Don't do the math on Birds of Prey.
Seven years ago, The Joker killed Selina Kyle while her daughter looked on, ironically right after the mother and daughter returned to New Gotham from a long European exile. And yet eight years ago, Helena had a best pal named Sandra, and the two of them really tore it up at New Gotham High.
This best pal, by the way, also knew Barbara Gordon, who was evidently very close to Helena herself even before Selina's murder. Somehow in all this, the world's greatest detective Batman never put two and two together and realized that he had a daughter. But that's okay, because for once Reese remembers that there was a Batman and suspects that there may be a connection between him and The Huntress. (Still ignoring that whole "bat-ring" reference, though.)
Continuing in a mathematical vein, there's still only a fifty percent chance that the show will ever do anything with that suspicion in the few episodes remaining.
At least they had the good sense to cast an actress specializing in erotica. Sung Hi Lee guests as Lady Shiva, a blend of actress and role that should have had fanboys salivating.
Ah, Lady Shiva! That deadly mistress of all martial arts, mysterious, beautiful, and extremely dangerous…how we awaited your arrival.
And how disappointed we have been that you got stuck in one of this show's follow the numbers plots. For at least the third time in this short run, our heroines find themselves chasing an enemy who turns out to be as close as that guest actor playing someone trusted. The first time was forgivable, because it was Reese that got suckered in, and we all know he's just cheesecake.
Actually, this time, too, may be forgivable, because who would suspect that a high school student could be a master thief who gave Batgirl a run for her money? For a few minutes, it even seemed possible that the original Shiva had died in the flashback sequence, and that Sandra had become a deadlier version of her older sister. No, even though the twist would have been welcome, the episode insisted that Sandra had always been Shiva.
But if those events were eight years earlier, and her sister was sophomore age, that would make Sandra and Helena at least juniors, which would mean Selina died when her daughter was a senior, and then you have to wonder why Barbara would have had to take her in in the first place.
Sorry. I started doing math again. Never mind that Sung Hi Lee, as hot as she is, looks far closer in age to Dina Meyer than Ashley Scott. And also never mind that in order to have a masked character, the creators chose a villain who in comics has never worn a mask, nor had a secret identity at all. It's never going to add up, is it?
However, glimmers of possibilities appeared.
Dinah learned a lesson about abusing her powers in an actual contextual situation. By using her abilities to become the girl a cute guy would like, she lost herself. Though by no means a subtle lesson, at least it got presented in a practical manner.
Having Barbara walk again could have been disastrous. In theory, it undercuts the heroism of the character, finding a way to fight crime while still living with the hand dealt her by The Joker.
But the writers actually gave her a reason to do it; she had to don the Batgirl costume one more time in order to apologize to Lady Shiva. (It makes more sense in the actual episode.) It also, thankfully, causes Barbara great pain to use the device, therefore taking more courage to walk than remain in her chair. Any episode that gives Meyer a chance to do more than just look concerned rates a plus in my book.
Even with that plus, though, it all still adds up to cancellation. Right now, the WB and the Tollin/Robbins production company are doing some polite sniping in the entertainment press, and I'm going to have to side more with the network on this one. They had a good idea; they cast some good people; then they couldn't quite decide what to do with it all.
