Batwoman season 2, episode 18 review: Power

“Power” surges in episode 18, the Batwoman season 2 finale, with a little Batwing and a whole lot more.

At this time last week on Batwoman, things came to a head. We found out Kate was playing everybody and still working for Black Mask. He, meanwhile, required the kind of weapons you can only get when you raid Batman’s armory to put himself in a position as Gotham’s master and would-be savior.

There also was a Batwing tease it feels like the show’s been building to forever in the middle of Wallis Day proving she can hang as Kate Kane. Did this build add up to the desired payoff in the Batwoman season 2 finale? Let’s find out.

Men behind the masks

First, Black Mask lays out his master plan which is to scare Gotham into submission as his helmeted alter ego and then swoop in as Roman Sionis to be the hero of an unsuspecting public.

You probably just pictured Tony Stark saying “Not a great plan,” a reaction that’s close to the mark. In the end, Gothamites stand behind Batwoman as their symbol of hope despite Ryan Wilder penning a letter of resignation that’s read publicly.

Plus, though this is a different Black Mask, his logic doesn’t match the source material. Sionis, brain-damaged and losing everything, was more willing back in the day to leave the past he burned to the ground, buried and let his new face take over.

Despite this incongruity and his own flaws of megalomania, Sionis hits on something cogent in his villainous speech – that protruding bone picked last time. Batman keeping his enemy’s gadgets, elixirs, and power sources as trophies rather than destroying them doesn’t make a lot of sense when they can be pilfered right out from under him.

The madness of being a hero

No, it doesn’t track. That is until Sionis shares his hunch that the Caped Crusader is greedy for power over Gotham, and drunk on the control it gives him. Maybe this is just a bad guy talking out of two sides of his mouth, but it does raise a question some fan theories flirted with in the past.

Those theories on top of some interpretations of the character suggest Batman is as insane as the villains he thwarts, fighting crime to satisfy a lust for revenge as well as a pathological need for control over his life and surroundings. He has to appear useful and good for Gotham because he can’t help himself.

Life only makes sense to him if he forces it to so if he did the logical and understandable thing by putting an end to Joker and all the other criminals, that would be stupid to him as there’d no longer be a need for Batman. It makes you wonder if Injustice, Zack Snyder, and Frank Miller were wrong about Superman being the one to put the world in danger.

By the finale’s end, Ryan and Alice did a better job of bringing peace to the city than Bruce. It might’ve looked too easy for them in hindsight, but that’s a different discussion.

Not in Kansas anymore

While on the topic of Alice, she begged a different question: What makes a great villain? Her answer was The Joker but the real answer is in the vicinity of depth, pathos, and a three-dimensional personality. Unlike Joker, most good villains should give audiences a reason why they snapped and an understanding of what makes them tick.

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Alice suffered the loss of a loved one, separation from who she once was and estrangement from her only family. People can relate to all that even if it doesn’t drive them batty or into a life of crime.

After this season, however, Alice is more of an antihero who proved she can be an uneasy ally when called upon. Given that, it might be time to reassess her going into season 3. The way things are now, she might be better suited to joining Team Batwoman as opposed to standing against them.

Or, better yet, The CW can do a spinoff starring Rachel Skarsten about the further adventures of Alice away from Gotham. That might work. It did for Angel after Buffy’s third season.

Let’s talk about Batwing in Batwoman season 2

We came all this way and still haven’t gotten to Luke Fox becoming Batwing. That’s because there isn’t much to report. Luke finds the suit, his dad made it for him, he puts it on, calls himself “Justice,” slugs the Bane clone, and muses about it all at episode’s end.

Unless I missed something he didn’t get a lot of screen time. It could be a money thing or they’re waiting until they can do an episode centered totally on Batwing, which would be great to see next season – hopefully more than once.

And that’s it for Batwoman, season 2. It was a mixed bag but when it aimed high, it did all right.

Any thoughts on the season 2 finale of Batwoman? What are you looking forward to in season 3? Tell us below and we’ll see you next season for more.