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Batgirl Returns is an episode of the second season of Batman: The Animated Series. The episode features Batgirl as the main character instead of Batman.
"Batgirl Returns" was the 85th produced episode overall and the 20th episode produced in the second season, making it the final produced episode of the series.
Synopsis[]
Barbara Gordon has given up her double life as Batgirl. That is, until a rare cat statue is stolen from her university museum. All clues point to Catwoman as the thief, but when Batgirl investigates, she makes an unlikely alliance with Catwoman in order to find the criminal mastermind behind it all. All this while Robin has to deal with the situation all alone as Batman is out of town.
Plot[]
One night, at the Gotham University history exposition, the Jade Cat Statue is stolen.
Dreaming of Batgirl
Batman runs across the rooftops when he is suddenly attacked by Penguin, Joker and Two-Face and they corner the Dark Knight until he has no way out. Batman is saved by the timely appearance of Batgirl, who attacks the criminals and takes them down in a very heroic manner. She approaches Batman to check if he isn't injured and Batman is thankful for her act. Batman wants to show his gratitude with a kiss and taking her on his arms, they get closer... until Barbara is woken up by Dick Grayson who is calling her from outside her room. Barbara gets up and goes to talk to Dick, who invites her to grab a pizza. Barbara would love to, but she has to study for some math exams, and Dick goes his way. Moments later, Barbara receives the newspaper, and she learns about the robbery at the university, after which she decides to investigate the case.
Catwoman arrives at the crime scene and starts looking for clues until Batgirl appears, and they start fighting. Catwoman explains that she isn't responsible for the crime and that she is actually looking for the responsible thief. Batgirl believes her and then notices that the security cables have been melted with acid. At that moment, Robin arrives at the place as well, and he goes for Catwoman without second thoughts. Catwoman runs to the rooftop of the building where she uses a net to stop Robin from chasing her. Catwoman escapes, and Batgirl tries to tell Robin that Catwoman is innocent, but Robin is just mad at Batgirl for allowing a known criminal to escape.
Batgirl and Catwoman team up
The next day, Barbara comes out of her gymnastic class, and she finds a message for her left by Catwoman giving her an address and a place to go at night. Barbara goes to meet Catwoman, and the cat lady compliments Batgirl before proposing to her to work together and find the thief. Batgirl isn't completely sure, and she agrees on the condition that if Catwoman is lying to her, she would turn herself to the police.
Meanwhile, Robin calls Bruce Wayne, who is in France at the moment and won't be going to Gotham City any time soon, leaving Robin to deal with Catwoman by himself.
Catwoman takes Batgirl to the Stacked Deck, a bar best known for being a den for criminals. They enter the place and cause a bit of trouble. Selina finally finds the man she is looking for, The Chemist, and she questions him about the type of acid used to steal the cat. After he recognizes the acid, The Chemist tries to run away, but Batgirl wouldn't allow it. This action causes that all the criminals at the bar start fighting, and the two ladies are forced to leave the place using a motorcycle from one of the criminals. They get away as fast as they can, but the police start chasing them, which leaves them no choice but to jump off an incomplete bridge. Robin arrives at the bar in the aftermath of the fight, and he learns that Batgirl and Catwoman are working together. After listening to the police radio, Robin knows where they are heading towards.
The Real Thief appears
Catwoman and Batgirl arrive at one of Daggett Industries' chemical warehouses and Catwoman explains that the kind of acid used to steal the cat is developed by that company. They look around for a safe and after finding it, Catwoman cracks it and retrieves the cat statue from inside. However, they're discovered by Roland Daggett and two of his henchmen, all armed and dangerous.
Daggett ties the two ladies and takes them to where the vats of acid are being stored as he starts telling them that his plan all along was to steal a valuable piece related to cats, framing Catwoman for the crime while he makes good money for the stolen good to rebuild his empire. Batgirl notices that in the meantime, Catwoman is cutting her ropes with her claws, and she buys her more time by asking Daggett what he is planning to do with them. Dagget tells her that he is going to shoot both of them and finish them quickly, but at that moment Robin arrives and disarms Daggett's henchmen. Catwoman frees herself and fights Daggett, while Batgirl, her hands still tied, fights one of Daggett's henchmen with her legs. Robin helps her and cuts her ropes with a well-aimed Batarang and together they deal with all of Dagget's henchmen. Catwoman chases Daggett to a catwalk right above a vat of acid and he gets scared by Catwoman, trips down the catwalk and his leg gets tangled with a chain. Daggett ends up hanging above the acid as Catwoman releases the chain to make Daggett pay for his past crimes, but Batgirl gets a grip of the chain before Daggett falls into the acid. Catwoman escapes the place with the cat statue and leaves Batgirl and Robin to save Daggett. While Robin stays behind with Daggett, Batgirl goes after Catwoman.
Batgirl and Robin let Catwoman escape
Catwoman thinks she is safe, but Batgirl reaches her and chases after her. Using a bola, Batgirl captures Catwoman by entangling her legs, causing her to fall to the ground and send the jade cat statue flying into the air, but Batgirl retrieves it. Approaching Catwoman, Batgirl confronts her that she was going to keep the statue all along, leading Catwoman to confess the truth while she was untangling her legs. After freeing her legs and tossing Batgirl back her bolas, Catwoman sheepishly admits she was just playing with Batgirl at first, but she did enjoy working with her after Batgirl impressed her. Catwoman offers Batgirl to team up and become an unstoppable criminal team; which sounds nice to Batgirl, who likes the idea of giving Batman a hard time, but she can't stand the way Catwoman makes fun of her father, Commissioner Gordon. After remembering the promise Catwoman made to her, Batgirl takes the cat statue and Catwoman turns herself to the police officers on the street. However, as the car gets on its way to the police station, Catwoman manages to free herself and steal the car from the officers, leaving them behind and telling Batgirl that she agreed to let the police take her, but she didn't say how far, and she escapes in the police car. Robin starts chasing Catwoman, but Batgirl grabs his cape and tells him that there will be another time to capture her.