With the fourth season of Harley Quinn having been fully released, it felt appropriate to rank every season of the popular adult animated series:
4. Season 4: I’d like to start things off by stating that none of the seasons are actually bad. They are all good and each bring something to the table. Season 4 just unfortunately had the most problems. In this season, Harley and Ivy try to keep their relationship stable despite their very different current career paths, with Harley joining the Bat Family and Ivy becoming the leader of the Legion of Doom. It does not take long for them to regret their choices as the Bat Family’s strict no killing rule frustrates Harley and Ivy butts heads with Lex Luthor, who becomes jealous of Ivy’s new success and does everything in his power to undermine her. The season’s main conflict comes into play when Nightwing is mysteriously killed and Lex blocks out the sun to de-power Ivy and Superman, forcing Harley and Ivy to come together to take down Lex and figure out what is going on. I will say that in defense of this season, the jokes are much funnier than the previous one. It had been almost two years since season 2 ended and you could definitely tell the writers of season 3 were having trouble with the comedy. Season 4 excelled at the humor as not a single joke missed the mark. Bane even got his own standalone episode, which was easily the best installment of the season. Unfortunately, the story and characters took a major hit this season. Despite wanting to become a hero, Harley is a lot less likable. She starts committing crimes in her sleep, culminating in her accidentally killing Nightwing while she’s sleepwalking. Instead of trying to do better, she refuses to take responsibility for her actions and instead blames the Bat Family’s rules for what happened. She doesn’t admit to Batgirl that she killed Nightwing, quits the team and helps Ivy destroy half of Gotham to get back at her girlfriend’s rivals. The show claims that she’s taking a middle ground of being both a hero and a villain, but it feels more like a status quo than anything. In addition to that, the Joker immediately reverts back to being a villain after getting bored of being the mayor. This was especially disappointing as season 3 did a brilliant job of making him a better person. Yes, it’s the Joker, but it was such a letdown to undo one of the best character arcs in the entire show. Lex is also a very underwhelming main villain. He’s more of a threat to Ivy and not nearly as smart as the other main villains on the show, or even that much of a threat to Harley herself. Talia al Ghul had been introduced and it originally seemed like she would be the main villain, but the show just dropped her and instead set her up as the big bad of season 5 (which has not been green-lit as of yet). It was also a shame for the series to get rid of most of the main characters from the first three seasons as characters like Clayface, Batman, Doctor Psycho, Sy Borgman, Frank and King Shark are pushed out of the spotlight in favor of characters like Lex, Batgirl, Nora Fries, Volcana and Robin, none of whom are nearly as charming, funny or likable. The story as a whole is also just rushed. The final scene just has Catwoman appear out of nowhere to form the Gotham City Sirens with Harley, Ivy and Batgirl. There is practically no buildup to it and the promise of this new team just isn’t nearly as exciting as the other finales. This was the first season with a different showrunner and you can definitely tell. Season 4 definitely isn’t awful, but it is clearly the weakest season.
3. Season 3: I still remember how much I waited in anticipation for the third season of Harley Quinn. After season 2 ended, I was so excited to see where Harley and Ivy’s relationship would go now that they are officially a romantic couple. In this season, Harley decides to help Ivy in her goal to terraform Gotham into a city with nothing but plants. After Ivy uses her new deadly serum on Frank, turning him into a super powered plant, she becomes more obsessed with wiping out the humans and giving the world back to the plants and is fully supported by Harley, who seems to be oblivious that thousands of innocent people will die if her girlfriend’s plan works. Before Ivy can start her plan, Frank is kidnapped by Bruce Wayne, who uses him to make his own serum of bringing his parents back from the dead. The story of the season, while definitely not as solid as the first two seasons is still great. Batman wouldn’t be the first character you’d think of to be the main antagonist of the season, but given that the main characters are supervillains it makes sense. Bruce himself is a fantastic character this season. The episode in which Harley enters his mind and helps his younger self through his trauma might honestly be the best episode in the entire series. The Joker goes through an absolutely hilarious and amazing character arc as well as he gives up on his life of crime and settles down with his new family, eventually becoming the mayor of Gotham. The Joker is the last person you’d think of to get a redemptions story but they surprisingly they make it work spectacularly (which makes it all the more frustrating that season 4 undoes that). The season is definitely not without its problems though. Due to being the main villain of the previous season, Doctor Psycho is absent for the majority of the season. It wasn’t until the character briefly came back that I realized just how much of the dynamic between all of the characters had been lost when he was written out of the show. Tony Hale was such an integral piece of the show and I do think a little bit of the charm of the series kind of suffers without him. Harley and Ivy are also a bit TOO lovey-dovey of a couple. I don’t mind it most of the time, but there is a great deal of a time throughout the season where it feels like they are forcing it a bit with their romance. You don’t need to enforce to me that they love each other. That’s been more than apparent even before they became a couple. The humor is also at its weakest here. It definitely feels like the writers were trying to settle back in after being away from the show for almost two years. For all of season 4’s problems, the humor was so much better. It’s not awful, but a lot of the jokes fell flat at several points. However, that does not mean the season falls completely flat with the comedy. We were also given the Valentine’s Day special, which may be the funniest episode of the entire show. Overall this season is still great, but not nearly as good as the first two seasons.
2. Season 2: In comparison to the third season of this show, the wait for the second season of Harley Quinn was relatively short. It was barely a few months, which made it all the more exciting to watch. In this season, Gotham has become a No Man’s Land following the collapse of the Joker’s tower at the end of season 1. The remaining members of Batman’s rogues gallery consisting of Bane, Two-Face, Penguin, Riddler and Mr. Freeze have formed an alliance using the very much derivative name of the Injustice League, where they carve out the city into territories where they can make their own rules. Still wanting to be able to take over the city, Harley objects to this and is frozen by Mr. Freeze for months as a result. After being freed and killing the Penguin, Harley makes it her goal to take down the remaining members and become the most feared supervillain in all of Gotham. The first half of this season is an absolute blast, as characters like Batman, Gordon, Bane and Two-Face are given much bigger roles (even getting their very own episode with Harley and Ivy out of the spotlight). It is very fun to see these different areas of Gotham controlled by the villains. Each section has its own different gimmick and level of danger. After Harley is able to take down the Injustice League, the second half of the season focuses on Harley and Ivy struggling to admit their feelings for each other. Ivy in particular has a hard time due to her fears of Harley being too chaotic and her upcoming wedding with Kite Man, who is completely oblivious to the entire situation. Meanwhile, Harley tries to avoid confronting her feelings by taking over Gotham with an army of Darkseid’s Parademons. She soon snaps out of it and decides to focus on what she needs, but things soon take a turn when Doctor Psycho teams up with the Riddler and decides to betray the crew and steal the Parademon army to take over Gotham himself. Harley must now find a way to defeat Psycho before his megalomaniacal ambitions and her romantic feelings for Ivy collide with each other. The second half, while feeling very separate from the first half of the season, is just as great. I, along with many fans of Harley and Ivy had been wanting to see the two as a romantic couple for ages and it was so satisfying to finally see it happen. Ivy and Harley work so well as a couple and while I did feel sorry for Kite Man, the ending in which they finally get together was so beautifully handled. While I wish Doctor Psycho didn’t become the main villain, it does make sense for the character and he makes for a much more personal antagonist to Harley and Ivy than anyone else since the Joker was already the main villain of season 1. Speaking of which, the Joker’s transformation into a boring, mild mannered and cheesy loving stepdad was a stroke of genius. Even when he comes back to his normal self it was hilarious to see him stay in his relationship with the family he found without changing his ways. As he puts it “Lots of dads are serial killers.” I often go back and forth on whether I prefer the first or second season and even though this season just missed the top spot, I still love it with a passion.
1. Season 1: Perhaps this is a little predictable, but the first season of Harley Quinn really still is the best season of the show so far. When the show first came out, I knew it was gonna be good. The casting choices and animation alone made me have faith in it. However, even I couldn’t predict just how much I’d love the first season of this animated series. In the first season we see Harley finally break up with the Joker. As a way of making a name for herself and sticking it to her abusive ex-boyfriend, Harley attempts to join the Legion of Doom and become the most feared supervillain in all of Gotham City. She forms her own crew consisting of her snarky and loyal best friend Poison Ivy, the angry misogynistic telepath Doctor Psycho, the dimwitted and theater loving shapeshifter Clayface, the nice and easily excitable yet surprisingly vicious King Shark, the cranky and elderly half-robot landlord Sy Borgman and Ivy’s talking plant/roommate Frank. The crew go through several misadventures throughout the season and eventually manage to make a name for themselves, much to the anger of the Joker, who makes it his goal to take away everything that makes Harley happy. The story of Harley leaving the Joker is nothing new. It has been done to death countless times. It doesn’t matter if it involves her leaving him permanently or having her come back to him. Many people have tackled this story before. However, this season does it in such a fresh and brilliant way that I consider it to be the best version of that story. You really do find yourself rooting for Harley. The Joker has always treated her like garbage but the series takes this even further by somehow making him worse to her than ever before. When Harley is finally able to take him down it is genuinely one of the most satisfying moments in any DC show. The story is as brilliant as it is hilarious. This season has so much amazing comedy and I’m in awe of seeing what they were able to get away with. It’s because of the humor that the versions we have of Ivy, King Shark, Bane and Clayface might be my favorite versions of the characters compared to everything else that we’ve seen them appear in. The cast is also phenomenal in this. Kaley Cuoco is an amazing Harley and really provides a super unique take on the character. Lake Bell also gives my all time favorite version of Poison Ivy, giving the character a super dry and sarcastic wit that allows her to be the voice of reason within the show. Alan Tudyk is probably my favorite actor to appear in the show. I already knew that he’d be a perfect Joker after seeing him as Mr. Nobody in Doom Patrol, but his Joker is the only one to actually give Mark Hamill a run for his money as the best voice of the Clown Prince of Crime. Not to mention his over the top performance as Clayface is equally incredible and made it the first time I became a genuine fan of the character. I honestly consider the first season of Harley Quinn to be a masterpiece and recommend it to any DC fan or someone who is looking to start a comedy series. The show may not be for kids but Season 1 is absolutely one of the best installments to ever come from a comic book show.
