Batman: The Animated Series
Episode 85
Batgirl Returns
The name says it all, Batgirl is back. It took forever for this moment to happen. It’s as if the creators forgot about her. Barbara Gordon before her Batgirl persona had more appearances than with her Batgirl persona. Thankfully her return resolves several story issues that linger throughout the series.
Barbara Gordon gets adventure hungry and decides to put on her batsuit and investigate a robbery. She discovers Catwoman at the scene and assumes she is the culprit. Catwoman proves she’s not involved and was investigating it herself. They agree to work together to solve he case. Batgirls only condition is if Catwoman is lying she has to turn herself in to the police.
There’s a really cool motorcycle chase with the police trying to capture Catwoman and Batgirl. Their investigation leads them to Gotham City’s version of Lex Luthor Roland Daggett. Daggett was trying to commit a crime that looked like Catwoman did it because he’s holding a grudge from the last time he tried to kill her and it failed. Robin shows up and helps them fight Daggett and his goons. Catwoman is about to kill Daggett but Batgirl saves him because killing is wrong, even if the guy is a corporate psychopathic murderer.
Catwoman then does a double-cross and tries to steal the McGuffin that Daggett tried to frame her for stealing. Batgirl stops her. Catwoman tries to convince Batgirl to join her in a life of crime. Batgirl is tempted but ultimately passes when Catwoman goes too far and insults Commissioner Gordon. Batgirl is a true and true daddy’s girl and turns down the offer. Catwoman surrenders to police, as she’s being driven off, she breaks out steals the car and drives off. She claims she promised to surrender but didn’t give a timetable for how long. Batgirl respects her play on words and talks Robin out of chasing her down.
It’s the last episode of the series and it’s a nice one. Catwoman is no longer pining for adventure, she’s living the life she wants. Batgirl is back and she’s going to keep on fighting crime with the rest of the bat family. Roland Daggett is finally arrested for something.
This is the only episode where Batman isn’t actually in it. He appears in a dream sequence to cater to some studio demands but the actual Batman is nowhere to be seen. Bruce Wayne calls Robin on the phone and gives him some crime fighting advice but that’s it. The episode works without Batman which should be impossible since he’s the guy the show is named after.
This was meant to be the conclusion of the show. The series is revived years later with a new animation style and those episodes will be explored in later reviews. As a whole BtAS sets the bar remarkably high. It’s the definitive Batman and better than the source material in the comics. The show had the benefit of trial and error within the pages of the comics. They could take the best comic issues, adapt them, translate them, fix them.
The characters in the show were remarkable. Batman was a side character in his own show most of the time and it worked. The rogues sold most of the stories and the best episodes weren’t focused on Batman but instead the people around him. The rare bad episodes were far better than many good episodes for other television shows.
Written by
Joseph Ammendolea
Owner/President
“I Like To Play With Toys” Productions®
ILikeToPlayWithToysProductions@Yahoo.com