This one is a big favorite of Bat-Trap fans. Imagine! Ropes that automatically contract around the body of the person bound with them. Easily one of the top Bat-Traps they came up with on the show as far as inventiveness and creativity are concerned...but just what are these Cat’s Whiskers that Catwoman used to try to do away with our heroine anyway?
Well, we can first imagine that the Cat’s Whiskers have to be some sort of high tech synthetic material that contracts when brought in contact with a heat source. Additionally, Catwoman’s reassures Joker as to the strength of the Cat’s Whiskers. This indicates that the thin fishing line-like cords the henchmen are using to tie up Batgirl with must have a super tensile strength…more than enough to prevent Batgirl from breaking free. Any sort of material with these properties would take a lot of time, money and resources to develop and produce.
More than likely, Catwoman’s bold assertion to Joker that the Cat’s Whiskers are “a fiendish invention” of hers is a misstatement. A much more probable answer is that Catwoman has simply taken something that someone else already developed and manufactured and adapted it to a new and sinister purpose of which the original inventor never dreamed.
One true-life example of readapting an existing material to a totally different use would be Gortex. Originally developed with medical applications in mind, it was later discovered that it also made excellent waterproof rain gear. Another example would be Kevlar. It was first developed for use in automobile tires and then later adapted for use as a bulletproof material. Keeping these two examples in mind, at a guess, I would say Catwoman is actually using (or rather, misusing!) something from the aerospace industry used for construction of high performance jet fighters and spacecraft.
Cat’s Whiskers obviously contract and strengthen rapidly as they are heated. It then follows that they would be woven into the wings and fuselage of these craft. This way, as they encounter air friction in passage through the atmosphere at high speeds and heat up, the body of the vessel will, in turn, be tremendously strengthened and reinforced. When properly used, Cat’s Whiskers then are obviously far stronger than steel, cannot be cut or broken without special tools, yet can still be flexed easily.
Now that we have the origin of the industrial material properly named “Contrac-tex,” (a synthetic substance “Cat”alyzed into contracting by heat) out of the way, let’s look at a few other things about its properties as it is used by Catwoman’s gang.
Catwoman tells Joker that “in seconds, Batgirl will be strangled to death” as her goons tie up the struggling Batgirl on the lawn. For such an extremely swift death to occur to Batgirl, we must then assume a rapid contraction rate on the part of the Cat’s Whiskers of 50 percent or greater once physical contact to our heroine’s hot body is established. By that I mean, a two foot length of cord contracts to one foot or shorter. Several wraps of cord wound snugly around Batgirl’s neck will certainly do the job on her when they contract. The question now is whether or not Batgirl will truly strangle to death as Catwoman claims.
To figure this out, we first need to conduct an experiment. Get a butter knife and a cold stick of butter from the refrigerator. I’ll wait until you get back. Back so soon? Now place the flat side of the knife against the top of the butter stick and press down on it hard. You can see that it takes a bit of effort to push into the butter with the flat side of the knife. Now turn the butter knife on its edge and try the same thing with the same amount of force. The edge cuts through the butter much more easily. This is because the force is concentrated along the narrow edge instead of spread out over the flat of the blade. Now assume that the stick of butter is Batgirl’s neck and the edge of the butter knife is the Cat’s Whisker, since when Batgirl was tied up, the Cat’s Whiskers appeared to be as thin as fishing line.
Catwoman’s comment to Joker about Batgirl strangling to death is a gross misstatement. Batgirl faces a far more gruesome fate from contracting Cat’s Whiskers than the strangulation she would have suffered if the Whiskers were thicker. In essence, the Cat’s Whiskers wrapped around Batgirl’s neck will function like a garrote instead of a noose.
A garrote, for those that have never heard of it, is a weapon usually made from a length of thin, strong, piano wire, anywhere from 12 to 18 inches long, with handles on each end. In practice, one usually sneaks up behind the intended victim, quickly loops it around the neck and jerks it tight. Instead of strangling the victim, the thin wire cuts right through the flesh, arteries, veins and esophagus of the neck (like a hot knife runs through butter). Because of the sudden loss of blood flow to the brain, the victim loses consciousness instantly and either bleeds to death or drowns in their own blood.
Since Batgirl’s entire body has been liberally entwined in the Cat’s Whiskers by Catwoman’s men, as the Whiskers contract it will have a far greater effect than simply squeezing the stuffing out of her. This “body-garrote” Batgirl is wrapped in will certainly cut right through her costume and deep into her flesh, snapping her ribs and cutting her body to shreds. Additionally, the wraps of cord around her neck may contract enough to decapitate her, although Batgirl will most certainly be dead before that happens.
YOW!
Holy Catastrophe!
Ironically, Catwoman herself gives Batgirl the clue she needs to escape her deadly fate, as the Princess of Plunder stands over Batgirl, gloating at her and chatting with Joker about the properties of the Cat’s Whiskers. If the criminals had moved a few feet away from Batgirl to talk, far enough so that Batgirl could not hear the conversation, Batgirl would have had no idea as to how to escape and would have died a hideous death.
Now I will make two additional points about this peril that have absolutely nothing to do with my topic. First is the struggle scene where a surprised Batgirl is grabbed from behind by Catwoman’s goons, snatched up off her Batgirlcycle and carried away to the lawn to be bound.
In my opinion, this is THE best Batgirl struggle scene from the entire series. Why? Well, the big reason is that it’s one of the few times in the show that Batgirl was ever shown on the receiving end of some truly rough physical treatment at the hands of villains. It far surpasses anything else that criminal miscreants did to her in the series, being even more vigorous than the rough shoving she endured in the closing moments of the Cossack Sabre Dance, as well as the time when Riddler’s evil henchmen grabbed her and carried her off to the steam bath (you actually get to see this peril unfold, while you never actually see Batgirl being thrown into the steam bath and cooked). Granted, this rough manhandling Batgirl endures at the hands of Catwoman’s men is pretty tame by today’s standards, but it’s still a delight to watch, anyway.
My second observation is that Batgirl engineers a truly masterful escape from this peril. Using only her knowledge that heat causes the Cat’s Whiskers to contract and the water sprinklers full of cold water, our heroine pulls off a marvelous escape. The viewer sees all of this, too, as it occurs. This is far, far better than something like the break-out Batgirl manages from Louie the Lilac’s boiling oil vat that is not even seen and uses a “Batgirl vat opener” from her utility belt as she later claims. Escaping from this Bat-Trap shows Batgirl at her best: extremely resourceful, intelligent, competent and resilient.
One additional observation. This show occurred in the 1960’s, when women were often depicted as weak and in need of rescuing all the time. Tough, competent TV characters like Yvonne Craig’s Batgirl helped break down this stereotypical attitude towards women, paving the way for today’s female astronauts, soldiers, construction workers and the like, not to mention such contemporary fictional heroines like Buffy, Xena, Scully, Captain Janeway, Max, Major Carter and Black Scorpion. Ms. Craig is to be commended for her pioneering role.
When discussing the traps and cliffhangers used on the beloved Batman TV series, one of my all-time favorites has to be the Cat's Whiskers, "a fiendish invention" of Catwoman's. This malicious machination has inspired me as a writer and has served as the CAT-alyst to puberty for young boys for the last 30 years.
This trap was featured in the third season of Batman and on the second half of one of the last two-part episodes. In the first part, the Joker is released from prison and kidnaped by Catwoman at gunpoint. Their dialogue makes it very clear this is a ruse. They next embark on a bizarre series of burglaries, where each item they steal is a piece of a map to a hidden stockpile of dynamite.
The first half ends with the heroes arriving too late to stop the next robbery at the home of Karnaby Katz, a wealthy antique collector, and with the villains hiding in the bushes outside, waiting to ambush The Terrific Trio. The second half opens with the heroes leaving Katz's home. They stand outside the front door and Batman asks Batgirl where they can get in touch with her. (Is this an attempt to discover her secret identity?) Batgirl responds by asking where she can get in touch with them (in a very tongue-in-cheek manner, probably thwarting his scheme.) Agreeing they will manage somehow, the heroes take to their vehicles.
Off-screen, we hear the Batmobile depart, while the camera stays on Batgirl trying to start her Batgirlcycle and having no luck. The villains step into the scene and confront Batgirl, with Catwoman holding the sparkplug they took from her motor. The Joker and Catwoman distract Batgirl, while two henchmen, Laugher and Giggler, rush her from behind and pull her off the motorcycle. They carry her over to the side of the house and wrestle her to the ground. (My favorite part is when she kicks at one of the henchmen and he catches her shapely leg!) They pin her down and entwine her from wrists to knees in thin twine that looks like dental floss.
Catwoman explains that the twine is her "Cat's Whiskers" which contract when exposed to body heat. Catwoman says that "in seconds, Batgirl will be strangled to death . . ." It's logical to assume that Batgirl will be choked and crushed, as if in the coils of an anaconda or a python.
The villains leave Batgirl to die. Batgirl struggles, gasps, grimaces and glances at the control switch for the lawn sprinklers. Thinking quickly, she rolls over to it and, with her nose, presses the "on" button. (Actually she uses her chin to push the "on" button. Her nose is in line with the "off" button! - Editor) The sprinklers activate and douse her in water, cooling her body and causing the Whiskers to expand, allowing her to dis-entwine (?) herself.
I love this trap. It's probably the first time I noticed a woman's body in a sexual manner. It's so exciting to see her squirming desperately against her bonds and to watch her roll around on the ground, watching each of her smooth curves straining against that tight outfit. The best part is where she braces herself to press the sprinkler button, letting her ample rump and taught breasts jut out as she pecks bird-like with her kittenish nose on the switch!
A special word of merit is due to Ms. Craig's acting skills. It was her facial expressions that sold this trap. In fact, Yvonne Craig is the whole trap! She's all there is to it: No parts, no switches, no wires or pulleys - just twine and her shapely body. Aside from the Siamese Human Knot, this is the most minimalist Bat-trap ever. Yvonne really had to try and convince us she was suffering . . . and she did just that. It was her gasping and grimacing that shows her torment. Watching her as she struggles is what makes this trap interesting.
This trap has his weaknesses. First of all, with the exception of shrinky dinks, don't most things expand when exposed to heat? Second, is it a good idea to kill someone outside on the front lawn of somebody's home in the middle of the day? Third, how come the villains didn't see the lawn switch ? If they did, wouldn't they think to disable it? Wouldn't it occur to them she could use it to escape? Lastly, they were careless in not securing her to the ground, thereby allowing her to roll around. Yes, she had her legs tied and couldn't get up and walk away, but with just enough freedom to move in some way in some direction, any good heroine is bound to escape.
So let's get to the ratings:
The Cat's Whiskers has to be the greatest Bat-trap ever used on Batgirl. I've never seen anything so sensual. It's a fantasy that has warped me happily for years. I consider myself entwined in the Cat's Whiskers for life!
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