“Harley Quinn” Season 5 Review: Harley and Poison Ivy Take Over Metropolis

“Harley Quinn” is back in rare form with season five, leaving behind the mess of Gotham City for the shiny perfection of Metropolis. The new season returns Thursday, January 16 on MAX with familiar faces, new blood, and some of the funniest one-liners the show has ever produced.

Cast: Kaley Cuoco as Harley Quinn, Lake Bell as Poison Ivy, James Adomian as Bane, Diedrich Bader as Batman (Bruce Wayne), Ron Funches as King Shark, Stephen Fry as Brainiac, Natalie Morales as Lois Lane, JB Smoove as Frank the Plant, Alan Tudyk as Clayface and Joker, and Aisha Tyler as Lena Luthor.

Poison Ivy creates an assortment of greenery while Harley Quinn and Lena Luthor watch.

The last couple seasons of “Harley Quinn” have gotten a little bogged down with extracurricular Bat-Family shenanigans. In some ways, this absolutely makes sense, Harley and Poison Ivy both started as Batman characters. However, the real highlight of the show has always been these two madly-in-love, sometimes-villainous rogues being thrown into more and more ridiculous situations. This is the winning formula that makes up season five.

Minor spoilers ahead.

Harley and Ivy are stuck in a bit of a rut, so they do what a lot of couples do… they pack up and move to greener pastures. Gotham is a wreck, but their relationship doesn’t have to be. New city doesn’t mean all of their problems go away though. In fact, their problems get weirder and more galactic because Brainiac is looming overhead. Literally.

How does a city built on perfection cope with getting invaded by some of Gotham’s wildest exports?

In the “Big Apricot,” we find that Superman has been automated out of necessity. Crime is down, because of artificially intelligent robot drones (interesting!), and everyone lives in utopic harmony. Of course not everyone is thrilled with this and it’s amusing to see how the show unpacks this in each episode.

Lex Luthor’s little sister, Lena, is queen of the scene with big plans to beautify and perfect Metropolis. How do a pair of Gotham villains fall into her plans? It’s actually a blast trying to figure this out. Lena’s manipulative from the get-go, with no one around her noticing how much she’s playing them. It’s delightful.

And just because the setting is in Metropolis doesn’t mean the old gang isn’t around. It seems there’s room for, well, everybody. Bane, Clayface, King Shark (mostly his offspring), and Frank the Plant all make their appearances, with mostly pleasing results.

King Shark and his offspring at Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy's condo in Metropolis. DC Comics — Credit: Warner Bros. Discovery

The Daily Planet gets a huge focus this season. Lois Lane and Perry White grapple with all the changes around them, some of them happening because of the aforementioned invasion of villains from Gotham. Lois’ jokes constantly falling flat was the best recurring gag. Episode six makes a strong argument for a Lois Lane/Daily Planet spin-off in this universe. (If Kite Man can get one, anyone can get one, okay?)

[Spoiler warning]

Brainiac, real name: Vril Dox, comes in appropriately menacing but, by the finale, ends up being a deeply sympathetic character (much to Lena’s chagrin). He’s awkward and annoying and yes, kind of evil, but this version of him holds more depth than most versions of him. We learn about what makes him tick, why he’s hellbent on his mission, and why he’s so damn weird.

This is a very funny season. The jokes are as sharp and quick as ever. Bell and Cuoco are so at ease with their characters making the audience feel at home in a brand new city. Superman and his associated characters are heavily involved, while not completely taking over. (2025 really is the year of Superman.) Tyler’s Lena Luthor is a standout, she’s the ultimate mean girl, the epitome of the unattainable, glamorous billionaire, with a severe inferiority complex. She’s the perfect foil for the season.

This season comes with a lot of growth for Harley and Ivy, unpacking Pamela’s past and Dr. Quinzel’s several appearances. Harlivy’s relationship gets tested in new ways, this time with kids, neighbors, career opportunities, and catastrophic existential crises. Overall, this season was a good time and worth the wait.

Season score: A-

Multiverse of Color will be recapping each episode of season five on the Harley Quinn Podcast.

Logline: The fifth season of “Harley Quinn” finds Harley (Kaley Cuoco) and Ivy (Lake Bell) in a new location: Metropolis, the home of all things Superman, Lois Lane, and the Daily Planet. Harley and Ivy discover that something sinister is at play and all is not what it seems. Looming threats include Lex Luthor and his sister, Lena Luthor, plus fan-favorite Brainiac. But of course, Harley’s crew of misfits and allies will join her on this irreverent journey that takes no prisoners in having fun in the DC sandbox.

Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn in purple and pink sweat suits with coffee and breakfast pastries, outside.

Credits: Based on characters from DC, “Harley Quinn” is produced by Delicious Non-Sequitur Productions, Lorey Stories, and Yes, Norman Productions in association with Warner Bros. Animation. The series was developed by Justin Halpern, Patrick Schumacker, and Dean Lorey. Dean Lorey serves as executive producer and showrunner. Executive producers are Justin Halpern, Patrick Schumacker, Kaley Cuoco, Sam Register, and Katie Rich. Co-executive producer is Chrissy Romero. Supervising producers are Cecilia Aranovich Hamilton and Ian Hamilton. Producer is Susan Ward. Consulting producers are Jamiesen Borak and Leslie Schapira. Co-producer is Vidhya Iyer.