Harley Quinn Season 4 Review: The Wild And Crazy Animated Series Returns For A Lesser But Still Entertaining Season
This piece was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, the movie being reviewed here wouldn't exist.
"Harley Quinn" breaks up our core team in its fourth season, dividing its time on scattered and somewhat unfocused storylines that never achieve the comedic heights of previous seasons. And yet, the show continues to be a delightful take on the DC universe, and when the Harley and Ivy stories finally merge, the season reaches the level of quality we've come to expect from the animated series, though it comes in too late.
After season 3, Harlivy is still going strong, and they're moving on to bigger things. Ivy is hired to lead the Legion of Doom, which is now owned by Lex Luthor, and sees her enter a corporate world that is heavily dominated by toxic men. Meanwhile, Harley finally decided to stop being an antihero and just be a full-time hero by joining the Bat Family and their crusade to rid Gotham of crime, before immediately clashing with Batman's other proteges who don't really see eye to eye with Harley's bloodthirst and her utter joy at the mere mention of a criminal to go beat up.
This leads to the big problem of the season — Harlivy was the best part of the show, and Harley and Ivy don't work as well when separated, the humor dissipating a bit as the scope expands to a few too many characters, most of them rather one-note compared to the layered team of earlier seasons. This is particularly true of Harley's storyline. The Bat Family characters are funny when used sporadically, sure, but when they're main characters, they feel monotone and dull after a while.
A disjointed story
Ivy's storyline fares much better than Harley's, mostly because it is more focused on Ivy herself rather than on the people around her. Throughout the season, Ivy's experience in the corporate world sees her diverging from her plan to use her platform to do some evil by becoming a celebrity supported by a mighty PR team. This means Ivy is busier and busier, unable to spend time with Harley or even her mentees, who are genuinely inspired by the way Ivy combats Lex's sexism. This part of the season is engrossing, and quite funny, particularly in all the ways the show positions Lex Luthor as an Elon Musk stand-in.
"Harley Quinn" excels when doing little side stories for side characters — but without turning them into major ones. Seeing Bane involved in an Italian odyssey that is all about the pasta maker he got for Ivy's canceled wedding is delightful, and the best running joke in the show. Joker continues to be a highlight, as he spends the season jealous of being shut out of the villain society now that he's a suburban stepdad and the mayor of Gotham. We also get King Shark in a side story of becoming a father which is absolutely fantastic.
A great addition this season is Talia al Ghul as a character that — like Catwoman before her — freely walks in both the hero and villain world. She is a great addition to Ivy's story as the two characters bond over being women in leadership positions. Talia also acts as a foil to Harley as she takes over Wayne Enterprises and messes with the Bat Family now that Bruce is in prison.
Delightful mayhem
From the very beginning, "Harley Quinn" has stood out not only because of its R-rated humor and graphic violence, but because of the way it riffs on DC canon. Not only does the cartoon make fun of classic characters, but it also recognizes their absurdity and plays it out for laughs. A big part of the season deals with characters being obsessed with Nightwing's butt — in arguably the most meta aspect of the show — and Harley Quinn even uses his butt as bait to catch a serial killer. Likewise, Talia's introduction results in some hilarious interactions between her and Damian, with Talia trying to actually act like a mother towards her son rather than the ruthless assassin leader she is in the comics, and Damian suddenly turning into an emotional tween at times. It is hilarious because the show treats these moments with earnestness and homage towards the source material — while still poking fun at it.
Despite the shortcomings, "Harley Quinn" continues to be quite ambitious in its scope, telling stories with stakes that involve the entire DC universe without feeling like a repetitive superhero story that resets the status quo after each supposedly world-ending story. There are clear stakes, characters die and stay dead, and the status quo changes heavily all the time. Not all of it works, but it is commendable that the show still does it after four years.
Season 4 may not be as consistent as previous seasons, but this show remains an entertaining animated comedy and an earnest love letter to DC comics.
/Film rating: 7 out of 10
This review is based on the first nine episodes of the 10-episode season.