We are back for our breakdown of the Harley Quinn Season 3 Finale and we have so much to unpack along with a great setup for Season 4; which is coming sooner than we might think according to show developer Patrick Schumacker. It has been an absolute delight to watch and extremely hard not to scream spoilers but now is the time, so on that note: full spoilers ahead!
Starting with Episode 9 Climax At Jazzapajzza,we head straight into the aftermath of Harley and her team’s trip through Bruce Wayne’s mind. Along with the horrific return of his zombie plant parents – the team must work together to save Gotham once more. Batgirl and Nightwing are extremely bad liars but I was overly excited knowing the secret is now out and Harley knows that Bruce is Batman. It just opens so many doors for later episodes which I’ll get into later.
Harley takes the Batwing along with Batgirl and Nightwing while Ivy enters the green to level up – noting her look is heavily influenced by her original costume from Batman: The Animated Series. We see Harley relax into her hero traits a lot more in comparison to her first season with being so hellbent on being the baddest of the bad.
Patrick Schumacker mentioned in our podcast how this show has become as much of Ivy’s show as it is Harley’s. They both get equal development – Ivy gets a sudden change of heart after absorbing power from the green; now using the plant zombies to her advantage terraforming Gotham into an ideal Eden. We see Ivy grow, however, she is still torn between good and evil. One thing she is certain about is her love for Harley.
“Please, give me ten minutes and this will all be figured out” is what Harley says to the Batfamily knowing she can talk Ivy down and out of her plan to take over Gotham. Harley has been the remedy for so many of Ivy’s destructive plans. If you’ve read Joker War, we see Harley prevent Ivy from demolishing the entire city simply by showing her face and expressing her worry. The same happens in Batman and Harley Quinn the animated movie. She removes her cowl and starts to cry which melts Ivy into submission. Harley truly is the only human Ivy cares about. She undoes everything for the sake of Harley’s survival; after she willingly sacrifices herself for Bane of all characters.
Getting into episode 10 The Horse and the Sparrow. What a great finale, I didn’t think it was possible to be even more excited for Season 4 but I genuinely screamed seeing the final scene. There is so much inner conflict with Harley’s morals as she’s constantly torn between supporting Ivy but also losing herself by doing so.
The Joker and Ivy scene is undoubtedly one of my absolute favorite scenes from the show; the two people that know her best debating her well-being are so intriguing to me and I’ve always loved those scenes in the comics. I swear this show brings all my Harley fantasies to life. Joker notices how Harley is off and is starting to get sloppy, pointing out she never ties people up loosely or forgets her bat. He also points out the main thing he loved about her was how she blindly did his bidding, no questions asked; exactly as she is doing with Ivy now.
Bruce Wayne begins to see potential in Harley after they bond – Harley fills the role of his therapist helping him ground himself in overwhelming situations. I found these scenes extremely sweet and I wait with high anticipation to see where this arc takes them next. An Honourable mention that warmed my heart was Selina stealing Martha Wayne’s pearls to slip them into Bruce’s pocket while being taken to prison. He now has some comfort with him.
The difference between Ivy and Joker being Ivy genuinely cares about Harley and asks her if she is sure she wants to go ahead with killing Joker in order for Ivy to run the Legion of Doom. This results in the truth finally spilling out; Harley doesn’t feel ready to identify with the word hero and still feels obligated to live up to her agent of chaos reputation. The great comfort is that Ivy tells her they will figure it out together only leading us into Tee Franklin’s new book Legion of Bats, a direct follow-on from Season 3!
Harley Quinn has officially joined the Bat Family, the bridge is made for her full evolution. Once again, the show covers everything and anything you could think of in terms of Harley’s development. Outstanding project and congratulations to all involved in this love letter to Harley Quinn. I hope to be back sooner rather than later to get into all the details of Season 4 with you all!