- "I know I may look like the ultimate career woman, but all this, it means nothing to me. I'm unfulfilled. The Joker and I always wanted kids. Me and my Mr. J, we would have had such beautiful children. My green eyes and his green hair. Instead, the best I could do was to have you custom-make this baby for me and you lost him."
- —Harleen Quinzel on creating Guy
"Three Birds and a Baby" is the fourth episode of Birds of Prey. It aired on October 30, 2002.
Synopsis[]
When Helena rescues an abandoned baby boy, Guy, and brings him back to the clock tower, Barbara and Dinah try to help. However, to everyone's surprise, the baby is only happy when Helena is holding him. Even more astounding is the fact that Guy wakes from his nap as a walking, talking 5-year-old and is soon a teenager. Now in a race against time, the women discover that Guy is programmed to live his entire life in three days--and to kill the first person he becomes attached to, putting Helena in grave danger.[src] |
Cast[]
Starring[]
- Ashley Scott as Helena Kyle/Huntress
- Dina Meyer as Barbara Gordon/Oracle
- Rachel Skarsten as Dinah Redmond
- Shemar Moore as Detective Jesse Reese
- Ian Abercrombie as Alfred Pennyworth
- Mia Sara as Dr. Harleen Quinzel
Guest starring[]
- Riley Smith as young adult Guy
- Michael Welch as 14-year-old Guy
- Bobby Edner as 10/11-year-old Guy
- Kevin Rankin as Lewis Melfin
- Brody Hutzler as a mercenary
Co-starring[]
- Matthew Josten as 4 Year Old "Guy"
- Richard Stobie as 70 Year Old "Guy"
- Rachel Koda as Woman
- Brad Bufanda as Tough Kid
- Victor Bevine as 40 Year Old "Guy"
Uncredited[]
- Unknown as baby Guy
Plot[]
One night, three men attempt to abduct a baby from a woman. Huntress arrives and battles two of the men with one arm holding the baby because he was dropped by the woman. After the battle, the men escape and the woman is dead, leaving Huntress with a crying child. As the sun rises, Dinah names the baby Guy and soon everyone realizes that he has an affinity for Helena.
In her office, Harleen Quinzel assaults Dr. Lewis Melfin; she wants the baby she bought. He explains that his lab assistant took the baby he made for her but she has been killed. Harleen decides that she will get others to retrieve the child that she wants to adopt, the child that she wishes she could have had with "Mr. J."
Meanwhile, Helena is at the morgue, trying to find some way to identify the woman, when Jesse Reese approaches wondering why she has a package of diapers, but Helena reminds him, with a flirty smile, that she is still angry about his past insults. The conversation is interrupted by Barbara Gordon who has an emergency. Barbara needs the diapers, Alfred Pennyworth, though he brought a bassinet, refuses to help further, and Guy doesn't want to be around anyone but Helena, who doesn't notice that he is no longer a newborn. Helena puts the baby down for a nap to converse with Barbara who has learned that the woman worked for Simcron Labs; when she returns, Guy talks, saying he had a bad dream.
Barbara calculates that Guy is a meta-human with the power of accelerated growth, but that brings the downside that he only has days to live; Helena becomes sorrowful when she realizes how similar she and Guy are. While Dinah baby-sits, Barbara and Helena call Dr. Melfin to deliver the toddler. On the way there, Guy takes a nap in the car and becomes a pre-teen, making the team realize that sleep ages him. Upon entering and shaking Melfin's hand, Dinah's precognitive power has them realize they are surrounded by the mercenaries that Harleen hired. Huntress, who stayed behind to watch Guy, enters and fights the thugs; suddenly, Guy arrives and kills Melfin.
Harleen sees the body of Melfin and explains to the leader of the mercenaries that she needs that prototype experiment for her plans to conquer New Gotham City.
Slowly, Helena is claiming Guy like he is her son, teaching him responsibility with his powers, especially not killing; she promises him a birthday party. After she tucks Guy in that night, Helena talks to Alfred, who raised Bruce Wayne, about parenthood and that she appreciates how Barbara raised her.
Guy awakens, as a teenager, and argues about his origins and his skills as an assassin. He leaves and goes to a teen club where Dinah finds him and connects with him on the same level. When older teen boys come to have fun with the unwilling Dinah, Guy smiles as he releases some emotions physically. He causes a riot which alerts all parties who seek him.
Now an adult, Guy is found by Helena and the mercenaries of Harleen; however, Harleen has activated Guy's aggressive programming and he attacks Helena, who refuses to fight him and chooses to ask him to fight his inner turmoil. By being kind and motherly, Helena makes him realize that he determines his destiny, not genetics or programming. Nurture wins over nature as the two battle the mercenaries.
Returning to the New Gotham Clocktower, Guy ages faster, as he is now middle-aged, because of the stress of battle. A five-second nap ages him in appearance about twenty more years. The team brings Guy, now old, a candle-lit cupcake to celebrate his birthday. He wishes for Helena what he was given, happiness. The women cry as Guy breathes his last.
Huntress sits on a swing, sad. Detective Reese finds her and apologizes for his past mistrust. Later, she goes home and blows out a candle-lit cupcake, which Guy never did.
Harleen is not pleased that her plans for her baby were thwarted and kills the mercenary leader. However, she now knows that there is a woman in New Gotham who directly opposes her.
Trivia[]
- Dr. Lewis Melfin asks Helena if she's "faster than a speeding bullet", a phrase often attributed to the powers of Superman.
- The episode's title is a reference to the 1987 film Three Men and a Baby.
References[]
Birds of Prey | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
"Pilot" • "Slick" • "Prey for the Hunter" • "Three Birds and a Baby" • "Sins of the Mother" • "Primal Scream" • "Split" • "Lady Shiva" • "Nature of the Beast" • "Gladiatrix" • "Reunion" • "Feat of Clay" • "Devil's Eyes" |