Post — Aaron Ngo

Major Spoilers are included in this episode review. Please read with caution.

Batwoman is getting closer to catching up to her Elseworlds appearance from last year. The first three episodes were rough in the origin story phase, but now we’re getting to villains of the week. A common superhero trope to make the momentum going on Kate’s double life. Kate and Reagan were really cute this episode, so I hope this isn’t the last time we see them together onscreen. Mary and Alice continue to impress me as well. Honestly, those two and Kate are the only people worth paying attention to. The other characters need to figure out stuff.

Catherine is set-up like the Moira Queen character. I think her characterization boils down to that, but we learn she’s also sympathetic as her confession seem real when Catherine decided to tell Jacob Kane the truth. Jacob’s really upset about her crimes against the Kane family: faking the Beth’s bone fragments “to confirm” her death. It wasn’t their finest moment, but… now Jacob might start believing Alice is Beth Kane.

Kate Kane is going down the superhero route faster than Arrow is the main difference between the two shows. While Oliver had legit reasons to wear a hood and use arrows, Kate pretty much went the Kara Danvers route with Arrow’s formula to create a street-fighting show with a Batman legacy driving it. I understand why the writers went this way with the show, but the constant exposition dumps via that radio show and Kate’s voice-over letters to Bruce are too much. I prefer the radio talk over Kate’s voice-overs… your coming out story shouldn’t have been shoved in there. You can convey that story through dialogue easily or… maybe a flashback? I bashed on this show already for it already though.

Magpie is the villain of the week. She’s a one-note villain and a cheap knock-off of Cat Woman in my opinion. Her costume was definitely not an original design for sure, and had elements of Cat Woman and Black Cat from Spider-Man. I’d argue Black Canary too, but I’ll leave it alone. That’s enough on the costume.

Mary Hamilton needs to join Team Batwoman soon. I think the show’s already setting her up to learn Kate’s secret soon, and having her banter with Luke Fox might help the characters flesh out more. Also, Luke Fox needs a storytelling excuse to hang out with someone not Kate Kane. The deep voice changer to hide secret identity from a person they know is a typical superhero trope that both Arrow and The Flash have done in the past, but it’s still cool nonetheless.

Overall, Batwoman is still finding its ground, but it is improving with each passing episode. Hopefully, this is the main goal, the show becomes amazing by the time Arrowverse crossover comes around: Crisis On Infinite Earths! It’s next month!

back to blog