Regardless of what we thought, Birds of Prey isn't going anywhere. And by that I mean that the premiere ended up being a "ratings smash" for the WB. Some of you wrote it off from the commercial alone, such as regular Fanboy Planet reader/letter-writer David Busby, who contributed: "It already looks cheesy. (I'm a die-hard Dark Knight fan, too.)"
Cheesy may be exactly what the show aspires to be. After watching the revised pilot this week, one staffer commented (only in much stronger language), "it wants to be Charmed." Would that be the epitome of cheesy? It sure seems so from its commercials.
But since Charmed always wanted to be Buffy The Vampire Slayer, let's go with that comparison. Obviously, Dinah stands out as a Dawn wanna-be, just as overeager as the junior slayer. As played by Rachel Skarsten, she even copies the hair flip.
The dialogue tries to ape the Buffy feel, too, with rapid-fire banter and witty observations about the other characters. Where the writers fail, though, is in forgetting to actually make it witty. Whedon's staff makes their dialogue sparkle by bringing in cultural references from the real world; Helena, Dinah and Barbara apparently live in a DC Universe vastly different from our own, and thanks to legal considerations, don't actually know who they can safely reference.
(A personal irritation: Barbara knows all about metahumans and we can assume Superman. But when Dinah asks, in a wrinkled nose winsome way, "Phoenixes aren't real, are they?" Barbara gives her a patronizing "no." Barbara, Barbara, you just don't have them in your database. Yes, they do it in the comics, where Batman often refuses to believe in aliens even though two of his best friends are from other planets, but it's stupid there, too.)
To be fair, what got broadcast this week was a Frankenstein monster made up of the original pilot, network notes, and desperately needed changes. It didn't quite work, but it may have at least pointed the series in the right direction. (The aforementioned staffer feels that the WB ruined the concept, but that's assuming that the WB really has a concept in place. They don't.)
Though it gave the opening a dissonant fairy tale feeling, the new narration by Alfred managed a couple of important things. First, it gave viewers a touchstone by assuring them that at least Alfred would be around. And he managed to dismiss the "hey, what about Robin?" question that the original pilot left open. In the narration, he mentions that Batman had many protégés; Barbara was the last of them. By including that tidbit, the show has left the door open for Dick, Tim, Jason and heck, even Sasha to make appearances if necessary.
Why, though, is Gotham City called New Gotham? Can we look forward to a flashback to No Man's Land? But I digress…
In the original pilot, Barbara seems to have no life outside of the tower, though we do see her dump her boyfriend. Wisely, that changed for broadcast. Now she teaches high school, and we see the beginning of a relationship with a student counselor. By the way, you can tell that New Gotham is a tough city when your high school English teacher assigns Charles Bukowski as required reading.
Though the change in Barbara really needed to happen, it's still stitched to scenes left from the original in which she's closed off and dark. In future episodes, let us hope that the paradox disappears.
Surprisingly, the recasting of Harleen Quinzel upped the potential of the series. Sherilynn Fenn played her as a reasonable therapist with a sudden evil, petulant streak at the end (which Fenn does extremely well). But Mia Sara twists that final scene around in a way Fenn could not. Her Harley Quinn is clearly a psychopath who wears a veneer of sanity. It makes her scenes that much more intriguing in retrospect.
The show runners also took the opportunity to rewrite Helena's therapy sessions, not just re-shoot them with Sara. Now Helena carries her flippant attitude everywhere, instead of being this broken doll when on the couch. She talks too much, admitting that her father is Bruce Wayne. Does Harley know that Bruce Wayne was Batman? Discuss. But then later Barbara chastises Helena for saying too much to Detective Reese (Shemar Moore). Hey, it's not bad writing, it's characterization!
Thankfully, this new character consistency also alleviates some of the cheap melodrama of her conflicts with Barbara in the pilot, but only some. At least when the Scarecrow stand-in starts pulling Helena's pain out of her, the scene has a little dramatic resonance - only a metahuman could really get The Huntress to admit her problems.
Changes are still being made. If you stuck around long enough to watch the "next week" teaser, you'll note that The Huntress will be dressing in more practical, tighter leathers. No longer will she model the Victoria's Secret Crimefighters Collection. And we'll continue getting metahumans without the slightest whiff of meteor rock about them. Still, we need to see some in colorful costumes, because Helena says they exist.
You may not stick around long enough to see the show evolve,
but we'll cover it here just in case. From the sudden appearance
of a bat over the full moon, I'll even hazard a bet that we'll
have a Batman sighting by February sweeps. Be sure to come
back then.
And in the meantime, if you think I'm being too easy on the
show, write and complain.
