Batwoman season 1, episode 7 review: Tell Me the Truth

This week’s Batwoman sees Kate Kane faced with an ultimatum from someone close to her… and an incredible twist changes the show forever  

Batwoman is now on episode 7 and it was going so well!

The show was going from strength to strengths but unfortunately, this week’s adventure has seen it take multiple steps back, and threatens to trap it in the morass that has hindered other Arrowverse shows in the past. That is not to say that this episode did not have its strengths, as there were a few aspects that work very well.

Been there, done that

The vast majority of this episode deals with Kate Kane’s old flame Sophie threatening to reveal her secret identity as Batwoman to Jacob Kane. This right here is narrative tire, as it has been patched and repatched so many times that there is almost nothing left of the original tire anymore.

This storyline of secret identities being threatened has been repeated too many times over the course of the multiple Arrowverse shows, and it’s getting very tiresome. Mostly because there are only two ways this narrative can play out, the hero is either unmasked or finds a way to trick those they love into thinking they are not the masked vigilante. Batwoman goes with option two and tricks Sophie into thinking she is not Batwoman by having another go out in the cowl (Arrow did this first)

A Penny for your thoughts

This episode introduces Julia Pennyworth – daughter of Alfred. She and Kate meet as they are hunting the same criminal. This then reveals the romantic past that Julia and Kate share. Yes, just as Arrow had Oliver Queen sleep his way through the female characters of Arrow, so it seems Batwoman is also committed to having Kate make her way through every other female character on the show.

More from Arrowverse

• The 9 best (and 8 worst) Arrowverse characters
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• All 8 Black Canary actresses ranked from worst to best
• 11 things nobody wants to admit about the Arrowverse
• The 7 best (and 6 worst) Arrowverse villains

This is a negative thing as it is usually only done to force tension and drama between the characters; drama that takes away from the most important part of these shows: The hero’s journey.

That being said, Julia Pennyworth is a fun character and her and Kate have a lot of chemistry together – perhaps even more so then Sophie and Kate do. Hopefully, the legacy character will be in more episodes as she fits the show very well.

Jump out of your skin

The episode also provides one of the season’s biggest twists and surprises, as it is revealed that the vast majority of the season Jacob Kane was in fact not Jacob at all but MOUSE wearing his face! Just when did this happen? How did it happen? And why is Mouse wearing  Jacob’s face? It was a great twist and one that saved an otherwise mediocre episode.

Most Arrowverse shows have some kind of big twist in the 7th episode and Batwoman certainly did not disappoint!

Batwoman has so many good things going for it that hopefully, it resists the temptations to fall into the traps of previous CW narratives.

4/10 Batarangs 

What did you think of this week’s Batwoman? Are you enjoying the show? Let us know in the comments below!