We’ve all done crazy things when we’ve been hurting, haven’t we? But I bet none of us have ever done something quite as crazy as murder an old lady, take control of an army of demons from the most powerful being in the multiverse, then use that army to try and take over your home city, killing who-knows-how-many people in the process. That level of crazy is reserved for one Harley Quinn.
After Harley and Ivy’s shock kiss at the end of last week’s episode, things are a little awkward between the two when we pick up here. Ivy thinks nothing of it, but Harley clearly wants more than just a friendship with Ivy – so when she’s forced to downplay it and keep her feelings to herself, she goes a little bit nuts. Poor gal.
‘Inner (Para) Demons’ is another episode that is completely anchored and sold on Kaley Cuoco’s performance as Harley, who walks the line between unhinged and emotionally vulnerable with a beautiful sense of ease. Cuoco’s always been fantastic in the role, but here we get to see a more delicate side to her character than we saw the beginnings of last week, and she’s clearly having the time of her life.
Standing in her way is Ivy’s upcoming marriage to Kite Man, and as sweet as these two are together (and they are adorable), he needs to go soon. This week we get to meet Kite Man’s parents, who turn out to be much less likable than he is – smarmy and condescending, it’s joyous when Ivy puts them in their place towards the end of the episode. Lake Bell is particularly superb this week, especially in her scenes with Cuoco: their conversation at the episode’s end as Harley tries to tell Ivy how she feels is genuinely upsetting, and makes use of the pair’s excellent and consistent chemistry.
Elsewhere we get the old crew back together after a few weeks apart, and things are starting to get hairy. Psycho is in full support of Harley going full-blown evil, but Clayface and King Shark aren’t so sure – regardless of which of them is in the right, the stance they’re given makes perfect sense, and it’ll be really interesting to see where this dynamic goes in the remainder of the season.
It’s also pretty cool to see Darkseid for the first time! Michael Ironside doesn’t quite have the gravitas of Ray Porter, but he does a solid job with limited screentime, and feels like an organic part of the world in which he exists.
All in all, it’s another cracking week for Harley Quinn, and we’ll be genuinely gutted when the season comes to an end. Still, with five episodes left to go, we’re very excited to see how it all wraps up.
HARLEY QUINN continues on E4 on Mondays and is available via ALL4, Amazon, and Apple thereafter.
