Batwoman series premiere review: Pilot
Batman is gone, and Gotham is just coming out of the chaos. So when a new supervillain rises, it will be up to Batwoman to fill the void.
Batwoman is the latest in the ever-expanding Arrowverse from The CW. First introduced in the crossover event “Elseworlds,” Kate Kane a.k.a. Batwoman now has her own series to fight crime, right social issues and develop into a flesh-out character like the other heroes of the Arrowverse.
Set in Gotham city three years after the strange vanishing of Batman, we find the city just coming out of a period of fear and uncertainty. The peace is due to Jacob Kane and his “Crows” — a security company that has taken over now that Batman is MIA. For years, Kate Kane has been off training to join her father’s security outfit but, when a deranged villain named Alice along with her Wonderland Gang assault Gotham and kidnap Kate’s former girlfriend Sophie Moore, Kate returns to help free her and maybe find herself in the process.
Performances
Ruby Rose is not the world’s best actress. With that being said, she has proven herself in various action films and, for the most part, she’s crafted a career as a character actress. Rose, for all the reservations many fans had, is a really good Kate Kane. She can handle the physicality of the role and was also able to convey some decent emotion in a few scenes. Overall, she does an effective job in her leading debut. The season’s villain, Alice (played by Rachel Skarsten), really shined. Skarsten plays the character in a delightfully straight yet unhinged way, but she was not over the top, which lent a bit of creepiness to her and her Alice in Wonderland theme.
Social Issues
You all knew this segment was coming. In the comics, the character of Batwoman has a lot of “social justice” elements attached to it, so it was reasonable to assume the show would, as well. This seemed to be confirmed with the casting of Ruby Rose, an LGBTQ actress, in the role. As a big science fiction reader, so this writer appreciates having social issues brought up in narratives. However, one significant issue is that often the social justice issues can take over and leave the rest of the story to suffer. Many fans like myself feared that Batwoman would be more Supergirl than Arrow (The latter being balanced in its social issues and comic book stories).
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Thankfully, Batwoman is VERY balanced in championing social issues while not allowing it to consume the story. The subplot of Kate and Sophie and the homophobia that led to the breakup of their relationship was handled well and did not overwhelm the overarching story being told. In most cases, social issues are best showcased in stories in a way that makes you think and is driven by the plot, as opposed to exposition. As the season goes on, we can only hope that Batwoman is able to maintain the balance of providing social commentary and comic book storytelling.
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Final thoughts
Overall, the series premiere of Batwoman is enjoyable. The first half of the episode was a bit disjointed, and some of the dialogue was somewhat stiff. But as the program reached the halfway mark, everything began to click. It has good action sequences (a bit below Arrow but above the other Arrowverse shows), and Ruby Rose and the rest of the cast all seem to enjoy the roles they’re playing. The darker tone of the show is also a welcome change of pace. Nothing is too jokey, and the villain is being showcased as an actual threat. And that revelation at the end really sets up a very interesting and emotional arc for Kate Kane this season.
6.5/10 Batarangs