What is an episode when it is not an episode? It’s a part. That’s the key thing to bear in mind when checking out Vixen, the first foray into animation from the Flash & Arrow (“Flarrow”) Universe of Greg Berlianti creation. Although it arrives as a 6-episode series, Vixen is really just a 30-minute animated story split down into 5 minute chunks (in fact, we get less than 4 minutes of actual footage). This debut offering seems to stop before it even gets going, because that’s exactly what it is, just a beginning. So the question switches from “What is this episode?” to “what is this series?” and those involved have firmly answered. It’s a dry run/beta test/soft opening/whatever the hell else you call it these days for the Vixen character herself, a long serving DC character, and Justice League member who draws in the strengths and powers of various animals via the magic totem she wears around her neck. If the series is successful, the likes of Berlanti and Guggenheim have officially stated that she will transition into live-action and appear on the main shows (or maybe her own show one day). So if this girl gone wild sends you feral, make sure you check it out.
“Episode” 1 – When Mari McCabe (Megalyn Echikunwoke – Damien, hard to pronounce names) returns to Detroit, she quickly finds herself in trouble with the local law and criminals. Yet 3 days later, we see her careering across the rooftops pursuit by The Arrow and The Flash.
It’s difficult to assess many factors from just this opening number but some things are clear. The animation style strikes to right tone of being neither childlike cartoony nor overly surreal which keeps the shared Universe idea to the live action shows plausible (the story takes place around episodes 15 and 16 of Arrow season 3). It offers good flowing and rewarding action as showcased in the opening chase of Vixen being perused by our regular red & green heroes. The cuts are fast and frantic as she uses her animal-empowered agility to dodge arrows and outmaneuver the speeding Flash. It looks like this sequence will be reprised and resolved as the series climax. It’s also interesting to see that although Vixen is using her powers, she does not appear to fully understand them yet. This supports the idea of the series forming an origin story for her character.
After the initial flourish, the rest of the episode is really just exposition to introduce Mari, her foster father and aspects of her family back story. For the limited time, it does this quite well. We learn a fair bit without being bombarded with information. There’s a clear focus placed on her totem necklace to reinforce its importance and her rather direct decline to a job proposal does a good job of endearing Mari to us quickly. Who doesn’t love a girl that isn’t afraid to stand up for herself? There are a couple laughs and even a great (if unintentional) riff on Tomorrowland as Mari gets her personal affects back at the police station.
In terms of what’s to come in the remaining “episodes “, well firstly they’ll be some familiar voices. Although they offered little more than a grunt this time, both Grant Gustin and Stephen Amell are voicing their respective heroes. A glance at the credits also confirms that Emily Bett Rickards and Carlos Valdes will be rocking the recording booth as Felicity and Cisco respectively. The mugger standoff climax clearly implies the first usage or discovery of her powers. Voice actress Kimberly Brooks is listed to play a young Mari so we can certainly expect some flashbacks. Yet at this point the biggest question remains how the series will end in terms of both Vixen’s character position and her interactions with the other heroes for her possible live=action inclusions (one Google will tell you Megalyn Echikunwoke looks the part as well as sounds it). Arrow has stated its season 4 will revolve heavily around magic and mysticism. So as a magically-powered character, Vixen (along with Matt Ryan’s show jumping Constantine!) could make a logical addition. Well, we’ll have to wait at least 5 more weeks to see how the series does but for now, Vixen’s definitely got the eye of the something or other.
..... and yes, you have just spent longer reading this than wathcing the episode