Recently during a Reddit AMA, the new Showrunner for Harley Quinn Season 4 Sarah Peters (who took the place of her predecessors Justin Halpern, and Patrick Schumacker) talked about her involvement with the Season 2 episode Bachelorette, and about how she got started in the business along with possible future ideas they might have for Season 5…On how she got started in the business. After college I came to LA and got a PA job on “American Dad” – I got writers’ lunches and answered the phones and was so psycho and annoying that I was able to move from show to show as an assistant then writer assistant and worked my way up to eventually becoming queen of Harley Quinn season 4. Fun fact: all of the writers on season 4 were former assistants. What would you say is the biggest difference to take into account when writing for animation compared to live action?The writing process for animation starts identical to live action but production is super different, most notably in the way things can always be changed. There isn’t that momentum you have in live action where everyone’s collaborating and problem-solving in real-time. It’s all broken down into small steps that can happen in any order, so you have to be organized. My assistant Billy Lorusso was so great at keeping an eye on the big picture (and pitched some of my favorite jokes on the show – Jackie O, so much of the Jons dialogue, and most of the things like magazine headlines, screen comments, a million details like that were all him!)Will characters be able to be in both HQ and the new spin-off (Kite Man), or do you need to keep the cast entirely separate?I believe there is some minimal crossover like Harley and Ivy appear briefly in the first episode. How did the writers come up with the idea of Nightwing’s murder mystery? Was it important to continue this arc in S5?We had some other ideas for the Bat Fam arc and then learned that we couldn’t use Batman this season, so we pivoted to this and ended up liking this idea of setting him up as a crazy villain for season 5 (and playing to the amazing Harvey Guillen’s comedic strengths) working with Talia – I hope they followed through with it!One of the more shocking moments was the Joker shooting Barbara/Batgirl. What was the thought process behind that decision? It caught a lot of fans off guard and was one of the more darker moments in the show. Yes, this moment is based on The Killing Joke. The writers were interested in taking Batgirl in the direction of Oracle, showing that Harley caused a lot of destruction and drama in the Bat Fam, and even when she thinks she’s at her lowest moment, we see that she affected Batgirl in a positive way by being herself.Will there be another standalone episode in S5?I hope so! There’s generally one every seasonIvy will eventually have a daughter in the show. Is this something you want to make it happen?Yes!In your opinion, who should pop the question when the time comes? Harley or Ivy?Interesting… I feel like Harley has prob asked her one million times already but when Ivy does it it’ll be the real deal.For the Natural Disasters, what was the idea behind the team? Were there other alternatives for members? Are we going to see more of this trio in the future?With Ivy leading the LOD in Season 4, we wanted her to have allies and thought that would be fun to give her nature-adjacent mentees. There was a lot more planned with them that got cut from the fourth season forth. We also talked about them being potential adversaries in season 5, like she trained them to work within this system then destroyed it and they’re all “thanks for nothing bitch!”.What can we expect from Talia al Ghul next season?I hope they follow through with our idea of having Talia and zombie Nightwing as the big bads coming after the Gotham City Sirens – but I’m no longer involved so can’t speak to where they went with it.Given that Harley’s voice cameo in Titans placed the Harley Quinn series within the live-action DC multiverse, could you please reveal the earth/universe number the series is set on if it has one?Omg, I have no idea!! But know that many people involved are keeping track of that stuff, it’s just not me!Lake Bell’s delivery is one of my favorite parts of the show. Did the original idea for Ivy’s personality change much once she was cast?When I joined she was already dialed in, I think that character was very collaborative with her and the creators.Harley Quinn has an amazing cast of voice actors. Do they ever improvise, or are they reading the script as written? If the former, can you share a favorite improvised line? I’m expecting you to answer “piss cakes of a dick” hahaThis season one of my favorite sessions was with Edie Patterson who played Veronica Cale. Everything she said was so funny and I wish we’d been able to include more of it. Also, Rachel Dratch is iconic!!! I was always impressed with what she brought to Nora.Can you talk about how the writing process works a bit and how it has evolved/changed from season to season?It’s always been room-based and I took a lot from how Justin and Pat ran things. This season we started talking about themes and ideas we liked and what we wanted to see as fans of the characters. We were a bit boxed into the two different storylines that were set up at the end of season 3 so it was a new challenge to build out those worlds and create new characters for them.What was the reasoning behind turning Joker from mayor to villain again so fast? What lies in the future for his character? There’s something too good about Joker being bad. The writers preferred that version and felt season 3 did a good job playing the mayor jokes and we didn’t have much more to add. We loved him feeling left out of Ivy’s female tree plan for shallow reasons (that’s one of my fave storylines, written by Ava Tramer!)Will clay face have any significant importance going on in the show? • What’s your favorite episode?Clayface in Vegas in full diva mode felt so on point as well (written by the incomparable Sarah Nevada Smith!).Is King Shark looking for a romantic partner? Followup question, what is King Shark’s phone number and favorite restaurant?Yes, he’s single. He’s more of a home chef as he got into meal kits during the pandemic. Are you ready to be a step-parent to 8 vicious little shark babies?? Would love to see him have a Megan Markel-based storyline about how his kids don’t have titles or security and they have to move into Tyler Perry’s estate.What season of the show do you think is the best, and do you think some things could or should be improved?I love season 4 for the themes we got into and the jokes are so on point. We pushed the envelope with new diverse characters and voices in the writer’s room and spoke to what that process was like for us through Ivy’s storyline. The second choice is season 2. I feel like that’s where we found the voice of the show and it was really exciting to put stories together with that momentum moving towards Harley and Ivy’s romance (something I’d been gunning for since joining the team). It was gratifying to see that turn out so well and connect with fans. Big ups to Justin and Pat for being such collaborative and open leaders. Working with and learning from them on season 2 was one of my favorite jobs ever.Why were some events from the “Problematic Valentine special” seemingly ignored in season 4 like that woman Bane had a crush on before he had a crush on Nora?The special was written on its own so we didn’t look into that before plotting out our season – whoopsie!Were you surprised or disappointed by some of the harsher, less positive reactions to season 4?Yes? I knew this season had more challenges than the others so it was really hard to get things we wanted to do through and less time to refine. I wish we’d had more time and money to realize certain aspects of our ideas. The writers were excited about making these detailed tightly woven arcs over the season and unfortunately, a lot of that hit the cutting room floor and some of that connective tissue and breathing room was lost in post. I don’t disagree with some criticism because of that, but I also think we delivered something different and ambitious that mostly works. lolAre you returning for season 5? The press announcement doesn’t have you listed, so I was just curious.Nope. Great detective work! None of the writers from season 4 are involved (or from the series so far except Dean and Jamieson). But I would love to write a Cobb Squad spin-off movie. James Gunn, call me!And finally, What’s next for Sarah Peters?More show running and development, so stay tuned! I love that I get to do this job and collaborate with the hot geniuses who made up the writing team this season. A lot of this process felt like it happened in a bubble – everything was on Zoom due to COVID-19, and then it all aired without being able to do any press due to the writer’s strike. So things like this thread and our Critics Choice nomination (brag!) are important props to the writers who worked so hard to support and improve my version of Harley Quinn. I’m forever grateful to them: Ava Tramer, Sarah Nevada Smith, Tom Hyndman, Billy Lorusso, Amy Hubbs, Conner Shin, Jen Chuck, Jimmy Mosqueda, Jewel Smith, and Alexis Quasarano. Hire them!I love to use writing this show as therapy and this season my priority was making a safe inclusive writing environment for everyone to bring it and be vulnerable. Some of the show’s best and funniest moments are grounded in reality for us writers – the challenges of making a good relationship work, the problems that arise when you go for what you think you want and get it, trying to participate and bring yourself to existing institutions to mixed results – so I’m so thrilled that comes across on screen!Harley Quinn is streaming now on MAX.