Episodes:
"Feat of Clay"
Airdate: 02/19/03
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"Feat of Clay" 1.12 - Original Airdate: 02/19/03
  
Written by Adam Armus & Kay Foster
Directed by Joe Napolitano
Guest Stars:
Shawn Christian as Wade Brixton
Kirk Baltz as Clayface
Ian Reed Kesler as Chris Cassius
Patrick Fischler as Dr. Will Kroner
Co-Starring:
So, unless you BoP fans have been out of the country, or just haven't been paying attention to TV listings, then you missed the best of Birds of Prey's spotty thirteen episode run.
I'll start with Feat of Clay, which, I imagine started as a self-contained episode, but actually served to enhance it's second part, "Devil's Eyes", in more ways than one.
The big draw about "Feat of Clay" was seeing Clayface for the first time as a flesh and blood character. Clayface has been around since the 1940s, but the only time he's appeared beyond the Batman comic books was in a few episodes of the Batman cartoon from the 1990s. I hope that Clayface's potential on both the silver and small screen is one of the gems that Hollywood producers glom onto down the line. The shape-shifting was well done, and I have to admit, the make-up was pretty good. It's a shame Clayface didn't have more than three personas in this episode, since it would have been nice to see him assume the form of say, Barbara, and cause some trouble for the Birds.
Now, having showered the visuals for Clayface with praise, I have to admit I had some problems with the character as portrayed in the show. I couldn't get a handle on him. He murdered Catwoman, because...? He wanted to see her pain? I don't get it. Or maybe I just missed the reason. I'll take another look, but if Joe-viewer like myself, couldn't pick up on it the first time around then something should have been done to make it clearer. I'm also confused about Clayface's shifting abilities. He can alter his form, correct? And I'm assuming that Clayface managed to wedge through that crack in his cell, so why didn't he just slip away at the end, or grow really big and get away? And even then, if you consider that the glass (?) around the cell cracked when Helena hit it, why didn't Clayface just break out years earlier? I think it's probably a good idea not to think about things too much, but if a little bit of rationalizing is there, the audience will buy anything. Anything except for the fact that Helena apparently remembered the face of a man whose face she never actually saw. I mean, come on. That's a bit much. Plus he dropped the knife! Wouldn't someone have taken it, like say, the police?...
Another problem I had with Clayface was the actor, Kirk Baltz, and his, well, interesting accent. Was Clayface from New Orleans, or did he just have a curious slur. Granted it made the character unique in a way, but it also got a little annoying. I was also a little fed up with how much of Clayface's screen time was spent out of make-up. I have to assume it's a budgetry issue, since the make-up they had for Clayface was so great, I can't think of any reason why they would use it as much as possible.
Now, having moved past Clayface, I'll carry on to Clayface jr. otherwise refered to as Chris Cassius (and don't worry, Alfred rolled his eyes too). I thought the actor did a good job, but the part was under written. Of course, more time had to be spent on Helena and co. to wrap things up, but Cassius could have used a little more screen time, and his powers could have been explained a little better.
There wasn't really much of Dinah this time around until the fashion show, but Barbara, Alfred, Reese and Wade all got some good moments. I liked the scenes with Helena and Reese, and thought that there was some genuine chemistry this time around. It may have taken a while to get fired up, but the sparks between the two felt real, rather than inserted to create false romantic drama. In fact their scenes were downright cute.
Barbara had some good stuff with Wade. I'm glad to see he's still around, even if he is still a tad on the boring side.
On the whole, I thought "Feat of Clay" was flawed, but had some nice moments. The way the episode was set up was mostly build up for the finale, but it was still pretty good anyway.
Items of Interest for "Feat of Clay"
"Feat of Clay" was originally scheduled to air January 15th 2003 as the first half of a Birds of Prey finale send-off. It later aired on February 19th, 2003.
WB Summary for "Feat of Clay"
Coming soon.
TV Guide Summary for "Feat of Clay"
"In the two-part series finale, a guard begins turning to stone from the outside in after a toxic compound is stolen from a chemical plant, so Helena visits the incarcerated Clayface to inquire about a cure. But Helena finds the criminal may know about more than chemicals, as he only answers her questions after she reveals some painful personal information. Elsewhere, Barbara disappoints Wade by canceling their trip to the Bahamas."
Comicology for "Feat of Clay"
 There have been six different Clayfaces over the years in Batman comics. The first, Basil Karlo, made his debut in Detective Comics #40, dated June 1940. His successor, Matt Hagan, the first Clayface with shape-changing abilities, first appeared in Detective Comics #298 from November 1961. The other Clayfaces, Preston Payne, Shondra Fuller, Cassius and Dr. Peter Malley, have appeared more recently.
While it seems that Cassius, being the son of Clayface was brought into play in this episode, it was not revealed which Clayface fathered him.
Ratings for "Feat of Clay"
02/19/03 - 3.2/5
??? out of ??? programs for that week, 6 in it's timeslot (out of 6)
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