Birds of Prey is available now on DVD and digital. The series can be streaming on DC Universe in North America.
Synopsis
When Helena rescues an abandoned baby boy, Elliot, and brings him back to the clock tower, Barbara and Dinah try to help. However, to everyone’s surprise, the baby is only happy when Helena is holding him.
Review
“Three Birds and a Baby” is a typical example to early 00’s superhero storytelling. It features a story which is constructed around an intriguing premise, a genetically engineered killing machine design to live for only 24hrs, but which is executed too softly to properly impact its audience.
Up to this stage Helena (Ashley Scott) has been the typical hero of the piece. She’s physically strong, equally strong willed and much like her father she shuns deeply emotional connections (aside from Barbara) in order to focus on the mission. But when she suddenly finds herself caretaker to a seemingly harmless baby the story seeks to show a warmer side to her personality.
From the jumping off point it seems like “Three Birds and a Baby” is going to tell us a story about how Helena comes to connect with another human on an emotional level and that does happen through the course of the story, but instead the focus is more on the fact that the baby – who comes to be called Guy – is in fact a killing machine bred by Harley Quinn (Mia Sara) to aid in her mission to take over New Gotham.
When Guy falls asleep he ages and so we meet him at several key points on the path to his inevitable death. Rather than questioning his existence or rallying against it Guy goes from a baby to an angsty teenager and becomes a formidable foe for Helena to duel with.
At this stage in the season its important to note the relationships between the cast members is beginning to become apparent on screen. Though Helena and Dinah (Rachel Skarsten) are still written with some friction it’s clear that all the actors have a great deal of respect for each other and are enjoying working together.
In particular the relationship between Helena and Barbara (Dina Meyer) is incredibly genuine and honest. There’s no pretence between them, though Barbara took in Helena it’s not a mother-daughter relationship but neither is it sisterly. Instead they feel like contemporaries with a wealth of respect for one another and it’s a refreshing relationship to witness.
The episode, written by David H. Goodman & Julie Hess, attacks the premise on the understanding that the audience will enjoy the action more than it will the emotional core. Given that this episode aired around a similar time to the series Dark Angel, on which Scott was a recurring guest star, it’s a shame they hadn’t recognised the appetite for more a more character driven story.
There’s still plenty to take away from this episode as it lightly leans in to the warmth hiding under the surface with Helena. Each of the Birds is a fish out of water with a baby and it does allow the show to flex some more comedic muscles than we’ve seen in any previous episode. But the focus really does stay on the slightly preposterous idea that Harley has the means and the funds to create a superior killing machine which only lives for 24 hours.
It’s the kind of outlandish concept which wouldn’t work in a contemporary show without a hell of a lot more context. But this being 2002 it was so much easier to get by on this kind of loose narrative. But what Birds of Prey does do which is still incredibly pleasing to see, even to this day, is rise above the pack to craft an emotional conclusion when Guy grows old and passes away.
It’s clear from watching plenty of episodes the series that the writers had some very forward thinking ideas but were held by the trappings of the era. Had this show been created in 2020 I can guarantee we would have seen some much more sophisticated storytelling.
Verdict
Not Birds of Prey‘s crowning glory, “Three Birds and a Baby” is an excellent example of the pitfalls of creating genre television during an era which focussed heavily on style and not substance.
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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