(1/3/10)
The episode that concludes Batman: the Animated Series is an underwhelming tribute to the eighty-four outings that have preceded it. Batgirl Returns daringly removes Batman from the plot and asserts, as if in anticipation of the series still to come, that the mythos thus far constructed is rich enough to facilitate itself without its star at the helm. It is underwhelming insofar as one expects a dynamic bookend on par with the masterpiece that spawned the series, but as a breezy retrospective on the series’ continuity and kinetics, it is the perfect finale.
Another Batman adventure would be seen through the eyes of the tired, experienced crusader who cannot be surprised or intimidated. The most powerful Batman stories are passively voyeuristic, as the rigid crusader looks on a chaotic world and the human beings trapped by it. Batgirl, in that she is vulnerable and inexperienced, is a more charismatic active participant than Batman. With her as the star, we are allowed a fresh perspective on Gotham City and its many sectors. She has no fleshed out moral code of heroics by which to abide, and so Catwoman, whom she encounters in a recently plundered museum, is able to toy with her. This dynamic places Catwoman in an advantageous and influential position, and for the first time we can follow a more susceptible, and consequently more exciting, hero into now uncharted territory.
On one level of Batgirl Returns, there is the story about Batgirl’s embrace of heroic virtues and her rejection of Catwoman’s moral apathy. We have seen her come into her own in Shadow of the Bat, already full of naive pep and enthusiasm, so this continual solidification of vigilante ethics seems only necessary, though slightly straightforward. What endows it with intrigue is an opening dream sequence, animated with gusto, which suggests a deeply rooted romantic motivation in taking up the Batgirl mantle. It must be remembered that even though the hint of future adventures was obvious, the Batgirl of Shadow of the Bat existed for the simple purpose of investigating her father’s arrest. It is only after we learn that she has a girlish crush on Batman that she returns to crime fighting.
Already the generational gap between the two heroes, aged playboy and college teen, infects this scene with disturbance, a disturbance that further ingrains itself through the glossed superficiality of the fantasy. Batgirl knows nothing about Batman aside from what he looks like and his heroic nobility, and their romantic embrace looks like a hollow Disney construct. Though we are only privy to this suggested infatuation at the start, after which the romantic angle dissipates entirely, Catwoman’s moral grayness and sly temptations can be seen throughout as a counterpoint to Batgirl’s childish idealism, molding this Thelma and Louise caper into a tale of surprising complexity.
But on another level entirety is a riveting romp through obscure Gotham locales that deliberately harkens back to several of the series’ most noteworthy moments. Catwoman’s museum snooping recalls The Cat and the Claw and Catwalk. The Stacked Deck is a shady dive that conceals its own universe of overhanging lamps and shadow-soaked walls, evoking the infinite space of Almost Got ‘Im’s poker hall. There are off-the-cuff references to Clayface and Cat Scratch Fever, and it ends with the adage that closes several Batman installments, that both hero and villain will meet in battle another day.
A kaleidoscope of familiar atmospheres and clichés, Batgirl Returns is both anthological and part of a specific chronology and character arc. It closes the series with a nostalgic fun that directs its gaze to the future, foreshadowing the continuance of the DC Animated Universe in all its varied incarnations.
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