Harley Quinn Season 5: A Spoiler-Free Preview

I'm not entirely sure if there is a lesson  to be learned from this but a thought I had while I was watching the fifth season of Harley Quinn was that, with a few exceptions, the majority of the shows produced by the DC Universe streaming service continued on for solid, multi-season runs on other networks. I don't know if it's necessarily a surprise that Harley Quinn is the last of these shows, especially after the return to  form that is the fifth season compared to the fourth, but I do hope the show has the longevity of say Rick and Morty.

This season, sensing they are in a rut, Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy relocate from Gotham City to Metropolis to add a bit of a spark to their relationship.

The show's real strength this season comes from its decision to move to Metropolis. It allows Harley and Ivy to reset, dive back to basics, and play with a new supporting cast while bringing back the side characters from prior seasons in a limited capacity to great effect. There is a B-plot in one episode about one of the characters who returns and it is among some of their best use in the show thus far across everything done. There is also an episode focused almost entirely on a character who (to my recollection) has not been used on the show before and it makes an early strong case to be the best episode of television this year.

This season is a vast improvement over the previous, maybe even the previous two, and does not shy away from dealing with deeper emotional issues with some of the main characters. Everyone has an arc and all these arcs are interesting to watch. Check out Harley Quinn on Max starting this Thursday and continuing weekly over the next ten weeks.

Screeners were provided in advance and at no cost for all ten episodes for review purposes by Warner Brothers.

★★★★★

Harley Quinn Season Five
Showrunner: Dean Lorey
Starring: Kaley Cuoco, Lake Bell, Alan Tudyk, Ron Funches
Streaming Service: Max
Release Date: January 16th, 2025