Episode 7 Review
Kite Man: Hell Yeah!
Synopsis: As Beast Mode competes for the Sexiest Villain Award, Golden Glider tries to find a way to turn him back into Kite Man.
"Sexiest Villain Alive, Hell Yeah!" is a highly entertaining, well paced entry leading to the season finale amid the backdrop of another villain award ceremony. Storylines and big bads converge and vie for the MacGuffin, something is thankfully resolved with the help of a special guest star, one star levels up just at the right time, Bane has another hilarious arc, another supervillain gets a surprise comeback which could spell doom for Gotham, and if you like an episode spent naming a boatload of cameos, this is your week.
"Sexiest Villain Alive, Hell Yeah!" does the best thing possible and resolves the white elephant in the room or in this case the white douche in the room. Yes, Beast Mode is dealt with and Kite Man is back by episode's end but not without having some fun with him – the basics like assembling a d-bag crew, crossing Malice, being a jerk to other supervillains, winning over Darryl, debating leopards with Helen, and utterly roasting Lex Luthor. The pain and anguish Darryl feels when Beast Mode vanishes for good is probably the most emotional we've seen worst dad ever display and it's so good. Great idea to get Golden Glider along by adding in chinks in Beast Mode where Kite Man breaks through briefly and a sense of a ticking clock on restoring him said by Noonan, gets the episode going.
Once again, Bane is used to perfection. As the dark horse nomination for Sexiest Villain Alive, Bane has zero chance of winning but thanks to the one act of d-baggery, Malice is emboldened into making sure he wins it. After a makeover at a hilariously named clothing store, Malice still needs a finishing touch and lo and behold finds the briefcase containing the Anti-Life Equation hidden by Lex in the pilot (and hilariously makes a meta comment about it taking so long to show up). And the best joke, it's what's on the outside that matters. She doesn't bother to see why it glows, to her it's just the perfect accessory. Malice's instincts are right and Bane kills it with his suit, scarf, hat, and briefcase. Even his impromptu song at the awards is a hit! Totally unaware of what's in the briefcase, he resists Lex's charms in a bid to win the award to amusing effect. My favorite probably goes to Beast Mode commenting on him literally saying "grumble, grumble" and to boot you later hear Bane saying he thought it was good comeback! It seems there's a competition for have the best ending with Bane. In my opinion, Dean Lorey just topped Bane's "who cares?" in "Villigan's, Hell Yeah!" with this week's ending.
Golden Glider and this episode's guest star Clayface make for an entertaining duo. Glider has little patience for Clayface's long winded rambles to our amusement. The show made the right call and didn't get overly reliant on guest stars from the Harley Quinn show so by the seventh episode of the season when Clayface reveals himself, it's the exact right time for a guest star and he's used brilliantly as a foil to Glider. And if you think about, it's even more funny because he was Glider's back up idea since her first choice was to use Darryl. All Glider wants is to bring Kite Man back to normal but thanks to the machinations at the award ceremony, she ends up with the briefcase. Lex tries to pacify her with some hamster ASMR before her fugue state massacres everyone but in a surprise twist, she gains control of her fugue state and dispatches Lex's goons to brick shitting effect. Even 'ol Lex has to back up in horror.
Yes, turns out Helen wants the Anti-Life Equation, too. Surprise. She used Kite Man as pawn and the award show as the chessboard. There you go, all laid out. Well, I'm sure we'll find out what Helen plans to do with it in relation to her company in due time. And now Golden Glider's got the Anti-Life Equation but doesn't know she has it. Oof. Sounds like we're in for a three way battle between Lex, Helen, and Darkseid and who will be left standing will be anyone's guess. Or for that matter Noonan's and Gotham. The chess pieces are moved around to perfection this week and every twist and turn beautifully leads to one of the best endings this season and lays the groundwork for an explosive season finale. But not to keep it straightforward, a wild card is also in the mix. A murderous one. Moe Dubelz and Queen of Fables are back to squabbling but Queen, in the end, goes to save Moe from being eaten by his date Insect Queen. Whatever altruistic reasons or real feeling she has for Moe go out the window when Queen discovers her original body has been preserved this whole time in solid honey in Insect Queen's hive. A Queen of Fables back to 100% can only spell a whole other kind of doom for Gotham if this three-way-conflict over the Anti-Life Equation wasn't enough. I doubt Queen will waste any time causing chaos and getting too big for her britches yet again but I can totally see by episode 8 or 9, she gets her comeuppance yet again, gets decapitated again and maybe even worse, her body is destroyed for good – forced to go back to Noonan's with her tail between her legs. Although I am apprehensive this might be a little too much like Dr. Psycho, it remains to be seen how it will play out. Fingers crossed.
In real life, awards season is a thing. There's a show for the Emmy's. One for the Golden Globes. One for the people's choice. And so on. Makes sense in the world of Harley Quinn, there's another villain award, too. Harley and Ivy's absence from Sexiest Villain Alive while glaring at first, makes perfect sense if you recall they were so over the Villy's in season three of Harley Quinn and they totally ignored an invite to this one. Joker's absence this and all season can be explained as well if you've been watching Harley Quinn and didn't just start with Kite Man: Hell Yeah! Being the first thing you've watched in this canon. In the season four finale, we learn he was left in Commissioner Gordon's care with a note outing him as the one who shot Barbara Gordon and he's probably still being tortured with A24 movies.
In "Sexiest Villain Alive, Hell Yeah!", there's nothing to hate: the pacing is on point, a lot of storylines come together without getting messy, things actually get solved, things get answered but not all just the right amount, there's jokes, character level ups, a timely guest star, Bane is still awesome, tons of camoes to i.d. if you're into that, the final battle is expertly set up without it being in our face, Kite Man's back, and we're left with an existential dread that the Queen of Fables is also back in business. This episode could do no wrong and if this week is any indication, the final three episodes of the season are gonna be a riot.
Rating: 9.5 out of 10