OVERVIEW (SPOILERS)We spend most of the episode with Brainiac, who came from a planet of robotic aliens who all died while he was away on a mission.OUR TAKEI see we’re getting the Harley-lite episode out of the way early this season. There was the Batman-focused episode on S2, the Joker episode in S3, and the Nora episode in S4, and now I guess this one is for Brainiac. Problem is, all of those previous examples, even the one from the fourth season that was fairly disappointing (like a lot of that season) felt like welcome interludes in the story after a certain amount of plot progression so we could check in with some supporting characters to see what was happening from their perspective ALONGSIDE what Harley (and usually Ivy) were doing at around the same time. This is just a big halt to a season storyline that already didn’t feel like it got very far or was going anywhere, in order to provide WAY TOO MUCH CONTEXT for an antagonist whose whole deal is “he wants perfection, so he steals cities from planets to preserve them”. People talk about other superhero parody shows like The Boys becoming what they make fun of, but THIS? This show is supposed to be a comedy, right? Then are we meant to be spending this much time with Brainiac/Vril’s dead family as a joke? Are we parodying tragic backstories or old sitcoms or how aliens talk weird or…what? That whole ass segment needed to pick a lane and instead became a twelve joke pile up with no survivors.But okay, now we know who this show’s version of Brainiac is, as well as the fact that he is working for Lena Luthor to power those suspicious looking robots. As if you couldn’t already guess from the symbol that everyone watching this show would recognize as Brainiac. Hey, writers, just a quick question: You’re aware this is the fifth season of a show whose core audience is people who already know who Brainiac is, right? Like you didn’t need to do this for Lex or Joker or goddamn Black Manta, so why now? I see speculation that Harley’s chaotic nature is going to turn out to be the main opposition to Brainiac’s quest for perfection and that the season finale title “The Mess is the Point” is evidence of this, but considering we’re nearly halfway through the season and this is the first time the two have interacted AND Harley has just been coasting from what episode plot to the next, I’m having trouble believing that they can pull that off, even if it is their intent. But hey, I guess the mess is the point, right?
