Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy are back and more perfectly imperfect than ever. Season five of the Max animated series Harley Quinn is full of wacky action, DC heroes and villains (both familiar and deep cuts), and, of course, plenty of sapphic shenanigans.
This season, we follow beloved couple “Harlivy” (voiced by Kaley Cuoco and Lake Bell respectively) as they decide to get out of what remains of Gotham City and move to Metropolis, because they feel like they’ve fallen into a rut of staying in and eating take-out in bed. Besides, their attempts at the Gotham City Sirens failed spectacularly and they really should move out of Catwoman’s house.
I dunno I wouldn’t mind living in this supposed “rut.”
One perk of moving to Metropolis is that we get to see a lot more of two badass women who are voiced by queer actresses: Natalie Morales as Lois Lane, and Aisha Tyler as Lena Luthor. Don’t come here expecting CW Supergirl‘s Lena Luthor; this Lena Luthor is quite different (including in some very fun ways!), as is this version of Brianiac. This season we also get to see a little more of Ivy’s backstory, a locked room mystery episode, and some adventures in babysitting. There’s even a musical in one episode!
No idea if Lena Luthor or Lois Lane are bi in this show but the actresses being queer is still a win to me!!
Despite how chaotic that list of events might sound, this season, as a whole, felt more cohesive in its throughline story than some of the past seasons; maybe because Harley and Ivy are more cohesive than ever. The show has all the humor and acrobatics and absurdity of the past seasons, but the show felt more settled into the overarching Brianiac storyline instead of a more villain-packed season, just like Harley and Ivy are settling into themselves and their relationship. The show is maturing with them.
And them being on a “mature” show sure helps.
Harley and Ivy still have their own separate storylines and adventures, but they are together more than they have been in the past since they’re not working for opposing forces anymore. And, what’s been my favorite thing about this show since Harley and Ivy officially got together: Their relationship remains solid throughout. Is it always perfect? Of course not. They’re two imperfect humans (well, humans who have been genetically altered by tragic accidents) living in an imperfect world, so of course they’re going to run into hiccups along the way. Still, their problems never feel insurmountable. Neither of them are ever doing anything to intentionally harm the other; there’s no cheating, no scandals, no malicious lies. (Only the little white lies like when you say you’re okay when you’re definitely not.) At no point, no matter what was going on in the relationship, did I worry that they were about to break up. And I don’t remember the last time I had such confidence in a queer couple on television. Which makes the rest of the show so much more FUN. We’re able to relax and just enjoy the ups and downs of their relationship, and anything they face together. Just goes to show the stakes don’t need to be life or death, or even stay together or break up, for a queer couple to have interesting storylines. (Looking at you, the rest of Hollywood.)
I know these outfits are supposed to be Superman related but all I can see is Supergirl.
Harley and Ivy have some problems you and I are very likely not going to encounter in our lifetimes — space aliens trying to bottle our city, the shark child we’re babysitting trying to eat things he shouldn’t, etc — but they also have problems people outside comic book settings have. They feel stuck sometimes, they worry about losing their spark, they disagree about important things, and sometimes forget to communicate the hard things. But they get through it, together. Harley has always been the titular role, but ever since they got together in season two, the show has really been about the two of them at its core, a fact that gets more and more delightful with each passing season.
If you had asked me five years ago who one of the longest-running and least toxic queer relationships on television would be, I never would have guessed it would be these two animated, villainous babes on one of the silliest shows ever, but I’m so glad it’s true. One of the ongoing themes of this season is how futile a quest for perfection can be — and what does “perfect” even mean anyway? — but this season comes pretty darn close.
Harley Quinn is now streaming on Max.
