Warning! This post contains SPOILERS for Harley Quinn season 5, episode 9Things just got a lot worse for the DC Universe by the end of Harley Quinn season 5, episode 9. Having shrunk Metropolis in the previous episode using Brainiac’s technology, Lena Luthor intends to be a god over the city as soon as she can find and destroy her brother Lex. To that end, Superman’s arch-rival was supposedly the key to saving the city, with Harley and Ivy believing he would be able to get her to stand down and restore the city.

Refusing to let Lena divide them like she nearly did in Harley Quinn season 5, episode 8, Ivy and Harley are determined to remain united in their mission to make Lena pay and save Metropolis. To that end, they’re also shown working with Bruce Wayne, Joker, and Lois Lane who were all shrunk down with Metropolis, only for Harley to inadvertently make things worse by this new episode’s ending. Here’s our recap, ending explained, as well as all the Easter eggs and references we found in Harley Quinn season 5, episode 9.

Harley Quinn Season 5, Episode 9 Recap

“Bottle Episode (But Not A ‘Bottle Episode’)”

• In Metropolis, Bruce is still depressed about Lena when Joker visits to get a form signed for his step-daughter’s internship, Lois makes plans to leave Gotham, and Clayface and Bane are celebrating their awards after turning the Daily Planet into a major gossip rag when Lena Luthor shrinks the entire city.
• A childhood flashback reveals that Lena once broke a piece of Lex’s train set of Metropolis, and she was banned from playing with his toys for life.
• In the present, Lena has her own Metropolis and intends to keep Brainiac onboard if she needs him while she has her new automatons search for her brother.
• Harley and Ivy are determined to work together to stop Lena (and Sharon along for the ride too).
• Bruce and Joker save Lois and head to Wayne Tower.
• Harley and Ivy get to the Batcave to communicate with Bruce, and their plan is to get Lex to Lena.
• Bruce devises a plan to de-cloak the skull ship so Harley and Ivy can fly up with Lex in the Batplane.
• Messaging the world, Lena demands that Lex be brought to her.
• Joker and Lois bond dunking on Bruce before they uncloak the skull ship using a new WayneTech device.
• Joker tells Lois to call Superman, but Lois reveals she and Clark went on a break when he went on sabbatical (Joker tries calling Superman anyway).
• Thanks to the WayneTech device, all electronics and modern communications are down, motivating Lois to use Morse code to send a message to Superman.
• On the skull ship, Lex gives Lena his train, thinking it would solve the issue, but Lena wants to destroy his toys like he destroyed her and made her feel less than.
• Harley uses her therapy skills on Lena, asking her what her plan is after killing Lex. What’s the point of being a god if you have no one to share it with?
• Thanks to Harley, the Luthor siblings reconcile and agree to work together to take over the universe before shrinking Harley, Ivy, and Sharon.
• Harley just wanted her relationship with Ivy and everything to be perfect, just like Brainiac wanted for the universe.
• The final shot confirms Lois’ message got out into space to presumably be heard by Superman.

Harley’s Impressive Therapy Skills Just Massively Backfired

Lex and Lena Are Now Working Together

At the end of Harley Quinn season 5, episode 9, Harley goes full Doctor Quinzel mode after Lex fails to get Lena to stand down. Encouraging the Luthor siblings to get to the root of the problem, Lena reveals she wants to destroy Lex for always looking down on her, while Lex admits that he was always jealous of how well-liked Lena was compared to him. Realizing that there’s no point in becoming a god without anyone to share it with and regretting all the wasted years hating each other, Lena and Lex agree to unite and take over the universe.

Clearly, Harley’s therapy skills worked too well, and her attempt to escalate the threat facing the shrunken Metropolis hugely backfired, with Lena and Lex now setting their sights on the entire DC Universe. That said, the final shots of the episode suggest that Brainiac may become an ally to Harley and Ivy. Additionally, the ending confirms that Lois’ Morse code message got through to space, suggesting that Superman will be able to hear and can help save the day in Harley Quinn season 5’s finale, returning from his season-long sabbatical.

Harley Quinn Season 5, Episode 9 Easter Eggs and References

Robert Pattinson’s The Batman, Jason Todd, That Guy 24, and More

• Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off – Bruce wonders if he and Lena broke up was because he says “to-mah-to” and she says “to-may-to”, and then wonders if that’s enough reason to “call the whole thing off”, a reference to the classic song first sung by Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers.
• American Girl Store in Fawcett City – Bane confirms his loved ones are in Fawcett City, home city of Shazam and the Marvel Family in the comics.
• “Sweet Cronkite’s Ghost” – Lois’ expletive phrase is a riff on Perry White’s classic “Great Caesar’s Ghost”, though she instead uses iconic American broadcast journalist Walter Cronkite.
• “Can You Imagine The Meltdown On The Internet” – Serving as a quasi-meta reference, Ivy acknowledges that the day she and Harley break up is the day the entire DC fandom on the Internet explodes, seeing how they’re one of the most popular DC power couples of all time.
• “That Guy 24” – Harley’s mom Sharon thinks that Kieffer Sutherland’s character Jack Bauer in the hit show 24 is actually named “24”.
• Batcave Trophies – Visiting the Batcave for the first time, Ivy takes a look around and spots Bruce Wayne’s giant penny, the remains of Jason Todd’s Robin suit, and the big animatronic dinosaur, all staples of the Batcave in the comics.
• El Rata Alada – The password Harley uses to log into the Batcomputer is hilariously “El Rata Alada”, the riddle/password given to Robert Pattinson’s Batman by Paul Dano’s Riddler in 2022’s The Batman.
• Bottle-Deniers – Bruce reveals that citizens in the shrunken Metropolis have already started turning on each other, and some have even become “Bottle-Deniers”, a pretty solid joke at the expense of real-life Flat-Earthers.
• Clock King – Feeling left out that he doesn’t have a cool watch and Bruce and Lois do, Joker comments that he needs to talk to the villain Clock King to up his watch game.
• Batman Owns the Daily Planet – Batman confirms at the end of the episode that he owns the Daily Planet and wants to make Lois the new Editor-in-Chief. This mirrors the comics where Bruce Wayne did indeed once buy the Daily Planet in the Hush storyline, making the paper a subsidiary of Wayne Entertainment. Yes, Batman pays Superman’s paychecks.

The finale of Harley Quinn season 5 releases March 19th on Max.

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