Episode 8 Review
Kite Man: Hell Yeah!
Synopsis: Kite Man and Golden Glider hide out with the Anti-Life Equation, while Bane adds babysitter to his resume.
"Just Right, Hell Yeah!" is the opening salvo in the battle for control of the Anti-Life Equation and Kite Man finds himself in a tight spot trying to stop Golden Glider from going Gollum while Bane also learns a lesson about letting go and accepting what the universe brings him. But don't worry this ain't a Saturday morning lesson about the power of love, things blow up real good, too, and somehow Kite Man's pretty damn useful in a fight against killer robots. Kite Man: Hell Yeah! continues to pump on all cylinders like a well oiled machine that's just right.
"Just Right, Hell Yeah!" continues right from last week's "Sexiest Villain Alive, Hell Yeah!" and Kite Man and Golden Glider's attempts to lay low don't go well. It wasn't a blatant "I know that reference" and I'm not even that knowledgeable about Lord of the Rings but it's as much a part of pop culture that I enjoyed the subtle allusion to Golden Glider and the Anti-Life Equation and Gollum and the One Ring. An all-powerful object corrupts its flawed owner and twists them into thinking everyone is against them, casting paranoia and false illusions, and making promises. The Anti-Life Equation doesn't waste any time preying on Glider's insecurities and promising her control of her life for once through giving her full control of her fugue state. Then it starts to project itself to her as her absentee mother Rebecca Chen and really getting her hooks in. Thankfully, this conflict comes about at just the right time narratively. It's like they planned it that way! Kite Man, just recently restored to normal, finds the roles reversed and now he must be the one to save Glider from herself. But the lure of power, control, and respect the Equation spins in Glider's head takes hold. Ultimately, it may be a bit too Saturday Morning but Kite Man professes how much he loves and cares for her and refuses to give up then plants one on her and it works? However, lesson learned, dropping the Anti-Life Equation into a nuclear reactor isn't the same as a highly specific fictional volcano. Kite Man and Golden Glider are still stuck with how to get rid of the Anti-Life Equation without letting it slip into the wrong hands. Helen Villigan's robot army is wiped out but she and Lex aren't done yet. And Darkseid is likely to join the foray by next week's episode so they better think of something...
Bane, ever the whipping boy, jumps at the chance to be brought back into the fold by Lex and Helen despite forgetting the lessons learned this season about Lex and the Legion of Doom, the Villigan's corporate evil, and finding a niche at Noonan's. All the while, it's painfully obvious to everyone else, they don't want him. Lex was just going to use him to find Kite Man then toss him aside when all was said and done. Luckily and again through narrative luck (and a successful writer's room), Bane is thrown a curve ball and is stuck with babysitting one of Queen of Fables' story book minions, Goldilocks. It is from watching Lex and Helen's true nature explode out of them in the face of Goldilocks' trademark picky nature that Bane realizes the truth about them and hopefully gains a bit more self-worth. Bane's journey continues to be a strength of this spin-off and it's surprising yet entertaining and interesting to watch Bane gain new friends, finally fall in love with someone who loves him back, and now, something of a surrogate daughter that has a similar personality quirk as he does. But of course this is Bane we're talking about. It's feels like the universe is just waiting to pull the proverbial rug from under Bane's feet.
Going back to Queen of Fables, she's got her body back and is chomping at the bit to go back to killing people. And tempers flare once again between her and Moe and to shift to angry make up sex to everyone's dismay. Despite never being thanked or Moe believing Insect Queen was really going to eat him, she still summons the Three Bears to do away with his honey prison. We haven't exactly seen Queen back to her evil ways but Fables returning to full power comes at crucial juncture narratively (seeing a pattern here). Having a powerhouse like Fables could tip the scales for Kite Man and Golden Glider but you have to wonder, will she help? Or will she part ways with Noonan's. She does have a bone to pick with Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy after all. But feels like either way, she'll get sucked into the battle for the Anti-Life Equation whether she wants to or not. If I were a betting man, the briefcase lands in Goldilocks' hands, it's just right, and she takes it back into the Fairy Tales storybook and whoever wants and goes after it gets trapped in there forever or at least for one season when they're needed again.
Coming off last week's guest star, we treated to another Harley Quinn guest star this week with Frank the Plant, voiced by JB Smoove. In a bit of an update for Frank, we learned he bought some land on the cheap near a nuclear power plant and built a resort and spa catered to Gotham's rich elite, La Planta Franca Resort & Spa. And things have been going great. But in standard Harley Quinn-fashion, the resort's days are numbered once our protagonists step foot on the property. I was a little on the fence about Frank's self-serving heel with a heart Lando turn but then oh yeah, he is a bit of a self-serving heel with a heart Lando. We just haven't seen that in ages. He spent a whole season in the equivalent of a soap opera hospital bed after Bruce Wayne kidnapped him then he had a smaller presence in Harley season four so it was great to see a back-to-basics Frank with a new scheme going. Plus, he's Ivy's friend and was Kite Man's by periphery when he was engaged to her so the level of loyalty there is eh. And in hilarious fashion what was once a boon then hoists Frank up on his petard and the attempt to destroy the Anti-Life Equation levels Frank's resort. Hope he had some great insurance...
If that wasn't enough, there's a lot of neat little referenced and in-jokes if you look hard enough right from the start of the episode with the Best Western pastiche. And you'll see one of their signs advertising HBO Max has been subtly edited for humor's sake if anything else. Why Amber was a relation to Georgia O'Keeffe went over my head but yay for art fans? And probably taken out of personal experience, the anger and despair from trying to fit in a trip the local printer store, getting there just in time, but being denied your urgent errand felt all too familiar to me and I'm sure others. This episode also has a super random super villain cameo! Lightning Lord hanging with KGBeast at La Planta while Frank is giving the tour. Now, to be fair we've had Bouncing Boy inexplicably show up in an episode of Harley Quinn. Lightning Lord looks a lot like one of his later looks in the "Legion of Super-Heroes" animated series and a quick check of the credits shows two of the story boarders just so happened to have worked on that show. Coincidence, I think not.
In "Just Right, Hell Yeah!", power and status are nice on paper but the consequences of getting it or the people you surround yourself. The Anti-Life Equation is a nice short cut to Golden Glider gaining full control of her powers but turning into a completely neurotic killing machine with delusions of grandeur isn't the best trade off. In the end, Kite Man and Golden Glider reaffirm all the need is each other (and a little tongue). Meanwhile, Bane once again learns he doesn't really need Lex Luthor or his Legion of Doom and it's his own personal happiness and valuing his self-worth is what matters. Round one in the battle for ownership of the Anti-Life Equation is over, but two episodes remain this season. And with no clear way to get rid of the Equation, can Kite Man and Golden Glider continue keeping Helen Villigan and Lex Luthor at bay when Darkseid has yet to make his move? On paper, hell no. In the universe of Harley Quinn, hell maybe.
Rating: 9.5 out of 10