‘Harley Quinn’ Season 2 Episode 8 Review & Recap: Inner (Para) Demons

In this week’s episode of Harley Quinn, Harley and Ivy must deal with the fallout of their kiss. Ivy focuses on her relationship with her fiance. Harley, on the other hand, is focused on taking over Gotham.

S6E8 Review (Spoiler-Free)

The kiss happened, and now it’s time to deal with it.

Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy finally address what happened last episode, and they come to the same conclusion: it was just a crazy thing that happened. 

Or did they?

Harley is clearly struggling with this as she decides to turn her attention to her original goal: taking over Gotham. As the title suggests, she may be looking for some help that is out of this world.

Ivy focuses on her loving fiance, Kite Man, and faces one of the most difficult challenges within a relationship: meeting the parents. 

Meanwhile, Commish Gordon is back on top of his game and wants to put Gotham back on the map (figuratively and quite literally). But one thing stands in the way of Gotham rejoining the USA: Harley Quinn.

Can Harley deal with her feelings-errrr-conquer Gotham? Will Ivy impress Kite Man’s parents? Will Gordon save Gotham?

These questions and more are answered!

Takeaway

This week’s episode to me was one of the few times, if not the only time, that an episode felt like filler until the last scene. Sure, some important steps are taken, but the way we got there was a bit tedious. It reminded me of the “Pickle Rick” episode from Rick and Morty. 

The visuals were definitely a treat, as the episode explores a fun color pallet when Harley is working on her grand plan. We do also get some screen time for the crew, who we haven’t seen in a while. 

I am curious to see how things move forward from here, but it is the first time during this series where I didn’t love the episode. 

SPOILERS are present for the rest of the article. Proceed with caution!

S6E8 Recap (Spoilers)

The episode starts in GCPD with Commissioner Jim Gordon, fixing himself up, both attire and hair, showing he’s got his groove back. He takes it in and picks up his phone to call the Oval Office. He says that he is the commissioner again and that the president should call him the “Commish” or “Gordo.” He begins to talk about the state of Gotham until he is told by a man on the phone, the presidential secretary, to hold for the president. Gordon thought he could just call the president directly. He is also thought the secretary would be a woman. 

Awkward.

Finally, he gets on the phone with the president and tells him that Gotham is ready to rejoin the U.S., thanks to his “solo effort” in bringing down the Injustice League (he didn’t). The president, asking if he can call him “Gordo,” says that he cannot allow Gotham to rejoin because of the presence of Harley Quinn. Gordon reassures the president that she is not a concern and compares her to an anal polyp, which he describes in uncomfortable detail (being somewhat of an expert). The president doesn’t care and tells him taking down Harley is the only way. Jim has no choice: he needs to take down Harley Quinn.

Meanwhile, at their lair, Harley is pacing back and forth while Ivy sits on a couch. They are both uncomfortable, but Ivy breaks the silence to give them the opportunity to talk about if they want to talk about it. Quinn says it was crazy, which Ivy agrees with. Quinn then continues to reveal her thoughts but is interrupted when Ivy blames the adrenaline of escaping the pit for the pair kissing. Harley agrees, but it’s clear she is only doing it to save face with her friend. She feels differently but goes along with it, exclaiming that Harley is “crazy and is always doing crazy things.” She picks up a passing Doctor Psycho and kisses him to prove her point, but he is not pleased. In fact, she isn’t his type. 

Ivy, finding the behavior bizarre, double checks one more time if Harley is cool and is happy when Quinn reassures her. Ivy wants to focus on her plans moving forward to wed Kite Man. Harley understands because she has moves of her own, so many moves (she has no moves). Ivy is happy because she doesn’t want anything ruining her and Harley’s friendship. Harley then asks if Ivy will tell Kite Man about the kiss. This dawns on Ivy, who never considered doing it until now.

In his apartment, Kite Man is clearly upset. What is thought to be in response to the revelation of the kiss is actually a reaction to the fact that today is the day that Ivy meets Kite Man’s parents. Ivy forgot to call ahead and get a reservation for the four of them at his parents’ favorite brunch spot in Gotham, Senior Mexico’s Authentic Mexican Adobe House. Ivy is upset, leading Kite Man to ask if she is okay. She says she has a lot on her mind. Kite Man apologizes for putting some much pressure on her but then proceeds to put more pressure on her because, if Chuck’s parents don’t like her, they won’t come to the wedding. Ivy assures him that they will love her because parents always love, though she realizes she has a terrible track record with parents (including her own). She promises that she will “blow them away,” and Kite Man tells her he loves her. She smirks but looks away.

Back at the lair, Harley chats with her crew to figure out what big thing she is super busy with. King Shark is upset that Harley wants to make big plans because she promised the crew they were going to “chill out and have fun” after taking down the Injustice League. Quinn promises them they will have fun when she fulfills her quest to become the most feared supervillain. Shark and Clayface both tell her that she doesn’t have what it takes to have that title, which Harley takes offense to. Psycho puts down the rest of the crew and fully supports Harley’s desire. He says they should do some evil things and float the idea of killing puppies.

Just then, Batgirl rides in on her motorcycle. She’s come to warn Harley but is interrupted by Pyscho asking her who she is. She says Batgirl, and he is upset about the lack of creativity in superhero and supervillain names. Shark interjects to compliment her on her costume. Harley brings the conversation back to its point, why is the hero here? Batgirl warns Harley of Gordon’s mission to take her down. She reveals the president’s condition but states that, though Gordon sees Harley as a villain, Batgirl disagrees. Harley is furious, claiming she is 100%  a villain. Barbara then lists all the good things Harley has done: getting rid of Joker and the Injustice League. Harley and Batgirl argue back and forth, with Batgirl saying Harley should lay low because Gordon is out to get her, and he took down Two-Face and his goons solo. Harley hears this and decides she needs an army. She proclaims she is the baddest villain that does what she wants and kisses who she wants (she kisses Batgirl). She throws out Batgirl and tells her to let Gordon know she’s coming for him and Gotham with her army. Now, she needs an army. The crew, minus Psycho, say this isn’t like her, wanting to be a warlord. Psycho is all in and tells her he knows just the place to show her worth and get an army. Harley agrees (though kind of not sure if she actually believes that this is what she wants). She restates that she is Harley Quinn and that she kisses whoever she wants, which leads her to kiss King Shark. 

At Senor Mexico’s Authentic Mexican Adobe House, Kite Man and Ivy try to get a table but are told the restaurant is full and that there is a three-hour wait. Kite Man tries to not have a meltdown in the restaurant when Ivy notices an older couple that look like “a country club banged a yacht club” waving at them. It’s Kite Man’s parents. He introduces Ivy to the, but they only care that Charles didn’t make a reservation for their favorite booth. Ivy takes care of that by using her powers to remove the patrons with vines from the booth. Kite Man’s mother sees this and is impressed. The four order some food and drinks.

At the Iceberg Lounge, Mister Miracle is performing a magic show where he is hanging upside in shackles above a bed of spikes. In attendance is Harley and the crew. There, Psycho reveals the reason they are there: to steal the Mother Box, a device that can create a Boom Tube, which is a portal that can take the crew to the planet of Apokolips, which is the home world of Darkseid, who, if Harls proves herself worthy to him, will give control of his army of Parademons. Got it? Good. Harley is immediately up for it and runs away, while the other two are skeptical. Psycho tells the two his plan: Clayface plays the role of a drunk, which he gets too into, so he can stumble on the stage to distract security. Psycho goes through the details of his plan while, behind him, Harley is executing her own plan. She captures the Mother Box, which was in Miracle’s dressing room, and knocks him silly with her baseball bat.  Harley and Psycho are excited to use the Boom Tube, but Clayface and King Shark aren’t. The crew moves forward with the plan.

In the restaurant again, Ivy is telling Charles’ parents a story about how she captured Aquaman once, and the parents are loving her. Ivy is happy she is winning them over. Kite Man goes to the bathroom to wash his hands before dinner, and his parents are pleased with him getting married to someone with powers. Ivy then learns that his parents both have super powers: the mother can fly and the father can harness the power of cold. They reveal to her that they were disappointed that Charles wasn’t born with any powers, which upsets Ivy. Then, they say they are happy he is with her because they want their grandchildren to have superpowers, which makes her uncomfortable.

Returning to the GCPD, Gordon prepares for war, arming himself with a plethora of weapons. While arming himself, a tattoo is revealed on his upper left arm: a memorial tattoo for the Arm, which was Clayface’s old hand from the first season. Batgirl tries to dissuade her dad from going after Harley, which he writes off. She tells him that there are rumors that Harley will have an army of thousands, which gives Gordo pause. He comes to the conclusion that he needs an army, which upsets Batgirl.

Gordo goes to the steps of Gotham courthouse and addresses a large crowd of citizens. He paces back and forth and gives them a speech about how they want Gotham to rejoin the United States of America. Being overly armed, a gun falls down and fires by accident (not harming anyone luckily). The crowd is listening attentively, with some signs that say “Gotham’s Got HAM” and “Make Gotham Great Again.” He says he has to take down Harley, which the crowd agrees with (after he has to clarify because her name brought upon cheers). The crowd cheers with Gordon as they all shoot their guns together, killing some birds in the process.

Now on Apokolips, the Parademons fly and flames light up the skies. Darkseid is addressing a vanquished foe, until he is interrupted by a Boom Tube. When the crew stumbles before him, he pops the head of his enemy before catering to his new guests. Seemingly knowing why they are there, Darkseid asks Harley if she is capable of controlling his army. She tries to answer, but he keeps cutting her off. Finally, she says yes in a very flippant way. He says that he senses a pain and void in Harley that not even an army of Parademons can fulfill, but she denies that continuously. Harley asks what she must do, to which Darkseid responds that Pyscho should know. The doc reveals that he came up here once to ask for an army, which he failed to mention before. Darkseid states the task: Defeat Granny Goodness in combat and her scepter will be gifted to Harley to rule the Parademons. 

The Granny, ready for combat, is an amazing fighter, and very easily subdues Harley to knock her unconscious. King Shark doesn’t want to engage because the American Healthcare system does the killing when it comes to old people, and Clayface passes on getting involved, especially since it’s made clear that Harley has to win by herself. This leaves Psycho to finish the job, who uses telekinesis to make Harley look like she has super strength and bashes Granny’s head with a boulder. Darkseid delivers on his promise, and Harley is rewarded with the Specter, a new outfit, and an army of Parademons. She, her army, and the crew Boom Tube off the planet.

Back at the restaurant, Ivy pulls Kite Man outside the restaurant to question him on why he lets his parents belittle him. He gives a weak response about how he can’t do anything because they’re his parents, who happen to come outside as well. They say goodbye and ask to meet up again next week, with a parting shot at Charles for not making the reservation (a simple task). Ivy flips out at the dig and tells them off. She reveals that she was the one that forgot to make the reservation, and she defends Charles for being a great individual, despite their parenting. They walk away and the couple make out.

While they are smooching, Ivy recognizes the Boom Tube, which Kite Man thought was a reference to his boner. They both see that the Boom Tube is over Harley’s lair.

Gordon is also on his way to the Boom Tube, riding a tank and leading an army of tanks to converge on the mall. Barbara calls her dad and tries to warn him one last time not to do this, but Gordo says if he has to gun down “another lady clown” to save Gotham, he will do it. Barbara (and us) both question the “another part.” He hangs up and the tanks reach the mall, where Harley and the crew arrive from the Boom Tube. Harley and Gordo exchange insults and she warns him that she has an alien army. Gordon says he refuses to back down, which he openly acknowledges is a toxic trait. Harley doubles down on her threats, which Gordo interprets as her overcompensating for something. She is upset that she keeps getting called out, and her army eventually enters through the Boom Tube, with Psycho riding a Parademon.

The battle for Gotham commences. Though Gordon’s tanks do some damage, the Parademons eventually overtake the tank army and start disseminating Gotham. Ivy arrives with Kite Man to the scene of the battle and is shocked at the chaos. People are being torn apart, the crew is hiding, and Gordon empties his clip to kill a Parademon before coming face-to-face with warlord Harley. Harls is about to kill Gordon until she is confronted by Ivy, who wants to understand what’s going on. Harley explains her part of the episode to fill Ivy in and reiterates that she is a crazy baddie and does whatever she wants and kisses whoever she wants. Ivy asks Quinn if this is what she wants and how she wants to go about conquering Gotham. Harley says not exactly, and Ivy follows up with asking her if this is what she really wants. The shot is framed beautifully as Ivy is center screen showing us exactly what Harley wants.

Harley looks at her, contemplates, then breaks the scepter, relinquishing her power of the army. She gives Gordon the city and walks away. Dr. Psycho is furious with the decision and is flung from this Parademon mount. He picks himself up and rage quits the crew.  Gordon looks around, realizing he’s won (by default) and celebrates his decision to not back down.

Harley approaches Ivy to explain her “Game of Thrones Khaleesi thing” was a way to avoid talking about something. Just as she tells Ivy the truth, Kite Man interrupts the tender moment. He tells Harley how Ivy is the best fiance, which Ivy appreciates so much and confirms she wants to spend the rest of her life with Kite Man. Quinn is devastated, which the couple don’t see because they are kissing. Kite Man then sees some Parademons dry-humping a taco truck and goes to take a picture. Harley, not willing to tell the truth, comes up with the lie about wanting to plan for Ivy’s bachelorette party. 

Can Harley keep it together and handle her emotions? Is Dr. Psycho gone for good? What will Ivy’s bachelorette party be like?

Stay tuned next week for another episode of Harley Quinn, available on DC Universe.