REVIEWS

Episode #28 - Batgirl Begins, Part 2 Original Airdate - September 24th, 2005 After the accident at the lab, Pamela discovers her love of plants has turned into the power to control them. With revenge on her mind, she transforms into Poison Ivy and kidnaps Commissioner Gordon, prompting Barbara to attempt a rescue under the guise of Batgirl. Reviews by The Penguin Media by Bird Boy Credits Written by Adam Beechen and Michael Jelenic Directed by Christopher Berkeley Music by Thomas Chase Jones Animation Services DR Movie Co., LTD. Voices Rino Romano as The Batman Danielle Judovits as Barbara Gordon/Batgirl Alastair Duncan as Alfred Mitch Pileggi as Commissioner Gordon Piera Coppola as Pam Isley / Poison Ivy Screen Grabs Pans Review "Sidekick, huh?" And there we have it, the end of the beginning. This made for a good wrap-up to the first part with Barbara Gordon walking us through the rest of her journey from aspiring Olympic gymnast to would-be crime fighter. She did a good job in her aid of Batman and I'm sure with time, the Dark Knight will come to appreciate his unwanted sidekick. With this episode though, I saw the potential importance for this series to be careful to remember the name of the show is The Batman. Overall I like Batgirl, but Barb sees herself as a sidekick and I hope she stays that way. The narration will need to go unless it's a Batgirl-heavy episode and at the same time, they can't all be Batgirl-heavy episodes. Time is going to tell on this one. "A Bat-girl, sir? Perhaps I should equip the Batcave with a doggie door—should Bat-hound decide to join the gang." Everyone's reaction to the new Bat is going to be different and while Alfred's comment about expecting a four-legged bat may have been just a little over the top, it was still fun to have the butler's wit give a nod to campier times in the world of Batman. The element of Commissioner Gordon being without his glasses when he first meets Batgirl was well-played. It's tough to say at this point whether or not Jimbo will figure out that Batgirl isn't "another red" but in fact, one he already knows. If he does, I can't imagine the Commish being too happy about his daughter trying to take on the likes of The Riddler, Mr. Freeze and the other baddies the GCPD can't handle. Now seeing her as a fully-developed villain, I think the fact that Poison Ivy is a teenager is going to come into play not only in her relationship with Barbara/Batgirl, but also with Batman and the other villains that populate Gotham. At least initially it appears that Batman sees Ivy as a kid and while he needs to defeat her to save the city, he'd like to be able to help her as well. And I could see someone like Joker or Penguin taking her help for granted and trying to order her around should they be part of a team. Poison Ivy's quest will be not just to save the environment, but to gain respect as well. [ Back to Reviews ]

 

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