planet. And like with Batman, we're left with a Superman we find out is really needy to a fault. Really hope Wonder Woman turns out to be the most stable and well rounded of the Trinity. The ending played it a little too safe with Superman rescuing them at the last second. Everything was already set up and it was pretty much a checklist of events unfolding with no real twists or shockers.
I would bet if a season six was already greenlit, season five would ended on a riskier note. Something in the vein of Harley, Ivy, Frankette, and Sharon being lost in space, touring the universe trying to get back to Earth, and pissing every alien off along the way. As safe as it was, on the other hand, it was nice to have a buttoned up ending just in case the series doesn't get renewed. Dean Lorey said there are plans for more seasons. Considering how hard they spotlighted Jason Todd this season, Red Hood is probably one of their plans. We already know they initially were going to have him appear in season one in Noonan's and there was always some kind of reference to Jason in practically every season. Another thread the series could revisit are Ivy's awful parents. It took five seasons to get to Ivy's true origin story and how Frank came to be after all. If there is a season six, it needs to be more focused and less messy (yes, I know I'm saying that given this episode's name). Season one, for example, had a focused narrative with Harley achieving a new milestone each week to level up and prove her worth as a solo villain killing it on her own without the Joker.
Whereas, each season feels even more broad in scope. Season four: Harley and Ivy try out new jobs. Stuff happens. Season five: they move to Metropolis to get out of a rut. Stuff happens. Rely on the same formula each season: one episode about a villain, one episode where Ivy gets really mad at Harley, they make up, Lex Luthor is in the mix. In a hypothetical season six, throw out the tried and true and inject the show with some new ideas. Season five had a strong first half but the pacing went into overdrive and soon it felt like nothing mattered because it was solved in a week with the next episode then the audience gets bounced to the next thing. And even though the season was advertised as the gang getting back together and yes, a number of the season one cast was back, everyone mostly had their own arcs going on and they weren't together. It wasn't the season one Harley gang antics we all loved. Still season five was better than season three and four but not better than one and two. The show is definitely getting its groove back but it still has some homework to do to get back to peak shape.
"The Mess Is the Point" wraps up season five of Harley Quinn in satisfying, but too predictable, fashion and gives a poignant ending for the most compelling and tragic antagonist this series has seen in Brainiac that ties into the season's theme of embracing imperfection, the ultimate spice of life, and family, as crazy and hectic they are. While the strong start was hampered by a broad back half moving at breakneck speed and a bit of more of the same story structure, season five of Harley Quinn is a vast improvement on season three and four and gives hope for an even better season six, knock wood, should it be greenlit by the powers that be.
Rating: 9.7 out of 10