Birds of Prey Has Potential but Needs Work

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Being a fan of good TV can often be hard work. Good TV requires patience. Sometimes you have to endure a show for a few episodes to fully appreciate it when it his it’s stride. If you write a show off after one episode you might not get to see what it becomes.
This is my hope for Birds of Prey, which airs this fall on The WB, Wednesday nights at 9. The show is based on the DC Comic of the same name. I hope that over time it can flourish and really become a great show.

As I was watching the pilot episode of Birds of Prey I felt like a teacher observing a smart but slacker-type student. You know that he could be brilliant if he just applied himself. Birds of Prey has the potential for greatness. It just really needs to work hard in a few areas.

The Birds of Prey series takes place in a world very different than what Batman fans are used to. The show opens in the aftermath of a long night that saw the end of an epic war between the Dark Knight and the Clown prince of Crime. In this world The Joker was the head of a large criminal organization that controlled New Gotham’s underworld. As the show opens a newscaster informs of us of a series of explosions that rocked New Gotham and marked the end of The Clown Prince of Crime’s reign over New Gotham.

We are then introduced to the character that will grow up to become the Huntress (Ashley Scott). This Huntress may be familiar to people who remember old Pre-Crisis DC Comics. She is Helena Kyle the daughter of Selina Kyle a.k.a. Cat Woman and Bruce Wayne a.k.a. Batman. When we first meet her Helena is crying over the body of her murdered mother. 

We are then introduced to Barbara Gordon who at the time is Batgirl. Barbara has just arrived home from fighting side by side with Batman. She sees a news report about Selina Kyle’s murder and becomes frightened for Helena. A knock at her door has her running to it thinking it’s Helena. A pistol and a sinister smile greet her. The Joker opens fire. He lets loose with a chilling laugh (which is done by Mark Hamill in a very cool cameo for fans of Batman the Animated Series).

We next meet young Dinah Lance. Troubling dreams awakens Dinah. She dreamt of the fates of the characters we have just seen. Dinah’s mother tells her that she made it all up and to go back to bed. Dinah agrees with her mother. But we can see she is visually shaken and is just telling her mother what she wants to hear.

We jump ahead then several years. The now teenage Dinah is on a bus to New Gotham to find the two women she dreamed about years before. Barbara Gordon now operates under the secret identity of Oracle a computer genius, information and gadget specialist, and the legal guardian of Helena Wayne. Helena uses her meta-human abilities (apparently superhuman agility, slight super human strength, and night vision) as Oracle’s chief operative The Huntress. She works as a bar tender and is forced to see a court appointed psychiatrist named Dr. Harlene Quinzel (who fans of the Batman Animated series know, is more than what she seems), because she got caught destroying property well on a mission for Oracle.

The three characters are all drawn together over a case of mysterious suicides plaguing New Gotham. Dinah’s telepathic abilities reveal some clues that show these suicides might be something more sinister. Her telepathic powers also assist her in finding Oracle and The Huntress.

Over the course of the show, we are also introduced to New Gotham Detective Jake Reese (Shemar Moore). Reese is troubled by the shadowy mysteries of New Gotham. He plans to find out what is really going on in the city after dark, much to the chagrin of his partner. Reese is gaining a reputation as someone, who sees things that are not there.

By the end of the show, we learn that Batman has left New Gotham because of what the Joker did to Barbara and the murder of Catwoman. New Gotham’s sole defenders are Oracle and the Huntress. And by the end of the show they have a new ally in the form of Dinah and an unknown enemy in the form of . . . No that would be telling.

Birds of Prey has a compelling and interesting take on the Batman/Joker relationship. The flash back scenes of Batman and the Joker are very cool. Because of this relationship and events that happen in the pilot the stage is set for what could become another epic battle. This time involving the show's heroines. The idea of the show is surprisingly cool.

Where the show needs work is character development. The Huntress is incredibly obnoxious. Her jokes often come of as stale, warmed over; one-liners from other dark hero adaptations like The Crow. It seems the Huntress is edgy just for edginess’ sake. However if they have the character grow, develop and face her problems. She has potential. 

The rest of the cast is fairly bland. They are not bad, but not distinctive either. Nothing about Oracle, Dinah, or Detective Reese really jumps out at you. If these characters are worked on and developed they could have some potential.

It is too early to tell what type of show Birds of Prey will be. The seeds for greatness are there. If the show receives a steady diet of great characterization, and continues with a compelling, and exciting plot it could blossom into something special. But if is neglected and receives nothing but cheap ratings stunts, and the same wooden characters it could turn into a truly bad television show. I want to see more of Birds of Prey but the show’s creative people have to work their asses off if they want to keep me as a viewer.