Jessie Robertson reviews the tenth episode of Batwoman…
Our first show back from Crisis and besides 2 things (which we’ll get to) you wouldn’t have even known it happened here in Gotham.
We return with a villainous hacker, who’s taken over a subway (and nearly killed 40 people), threatened a privacy leak and humiliated Gotham’s Mayor with a live TV takeover. It’s scary enough that Luke turns off the Batcave systems and goes dark. Meanwhile, Kate is dealing with her own humiliating event after she’s seen “being saved” by hunky Gotham cop Slam Bradley; it goes viral and the whole of Gotham is shipping (matching them up as a couple) instantly. This is a major identity issue for Kate; to not be out as Batwoman, she feels she’s being dishonest to the people she serves and herself; this is the very issue that she left the military for.
These two issues end up aligning very neatly in fact, when despite having minimal access to technology, Luke comes up with a device (very Cisco of him) that can help Kate track down our hacker- it turns out she goes to Gotham Prep. When Kate activates the device and confronts the young girl, she finds out the girl is acting out from being outed to her parents before she was ready to tell them about her sexual orientation by a jealous and vindictive ex. She wanted her parents not to think her soul is damned and to write her off; now, in the mind of a teenager, you can connect these dots and even if it’s a powerful scene (which it is- Ruby Rose actually does her best acting here, with the mask on, reacting to the story), it’s 100% perfectly convenient this girl and her issues are exactly the compass Kate needs, but she’s also the “villain” so to speak.
Well, of course, Alice shows up as well and brings one of the more happenstance plots yet just to have her involved- now she’s the one pulling for the stronger sister relationship and basically just physically threats to harm this girl if she doesn’t use her social media powers to out Kate as Batwoman; Alice’s plan goes awry and she finds herself actually caught and jailed for the first time.
The sub plots here are all minor issues that do actually contribute to the larger overall arch, currently, but together, they don’t add up to much. Mary, now grief stricken, can’t grieve because she has a father to defend who’s in prison. Jacob gets 2 or 3 quick scenes dealing with one tame prisoner in real wastes of time. And Sophie reveals her husband has left her and she’s trying to figure out who she is right now. There’s a hug that ends the episode between Mary and Kate that will warm your heart and a birthday scene with Kate and Luke but emotion is in short supply on Batwoman.
Back to the crossover effects: besides a quick aside from Kate and Luke about her being the Paragon of Courage, nothing seems out of place in Gotham….until the episode ends with a jawbreaker of a cliffhanger: Beth has come home to visit Kate from school abroad. Huh? Yep; there are now two Beths, or Alices, or one Beth and one Alice. Anyways, for a hum-hum episode with one of the strongest performances by any cast member (a teenage girl) in the show’s short history, the ending combines to make this one still memorable.
Rating: 7.5/10- After picking up my jaw from such an interesting finale to tonight’s episode, this one gave us a funny scene at a tombstone with Alice and a strong performance by this week’s teenager in pain.
Jessie Robertson
