REVIEW: ‘Harley Quinn’ Season 5 Episode 10 — “The Mess Is The Point”

As has been the case for the entire season, Harley Quinn Season 5 Episode 10 is yet another funny installment with hilarious gags and references. The jokes are not the problem. However, the Season 5 finale makes one thing abundantly clear: it might be time to wrap things up. The best sitcoms and series understand there’s a limit to the stories they can tell and just how many different variations of the same hurdles they can put their characters through. And, five seasons in, we’re hitting that wall.

Harley (Kaley Cuoco) and Ivy (Lake Bell), along with Harley’s mom, Sharon, and the depressed Brainiac (Stephen Fry), continue to work to stop Lena (Aisha Tyler) and Lex (Giancarlo Esposito). from taking over the universe. And here is the first problem. The threat in and of itself is big, but it doesn’t feel particularly imminent despite a literal countdown to their deaths running in the background. They’ve simply faced off against strong opponents, Lex included, in the past to make this one feel any more pressing.

All of which is to say that the dramatic stakes are very, very low. Harley and Ivy are reconciled, reunited with Frankette, and Sharon is working on lifting Brainiac’s spirits. Any potential thematic friction dissolves itself because we know that Harley and co will be just fine. To its credit, Harley Quinn Season 5 Episode 10 does push the limit on just how close to death they can get before someone — in this case, Superman — swoops in to save the day.

Lena and Lex are defeated and gobbled up by Frankette, and Brainiac realizes that humanity should be cherished because of its messiness rather than destroyed. His exit is the most effective, as he begins to hallucinate his deceased wife, son, and Koko before telling Harley and Ivy about the escape hatch they can use to get home. Brainiac once again breaks the fourth wall to say farewell to the audience, and as the others escape, we watch his ship explode after hitting his now desolate home planet.

Harley Quinn Season 5 Episode 10 has great jokes but no impact.

It’s a somber end to a character often utilized as an all-powerful threat. Brainiac is one of the strongest elements of Season 5 because he upends our expectations of such a familiar villain. Unfortunately, the Luther sibling rivalry is never quite as engaging.

Harley Quinn Season 5 Episode 10 finds a moment of solitude as the characters believe they’re about to die. However, the only real weight is in the interaction between Ivy and Harley, as the former tells the latter that home is wherever they are together. It’s a sweet moment, but it all feels superfluous because they’re saved so soon afterward.

Harley Quinn Season 5 Episode 10 ends where it began. Harley and Ivy are together and happy but back at their original home in Gotham, which now overlooks Metropolis. The most significant change is their mentality about their lives and romance. They’re content where they are, without needing to seek substantial changes or excitement in their lives, happy with their monotony and Gotham’s brand of chaos. It’s a charming, if stilted, ending.

“The Mess is the Point” has plenty of laugh-out-loud moments. Lex’s comment about being the ‘eldest boy’ feels like a wonderful reference to Succession, and Sharon’s flirtation with Brainiac is a better use of her character. And any instance with Bane offers big laughs as the writers go out of their way to make him deliver the series’ most absurd lines. But beyond the jokes, the series has an air of finality.

Harley Quinn Season 5 Episode 10 is perfectly fine but fails to land as a finale. Despite the life-or-death stakes, it lacks substance and is inconsequential. The comedy, as always, is its biggest strength, but at this point, the series needs either a major shakeup or a satisfying end.

Harley Quinn Season 5 Episode 10 is out now on Max, formerly HBO Max.

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