Harley Quinn: Season 5 (Max)

Bruce Wayne is such a beta.

The idea that Clark and Superman are secret lovers is probably the best excuse I've heard for them never being in the same room together.

Season off to a good start. 4 stars.

That being said I didn't dig the stuff with the kid Sharks at the club. It was too dark and violent for my tastes. It's the part of the show I really don't like.

Doing some catch-up with Bane and Goldie from Kite-Man: Hell Yeah!.

Mixed feelings about this week. 3 stars.

I love when it appears they are done for, Ivy and Frank say they love each other. You know, until the previous episode when we saw Frank as a baby, I never got that. And now I totally believe it.

Floronic Man is a bastard. And the name is stupid.

Brainiac huh? Weird monkey for a weird guy.

I liked this week. 4 stars.

The domestic scenes were both interesting and funny. And the fate of the planet was actually heartbreaking. It's not just the differences on that planet that are interesting. It's the sames.

Once we've caught up to Harley and Ivy in the present day, the episode loses my interest a bit. But Stephen Fry was a great casting choice for Brainiac. 4 stars.

It's okay to turn Alfred evil just because Bruce'll get him out of jail anyways because shit needs to be cleaned up. Bruce doesn't treat this Alfred as badly as Batman: Caped Crusader's does his. But the ignorance and neglect is real, even if it's not malicious.

I am unsure whether Joker was being sincere when relating to Bruce as a father. The truth is it plays better if he is, so that's the interpretation I'm going with. This continuity is unusual (that word again) for Bruce quietly and politely tolerating Joker as a dinner guest. They even make small talk.

Joker had the best observation about Alfred's "death". Sucks the dude in charge of cleaning this up is the one who got killed.

Regardless of whether Bruce treats Alfred like shit, the truth is if this dude is always faking his death, he's right to treat him like shit. Dude, Alfred, JOKER is a less annoying party guest than you are. Stew in that.

I was annoyed at first it looked like it was gonna be another shark babysitting episode but it turned into something else.

I love the fact that Ivy dismisses the idea that Harley should be Lois' assistant. Mind you, not because a serious job is not worth Harley's time. But because Harley has a PHD and Lois ought to be answering to HER. I love shit like that about this show.

The Nightwing / Red X stuff with revenge on Harley was solved a little too easily. But it's a fucking comedy. They'd BETTER solve it too easily.

I loved it. Bruce and Joker are going to be seeing a LOT more of each other. 5 stars.

I don't think the show thinks much of Lois Lane. Of course they don't think much of Bruce Wayne, Jim Gordon, or Dick Grayson either, but Lois' insufferability isn't done by a writer who actually likes her.

And yeah, Brainiac is weirdly sympathetic. For the first time ever. And yes, he's crazy.

There is a very real fault in the episode that I can't ignore. In a comedy, oftentimes portraying cringe as a comedic element isn't actually funny, and is legit cringe instead, and makes the project impossible to enjoy. The Office suffered this problem ALL THE TIME. And this play is so bad and sucky, that I don't find it funny. I find it legit bad and sucky. Just while we're keeping score.

I'd have a bigger reaction to Frank's death but I can't possibly see how they'd make it permanent. I think it's like Nightwing, good for the temp pathos, but ripe for a cheat. I don't think I'm wrong about this. Frank is too essential to the show. 3 1/2 stars.

It was an interesting episode. Parts of it were cute. Parts of it were sad. I responded most to the parts about Ivy's rage against Lena Luthor.

The ending of Ivy blaming Harley for Lena taking Frankette wasn't my favorite thing in the world though.

But the episode was pretty good. 3 1/2 stars.

Bruce Wayne is totally pathetic and gross.

That bit with her mother and the seat in the car during the explosions and riots was pure comedy gold. I won't even act like this is what the show does best. If you ask me, it's what the show needs to do more of.

God, when you realize where she came from, you realize Harley Quinn is actually quite well-adjusted. 4 stars.

God, I love the Joker's role on this show. His version of chaos is pestering Bruce Wayne with paperwork. His clown face signature is more legible than Bruce's.

At the end Ivy asks if Lex and Lena are gonna fuck? You're worried about that too, huh? Creepy siblings are creepy.

His and Ivy's small talk was perfection. "I know people don't think bald men care about hair, but really, it's ALL we ever think about." It kills me the show wasn't always this brilliant. But I cherish it now that it is.

His first two notes about waking up in the Batcave are that he owns a penny twice that size, and to be disgusted by the size of the minifridge. Correct notes.

Lois comforts Bruce that male anorexia is a real problem, and many superheroes suffer from it. Really, Lois? Not makin' ANY connections there? ForRealSerious? Lena essentially handing Lois her entire scoop to send Lex to jail isn't the only reason she's a shitty journalist.

Yeah, Harley is REALLY good at her job. And when it comes to calming down Luthor tensions, that's a bad thing for the Universe at large.

Joker being utterly unimpressed with either Harley OR Batman's world-saving skills is amusing. He wants Superman! Nothing else will do! He pushes the button himself and grouses that he needs a watch upgrade from Clock King.

Lois complaining she only didn't need Superman when she didn't have him, and now that she can't have him she wants him, is problematic because it's SO fucking antifeminist. But this is the continuity not afraid to make the good guys in all the other continuities look REALLY shallow and bad. But seriously, Lois sucks.

Again, weak ending. Rest of the episode was a blast. 4 1/2 stars.

And yet the unplanned series finale is still satisfying, and a good stopping point. Did the writers see the writing on the wall? Considering how successful and popular the show actually is that's probably not it. Did they figure with a sociopath like David Zaslav in charge of Max they'd get canceled no matter how many fans and accolades the show had? That seems the likelier explanation, probably because it's almost certainly the true one. There is no business decision where a show this popular and successful needed to be canceled. Other than the fact that Zaslav is a sociopath and wants what's worst for everyone.

I love Frankette ending the teaser with "Fuck you," to Ivy.

I love Harley saying at the end "You wanna fuck shit up?" and Ivy's all, "You had me at 'You wanna fuck?'"

I thought Brainiac's redemption story was unique and refreshing for a character never allowed to be anything but pure evil in every other interpretation. I've felt for the character all season, and him learning to do the right thing feels kind of right in and of itself. I'm very impressed.

Superman's "save" at the end wasn't impressive though. We forgot he was out there, and as the final episode, we feared the worst, but while I know superheroes' entire brand is coming in at the last second, I was as pissed it took him this long as Harley was.

Bruce being uncomfortable making small talk with a civil (yet oblivious) Joker will never get old. I could picture these two becoming actual friends someday, which makes this the most fucked up continuity of them all.

Just in case the audience forgot, Bane is utterly useless. What bothers me about his stupidity is that Harley and Ivy telegraphed pretty damn clearly what was needed of him, and he's just too fucking stupid to get it! I actually hate shit like that in fiction. It's not funny, it's annoying.

Sorry, Sharon, but you have to face facts that the crazy robot who talks to dead monkeys is out of your league. Her moving into Harley and Ivy's would have made next season, uh, interesting. It's kind of weird the big role she wound up with this year, because I believe she only appeared once or twice in the first four seasons.

Clayface is NOT Batman. Also, why the HELL can't that dude morph away the bad teeth? That's the giveaway to every persona.

King Shark is sending his kid to Julliard. He ain't gonna curb NONE of that creativity.

I felt Lex and Lena's defeat was both perfunctory and annoyingly cliched and predictable. I appreciate the refreshing way this show presents the Joker and Brainiac. But it's not like the exact same idea about this thing couldn't be used on Superfriends, minus the f-bombs. It's stupid, is what it is.

So that is the end of the Harley Quinn cartoon, and it being gone kills any protection Kite Man, Hell Yeah! had left. If the spin-off is renewed, it will be a Hit-Monkey-level miracle. But I will miss this continuity, and despite the show getting off on the roughest of starts (I famously gave the Pilot a 0, a grade which I do NOT take back) it turned into something special. And weirdly sweet. Which is kind of wonderful. 4 1/2 stars.