Harley Quinn Season 5 Episode 2 Recap, Easter Eggs And Ending Explained

Warning! This post contains SPOILERS for Harley Quinn Season 5, episode 2Harley Quinn Season 5, episode 2 sees Harley and Ivy getting used to their new lives in Metropolis. However, a surprise from Ivy’s past will likely put a key strain on their relationship. Also, while Lena Luthor has been helping Harley and Ivy with their new status quo shift, her true reasons and motives remain a mystery (as she’s likely not just helping them out of the goodness of her heart).

As seen at the end of Harley Quinn Season 5’s premiere, Harley and Ivy decide to permanently move from Gotham to Metropolis. Wanting a fresh start for their lives, Ivy is now working with Lena Luthor to help run Metropolis’ new green initiative. However, Ivy’s new job is already off to a rocky start thanks to the return of a major face from her origins as Pamela Isley. With that in mind, here’s our recap, ending explainer, and all the biggest Easter eggs/references we found in Harley Quinn Season 5, episode 2.

Harley Quinn Season 5, Episode 2 Recap

“Back to School”

• Harley and Ivy move into their new penthouse, generously furnished by Lena Luthor
• King Shark brings his kids for Harley to babysit, while Ivy goes to Metropolis University
• Ivy discovers the Green Initiative is run by Doctor Jason Woodrue, her old professor
• Despite her complicated past with Woodrue, Ivy agrees to work with Jason at Lena’s request.
• Lena invites Harley and the kids to the Vincent Edge Club, where Harley runs into Bane, Goldilocks, and Betty, who also live in Metropolis.
• Ivy’s past with Woodrue is revealed, confirming their past romance, and that Woodrue was responsible for Ivy’s creation after he tried stealing her work (Frank the Plant) and killing her with toxins.
• Harley wants to become a club member, but King Shark’s kids go on a feeding frenzy.
• Poison Ivy traps Woodrue in the lab with toxins, giving him the same chance he gave her.
• Despite the chaos, Lena forces Vincent to make Harley a member.
• Back home, Ivy doesn’t tell Harley about Jason and what she did. Meanwhile, Jason is teased to have survived with a plant-human transformation of his own.

Harley Season 5 Episode 2 Ending Explained: What Happened To Doctor Woodrue?

Becoming DC’s Floronic Man

Discovering that Doctor Jason Woodrue is leading the green initiative at Metropolis University, flashbacks reveal Ivy’s complex history with her old professor who was involved in her transformation from Pamela Isley to the plant/human hybrid and eco-terrorist Poison Ivy. Wanting revenge, Poison Ivy leaves Woodrue locked in a room filled with various toxins and chemicals, the same way he once left her. Leaving the university behind thinking she killed Woodrue, it will likely come as a big surprise when Ivy discovers that Woodrue survived.

At the very end of Harley Quinn Season 5, episode 2, a clawed green hand is shown grabbing onto a nearby table. This teases that Jason Woodrue has indeed been transformed into the Floronic Man, a DC villain from the comics who is also a powerful plant/human hybrid, not unlike Poison Ivy herself. As such, it stands to reason that The Floronic Man will likely become a major problem, including the fact that Ivy chose not to tell Harley about Woodrue (likely because they were once romantically involved).

Poison Ivy’s New Origins Explained

A Smart Remix of Her Comics Origins

Poison Ivy being responsible for The Floronic Man’s creation is a pretty smart and creative twist on his origins, seeing as how Woodrue was directly the cause of Ivy’s in the comics. Just like in Harley Quinn Season 5, episode 2’s flashback, Pamela Isley was Woodrue’s student. Not only did they have a sexual relationship, but Isley became one of Woodrue’s test subjects, subjecting her to brutal experiments that ultimately led to her transformation into Poison Ivy.

Naturally, Harley Quinn both simplifies and makes fascinating tweaks to the comic origins with Woodrue attempting to steal Isley’s work (a baby Frank), and locking her in a room full of chemicals. This forces Pamela to use her new serum on herself, transforming her into Poison Ivy as a plant/human hybrid with the ability to control and connect with plant life. As such, it makes sense that Ivy would want revenge in the present, rather than agreeing to work with Woodrue like Lena Luthor was hoping for.

While Woodrue tries to take credit for all that Ivy was and how powerful she became, Poison Ivy chooses to let the past no longer define her. Before locking him in with all the toxins and chemicals, Ivy confirms that everything she’s become and achieved was done in spite of Woodrue and what he did. As such, it’s a pretty cool and empowering way to end such an Ivy-focused episode of Harley Quinn. However, there will likely still be consequences now that Woodrue is the Floronic Man.

Harley Quinn Season 5 Episode 2 Easter Eggs and References

Connecting To The Comics, Kite-Man, and More

• King Shark’s Kids – King Shark’s kids are Harley and Ivy’s “godsharks”, having been born in Harley Quinn season 4. They even met one of the kids as an adult fighting in their daughter’s resistance when they visited the future.
• Jason Woodrue aka The Floronic Man – The Floronic Man is responsible for Poison Ivy’s creation in the comics. He was also played by John Glover in Joel Schumacher’s Batman & Robin where he similarly turned Uma Thurman’s Pamela Isley into Poison Ivy, though he didn’t become the Floronic Man before his demise. Harley Quinn’s Woodrue is voiced by John Slattery who played Howard Stark in the MCU.
• Goldilocks, Bane’s Adopted Daughter – Bane’s new daughter Goldilocks debuted in Harley Quinn’s spin-off series Kite-Man: Hell Yeah! where she was shown escaping the Queen of Fables’ storybook.
• Vincent Edge – Vincent Edge is the father of Morgan Edge, a major Superman villain in the comics and leader of Intergang.
• Baby Frank The Plant – Poison Ivy’s origins are also Frank the Plant’s, having been the first product of Isley’s plant/human serum that Woodrue wanted to steal.

New episodes of Harley Quinn Season 5 air Thursdays on Max.

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