Cast

Dina Meyer as Oracle/Barbara Gordon.
Ashley Scott as Huntress/Helena Kyle.
Rachel Skarsten as Dinah Lance
Shemar Moore as Detective Reese
Ian Abercrombie as Alfred Pennyworth
Mia Sara as Harley Quinn

Teleplay by Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz.
Story by Adam Armus and Kay Foster.
Directed by Chris Long.

Original Airdate

Prey for the Hunter originally aired on Wednesday, October 23, 2002.

Synopsis

Metahumans are being killed by someone with the power to mimic their powers.

High Point

The Batman speech. This is a departure from the comic book history, but it explains a lot about the attitudes of the people in this version. It's also nice to see him treated the way we'd expect to treat him.

Low Point

The police officer driving the car in the baseball cap was conveniently blind. What patrolman wouldn't notice two people fighting in front of his car, only to see one of them throw the other in front of the vehicle? (I'll forgive him not noticing the eye thing, as the light was poor and most people in this city would dismiss that as some trick of the light, or something else that means they didn't really see what they tought they saw.)

The Review

The originality of this series is lacking. I'll forgive them for not coming up with original powers, as there's almost 70 years worth of comic book superheroes setting all kinds of precedents. Still, they have yet to use these characters in any way we haven't seen before. If they don't start coming up with something original, then this will be the show I stop watching when I inevitably decide that I don't have time for six hours of television each week. I can't think of a single element this week that we haven't seen before. I can't even think of anything that we haven't seen in combination with the other elements. I give it 1 out of 6.

The effects were, for the most part, good. The wire work looked like wire work, but it wasn't bad. The only effect that really didn't wash for me was the fake ice around frosty. The rest were mediocre. I give it 4 out of 6.

The story was way, way too predictable. The Batman conversation was a little gem in an hour otherwise filled with mediocrity. I give it 3 out of 6.

The acting was never spectacular, but it was only bad when Huntress (Rachel Scott) lost her temper at Oracle. I give it 3 out of 6.

The emotional response this generated was not promising. The Batman conversation held my interest, and I chuckled at the "beat him to a bloody pulp" line. The rest of the episode fell pretty flat. I give it 3 out of 6.

The production was, like much of the rest of the work, neither spectacular nor terrible. It seems like they spend so much time and effort getting the fight sequences right from so many angles that they didn't leave themselves enough time to do the rest of the episodes. While the fight sequences are very well done, especially for a weekly series, they can't lose sight of the rest. I give it 3 out of 6.

Overall, this was a very run-of-the-mill episode. I shouldn't be this bored with the characters in the third episode of a series. I don't know how long this show will last, and I'm honestly not sure I'll be sad to see it go. I give it 3 out of 6.

In total, Prey for the Hunter receives 20 out of 42.