Suicide Squad Isekai Episode 6 Review 

Things get as sombre as they so far have done in Suicide Squad Isekai episode 6, with more fighting and straight faces than any humour. 

Sad. And it seems a few members of Waller’s (Kujira) first team are responsible too – Enchantress (Shizuka Itou), The Thinker (Houchuu Ootsuka), and Killer Croc (Tarou Kiuchi). 

Similarly to how Ratcatcher (Youji Ueda) was using his powers and a magic staff to control his minions, it looks like Enchantress and The Thinker are using their powers collaboratively (and perhaps a little reluctantly on the part of Enchantress) to control these elves. But they’ve also got magic gems and face-projecting and mind-reading and just a whole bunch of other stuff going on too. Of course, being later in the game, these bosses are going to be much harder to defeat than Ratcatcher was. 

So, the first ten minutes of Suicide Squad Isekai episode 6 are much like the last ten minutes of episode 5, but whereas the team were then running around and fighting a dragon, they’re now running around and fighting Enchantress, The Thinker, an army of elves, and Killer Croc too. A few things happen during all of this. 

Harley Quinn (Anna Nagase) drags a large frying pan behind her like Pyramid Head drags his sword, and Peacemaker (Takehito Koyasu) survives an explosion by using the corpse of an elf as a shield. We find out that the first suicide squad haven’t actually disarmed their neck bombs, only that they haven’t been triggered yet – Rick Flag (Taku Yashiro) having been ordered to bring them all in alive (apart from Ratcatcher, I suppose? Unless he’s still knocking about somewhere without us knowing). 

Then, irritating her with a couple of choice accusations and bat swings, Enchantress reveals to Harley that her working with the Empire is only a temporary alliance. And, entering their minds for a short spell, The Thinker watches some memories: Clayface being a humiliated actor, Deadshot being a failed father, and Peacemaker being a guilty soldier. Momentary pieces of backstory, but welcome all the same. 

The fighting then concludes with The Thinker shooting Clayface, Deadshot and Peacemaker, before the three of those opposing suicide squaddies fly off, to fight again another day. What a twist! No, wait. They’re not dead, but it seems that Enchantress used her powers to stop the bullets from killing them. What a twist! 

Our squaddies are then back to being behind bars, for they didn’t manage to win this war that’s happening, and the Queen fancies executing them for their trouble. Which I suppose is her prerogative. But don’t worry, Cecil (Jun Fukushima) and Princess Fione (Reina Ueda) are soon there to free them, with Cecil telling the group that they ought to get out into the world and prove to the Queen that they’re worth having around. Which has only been the story since the beginning. Perhaps the poor fellow’s out of the loop. 

Now, I’m not sure if I’m just especially low this particular Thursday, and my sour mood is poisoning the surrounding media, or if the fun really is seeping out of Suicide Squad Isekai here. There’s a tear-jerk attempt in continuing Fione’s episode 4 flashback (that reuses frames from that same episode to boot). Harley Quinn has made the transition from being a Harley Quinn that was once eating pizza whilst watching a cartoon hamster version of Joker (2019), to a Harley Quinn that’s now supposedly the emotional centre of the show, with all the crying, screaming, and baby-dragon hugging that comes with that. And this marks two episodes on the trot that have seemingly been more occupied in being a showcase for fight animation than anything else. 

The show doesn’t wear sincerity very well. The colours are being muted, the atmosphere is being darkened, and fun seems to have taken an ill-timed holiday. Gone too, even, is my beloved rib-poking. Maybe if the attempts at seriousness had come first, and then the show had later become self-deprecating… but because we had ample time to laugh at the self-referential p*ss-taking, this tonal shift feels dishonest. Perhaps I can’t have that comedy without this drama, perhaps I should cut the creators some slack for even trying to balance the two, or perhaps I am just having an off day – I wasn’t this irritated by the sincerity in episode 4, after all. 

But, still, Suicide Squad Isekai episode 6 feels, to me – a person with no authority on the matter, really – ill-fitting in its title. Even the closing credits, with Waller’s dance moves, and Calliope’s breathy singing, seem now to be for a different show. Or, at least, the different show that this show was but a few episodes ago. 

Episode 6 of Suicide Squad Isekai is now available to watch on Max and Hulu.