REVIEW: ‘Harley Quinn’ Season 4 Premiere Is As Bold And Bloody As Ever

Harley Quinn Season 4 Episodes 1-3 begin with the expected bang for the high-octane series. With the familiar wit and carnage, the first three episodes of the season retain all that’s made the animated series such a diabolically fun time while also reminding viewers of the key changes the characters have gone through. As the characters that once made up our core group of outsiders continue to discover their own singular plots, the writers created increasingly hilarious ways to get them all together, from a forced baby shower to a trip to Vegas. Energized and on a perpetual sour candy sugar high, the first three episodes of Harley Quinn Season 4 deliver everything we’ve come to love about it.

The biggest changes are due to Harley’s (Kaley Cuoco) and Ivy’s (Lake Bell) occupational changes. Harley had a question of conscience in Season 3 and now has found herself working with the Bat Family. Namely, Nightwing (Harvey Guillén), Batgirl (Briana Cuoco), and Damian/Robin (Jacob Tremblay) are the ones who must suffer as Harley tries to acclimate to the rules of her being heroes — especially rules made by Batman himself. While Ivy is off as CEO at the Legion of Doom, their struggles still coincide with one another as both look to earn the respect of those they’re working with, even if they’re working on different sides.

In Ivy’s case, it simply takes some posturing and a lack of specificity in how she words her causes to other Legion members. Her plan to replace all of the mail trees in Gotham with all female trees is seen being put into action in Episode 2 and while at first, it seems to simply align with her eco-friendly beliefs, it’s soon shown to be just the start of an overarching plan. Her ultimate goal is to take down Wayne Pharma, a place she and Harley learned was harming the environment in Season 3. By replacing the trees with ones that produce fewer allergens, it will cause the people of Gotham to buy less allergy medicine, taking down that branch.

It’s a well-thought-out plan, which fits how Ivy has been characterized thus far. She may get caught up in petty grievances — such as her brawl with Clay Face in Episode 3 — but she knows what she wants and simply works hard to achieve that goal. It’s one of the many reasons she and Harley are such fantastic partners and foils for one another. While Ivy is out there existing in the fringes of lawful evil, Harley is occupying a space near chaotic good.

Harley knows she wants to help or, at the very least, understands she can no longer simply sit back and watch as innocent lives are lost. In Episode 1, she’s struggling to find her place within her new team, greatly admonished when she kills Professor Pig, who’d kidnapped Nightwing. She trains with Alfred (Tom Hollander) for an episode as she tries to earn herself a place on the team and, by the end of Episode 3, has decided to move in with the rest of the Bats in order to fully immerse herself in the world of heroics. She can’t manage the dual lives that Ivy herself is able to balance, and Harley finds it much easier to succumb to influence or distraction.

It’s partly why the episode “Icons Only” demonstrates a key shift in their relationship as they struggle to find even footing while away on a trip for some quality time. Harley dons a new lazy persona to try and have fun with Ivy while staying in one of Lex Luthor’s hotels. It’s a hilarious bout of carnage that Harley can only enjoy while adopting an alter ego. In a series where Clay Face (Alan Tudyk) is acting like a primadonna due to a successful Vegas residency and King Shark (Ron Funches) welcomes the arrival of his baby sharks onstage during a magic act, it continues to surprise us. The most shocking element of those surprises is that they often happen due to character development, rather than through gore (though there’s certainly no shortage of it).

Instead, if anything, Harley Quinn Season 4 is priming viewers for yet another great shift. What is difficult to grasp is what the shift will be. Will Ivy grow increasingly radical as her plight intensifies? Will Harley return to the bad side or become a lone figure of vigilantism? The series takes such care in delivering episodes that are visual overloads with a barrage of bloodshed and vibrant colors keeping us wrapped up in the story until the pounding, rushed ending credits slam down on the screen. It’s only natural that the narrative itself would take that same bold approach.

Harley Quinn Season 4 Episodes 1-3 deliver some of the funniest moments of the series thus far. The combination of ultra-violence with blatant sexuality, personal growth, and pure absurdity help the show remain one of the most distinctive and individualistic currently airing — a vivid reminder of the world-building elasticity allowed by the animation medium.

Harley Quinn Season 4 is out now on Max.

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