Harley Quinn Season 5 Episode 4, “Breaking Brainiac,” is all about Brainiac. We get an origin story for the Superman villain, along with the surprise reveal that he’s in cahoots with Lena Luthor. While we don’t know too many details about their arrangement, the outing certainly teases what’s on the narrative horizon in that regard. It’s not the show’s best episode by any stretch, but I enjoyed the first half. Brainiac with his family produces some fun comedic moments.
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Harley Quinn Season 5 Episode 4, “Breaking Brainiac”
We open on Colu in Space Sector 1287, the homeworld of Brainiac (Stephen Fry). Brainiac enjoys draining his dinner with his wife (Jill Talley), son Vril II (also Talley) and pet monkey Koko (Phil LaMarr). His wife is celebrating Brainiac’s promotion. He’ll no longer have to travel for work. However, Brainiac insists he’ll still be collecting information and gathering analytics regarding extraterrestrial technology, equipment and systems (but no more leaving to get C.I.G.A.R.E.T.T.E.S., eh?).
Vril II is more interested in actualizing the level in his game than consuming his cadmium-heavy meal. Brainiac excuses himself for a brief meeting with his supervisor, Mr. Starr (also LaMarr). Brainiac must embark on one last mission before his promotion takes effect.
One Last Mission
He’ll journey to Bryak, which scored 49 percent on the Perfection Meter. There, he’ll retrieve the Hyper-Ray. This weapon can shrink organic and inorganic matter. Brainiac must run his usual analytics before obtaining the Hyper-Ray.
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After his meeting, Brainiac dances with his wife to their wedding song. While communicating telepathically, his wife expresses concern for their son. He’s been “distressed.” Brainiac chalks it up to Adolescent Digital Humanoid Defectiveness (ADHD). Brainiac’s wife urges him to chat with Vril II.
Next, Brainiac pops into Vril II’s room, even though the latter would rather be solitary. Vril II believes his father would not comprehend his life. It’s not a phase, dad. Brainiac reassures him that wanking is normal, even for humanoids like Coluans. They start arguing. Brainiac can’t wait for Vril II to reach Level 4 or 5 Intellect, while Vril II wishes Daddy would power down. Ouch.
Touching Heads
Later, Brainiac vents to his wife about Vril II. He’s a little sh*t, but aren’t they all at that age? Brainiac suggests he and his wife get it on to blow off steam. After all, he’s about to go away for his last mission. His wife is fine with it, but no toys. After they touch heads in a very sexy manner, Brainiac declares he’s satiated. Wifey has to take care of herself, though. Double ouch.
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Then, Brainiac’s wife and son see him off. She gives him sustenance for the journey. Vril II gifts Brainiac with an actualized thingamabob beyond my puny mortal brain. Brainiac admits he’s proud of his offspring. Once Brainiac zooms off on his ship, his wife and son wonder where Koko is. As it turns out, our fave alien monkey stowed away on Brainiac’s vessel. Brainiac is grateful for the company.
Brainiac and Koko land on Bryak. He retrieves the Hyper-Ray and gathers the necessary data. Unfortunately, when he returns to Colu, he sees the planet is decimated. It’s at zero percent on the Perfection Meter. He finds pieces of his wife among the debris. Brainiac hasn’t the faintest idea who could’ve destroyed the planet.
Rage Against the Imperfection
However, he blames himself for being away from home when tragedy struck. Devastated by the loss of his family, Brainiac vows to wander the cosmos with Koko by his side, raging against imperfection. Years later, Brainiac and Koko arrive at Krypton. He sees Kandor as a city with an abundance of potential, so he sends his automatons to make it perfect. Brainiac’s unconvinced that it’ll remain perfect, though. So, he uses the Hyper-Ray to shrink Kandor and store it in his ship.
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Brainiac proceeds to do this with several worlds — he makes them perfect and then shrinks them for storage on his vessel. Later, Brainiac and Koko stumble upon Earth, a planet with very little potential for pure perfection. However, Metropolis, while at 20 percent, proves it might be a challenge that’ll bear fruit. He sends his automatons to whip the city into shape (Gotham is too far gone, I assume).
We see Harley (Kaley Cuoco) and Ivy (Lake Bell) as Brainiac’s automatons capture them, transporting them to his ship. He didn’t account for two outsiders to throw a wrench in his plans. After some back-and-forth (in which we learn that Joker killed Howie Mandel — shocker!), Brainiac leaves an unconscious Ivy in the cell while pulling Harley aside. He believes he should do away with Harlivy, as they’ll only ruin his plans for Metropolis.
RIP, Koko
Harley points out that Brainiac has been interacting with Koko’s corpse (RIP), and having just rewatched Yellowjackets, I’m reminded of Akilah with her dead pet mouse. Brainiac “shuts down” Harley for a spell as Lena Luthor (Aisha Tyler) arrives. Plot twist!
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Lena urges Brainiac to leave Harlivy alone and return them to Metropolis. After all, she’s quite fond of Harley; he wouldn’t want to make her unhappy. Lena and Brainiac have a deal. Lena takes care of the humans; Brainiac takes care of everything else. If Brainiac doesn’t honor their arrangement, Lena will have to tip off the humans to Brainiac’s plans for their city. Ruh-roh.
Sure enough, Brainiac sends Harley and Ivy back to Earth. Ivy claims it’s time to celebrate Jason, her ex, dying — twice. They enjoy a feast in their splashy new apartment, but something is amiss. Harley feels strange. Lena barges into their place and encourages them to stop eating in so much. Go out into Metropolis and enjoy the city. Lena also vows to make sure they never leave. That’s not terrifying at all.
Always on the Brain
After Lena leaves, Harley asks Ivy if she’s happy in Metropolis. Ivy admits that Harley is with her, and that’s all she needs. Our lovebirds demolish their food. Ivy asks Harley if she has room for dessert (Duh-doy — Do bears sh*t in the woods?). While chatting, Harley absentmindedly arranges the remaining food on her plate to resemble Brainiac’s skull ship. Creepy.
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Harley Quinn drops new episodes every Thursday on Max.
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