"Girl's Night Out" is the seventh episode of the second season of The New Batman Adventures. It first aired on October 17, 1998. Livewire escapes into Gotham and teams up with Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn and with both Batman and Superman absent, Batgirl and Supergirl must step into the heroes' roles to save the city.
Plot[]
A prison truck from Metropolis is entering Gotham City. The prisoner is Livewire, on her way to experimental treatments at GothCorp that may succeed in returning her to normal. However, the truck drives past a recent road accident, where a power cable has fallen to the ground. The truck passes close enough to let Livewire absorb its power and escape.
Batgirl is driving the Batmobile, searching the city for Livewire. Over the radio, Batman tells her he'll be back in Gotham in two days, and will try to get her some backup in the meantime. Batgirl isn't worried, assuming Livewire is already heading back to Metropolis...until she spots Livewire skimming along some power cables. Livewire spots Batgirl and immediately lands on the Batmobile's hood, sending a current through the body that shocks Batgirl.
In Metropolis, Kara is house-sitting for Clark Kent while he himself is out of town. On the phone with her foster mother, she reports that, much to her disappointment, crime in Metropolis is slow that week. Then Batman telephones the apartment, asking for Clark Kent. Without giving his name, Batman advises Clark that Livewire is loose in Gotham, and if Kent wants to "get on top of the story", he should head there, immediately. With Superman gone, Kara immediately dons her Supergirl outfit and flies to Gotham.
Batgirl manages to escape the Batmobile by ejecting, landing safely in Gotham Park. Livewire lands in the park and begins tossing electric blasts, but all Batgirl can do is dodge acrobatically. Livewire finally nails her with one and is about to shock her to death when Supergirl appears, grabs Batgirl, and flies off. But another blast from Livewire drops them both out of the sky. Livewire is about to kill both of them, but then her power runs down, and disappears. "Welcome to Gotham", Batgirl says, as a way of greeting.
Bullock tells the two "rookies" not to interfere.
As the GPD mobilizes to capture Livewire, Harvey Bullock reproaches the girls for letting her getaway. He is in the unusual position of asking for Batman's whereabouts and telling the two "amateurs" to stay out of the GPD's way. Supergirl fumes, but Batgirl encourages her that together they are more than a match for Livewire.
In a defunct zoo garden, Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn are sharing a hideout. Harley is itching to get out and have some fun, but Ivy says they can't draw Batman's attention until they have "an edge". Then Livewire appears out of their toaster and proclaims "Ladies, meet your edge!"
The new villainess team goes to a closed shopping mall to loot the cash machines and raid the stores. Batgirl & Supergirl arrive and catch Livewire alone, managing to incapacitate her with a coating of electric-resistant silicate dust. However, Harley & Ivy join in. Harley knocks Batgirl into an open elevator, while Ivy tosses plant spores that sprout vines powerful enough to give even Supergirl pause. Harley washes the silicate off Livewire with a seltzer bottle, incapacitating her even worse by shorting out her powers. While Harley helps Livewire to their getaway car, Supergirl finally frees herself of the vines. Ivy tosses another set at Batgirl, but Supergirl incinerates them with her heat vision – inadvertently releasing a poisonous cloud of pollen that forces Supergirl to grab Batgirl and fly her to safety, while the villainesses escape.
At Barbara's apartment, the girls bond further as they trade notes on their lives. Kara admires Barbara's computer skills and her life in the big city while Barbara envies Kara's quieter life in the country. Laughing at their 'grass is always greener' situation they prepare to take down the villainesses.
Meanwhile, Harley drags Ivy & Livewire to the Iceberg Lounge to celebrate, but Livewire can't sit at any tables near so much water. As they argue over table choice, the Penguin appears and tries to cease the commotion. When Livewire backtalks and calls him "Lard Butt" he orders them to leave. Smiling, the girls suddenly fuse into a close-knit team and start wreaking havoc, leaving his lounge smothered in tree-sized vines and thorns.
Later, Batgirl & Supergirl approach a frazzled Penguin at the empty Lounge, while he is overseeing a team of hired arborists cutting through the growth. While at first reluctant, he mentions hearing rumors about where Ivy and Harley's hideout is...
Harley accidentally knocks herself out of the fight.
They enter the zoo, Batgirl carrying a tank of silicate to incapacitate Livewire, but Ivy's plant-based warning system tips off the villainesses and Ivy quickly relieves Batgirl of the tank. Comically, Harley knocks herself out by firing her spring-loaded boxing glove at Supergirl from behind – where it bounces harmlessly off Kara's head, shoots back, and hits Harley.
Ivy wrestles Supergirl to the ground with her plants, while Livewire attacks Batgirl. Batgirl shields herself from the electric blasts with a garbage pail lid. Vexed, Livewire fires a souped-up blast, which ends up setting Ivy's plants on fire. Desperate to save her "babies", Ivy releases Supergirl and climbs to a water tower, releasing a stream of water that puts out the fire, but shocks Livewire unconscious. A stray electrical blast catches Ivy, knocking her out.
YES!
Later, at Barbara's apartment, the two superheroines treated themselves to a makeover and a pint of ice cream each, as they watch coverage of their success on the news. When interviewed, Bullock admits that the two "rookies" responsible for capturing the three super-villainesses "show some potential". Considering the source, Barbara and Kara recognize high praise and share a resounding high-five.
Continuity[]
- Batman and Superman discovered each other's secret identities in Superman: The Animated Series, "World's Finest".
- Barbara and Kara's friendship endures:
- In the subsequent episode "Unity" of Superman: The Animated Series, Kara mentions that Barbara will be jealous that the Metropolis Meteors made Kara their official "Bat-girl".
- In Justice League, "Comfort and Joy", Martha Kent tells Clark that the girls are spending Christmas together on a ski trip.
- Penguin makes a snarky comment that Kara is too young to enter the Iceberg Lounge, while Barbara was admitted to the Lounge in "Joker's Millions".
- According to her hospital file in Batman & Mr. Freeze: SubZero, Barbara was 20 at the time of that film.
- Kara officially turns 21 in Justice League Unlimited's "Far From Home". However, since, as shown in Superman: The Animated Series's "Little Girl Lost", she was placed in cryonic stasis as a teenager shortly after Krypton exploded, making her chronologically much older than Clark.
Background information[]
Home video releases[]
- Batman: The Animated Series, Volume Four (DVD)
- Batman: The Complete Animated Series (DVD)
- Batman: The Complete Animated Series (Blu-ray)
Production inconsistencies[]
- At the end of the episode, in the second close-up shot of Harvey Bullock talking to the reporter on the TV, the TV appears to be just behind them.
- In the first shot of Harley driving Ivy's car through the mall, all three villains can be seen in the car. However, in the very next shot, Ivy is not in the car, but standing beside it.
- Livewire should not be able to shock Batgirl inside the Batmobile by shocking it, due to the principle of the Faraday cage: the Batmobile itself would shield Batgirl from any external electric charges, due to the chassis' conductivity canceling out external charges.
Trivia[]
- Batman/Bruce Wayne has appeared on every show in the DC Animated Universe, but this is the only crossover episode in which characters from another show appear on his.
- Penguin's line "That's it! Out you three pixies go!" is a reference to the film It's a Wonderful Life.
- When Batgirl escapes from the Batmobile, her theme from Batman: The Animated Series plays as she flies through the air.
- Robin, Nightwing, Alfred, and Commissioner Gordon don't appear in the episode.
Cast[]
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Kevin Conroy | Batman/Bruce Wayne |
| Tara Charendoff | Batgirl/Barbara Gordon |
| Nicholle Tom | Supergirl/Kara |
| Diane Pershing | Poison Ivy Reporter (uncredited) |
| Arleen Sorkin | Harley Quinn |
| Lori Petty | Livewire |
| Robert Costanzo | Harvey Bullock |
| Paul Williams | The Penguin |
| Hal Rayle | Driver Cop Mall security guard (uncredited) |
Quotes[]
Poison Ivy: Your hyenas have been watering my plants again. One more time, and they're mulch! |
Batgirl: (riding on Kara's shoulders) Wow! This is incredible! |
Livewire: Are you out of your mind?! |
Penguin: That's right, I need chainsaws, dump trucks, hedge clippers, and a bottle of aspirin down here, NOW! |
Penguin: We're closed. Besides, you aren't even old enough to come in here. |