With Metropolis shrunk down to the fit inside a bottle, Harley Quinn decides to narrow the focus of it’s latest episode. “Bottle Episode” follows the people of Metropolis as Lena Luthor (Aisha Tyler) stands watch over her tiny city. With relationships pushed to the bring “Bottle Episode” stands out as one of the funnier episodes of the season.
Harley Quinn – “Bottle Episode” – The Recap
Bruce Wayne stares out over the city of Metropolis, questioning why Lena is not in love with him. Joker is in his apartment to get Sophia’s internship paperwork signed, and Wayne refuses to answer. Lois Lane drives through the city, hoping the Daily Planet will fold. Clayface (still pretending to be Perry White) celebrates sweeping the gossip paper awards with Bane. Everyone is shocked when Metropolis is lifted into the sky by Brainiac’s shrink ray. Lena’s size surprises everyone.
In the past, Lena tries to play with Lex Luthor’s model of Metropolis. When a piece of the model breaks, he throws her out of the room. Back in the future, Lena brags about her accomplishments to Brainiac while she looks for her brother.
Down below, Ivy and Harley talk out their next steps now that Metropolis has been bottled. Ivy reminds Harley that even when Lena tried to break them up, she could not. No matter what, they can take her on if they’re together. Sharon Quinzel helps them come up with a plan to take back the city. They’ll need to get inside the Brainiac ship. They’re going to bring in another “freak” to beat Lena.
In Metropolis, Bruce Wayne saves Lois Lane while arguing about signatures with The Joker. The Automatons destroy the city with lasers as they search for Lex Luthor. Lois reveals that Lena is doing this to get back at Lex, which helps liven up Bruce’s spirit. Harley, Ivy, and Sharon contact Bruce via the Batcave Computer. Team Harley and Team Bruce decide to get Lex and Lena into the same room.
Bruce reveals that they can use the tech from Wayne Enterprises to depower the cloaking device on Brainiac’s ship. The Bat-computer can pull the ship closer into the atmosphere, and Team Harley can reach the ship via the Bat-plane. When Lex wakes up, he sees the damage in Metropolis but says Lena is dead to him. However, after Lena calls and shakes the Metropolis bottle, Lex agrees to help.
Bruce, Joker, and Lois make it to Wayne Enterprises to hit the radio. It turns off the cloaking device, and the Bat-Computer starts dragging Brainiac’s ship to Earth. Lex, Harley, Ivy, and Sharon fly into the ship and go to fight Lena. When they enter Lena’s control room, she dismisses them and tells the women to leave with Frankette. However, she stops dead in her tracks when Lex enters the room.
In Metropolis, Joker tells Lois to call Superman to help save the situation. Team Bruce fights amongst themselves, and Lois reveals that she’s on a break from him. However, after her watch fails to call him, Lois realizes she needs him back as soon as possible. The situation gets more dire when the Batcomputer begins over-loading the electronic devices, causing them to blow up. However, Lois thinks they can head to the Daily Planet to create a new line of communication.
Lena tries to impress her brother with the bottled city. However, Lex sees through it and psychoanalyzes her with one of his old toys. Instead of melting under the pressure, Lena gets ready to shrink Lex. Harley uses the opportunity to assume the role of therapist herself and asks Lena what her next steps will be. When Lena thinks she can become a god, Harley reminds her what happened to Brainiac – who actively asks the women to kill him.
The automatons continue to torture the people of Metropolis, and the Daily Planet is overrun. However, Bruce, Joker, and Lois arrive and take out some of the machines. Using an old Morse Code system, Lois can contact Superman to help them. After she does, Bruce reveals he owns the Daily Planet and will make Lois the paper’s editor.
Harley continues to analyze the Luther siblings, drawing out that Lex was mean to Lena because people liked her. The siblings agree to drop their differences… to take over the Universe. Before Harley or Ivy can leave, Lena captures them in gravitational fields and shrinks them. Ivy tries to get Brainiac involved, while Harley cries about forcing Ivy to move to Metropolis. Brainiac relates to her struggle to make things perfect. In the cold of space, the Morse Code echoes “I need you” to Superman.
Was Harley Quinn –”Bottle Episode” – worth watching?
Another solid comedic outing from Harley Quinn allows some more meat on the emotional bone. Not only do we get the Lena backstory and eventual team-up with Lex, but Harley also begins to reckon with the move to Metropolis. The relationships between Harley & Ivy and Lena & Lex take center stage, and that helps “Bottle Episode” feel far more engaging.
Additionally, the Lois/Bruce storyline helps the events in Metropolis feel important. It would be very easy to let this part go, but ultimately, making it as essential as Harley & Ivy’s mission allows all the characters to get some shine. Harley Quinn has always been at its best with ensemble episodes, and “Bottle Episode” does an excellent job keeping our side characters involved.
Both a very funny episode and an action-packed adventure allow “Bottle Episode” to rise above most of the season. The support from Ivy is wholesome throughout the episode, while Bruce’s mania provides plenty of jokes. Harley Quinn promises an exciting finale after “Bottle Episode,” and the good of the galaxy may come down to Superman’s flight back.
Harley Quinn airs on Thursdays on Max streaming. “Bottle Episode” aired on March 13, 2025.
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