Another villain takes the spotlight in the newest episode of Harley Quinn. This week, we look at the cybernetic genius nemesis of Superman: Brainiac. He debuted in the Kite Man: Hell Yeah season finale, exciting audiences everywhere. Our excitement grew when he fully appeared in the premiere of Season Five. He’s only made regular cameos, but now, he and his backstory take center stage. Want to learn more about this version of DC Comics’ collector of worlds?
Season Five of Harley Quinn So Far
Season Five greeted Harley Quinn fanatics by introducing them to a ruined Gotham City. Harley and Ivy are retired and living a more slow and comfortable life. After hearing about a Superman party in Metropolis, Harley decides they should crash it. They meet the event’s hostess and Bruce Wayne’s new rich socialite girlfriend, Lena Luthor. The couple decide to move to Metropolis after Lena offers Ivy a job. An irate Brainiac dedicated to perfection witnesses their declaration to stay.
The next day, Ivy begins her new occupation of helping at the Metropolis Green Initiative. She runs into her former mentor and traitorous ex-lover, Professor Jason Woodrue. Things end with her killing him, but she accidentally mutates him into a plant creature. Now calling himself Floronic Man, he torments Ivy until they fight in The Green. Harley swoops and saves Ivy by finding and chopping Jason’s body into firewood. Their victory is short-lived after the couple is abducted and taken aboard Brainiac’s skull-shaped spaceship.
Recapping the New Episode
The new episode primarily focuses on its titular star, Brainiac. The story starts in the past, where Brainiac, then named Vril Dox, is a scientist. He’s assigned to collect information and unique objects for scientific study and advancement. He’s also a family man with a supportive wife, a disgruntled child, and a pet. Brainiac leaves home with his monkey Koko to obtain a shrink ray from another world. They return only to find their entire planet decimated and their loved ones dead.
Brainiac deduces the destruction stems from the planet being 1% short of total perfection. He vows to traverse the stars and wage war against imperfection in other worlds. His journey leads him to Krypton, where Brainiac perfects, shrinks, and collects Kandor. He does the same thing to other extraterrestrial cities until he arrives at Earth. In the present, he abducts Harley and Ivy and believes Harley hinders his goal. Brainiac attempts to eliminate her so Metropolis can achieve perfection, but Lena stops him.
Interesting Take on Brainiac
Before this Harley Quinn episode premiered, fans probably possessed a different idea of Brainiac. They were likely expecting a Kryptonian A.I. bent on collecting information and destroying planets. Similar to the version popularized by Superman: The Animated Series from the late 90s. Of course, they also assumed he’d be one of Superman‘s arch-enemies alongside Lex Luthor. We didn’t receive that particular Brainiac, but we did get something just as intriguing.
The episode Brainiac is a homage to the original city-collecting, knowledge-hoarding alien from 1958. He later was retconned into a machine similar to this one and other modern versions. He also collects cities like the original, though he’s obsessed with perfection instead of information. Another fascinating quality of this Brainiac is he and Superman don’t know each other. The idea is almost impossible to comprehend, but it’s true and quite the attention-grabber. These qualities, with his apparent emotions, create a unique Brainiac guaranteed to entertain.
A Revelation About Lena Luthor
The last prominent surprise for this Harley Quinn episode is Lena’s connection to Brainiac. She reveals he oversees Metropolis to make it perfect while she handles its citizens. When Brainiac threatens Harley, Lena threatens to expose his blatant plan for the city. He complies and returns Harley and Ivy to their apartment safe, unaware of everything. This part is small, but it explains everything and paints a picture of what’s coming.
Brainiac wants to shrink and preserve Metropolis once it reaches 100% perfection. And instead of the people frozen in time, Lena wants them to continue their lives. The gardens she wants Ivy to create will be the city’s permanent oxygen sources. This development means Lena is all for Brainiac’s plan, though the why remains unclear. The next episode could, hopefully, reveal the circumstances behind this team-up. On a fun sidenote, Lena was the one to give Brainiac his supervillain name.
Final Verdict of Breaking Brainiac
After watching Breaking Brainiac multiple times, I give this episode a 9.5 out of 10. The revelation about Lena is mind-blowing, and the humor tickles the funny bone. Of course, the highlights are Brainiac’s backstory and the reveal of his obsession with perfection. It humanizes him and makes you realize he’s not an actual villain. His actions stem from trauma instead of megalomania or greed, despite his frightening methods. Harley Quinn did a perfect job of giving depth to a typically straightforward antagonist.
The 0.5 deduction comes from the fact this episode didn’t focus on the seasonal story. However, that’s not necessarily bad since it worked in the end. This installment is as good as the one showcasing Joker running for mayor. And it’s leagues above the Season Four episode featuring the multiple pointless storylines. Breaking Brainiac is an A-tier episode with very little working against it. And if you liked this review, I’ll return for the next Harley Quinn episode.
