Simone does what she needs to do here, with Barbara shutting down Knightfall's attempt to eliminate criminals from Cherry Hill. The problem, of course, is that it still doesn't make a lick of sense.
In the end, Simone doesn't reveal Knightfall to be a criminal mastermind. (We also never really learn why she's named after a '90s cross-over event.) Charise really just thought that sending in an army of mercenaries to kill criminals was going to help Gotham. As a result, it's hard to take Charise seriously now that her full plan stands revealed. Did she really think that no one was going to take the place of all those murdered criminals? Even if no one did move into their territory, did she really think that eliminating crime in one small part of Gotham would "save" the rest of it? Also, are we really supposed to believe that she's so powerful that she would face no repercussions from authorities for essentially conducting warfare within city limits? Simone essentially reduces Charise to a poor little naive rich girl. By the end, she just crumbles into a teary mess after Barbara shows her a photo of her family. You're left wondering why it look Barbara so long to defeat her.
Along the way, the Birds of Prey take out pretty much all the villains that Barbara faced throughout this series without breaking a sweat. Grotesque might've haunted Babs for two issues earlier in the run, but, here, Barbara knocks him unconscious in just one panel. We get a hint of the larger point that Simone is trying to make -- the sense that Barbara could've resorted to the same tactics as Charise in the wake of her crippling at the Joker's hand -- but Simone's too distracted settling scores to make it. (It would've been interesting to hear why Barbara thought that she avoided Charise's fate.)
We end with Barbara deciding to move, feeling like she has a new lease on life after Charise informs her that James, Jr. is still alive. She decides to take her roommate with her, despite the fact that Alysia's role in this series has been reduced to pretty much providing diversity and little else. It clearly sets up the relaunch of this series next issue, and I'm on the fence if I'm going to take the chance with it. This series was so amazing at the start, but it fell into mediocrity at some point and couldn't find a way back. I (heart) Babs, so I'm leaning towards just drawing a line under Simone's run and allowing us to start fresh. But, being left feeling that way is a pretty sad end to a once a great series.
** (two of five stars)
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