Jessie Robertson reviews the third episode of Batwoman…
So, episode three of Batwoman and let’s take stock of where we are. Cool costume, check. Badass main star, check. Extremely overloaded cast of support characters, check. Love interest, check. Deep, layered past, check. Okay, it’s only taken Batwoman 3 episodes to pile in the mini-van of the most rote story routines all other CW shows have in their most mundane times. And this makes me sad. Let’s discuss the episode though.
In ‘Down Down Down’, we further the Alice plotline by illuminating on the reveal that Alice has figured out Kate is dressing up like Batman. In fact, despite the cleverly done note left by Alice last week, we are further bludgeoned on the head by the hammer that was her using the Bat-signal to call Kate to her, only to break it with a bat. 3 episodes in, we’ve destroyed, arguably, the biggest piece of iconography in DC’s vast library. Okay. Next, we are introduced to a Bat-character with a deep seated Bat-history: Tommy Elliott, who would go onto later be known in DC Comics as Hush. After a break in and theft at Wayne R&D, we find out Bruce Wayne not only made an indestructible Bat-suit, but he also created a weapon that could puncture the Bat suit because, well, he’s Batman. So, the very easily figured out culprit (Elliott) stole the Bat-killer weapon.
And how does Kate figure this out? She stops by the big party he threw to brag that he now owns a building overlooking Wayne Tower, Kate casually mentions how whoever stole that weapon should know there’s a GPS chip in it, and moments later, yep, dumb villain goes to look for it as she walks in on him doing so. This plot line hurts my head, honestly. I don’t want to burn this show down though. Guest star Gabriel Mann (from ABC’s Revenge) is a delightfully weasely bad guy who’s just given bad lines. The Tommy Elliott backstory, that he quickly burns through in 40 seconds of dialogue, is a deliciously evil and tragic backstory. Mary (played by Nicole Kang), Kate’s stepsister, is a cheeky socialite who actually does good in Gotham by running a back alley clinic. And say what you will, but Ruby Rose, for my taste, is good. She’s just brusque enough (they could really dial up her sarcasm and not following the rules more) but everytime they stray into typical CW drama BS, the show feels like something we’ve seen so many times before.
I think so far the most pleasant thing going is her sister Beth – or Alice. Her backstory needs to be told at some point for any of this to have weight and I think our opening tease is the start of that tonight. The fact that Kate cannot still give up on her, despite the fact that she’s a murderer, and possibly schizophrenic, shows the true grit of a hero and Alice finding the map Kate kept as a child was the one scene I felt worked (besides her putting on the makeup.) Rachel Skarsten is having fun in the role while not completely going over the top. Trust me, the show doesn’t need any more theatrics.
6/10 – Kate and Alice’s relationship is building; let’s hope to a worthy breaking point. It’s nice to have Thomas Elliott in this world but all of the Kate relationship drama feels like it should be in Riverdale or something.
Jessie Robertson
