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Birds of Prey Notes



BOP Episode Summaries

The following are Birds of Prey TV series. The summaries have been provided by Super85 who I can't thank enough.

1. Pilot episode


The Batman legend takes an unexpected turn when The Batman vanishes from the crime-ridden city of New Gotham after his one true love Selina "Catwoman" Kyle is stabbed to death and Batman’s protégé Batgirl is shot and paralyzed by the madman Joker. Batman leaves behind a daughter he never knew, Helena Kyle. The mother of Helena was of course Catwoman. 8 years later ex-Batgirl Barbara Gordon works still in the crime fighting business as the computer genius "Oracle". She has raised Helena Kyle who reluctantly fights crime as "The Huntress". Later our two heroines get a new metahuman sidekick named Dinah, who saw the killing of Selina in her "visions" as a child. These three form the "Birds of Prey" or "The Guardians of New Gotham". The worlds most beloved butler Alfred Pennyworth is still around to provide words of reason/wisdom. Other people that are featured in the pilot are Nick Ketterly, Helena's old friend who turns out to be the badguy, Detective Jesse Reese who knows that there is something fishy about Gotham during nighttime, Helena's counselor Dr. Harleen Quinsell who "hides a dark secret". And Barbara's niceguy boyfriend the utterly boring "Wade".

-Birds are introduced, Nick Ketterly mentioned

-This was the only episode that featured Batman and the Joker in the actual episode, in flashbacks however.

-The Arkham sign in the end is very similar to the one used in Batman Forever. Maybe same footage?.

2. Slick


Slick, an evil meta-human who can turn from solid to liquid, is hired by Dr. Quinsell to kill cops who stand in her way. One of them being Jesse Reese. Helena comes to the rescue and their sexual attraction continues to grow (especially while hiding in a Sauna) Meanwhile, Barbara trusts Dinah and her story that she's just a runaway, but Helena is suspicious and thinks there is more to the story.

-The three Robins are mentioned

3. Prey For the Hunter


Reese gets help from a Bludhaven cop to track down a serial killer. There is something strange with the cop who has a headache all the time. Its revealed that the cop is a metahuman.

Helena and Detective Reese’s relationship gets worse when they both try to track down a serial killer who destroys metahumans. A subplot has Dinah ditching school when she learns from Helena that there is a metahuman-only bar in New Gotham. Barbara meets Wades parents who think she isn’t good enough for Wade-baby because she can’t walk.


Fun note: The episode is just 39 minutes long.

-Much of the themes of this episode have been borrowed from the X-Men comics and film which dare I say explored it in a much better fashion


4.Three Birds and a baby.


The birds of Prey are left with a baby of a dead mother. As they attempt to figure out who his mother is, they deal with baby sitting chores and much to their surprise watch as the child ages rapidly.

-Bruce Wayne is mentioned
-yet another metahuman.

5. Sins of the Mother


Dinah is confronted by her mother. Carloyn Lance the Black Canary. Carolyn is pursued by a former hood who wants to avenge the death of his father claiming that Black Canary killed her. Meanwhile Dinah comes to terms with the circumstances which lead to her mother leaving her.

6. Primal Scream


At Reese's request, Helena goes undercover to infiltrate a criminal gang. However Helena discovers that the gang is in fact working for someone else-namely Harley Quinn.

-Dinah tries to deal with the events of the previous episode.
-James Gordon and Batman's partnership is mentioned in a scene with Babs and Alfred.

7. Split


Huntress teams up with another vigilante named Deathstrike to find a maniacal killer who is abducting and killing his victims. Named the Crawler, the villain has a history with Deathstrike who has been unsuccessful at apprehending him previous times. However, the story takes a twist when the Birds discover that Deathstrike himself is the Crawler.

-Harley Quinn is mentioned.
-In one scene, a street intersection of Miller and Varley is mentioned. This is a reference to Frank Miller and Lynn Varley who have worked on Dark Knight Strikes Again and Dark Knight Returns.

8. Lady Shiva
 


Barbara must use her wits to go toe to toe with Lady Shiva.

Helena is thrilled when her best friend from high school, Sandra, returns to New Gotham, but the Birds are troubled by a series of murders with the unmistakable mark of Batgirl’s nemesis, Lady Shiva. Determined to fight Lady Shiva as an equal, Barbara dusts off her Batgirl costume and experiments with technology that allows her to leave the wheelchair.

-Lady Shiva is one of the DC Universe's top martial artists. However, like most of the characters that appear on this show, she is completely different from her comic version i.e. she didn't go to high school in Gotham!

-There is a reference to Dennis O'Neil and Neal Adams. The legendary creative team which worked on the Batman comics in the 70's. 


9. Nature of the Beast


When a hit is put on the life of legendary mob boss, Al Hawk (Pileggi), the only person he trusts to protect him is his son, Detective Reese (Shemar Moore). Reese turns to Helena (Ashley Scott) for help, but when she learns that Reese's father is the same man who killed Dinah's (Rachel Skarsten) mother, Black Canary, her loyalties are tested.

10. Gladiatrix


When young metahuman women are abducted in New Gotham, Helena’s (Ashley Scott) investigation leads her to uncover a secret club where the captive women are drugged and forced to fight each other in an arena. When Helena is also abducted, it is up to Dinah (Rachel Skarsten) to rescue her.

11. Reunion


Babs meets Wade's parents while Helena mulls going to her Highschool reunion. Wade's parents don't feel that Babs is the right person for him. Meanwhile, Helena's reunion is soured by two murders. Oracle and Huntress's investigation reveals the villain is an ex classmate of Helena's who is killing his ex-mates to win her affections.

-Central City and Metropolis, two DC universe cities,  get a mention.
-This episode reveals the reason (A stupid one I might add) as to why Helena doesn't wear a mask. They are itchy. Yeah sure..