Warning! This post contains SPOILERS for Harley Quinn season 5, episode 6It's showtime for Harley Quinn season 5, episode 6 as Harley and the gang decide to fight Brainiac...in the most ridiculous way possible. Learning the truth about Brainiac's plans from Lena Luthor after the Coluan betrays her, it's up to Harley, Clayface, and Bane to determine how they'll spread the word that Metropolis is in imminent danger of being bottled. However, they end up choosing the worst means possible: a musical.

As seen in previous episodes of Harley Quinn season 5, Brainiac intends to make Metropolis perfect before shrinking and bottling the city, just as he's done with so many other cities on countless worlds for centuries. While Brainiac had been keeping his activities secret with help from Lena, he's now been exposed (sort of). Here's our recap, ending explained, and Easter eggs breakdown for Harley Quinn season 5, episode 6.

Harley Quinn Season 5, Episode 6 Recap

"Bottle My Heart"

• Lois and Harley discuss their skull nightmares, but their partnership quickly ends after Harley confesses that she and Ivy killed Jason Woodrue aka The Floronic Man.
• Harley reveals that one of the only happy times in her abusive childhood was playing "The Hill" in her school production of The Sound of Music.
• In the present, Harley feels like she has no purpose, and she goes to the Daily Planet demanding Clayface (as Perry White) print a retraction of Lois' story about her being a murderer. Lois quits the Daily Planet to discover the truth.
• Lena and Brainiac argue about Harley. Brainiac ends their deal to make Lena a ruler over Metropolis, motivating Lena to come clean to the Daily Planet so they can expose Brainiac to the public.
• Clayface and Harley decide to produce a musical: Brainiac, The Tragedy Of to inspire people to rise against Brainiac. Clayface and Bane write the script, and Harley blackmails Clayface to be cast as Lena in the musical.
• From his skull ship, Brainiac watches the musical, and it helps him realize that his pet monkey Koko is truly dead (and that he's been insane for years). He also claims his mission for Metropolis is now pointless, breaking the fourth wall to talk to the audience about his pain and loss.
• The musical is somehow a hit, though it backfires and starts to make the crowd sympathetic to Brainiac.
• Frank the Plant (who was playing Koko) actually dies on stage. Brainiac confirms that Poison Ivy will now feel his pain.

Harley Quinn Season 5, Episode 6's Ending and Major Death Explained

So Long, Frank The Plant

Tragically, Frank the Plant is killed at the end of Harley Quinn season 5, episode 6. This was presumably done by one of Brainiac's drones after the musical helped him see the truth that his pet monkey Koko has been dead for ages, and that he'd simply been denying the truth in his insanity. While Poison Ivy desperately tries to save her human/plant hybrid, it seems the damage is too much. It's more heartbreaking when Frank tells his "mom" that he loves her with his dying breath.

Frank's murder combined with Brainiac speaking directly to the audience in this new episode of Harley Quinn proves just how much more dangerous he's now become. Claiming that he no longer cares about shrinking Metropolis or making it perfect, one can easily guess that Brainiac may simply try to burn the city to the ground in future episodes. He's no longer seeking perfection, and it looks as though Brainiac will become much less methodical and far more unhinged going forward.

Harley Quinn Season 5, Episode 6 Easter Eggs and References

Musicals, Lady Gaga, and Perhaps Even Joker: Folie à Deux

• Lois’ Pulitzer - Lois continually says she's won the Pulitzer, and nobody cares. While the exact award-winning article in question is never specified in the comics, Superman Returns' Lois Lane won the award for her piece entitled, "Why The World Doesn't Need Superman", during his five-year absence.
• Lois Lane's Middle Name (And Lady Gaga's) - Lois confirms her middle name is Joanne, and the same is true in the comics, given to her in honor of Joanne Carter, who was the original model for her character. Bane also chimes in that Joanne is Lady Gaga's middle name too, a fun nod considering Lady Gaga played Harley Quinn in Joker: Folie à Deux.
• Musicals with Messages - multiple musicals are named by Harley and Frank the Plant: Wicked, Les Misérables, The Sound of Music, and Mama Mia.
• "I Hate Musicals" - Bane comments that he hates musicals and that audiences always wonder why people are singing when they could just talk. Hilariously, this was a big critique of last year's DC musical Joker: Folie à Deux.
• "Stops Talking or It Gets The Spritz" - Still held captive in Clayface's apartment, the real Perry White is squirted with a spray bottle by Clayface who riffs on Silence of the Lambs.
• Idina Menzel - Clayface claims he's heard rumors that original Elphaba actress Idina Meznel desperately wants to play Lena Luthor in his musical.
• Andy Serkis Playing Koko - Accomplished motion capture actor Andy Serkis was supposed to play Koko in the musical, a fun nod to his role as Caeser in the Planet of the Apes movies...before Frank ate him.
• Clayface Goes Full Hamilton - The opening song in the musical is a rap in the style of Hamilton, and it's quite something to see Clayface dressed as Brainiac evoking his best Lin-Manuel Miranda.

New episodes of Harley Quinn season 5 release Thursdays on Max.

DC Movie Releases

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  Joker: Folie a Deux

  Release Date

  October 4, 2024

  

  7/10

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  Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow

  Release Date

  June 26, 2026

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  The Batman Part II

  Release Date

  October 1, 2027

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