Episode 10 Review
Kite Man: Hell Yeah!
Synopsis: With time running out, Kite Man, Golden Glider and Noonan's regulars must find a way to destroy the Anti-Life Equation once and for all.
"Hero Stuff, Hell Yeah!" concludes the first season (and hopefully not the last, knock wood) of Kite Man: Hell Yeah! in an all-out showdown between the Noonan's regulars, Lex Luthor and the Legion of Doom, Helen Villigan, and Darkseid while Kite Man and Golden Glider race against the clock to destroy the Anti-Life Equation once and for all. But as the audience ponders if they both can make the ultimate sacrifice, a lot of storylines finally intersect leading to unexpected alliances, wild cards, and a last minute snatch worthy of eBay. A fast-paced season finale full of action and jokes, blood and f-bombs, "Hero Stuff, Hell Yeah!" delivers on a well-balanced ending but perhaps could have taken a few more risks. While all of existence may be safe when the dust clears, in standard fashion in the Harley Quinn canon – the next big threats are just around the corner.
One of the strengths of the season finale is it gets to the point right off the bat after you push play and likewise doesn't waste time with a twist from the start. Helen Villigan has done the math and puts her faith in Team Kite Man but not without some wholesome comedic bits like Golden Glider not flying high enough as she tows Kite Man or despite Kite Man's stern declaration he won't give up the Anti-Life Equation, Helen's lead robot simply takes the briefcase out out Kite Man's hands. Surprisingly, Helen wants a face-to-face meeting and as an act of good faith, presents Kite Man's kite which she didn't watch burn to a crisp in her fireplace after all. Not surprisingly but good for setting up the stakes, Helen reveals all but one of her simulations leads to all life in the universe being extinguished. In the one simulation it didn't, Kite Man used it. Exactly what the past few episodes have been teasing and ramping up to. Check. Helen remains a shrewd cookie though. Kite Man just so happens to get "The Exorcist" recommended to him on Villigan's Crime which provides the only way to destroy the Anti-Life Equation, Gus happens to get called into the fulfillment center for a shift which Martian Manhunter takes advantage of, and waits for Darkseid to show up to send her robot army to help stall for time. Helen wasn't a typical arch-villain and her amenability to what the data tells her made her a good balance to Lex and Darkseid.
Kite Man and Golden Glider had just one appearance together prior to getting a spin-off and flex very well as a new power couple on par with Harley and Ivy. Matt Oberg and Stephanie Hsu were a great pairing of voice actors and the writers cooked. This episode was tantamount to their chemistry and the banter in the opening scene as juvenile and crudely amusing as could be but down to brass tacks, they handled the drama like flipping a light switch. The universe and everyone is telling Kite Man it's his destiny to destroy the Anti-Life Equation but the caveat is it will have to be at the cost of his own life. Kite Man nonchalantly accepts, coming a long way from a failed bank robbery and getting beat up by a teenage superhero 10 episodes ago. But it wouldn't be Kite Man without a little Kite Man, namely having to start over reading the Anti-Life Equation then realizing it was upside down the whole time. And not one to be petty, invites someone who wanted to kill them 5 seconds ago to come downstairs for a drink. Kindness really is Kite Man's bag. Golden Glider, who has been essentially the VIP of killing this season, can't and won't bring herself to taking one more life, the love of her life Kite Man when he allows the Anti-Life Equation to possess him. Rather than fret over what Rebecca was thinking, Glider does show some growth and accepts its done for love. As for her powers, Glider still can't control her fugue state but did pretty well keeping Darkseid at bay not counting the body slam. The Anti-Life Equation was the tempting short cut to control but it wasn't worth the cost and perhaps in a season two, Glider will get closer to the control she had been seeking. But as they felt in their hearts all along, power isn't the solution and all they really needed was each other (well, also blue skies and a decent breeze for gliding). To be so bright and unflappable in a place like Gotham City is certainly endearing and I wouldn't object to seeing them again in a second season.
Noonan's, itself, has been the sixth man of the team and on this show, it's really been fleshed out. On Harley Quinn, we just saw the bar. But this spin-off revealed the upstairs apartment and it happened to house a toilet capable of time travel. This episode reveals there's been a secret war room/doomsday shelter under the bar the whole time and the season-long conflict concludes on the roof of the building. And of course it was touching to see the motley crew, in a odd way, all volunteer to kill Kite Man, Sean saluting them, or even Sixpack gets all teary-eyed while he plays Kite Man and Golden Glider out with bagpipes. And of course, they come to their defense on the roof. To other unexpected MVPs of the episode turned out to be Goldilocks and Rebecca Chen. One of Queen of Fables' fairy tale manifestations who had the briefest of cameo in the first season of Harley Quinn turns out to be the biggest game changer and all because she had to go potty. And by telling Rebecca about Bane's story, she enters the fray and all that work on her leg game with jazzercise gave her the winning edge on Darkseid of all people. Priceless! I suppose in retrospect, this was all the culmination of what 1986 Noonan warned about. That messing with the past has consequences. Someone who's supposed to be dead and is now very much alive and in possession of ultimate cosmic power is one hell of a consequence.
In Harley Quinn, Michael Ironside reprised Darkseid and played him in a typical no-nonsense fashion but still the biggest threat in the DC Universe. Keith David without a doubt added another fun layer to Darkseid. Not only does he get side-tracked by the urge to rain vengeance on those who cross him, but they've done it on this show in a way that totally makes him relatable he totally acts like your dad who thinks he's surrounded by idiots. Despite being on the trail of the thing he's been looking for his whole life, he literally pulls over and goes to a pet store to argue a faulty guarantee on a pet chip. No, it's not about a refund to him, it's about the principle. So he does what any dad would do, forces the store associate who rang him up to serve him eternally on Apokolips. And equally hilarious, even Darkseid has his limits to assaults on decorum in his throne room namely with Brandon quoting one of the more infamous lines of "The Exorcist" or Malice's presumptions of his plans. This not to say we don't see some classic Darkseid. We do. He gets to flex and destroys so many robots with the Omega Effect and even stands up to Glider's ribbon attack and slams her hard before she goes fugue state. Or wins mental chess with Malice to get the location of Kite Man and Golden Glider.
The one real weakness of this episode was the random inclusion of Martian Manhunter finishing things off rather than our leads while the rest here are just nitpicks of mine. Even if you're up on the comics lore for Martians and the Anti-Life Equation, there was no set up or hint of him all season – just a hastily set up tease in 1986 on the newspaper Rebecca reads in this episode. And sure, Darkseid's reaction to him implies some history between the two. He hasn't shown up on Harley Quinn either aside from a brief reference to him in season four. He just shows up, pulls a Proto-Man and throws a giant square boulder on the villains' plans, then leaves as soon as he reveals himself. There's just not enough context. Just one big rug pull and that's all folks. Shrug. At least with Rebecca, we met her this season and she had a decent feature so her showing up again is totally out of the blue. Once Rebecca jumps into the book, why not then have the book vanish and let Rebecca's final scene provide more food for thought as to her future? Nah, just throw in a random superhero with no context just like the season premiere. To a minor extent, Goldilocks falls off after she returns to the present. There's no indication if she's still around with Bane looking after her or if she was pulled back into the Book of Fables and suffered the same cruel fate as the other fairy tale creations. Hopefully the former. The stakes were high with the Anti-Life Equation but the resolution was fairly tame and everything and everybody is pretty much reset to status quo. Except the three big ones: Rebecca gains ultimate power, Queen of Fables loses her book and her army (girl can't catch a break, can she?) once again, and Toyman is killed off. Boy, who would have known Sinestro and Toyman were going to be die in a spin-off about Kite Man. It's a bit unclear if Rebecca's staying in the book to conquer the whole realm or somehow teleporting around the galaxy taking over planets but it seems Rebecca's wish was to be the star of her own fairy tale and have a happy but evil ending. I suppose it's open-ended if we'll see Rebecca again or not until we find out if there's going to be a season two or not. She could be an interesting threat for the main cast going forward even if a part of me hopes we're done with the Anti-Life Equation. Lastly, I suppose if you paid no attention to Harley Quinn season five news, you'd mistakenly think the Brainiac end tag was a Kite Man season two tease. I was hoping for less vague two second tease and a bit more of a direct linkage to season five. But with season five set to premiere in November, we won't be up the river without a paddle for long.
All in all, the entire season of Kite Man: Hell Yeah! was a solid run with just a few complaints here and there of too little context with some story bits but it was a surprise hit with great writing, great acting, lovable lead characters, effective utilization of its supporting cast, and the entertaining medley of action, humor, swearing, and over-the-top violence that's become part and parcel for the canon of Harley Quinn. The underpinning love story and theme of underdogs vs. the big dogs translated seamlessly from Harley and Ivy to Kite Man and Golden Glider and is right at home in a workplace comedy. Characters like Kite Man and Bane are greatly expanded and used to perfection while the canon expands further to explore more of Gotham, the world, and even a bit of Apokolips that was left undiscovered until now and introduced more DC name characters and ones created just for the show were equally a joy. Kite Man: Hell Yeah! was the show I never knew I needed and never fathomed it would even exist but it has so much heart, it was a surprise hit of summer and fall 2024 and even the whole year. Coming out alongside a contemporary Superman show, a retro Batman show, and a Suicide Squad anime, DC animation fans ate well these past few months. And with Harley Quinn season five and Creature Commandos rounding out the year, the feast continues.
Rating: 8.8 out of 10