Birds of Prey is available now on DVD and digital. The series can be streaming on DC Universe in North America.
Synopsis
Frustrated by her relationship with Reese, Helena becomes intrigued when she meets Darkstrike (Kristoffer Polaha), a meta human who has come to New Gotham on the trail of a serial killer.
Review
Following an original and inventive story in the previous episode (reviewed here), Birds of Prey veers in to comic book adjacent territory with its seventh episode, “Split”.
This episode, whilst entertaining and dark for the season overall, is a direct consequence of trying to create a comic book series with little-to-no access to comic book characters.
Whilst the pairing of Huntress (Ashley Scott) and Detective Reese (Shemar Moore) feels inevitable, this episode throws a narrative spanner in the works in the form of Darkstrike (Kristoffer Polaha). It’s widely regarded that his character is Birds of Prey’s attempt to bring Dick Grayson in to the story. A character closely aligned to Barbara in the past who has since left town and now resurfaced.
The issue here isn’t Polaha’s performance. It’s that writers Edward Kitsis, Adam Horowitz, Adam Armus and Kay Foster have to try and make this character feel relevant when nobody knows who he is.
If this were a brand new superhero universe or if Darkstrike were a recognisable face from the comics then it would fit. There would be a precedent for him to appear in this universe and the audience would be more accepting. But as it stands we have to contend with a brand new hero fitting in to an incredibly well established continuity.
Paired with the overtly dark serial killer, The Crawler (Brian Thompson) and you have the makings of a Halloween episode.
The aim of the episode is more to explore Helena’s personality from the angle of another metahuman rather than solving the case-of-the-week. In the case of previous episode “Primal Scream” it worked because it focussed on established relationships within the series core cast.
Establishing a meaningful connection between two characters which will only ever last 45 minutes alongside creating a villain, setting up and resolving a mystery is too much.
That being said ”Split” does hit the audience with a mind boggling twist during the third act when it reveals the true nature of The Crawler. In true 00’s style I’m not sure if Darkstrike had a metahuman shapeshifting ability or is The Crawler was played by a different actor to represent a split personality. To that end was The Crawler ever his own person and if he was, did Darkstrike absorb his personality?
The episode throws up a lot of questions about how its villain came to exist. It’s a prime example of acceptable TV writing for its decade, writing that wouldn’t be accepted by today’s standards.
Verdict
“Split” is very much like its name. On the one side it’s an intriguing plot and a dark turn for Birds of Prey and on the other it’s the epitome of dated, cliched writing.
6/10
Birds of Prey stars Ashley Scott as Helena Kyle/Huntress, Dina Meyer are Barbara Gordon/Oracle, Rachel Skarsten as Dinah Redmond, Shemar Moore as Detective Jessie Reese, Mia Sara as Dr Harleen Quinzel/Harley Quinn and Ian Abercombie as Alfred Pennyworth.
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