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Wednesday, 27 May 2020

Batman: The Wail of the Siren

 "Batgirl, Batgirl Batgirl, Batgirl 
Where do you come from? Where do you go? 
What is your scene, baby? Yeah, we just gotta know 
Batgirl, Batgirl Batgirl, Batgirl 
Are you a chick who fell in from outer space?  
Or are you real with a tender warm embrace? 
Yeah, whose baby are you? Batgirl, whose baby are you? Batgirl..."    

It's becoming increasingly clear that this season there's not so much money sloshing around   (Siren's hideout is so very cheap!) and that the need to accommodate an extra character in   Batgirl where there’s only a single episode lasting twenty-four minutes to play with has, we, not exactly improved the show. Nor is the show’s signature wit much in evidence: this could be a kids’ cartoon. It’s enjoyable enough but I’m hoping the third season has more in store than we’ve seen so far.  

That said, though, this episode is an improvement, cartoonish though it is. A shockingly young Joan Collins is sexy and charismatic as the Siren. Barbara Gordon is still talking to her parrot as a neat little exposition device. And... yeah, that Batgirl song- the lyrics absolutely had to be the quote. It’s mad, it fully embraces both its silliness and its sixtiesness, and I love it. How could I not? We also get a line where Batman refuses a soft drink on the grounds it could be “too relaxing”, and the hilarious concept at the end of Siren singing an “antidote note” on the mesmerised Bruce.  

Still, I'm a little alarmed at this point. This episode is fun, yes, but it’s a simple cartoon type show, and that's how the season seems to be going. Batman has seemingly moved from high camp to low camp. Surely this can’t continue?

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