1.00 - "Pilot" [Unaired]

[Helena Kyle]

Discussion of "Pilot" [Unaired] spoilers can be conducted here! Thanks :)

[Harleen Quinzel]

I just watched the Unaired Pilot! :D So SPOILERS coming up ;)

What I liked about the episode is that it has the same dark feeling and background music the Batman movies have. I am glad that they kept the style there.

Of course, since it is a WB series, we find a few songs that fall in the WB style of music.

Sherelyn Fenn did great as Dr. Harleen Quinzel. She always had the goods to play the bad ones ;) Let's hope Mia Sara can be as vicious!

Dina Meyer plays a good "Oracle". She has the "do the right thing" style and always put business before pleasure. She is the brains of the trio. And she can type on a keyboard!

Ashley Scott plays a Huntress with attitude and an outfit that goes more along with dancing that to be a super hero! ;) At first, she questions the reasons why she is doing what she is. She doesn't really want to follow in her famous parents footsteps.

The Huntress has fantastic powers. And that "eye" thing is so cool! When in the dark, her eyes change form and colors so she can see like a cat.

The special effects surrounding her moves and powers are welldone. I am sure that has the show gets more popular, it will improve. And as the character says, "I am the weapon", so they must make her look like it with the effects.

Dinah Lance will be the key to drag a younger audience. BoP is mostly aimed at young adults without her. But since she is part of the trio, teens will find themselves in the show.

Dinah is our eyes in this New Gotham world. She is, like us, new to the city and will see, as Detective Jake Reese says that "there is something going on in this city after the sun goes down."

We don't see much of the detective in this episode since the aim is to have the viewers learn more about the three women. But we see that he is out there for the truth and will do a lot to find it.

The unaired pilot was good and made someone like me, who wasn't sure it would be a series that would see the end of the year, change ideas.

I think BoP will appeal to the Buffy/Angel/Dark Angel/Smallville fans out there. They even make links to other WB shows like the mention of meteor showers affecting ppl. ;)

[Dinah Lance]

How did you get to see the unaired pilot? Did you download from somewhere? I really wanna see it. :)

[Harleen Quinzel]

It is downloadable. Sadly, I used a link someone sent me but didn't note it down :(

So, I do have the episode in my computer but don't have the URL it's from :S

[Gotham Girl]

Hey Harleen.....thank's for letting us Know what happens and for what you think...it does sound like a cool show and one worth waiting for.

[Harleen Quinzel]

My pleasure!

I tried to keep spoilers to a minimum though for now ;)

[Bel]

It's a shame Reese doesn't have much time or do much "detecting" but I'm sure they'll deal with that :)

I loved the special effects for the 3d transmission thingy that Dinah used to show Oracle what she was seeing. That was sooo cool. I want one :D

The Huntress/Oracle scenes when Huntress was complaining a bit were one of the best bits for me. It's nice to see she's not your typical crime fighter, she's not actually doing it for the same reasons as Batman. Though I'm not actually sure what her reasons are :)

The Dr Quinzel/Huntress scenes were interesting, but they may unfortunately mean no direct confrontations between the 2 as it would be kinda obvious who is who if that happens. Shame.

Anyway, for a pilot, it's good :) Be interesting to see what they use the extra time for in the pilot which will be aired..... And to see how the new actress playing the Dr does, the one for this version of the pilot did an amazing job. And that suit at the end......... ;)

[Harleen Quinzel]

It's a shame Reese doesn't have much time or do much "detecting" but I'm sure they'll deal with that

I think they didn't want to focus on him in the pilot. The pilot is all about setting the main cast. He is cast but not as main as the girls are. Like we haven't seen much of Quinzel since she is not main cast either.

Like you said, I am sure he will get more time in the episodes to come.

I loved the special effects for the 3d transmission thingy that Dinah used to show Oracle what she was seeing. That was sooo cool. I want one

I was impressed by the quality of the special effects. Where have they taken the money to do all that? Normally, special effects suck pretty much in pilots. Have thye taken money from Angel and Charmed? ;)

The Huntress/Oracle scenes when Huntress was complaining a bit were one of the best bits for me. It's nice to see she's not your typical crime fighter, she's not actually doing it for the same reasons as Batman. Though I'm not actually sure what her reasons are

From my end, it seems that The Huntress kind of felt oblidged to fight crime in order to live up to what her parents were. I do like the fact that she questions the work of the super hero and why she does it.



And to see how the new actress playing the Dr does, the one for this version of the pilot did an amazing job. And that suit at the end.........

That is my fear... Sherelyn Fenn is just too good when playing bitches and bad ones. She did good in the pilot and kicked behinds! I only have the image of Mia Sara in "Ferris Bueller", so right now it is a bit hard for me to picture her as Quinzel.

[Bel]

Originally posted by Harleen Quinzel


I think they didn't want to focus on him in the pilot. The pilot is all about setting the main cast. He is cast but not as main as the girls are. Like we haven't seen much of Quinzel since she is not main cast either.

Like you said, I am sure he will get more time in the episodes to come.

I'm sure he will, hopefully in the next episode by the sounds of things :) He just better not end up as either a) a cop who accepts all the criminals wrapped up and doesn't do any detecting or b) a cop who always needs Huntress's help. That could get very formulaic too fast. Bit like the "all bad guys were given powers by kryptonite" in Smallville for the first few episodes.


I was impressed by the quality of the special effects. Where have they taken the money to do all that? Normally, special effects suck pretty much in pilots. Have thye taken money from Angel and Charmed? ;)


Well I imagine quite a few of them may become "standard" ones, so they could justify the money, such as the eye thing. And there is kinda comic-mania hitting the media industry, which means more money! :D I still want a cool 3d thing though! Wonder what other cool effects they'll come up with


From my end, it seems that The Huntress kind of felt oblidged to fight crime in order to live up to what her parents were. I do like the fact that she questions the work of the super hero and why she does it.


Yeah, that could be it. Though it seems she felt more obliged to live up to her mother than her father. That could get interesting, specially if it's developed.... choice between crime or justice, batman or catwoman :) The questioning is a good idea, specially combined with the psychiatrist scenes dealing with "real" life


That is my fear... Sherelyn Fenn is just too good when playing bitches and bad ones. She did good in the pilot and kicked behinds! I only have the image of Mia Sara in "Ferris Bueller", so right now it is a bit hard for me to picture her as Quinzel. [/B[/B

Too right she did! Why couldn't they keep her?! So what if she had commitments, give her lots of money!! :D Have to see what Mia Sara looks like....

[Dinah Lance]

Originally posted by Harleen Quinzel
It is downloadable. Sadly, I used a link someone sent me but didn't note it down :(

So, I do have the episode in my computer but don't have the URL it's from :S

If you ever find the link PM me with it please, I really want to see the unaired pilot!! :) :)

[Bel]

It is floating around IRC somewhere, though not many people have it so you'd be quite lucky to get hold of it.

[Huntress]

Damn! I am going to download the unaired Pilot now! Thanks by the way for the spoiler of the unaired Pilot Harleen ;). I can't wait to see the premier even more! I'm sure BOP going to kick some a$$ :D

[Ted]

The official reason everyone cites is that Sherilyn didn't have the time to commit to the role, and no amount of money they could offer (they do have three leads to pay before her) would probably make her drop her other projects. However, if you've read our spoilers section, you'll see that apparently Harleen will only be a season one regular, and there is the rumor that Ms. Fenn didn't like this one bit and decided to drop the role. I'm not sure which is true, but I imagine that if the role is a one-season one, she wouldn't have had to worry about being needed more for the show, right?

[Bel]

Interesting...... that could be true with the actual reason given being a convenient cover. Hmm. I'm not too thrilled with the idea of getting rid of her after 1 season....means the writers may have to rush a few things etc. instead of having a season or two to work with

[Ted]

If I was going to have a 3D crimefighter set-up, it would definitely be the liquid-metal-type table from X-Men. And as for special effects, I heard a lot of money was put into the pilot for them, and given that our bad guys and good guys aren't as power-laden as shows such as Charmed or Angel (Huntress' eye shift, Dinah's dreamscape-travel -- other 'powers' are just leaping off of rooves and stunt-type work), they can put more into setting the rest of the world, which is good, because Angel and Charmed are set in a modern world and BoP is more futuristic, so they have to enhance it.

[Bel]

Yes, I suppose there'll be more money for cool computing effects as they don't have to rely on "super power" effects. Though some physical stunt scenes aren't cheap......

Also, they can put in more of those cool zooms through Gotham. I bet they aren't cheap, but they're good. Remind me a bit of Spiderman actually

[trolleyperson]

The show had a fair amount of cheese – most of which coated itself around the bad guy to make a delicious little side dish – but overall it was very well done and left me longing for October to come around.

It started off with a strong and dark beginning where they showed Selina Kyle stabbed and Helena crying over her body asking for help that’s never going to come, before switching over to show Barbara getting shot, and young Dinah waking up from seeing it all in her head and being reprimanded by her mother for it.

I’m not going to rehash the rest of the plot because there are plenty of reviews out there already that will give you a blow by blow account. Instead I’m going to talk about one of the things that impressed me most about the show, which was the characters and their interactions with each other.

I was very surprised and pleased with how complex the Helena character was. The previews made her seem like a good ‘ol leather wearing, one-line zinger, whoop ass machine, and granted those elements are clearly present, but there was also a real character there under all of the posturing. As a teenager (before her mother died) Helena seemed to be a rather straight laced good girl, the kind of girl who probably always did her homework and brushed her teeth before bed (and I guess you should really take this description of what she was like with a grain of salt because I’m basing it on the fact that she had pigtails and was dressed conservatively in the flashbacks J). From that she’s turned into a rather closed off, wounded young woman, who is angry at the world and at herself. There’s amazing potential for this character in my opinion if the producers and writers take the time to explore and explain what she’s gone through in the seven years since her mother’s death. I think this will be really important towards allowing viewers to connect and relate to Helena, which will be necessary because at times her behavior can be unbelievably bratty (which especially apparent in her scenes with Barbara).

Barbara is another interesting character, though in a far more subtle way than Helena/Huntress. With the exception of the scene near the beginning with Wade (which is apparently going to be cut out of the actual pilot), most of Barbara’s scenes are plot related. That being said, Dina Meyer did an incredible job of allowing Barbara’s emotions to show through. Barbara is clearly a woman dedicated, perhaps obsessed, with her role as Oracle. She’s managed, it seems, to compartmentalize her life quite efficiently (unlike Helena) but her nightlife – as it were - clearly eclipses everything in her other life. Like Helena she was also wounded emotionally by the Joker’s attack and has to carry around a very physical reminder of it through her paralysis. Her most emotional scenes are with Huntress – who is probably the only person that she has meaningful contact with on a regular basis – and I found Meyer to be particularly effective in these. As I stated earlier, Helena’s shitty personality traits mostly presented themselves during her scenes with Barbara, and though Ashley Scott was able to express that Helena was obviously in some kind of pain, the immediacy of the source of Barbara’s pain (that being Huntress behavior) and Meyer’s subtle but highly emotional treatment of it really left me wanting to kick Helena in the head sometimes.

That being said the relationship between the two of them was very intriguing, and I can’t wait to see how it develops further, and too see how it had developed to the stage that it was at in this episode.

And finally there’s Dinah. I have to say that I was expecting this character to be another Shiny McWhiney (tm anonymous on Dawn from B: TVS), but she turned out to be a pretty mature and thoroughly enjoyable character. Rachel Starksten really brings a freshness and vitality not only to the character but to the show as well. For me, Dinah was the character that the audience could most readily relate to because we were being introduced to everything along with her. Like the other characters, Dinah is also wounded in the sense that her abilities have clearly caused her problems in her family and probably made an outcast at school. But she’s not as jaded as the other two yet, and it’s was refreshing to see her excitement as she entered this new kind of world.

It’ll be really interesting to see how Dinah’s relationship with Barbara and Helena grows based on what they’ve established in the unaired pilot. Helena at this point clearly doesn’t like the girl (I kind of expected her to start dusting imaginary germs off of herself and mumble about being ‘dirty’ after Dinah hugged her), and I got a rather territorial vibe as the reason for it. Barbara is clearly intrigued and later impressed by Dinah, and I think that Helena (though she would never admit it) is afraid of losing her position as Barbara’s protégé/confident to Dinah.

To sum up, the pilot episode while not perfect kicks all kinds of ass, and if the writers/producers develop the characters and storylines carefully and interestingly “Birds of Prey” could be not only a good show but a great one.

[Watcher]

Seen this about, oohhh... 10 times.

Great pilot, well, for a unaired pilot. Hope to see a few things change in it though.

[Oblivion]

I am one of the lucky ones who have seen the pilot. I actually stumbled upon it. I wasn't looking for it but I happen to come across it and figured I would check it out. Because of Shemar Moore. ;)

I think the effects in the beginning are very well done. The graphic of the skyline of New Gotham City, then the scan over the city. Very impressive, for a pilot episode. Seeing the Joker right away gave me the old Batman feel, which was unexpected but appreciated. I'm liking the whole idea of Batman/CatWoman's child being one of the leads. I think there are a lot of interesting twists to come from that story line.

Helena - Is a character I identify with very much. She is like me in a lot of ways. So, of course I am drawn to this character. The fact that she seemed to be a innocent little girl and then was hurt. Now, an angry woman. Yep, fits me perfectly. Witty lines, lovin' 'em.

Oracle - This character just seems to fit perfectly. I don't know why. I guess it's the actor. Whatever it is. It's perfect. They could not have picked a better actress for the role!

Dinah - I'm not too hot about this character, however I think I will learn to love her. I didn't like how she got all shy. But then agian that is what makes her different from the other two. So, I don't know.. I'll have to wait and see on this one.

Reese - He's Hot!! What else can I say? I love the man. I would watch this show even if I hated every aspect of it, just to see him!

Ok, enough of my babble... Great effects/graphics, actors, story, writing. Great show. Love it!

[Utter Darkness]

I think that on the unaired pilot, the acting really could have been more 3 dimensional.
They kind of didnt take the "superhero" concept with enough seriousness amongst the plot.
Don't get me wrong, I have full faith that they'll fix it up nicely in the final pilot. If they didnt than you could just say they might as well have dumped most of the work on the special effects than the directing to fit the look and feel of the show, but I dont think it'll turn out to be that way after they've gone into the plots deeper in the future episodes.

To sum it up, this is how I rate the unaired pilot:
- Special Effects: Awesome!
- Use of Special Effects: Overdone at times, not done enough at others.
- Plot: Very Intersting!
- Acting: Unfitting to the show's supossed dark mood
- Atmosphere: Nicely Satisfying

It's worth watching to get a good idea for the show to me. But its not anywhere as satifying to me to watch as its trailer.