Jul
23
I touched on this show last week, mainly drooling over the star, button-cute Ashley Scott. I’ve since powered through all twelve episodes, and what follows is my take on the show, including the other exorbitantly hot female lead, Dina Meyer.
“Birds of Prey” started out as a DC Comics series that began in the ’90s and ran for over 100 issues. It was set in contemporary Gotham City and focused on Barbara Gordon — the paraplegic former Batgirl, now known as the computer whiz Oracle — as well as her two female vigilante sidekicks, the Huntress and the Black Canary. After watching the series, I’m compelled to pick up the first “Birds of Prey” TPB to see if the comic has what the show lacked — capes and cowls, recognizable super-villains, the occasional cameo by a certain crimefighting gentleman who also lives in Gotham, etc.
When adapting the comic book for television, series creator Laeta Kalogridis (a woman whose name I’m astonished I spelled correctly on the first try) retained some of the key elements, but made several significant changes to the mythology. The Huntress on the show is the daughter of Batman and Catwoman, like the original pre-”Crisis on Infinite Earths” incarnation of the character, not the Huntress from the BoP comic book series. Also known as Helena Kyle — and played by future Mrs. Lohan, Ashley Scott — she has some meta-human cat-like abilities and does the bulk of her crime-fighting alone. Barbara Gordon/Oracle (Dina Meyer) is not unlike her comic book counterpart and confined to a wheelchair, but able to lend tech support to Huntress via their clock tower HQ; Oracle’s the most faithfully adapted of the three Birds. The third heroine, Dinah Lance (Rachel Skarsten), is actually the daughter of the Black Canary and possesses some low-level psychic abilities the series jettisons about midway through, replacing them with telekinesis. Nevertheless, Dinah’s not given much to do.
The show is set in the near-future, unlike the comic. Batman’s splitsville — having never actually met Helena — and Gotham City has been renamed New Gotham. I had a problem with accepting that certain characters on the series, particularly Shemar Moore’s Det. Reese, being unfamiliar with Batman. Batty hasn’t been gone all that long; I believe he left town after his final confrontation with the Joker seven years before the show is set. It’s like New Yorkers not knowing who Rudy Giuliani is. Now granted, Batman didn’t run for president, and if he had, he probably would’ve made it through the primaries. But, still… How can you be in the law enforcement community in Gotham and not know who Batman is/was?
However, I’m willing to forgive Reese’s naivete. It’s not the show’s primary weakness. No, I think the show suffered in the ratings because there weren’t many identifiable Bat-villains from his rogues gallery. The Birds of Prey fight some incredible lame-asses over the course of the series. I’d almost have rather they’d taken on organized crime figures or someone other than these goofballs. You get a few brief glimpses of the Joker in the pilot; he’s the one who shoots Barbara Gordon and leaves her paralyzed. But almost all the baddies on the show are just weird meta-humans straight from Central Casting.
That being said, Mia Sara plays Dr. Harleen Quinzel (aka Harley Quinn, the Joker’s squeeze), Helena Kyle’s therapist, and a character that was so popular on “Batman: The Animated Series,” she was introduced into comics continuity in the late-’90s. I would like to add that I simply love the concept of a super-villain whose day job is a headshrinker. Dr. Quinzel’s also the only recurring villain on the show, but she doesn’t get to do a whole hell of a lot until the series finale.
I still wanted to see some of the B- and C-listers from the Batman comics — the ones who’ll never be in a movie — make appearances on the show. Clayface pops up in the second-to-last episode, played by the guy who gets his ear hacked off in “Reservoir Dogs.” But his presence is too little, too late. Where’s the Mad Hatter, Killer Croc and Ventriloquist? Where’s Vandal Savage and Firefly? Hell, where’s King Tut? This is a freak-of-the-week show. Let’s see some freaks worthy of our attention.
That said, the disinteresting villains don’t detract from the significantly more interesting heroines. Ashley Scott’s performance as the Huntress becomes much stronger as the series progresses. Dina Meyer’s solid as Oracle, and despite her paralysis, she suits up as Batgirl one last time with the help of some doohickey strapped to her back that allows her to walk. I felt that Rachel Skarsten was sort of ballast in the first couple of episodes, but by series’ end, I was hoping they’d give her more to do rather than less.
Knowing ahead of time that the show was going to be canceled, the producers rejiggered the final episode to adequately tie up the dangling plot threads. It’s a fairly satisfying sendoff, being perhaps the strongest of ep of the series. Of course, it happens to be the one with Harley Quinn front and center as the villain, suggesting that if they’d raided Arkham Asylum for more Batman rogues, the show may have been picked up for season two.
As it is, I like the series well enough. Ashley Scott and Dina Meyer are always pleasing to the eye. There are plenty of comic book moments and esoteric fanboy references to keep me interested while I’m not leering at one or both of the leads. It’s a show that had a lot of potential that it probably could’ve lived up to had it been given another couple seasons to find its voice. But, I guess, I can start reading the trades.
-Brad Lohan
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