Spotlight on: Birds of Prey (TV series)
Later than I meant for it to be, but here it is!
"There is a legend: that Gotham City's greatest crimefighter fell in love with the Queen of Crime. And while they didn't stay together, something special came out of their love..." Ahem. (Thanks, Alfred Pennyworth and the every-episode opening voice-over.)
Birds of Prey: Three heroines, a cop and a butler
Birds of Prey television series was brought to you by the people who created Smallville in 2002. It ran 13 episodes on the CW, and got cancelled due to excessive re-working, schedule shuffling, and the network wanting to work on Aquaman. Alas. Loosely based on the long-running comic books of the same name (with additions from other books, and implications from the Tim Burton films) the episodes follow the adventures of three crimefighting women in New Gotham City, the cop one of them is almost-dating, and the butler who snarks on them.
Background: Our Story So Far
Seven years before the series opens, Batman, protector of New Gotham, defeats the Joker, Clown King of Crime, and brings down his criminal organization. The Joker temporarily escapes and instead of going after Batman, he attacks those closest to him: retired Catwoman Selina Kyle, Batman's former lover and mother of his illegitimate child, Helena; and Barbara Gordon, his student and associate (whose Batgirl mask slipped during their last fight, revealing her secret identity to the Joker). Selina is knifed in the street in front of 16-year-old Helena, and the killer escapes. Barbara answers the door that evening and is shot by the Joker, and left paraplegic. And way out in Missouri, nine-year-old foster child Dinah Lance (aka Redmond) wakes up with a screaming nightmare of both events. The Joker goes to jail far far away, Bruce Wayne disappears completely a couple months later and leaves all his money to Helena, Barbara takes in Helena as her ward as she starts to recuperate, and Batman fades into urban myth.
Cut To Today
Dinah runs away to the big city, following her dreams of the two women she remembers from seven years before. By startling coincidence *cough*plot contrivance*cough*, she witnesses a mysterious accident/suicide just as she gets off the bus. Detective Jesse Reese is investigating similar deaths, and believes that "something strange" is happening in New Gotham after dark. Later that evening, Dinah is attacked by a guy who offered her shelter, and is saved from knifing/assault by Helena. Helena is now the crimefighting Huntress, protecting Gotham as her father did, and still friends with Barbara, who has become the superhacker Oracle, using her mind and computer skills to fight the bad guys now that she's physically confined to a wheelchair. Dinah follows Helena home to their secret lair in the Clocktower, Barbara determines she's a meta, another two murders occur, there's snark, mayhem, Helena and Reese meeting cute under a hanging corpse, really cool visual effects and matte paintings, a pontificating bad guy, and at the end of the night, Barbara agrees to take on Dinah as a student and Helena decides to stay in therapy. Yes, she's in court-ordered anger management therapy. With Dr. Harleen Quinzel, AKA Harley Quinn, aspiring crime lord, psychopath, and ex-girlfriend of the Joker.
End pilot, cue 12 more eps of comedy/crimefighting/romance/angst.
The Characters
Huntress: Helena Kyle (Ashley Scott) Helena works as a bartender at the Dark Horse bar when she's not crimefighting. Sarcastic, snarky, tough, cynical and gifted with super-everything (strength/speed/reflexes/senses/night-vision/sex appeal), Helena likes kicking butt a lot more than anything else, which lead to that court-ordered therapy.
Helena: You know, I'm the one that does all the night sweeps. I'm the one that does all the fieldwork. I'm the one with bruises in really embarrassing places. Would it kill you to go to the grocery store every once in a while?
Barbara: What is this obsession with food?
Helena: You try fighting the forces of evil when your blood sugar's low!
Oracle: Barbara Gordon (Dina Meyer) Barbara's a workaholic when it comes to crimefighting, as well as teaching English at Dinah's high school. She has no life although she starts dating a co-worker, Wade, at the beginning of the series. Idealistic, driven, a supergenius who looooves to technobabble on just about anything, she has a secret direct line to New Gotham's crime databases. Her second favorite thing is snarking at Helena.
Barbara: Hey, time out, there will be absolutely no use of superpowers to settle domestic disagreements!
Dinah Lance (Redmond) (Rachel Skarsten) Bubbly, enthusiastic, thrilled to be crimefighting, Dinah starts out with only psychic dreams and telepathy, and discovers her telekinesis half-way through the series. She idolizes Helena and Barbara and hopes to live up to their standards, but does tend to, um. Mess it up sometimes. As well as the perils of high school. The dork.
Dinah: But you're both heroes, and save people. *pause* I wanna join!
Detective Jesse Reese (Shemar Moore) Intense, dedicated, yadda yadda c'mon, he's Shemar Moore with a badge! Reese teams up with Helena a few eps in, kind of like Commissioner Gordon and Batman used to. He's determined to protect Gotham from meta-crime even if his bosses don't admit it exists, but he's also got some backstory secrets of his own, which his relationship with Helena complicates.
Alfred Pennyworth (Ian Abercrombie) He butlered for Bruce Wayne's dad, then for Bruce Wayne, and he's still buttle-ing for the Birds at the Clocktower, mostly by making sure they have actual food and not just potato chips, getting scuba gear, you know, butler things. Like the occasional reality check and impromptu psych counseling.
Dr. Harleen Quinzel, AKA Harley Quinn (Mia Sara) Dr. Harleen Quinzel runs Arkham Asylum, has a private practice of patients, consults with the police on the criminal mind, and tries to take over New Gotham's underworld when she's not doing anything else. I'm pretty sure she never sleeps. Mia Sara has a great time chewing her way through the scenery and cackling evilly thoughout the series.
Why Watch?
The plots are usually pretty standard Bad Guy of the Week stuff, although the ongoing plotline with Harley's evil plans to take over New Gotham is fun. But the characters are great, and the show manages some nice work with themes about prejudice, redemption, and trust, not only within the created family of Barbara, Helena and Dinah but between Helena and Reese, and to a lesser degree between Barbara and Wade. It gets a little heavy-handed and repetitive on occasion, but most eps are light and quippy and fight-oriented enough to carry you through without getting bogged down in details.
Plus, some of the guest characters are a trip, with Mitch Pileggi as a crime lord and Joe Flannigan as an cop from Bludhaven, and Lori Loughlin as Dinah's mom, the original Black Canary. There's eye-candy for everyone, with shiny sets, Shemar Moore and Ashley Scott stripping down in a sauna for the second ep, and most of Helena's and Harley's wardrobes probably borrowed from the Halliwells on Charmed. The world of BoP is set supposedly a few years in the future (thus, "New" Gotham, and references to "Old" Gotham), so you can suspend disbelief on Barbara's latest technological wonder or bit of information by looking at it as future-world.
I love it for the banter, the fights, the silliness, the girl-power (however uneven), and the sexiness of Shemar Moore and Ashley Scott. Other people like the subtext between Helena and Barbara, and the idea that Dinah Has Two Mommies. There's enough DC-verse references for purists, although what happened to Batman *still* remains unresolved.
Give it a shot.
Links to "Birds of Prey" Info:
Birds of Prey wiki entry
http://www.birdsofpreyonline.com/
http://www.gothamclocktower.com/
The series is available from Amazon and Best Buy.
"There is a legend: that Gotham City's greatest crimefighter fell in love with the Queen of Crime. And while they didn't stay together, something special came out of their love..." Ahem. (Thanks, Alfred Pennyworth and the every-episode opening voice-over.)
Birds of Prey: Three heroines, a cop and a butler
Birds of Prey television series was brought to you by the people who created Smallville in 2002. It ran 13 episodes on the CW, and got cancelled due to excessive re-working, schedule shuffling, and the network wanting to work on Aquaman. Alas. Loosely based on the long-running comic books of the same name (with additions from other books, and implications from the Tim Burton films) the episodes follow the adventures of three crimefighting women in New Gotham City, the cop one of them is almost-dating, and the butler who snarks on them.
Background: Our Story So Far
Seven years before the series opens, Batman, protector of New Gotham, defeats the Joker, Clown King of Crime, and brings down his criminal organization. The Joker temporarily escapes and instead of going after Batman, he attacks those closest to him: retired Catwoman Selina Kyle, Batman's former lover and mother of his illegitimate child, Helena; and Barbara Gordon, his student and associate (whose Batgirl mask slipped during their last fight, revealing her secret identity to the Joker). Selina is knifed in the street in front of 16-year-old Helena, and the killer escapes. Barbara answers the door that evening and is shot by the Joker, and left paraplegic. And way out in Missouri, nine-year-old foster child Dinah Lance (aka Redmond) wakes up with a screaming nightmare of both events. The Joker goes to jail far far away, Bruce Wayne disappears completely a couple months later and leaves all his money to Helena, Barbara takes in Helena as her ward as she starts to recuperate, and Batman fades into urban myth.
Cut To Today
Dinah runs away to the big city, following her dreams of the two women she remembers from seven years before. By startling coincidence *cough*plot contrivance*cough*, she witnesses a mysterious accident/suicide just as she gets off the bus. Detective Jesse Reese is investigating similar deaths, and believes that "something strange" is happening in New Gotham after dark. Later that evening, Dinah is attacked by a guy who offered her shelter, and is saved from knifing/assault by Helena. Helena is now the crimefighting Huntress, protecting Gotham as her father did, and still friends with Barbara, who has become the superhacker Oracle, using her mind and computer skills to fight the bad guys now that she's physically confined to a wheelchair. Dinah follows Helena home to their secret lair in the Clocktower, Barbara determines she's a meta, another two murders occur, there's snark, mayhem, Helena and Reese meeting cute under a hanging corpse, really cool visual effects and matte paintings, a pontificating bad guy, and at the end of the night, Barbara agrees to take on Dinah as a student and Helena decides to stay in therapy. Yes, she's in court-ordered anger management therapy. With Dr. Harleen Quinzel, AKA Harley Quinn, aspiring crime lord, psychopath, and ex-girlfriend of the Joker.
End pilot, cue 12 more eps of comedy/crimefighting/romance/angst.
The Characters
Huntress: Helena Kyle (Ashley Scott) Helena works as a bartender at the Dark Horse bar when she's not crimefighting. Sarcastic, snarky, tough, cynical and gifted with super-everything (strength/speed/reflexes/senses/night-vision/sex appeal), Helena likes kicking butt a lot more than anything else, which lead to that court-ordered therapy.
Helena: You know, I'm the one that does all the night sweeps. I'm the one that does all the fieldwork. I'm the one with bruises in really embarrassing places. Would it kill you to go to the grocery store every once in a while?
Barbara: What is this obsession with food?
Helena: You try fighting the forces of evil when your blood sugar's low!
Oracle: Barbara Gordon (Dina Meyer) Barbara's a workaholic when it comes to crimefighting, as well as teaching English at Dinah's high school. She has no life although she starts dating a co-worker, Wade, at the beginning of the series. Idealistic, driven, a supergenius who looooves to technobabble on just about anything, she has a secret direct line to New Gotham's crime databases. Her second favorite thing is snarking at Helena.
Barbara: Hey, time out, there will be absolutely no use of superpowers to settle domestic disagreements!
Dinah Lance (Redmond) (Rachel Skarsten) Bubbly, enthusiastic, thrilled to be crimefighting, Dinah starts out with only psychic dreams and telepathy, and discovers her telekinesis half-way through the series. She idolizes Helena and Barbara and hopes to live up to their standards, but does tend to, um. Mess it up sometimes. As well as the perils of high school. The dork.
Dinah: But you're both heroes, and save people. *pause* I wanna join!
Detective Jesse Reese (Shemar Moore) Intense, dedicated, yadda yadda c'mon, he's Shemar Moore with a badge! Reese teams up with Helena a few eps in, kind of like Commissioner Gordon and Batman used to. He's determined to protect Gotham from meta-crime even if his bosses don't admit it exists, but he's also got some backstory secrets of his own, which his relationship with Helena complicates.
Alfred Pennyworth (Ian Abercrombie) He butlered for Bruce Wayne's dad, then for Bruce Wayne, and he's still buttle-ing for the Birds at the Clocktower, mostly by making sure they have actual food and not just potato chips, getting scuba gear, you know, butler things. Like the occasional reality check and impromptu psych counseling.
Dr. Harleen Quinzel, AKA Harley Quinn (Mia Sara) Dr. Harleen Quinzel runs Arkham Asylum, has a private practice of patients, consults with the police on the criminal mind, and tries to take over New Gotham's underworld when she's not doing anything else. I'm pretty sure she never sleeps. Mia Sara has a great time chewing her way through the scenery and cackling evilly thoughout the series.
Why Watch?
The plots are usually pretty standard Bad Guy of the Week stuff, although the ongoing plotline with Harley's evil plans to take over New Gotham is fun. But the characters are great, and the show manages some nice work with themes about prejudice, redemption, and trust, not only within the created family of Barbara, Helena and Dinah but between Helena and Reese, and to a lesser degree between Barbara and Wade. It gets a little heavy-handed and repetitive on occasion, but most eps are light and quippy and fight-oriented enough to carry you through without getting bogged down in details.
Plus, some of the guest characters are a trip, with Mitch Pileggi as a crime lord and Joe Flannigan as an cop from Bludhaven, and Lori Loughlin as Dinah's mom, the original Black Canary. There's eye-candy for everyone, with shiny sets, Shemar Moore and Ashley Scott stripping down in a sauna for the second ep, and most of Helena's and Harley's wardrobes probably borrowed from the Halliwells on Charmed. The world of BoP is set supposedly a few years in the future (thus, "New" Gotham, and references to "Old" Gotham), so you can suspend disbelief on Barbara's latest technological wonder or bit of information by looking at it as future-world.
I love it for the banter, the fights, the silliness, the girl-power (however uneven), and the sexiness of Shemar Moore and Ashley Scott. Other people like the subtext between Helena and Barbara, and the idea that Dinah Has Two Mommies. There's enough DC-verse references for purists, although what happened to Batman *still* remains unresolved.
Give it a shot.
Links to "Birds of Prey" Info:
Birds of Prey wiki entry
http://www.birdsofpreyonline.com/
http://www.gothamclocktower.com/
The series is available from Amazon and Best Buy.