Love Thaws a Cold Heart in New Harley Quinn

Harley Quinn Season 2, Episode 4 Review

We know that the Joker left a lot of mental scars on Harley Quinn before she finally dumped him. One of the scars that no one ever considered, though, was how skewed her concept of love. Or rather, she doesn’t think love is real. As she gets back to fighting Mr. Freeze, though, she gets a much-needed lesson on love and how it can thaw a cold heart. 

Thawing a Cold Heart

In a lot of incarnations, Mr. Freeze is not really evil. All he wants to do is find a cure for his wife, Nora. He just has to resort to crime to fund it, and to using prisoners to test his subjects on, like Harley. However, after Harley promises that Ivy can help cure his wife, he’s shown to be downright amicable. He brings his frozen wife out to eat lunch with everyone, and lovingly talks about how they first met. It’s a sight that’s both hilarious and heartwarming. 

Too bad Harley doesn’t buy it. Thanks to Joker, she thinks that love is, in her own words, “bulls**t.” That, and she thinks that Freeze’s cold heart is just like Joker: an abusive man who’s keeping a woman trapped in a relationship. She even cites Mr. Freeze trapping her in ice as an example.

Both these ideas come back to bite her three-fold when she uses the villain’s freeze ray to thaw out Nora. Not only does Nora genuinely love Mr. Freeze, but she does have an incurable blood disease. To top it off, Freeze reveals that the Injustice Society wanted to kill Harley; he talked them into freezing her, and even that he didn’t like doing. Ouch.

Fortunately, Ivy does come through, creating a cure for Nora’s blood disease. Unfortunately, it involves injecting a serum into someone to change their blood type to match Nora’s, killing them. In a genuinely tearjerking moment, Freeze sacrifices himself for his wife’s sake, breaking everyone’s hearts in the process. 

In other words: Harley, you screwed up. BIG TIME.

Learning About Love

Meanwhile, the sub-plot sees Ivy and Kiteman try and get the perfect venue for their wedding. Too bad the D-List villain Condiment King wants the same venue. 

If you haven’t seen Batman: The Animated Series, I am not joking. There is, in fact, a villain called the Condiment King, and he’s just as ridiculous as he sounds. Even Ivy doesn’t like him, and she’s very tolerant of annoying people.

So, Ivy and Kiteman’s wedding may be on hold for the time being. However, I don’t think they’ll work it out. All signs are pointing to Harley and Ivy becoming an item. Harley even calls Ivy the “smartest, coolest, hottest person I know,” in this episode. Harley+Ivy4life! 

So, in short, this episode balanced the comedy and tragedy and transitioned between them with little effort. Harley’s already taken down three of the Injustice League, and it’s only episode four. So, I’m guessing something will go wrong or new villains will pop up. I’m already betting that Nora will become Mrs. Freeze and seek revenge on Harley. Here’s hoping Harley can learn from her mistakes!

I Give “Thawing Hearts” a 4/5

Stray Observations

• Clayface is getting better with his powers, it seems.
• Mr. Freeze is voiced by Alfred Molina, who Spider-Fans will remember playing Dr. Octopus in Spider-Man 2. Yet another Scientist who lost his wife.

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