Batwoman Episode 01/12 - "Take Your Choice"

[Dr.]

Scheduled airdate: February 16, 2020

Synopsis:

TWO’S A CROWD – As Kate (Ruby Rose) is pulled between two sisters, Luke (Camrus Johnson) and Mary (Nicole Kang) are tasked with finding the cause behind Beth’s debilitating headaches. A visitor delivers some good news to Jacob (Dougray Scott), while Sophie (Meagan Tandy) takes her new role to the extreme and Alice (Rachel Skarsten) makes a devastating discovery. Tara Miele directed the episode written by Ebony Gilbert.

Promo trailer:




“Now, I give you fair warning,” shouted the Queen, stamping on the ground as she spoke; “either you or your head must be off, and that in about half no time! Take your choice!” - Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland

 

[Dark Raven]

Seems that one of them has to die in order for the other to survive. But this doesn't seem to fit with the rest of the rules of doppelgangers. In Supergirl, there were several of the same people in that alien bar, and also several Brainys. And we've seen more than one version of the same character interacting with each other before in numerous episodes.

This seems more like the standard trope of needing to kill one off when there's a twin, and also keeping the main hero always full of angst.

It would seem to also undermine what Ollie would've done if he managed to bring back certain people dear to a hero who had previously died (eg like in Arrow with all of his family).

I personally would just as soon be done with this Alice storyline and have them move on from that and give Batwoman a new villain to fight. Instead it seems like they might end up dragging her character out over several seasons.

In the previous episode when she was good and not insane, it brought a different dynamic to Team Batwoman that they could do with.

I would even have been happy if Alice disappeared altogether after Crisis and was replaced by a non-insane version and then this could act as a little mini reboot.

 

[WereCoyote]

Ok, I understand why this episode didn't air last night because of the Superbowl, but why are we getting a 2-week hiatus after we had that big layoff in Crisis?

 

[Dr.]

February 2 = Super Bowl
February 9 = Academy Awards
February 16 = next episode

 

[Dark Raven]

February 2 = Super Bowl
February 9 = Academy Awards
February 16 = Raspberry Awards
February 23 = Grammy Awards
March 1 = Loss of interest...

Fixed.

 

[Dr.]

Neither Batwoman nor Supergirl were preempted for the Grammys (which took place on January 26).

Also - fans of Magnum PI shouldn’t throw stones.

 

[Dark Raven]

It's pretty clear who will probably end up dying, otherwise they can't continue with these Alice in Wonderland episode titles.

Neither Batwoman nor Supergirl were preempted for the Grammys (which took place on January 26).

Also - fans of Magnum PI shouldn’t throw stones.

I think it's also a mistake to have Magnum PI on hiatus for so long and lose momentum.

 

[vantheman77]

How much you want to bet that Sophie shoots Beth thinking she's Alice and that it will drive a wedge between Kate and Sophie?

 

[Dark Raven]

How much you want to bet that Sophie shoots Beth thinking she's Alice and that it will drive a wedge between Kate and Sophie?

I already thought that last time it was on. It's inevitable that Alice is the one who is going to survive.

But pre-Crisis, they had dopplegangers co-existing without any harmful side effects or one of them needing to die. What's the problem now? It seems conveniently changed to create angst.

 

[Primal Slayer]

Decent episode...

Beths death wasn't really a shock but I was hoping that they'd actually went through with killing Alice since it's a big decision Kate had to make but of course the villain is usually more interesting than the do-gooder. Now that Kate has made the decision and Alice knows that Kate was willing to let her die.....we really have to stop with the cat/mouse game the two have been having with one another. Alice should be ready to go full throttle....Kate will obviously defeat her by end of the season but they need to at least give Alice a season or two off before attempting to do anything else with her after this season.

Batwoman got a slightly modified costume in her new cowl, it looks good, I like it. Now they just need a much better wig.

But now we come to the headache part....Batwoman has established a pretty big and important side affect of Crisis and it shouldn't be one that the others ignore....only problem? Supergirl is doing the same doppelganger storyline without the "only one can exist" aspect. They have a whole bar full of doppelgangers. So the Arrowverse is not setting any guidelines to this and it's a MESS. I prefer Batwomans version of the rules since it ups the stakes.

 

[vantheman77]

Looks like this may be it for the Multiverse problem for Batwoman.

 

[C. Lee]

But pre-Crisis, they had dopplegangers co-existing without any harmful side effects or one of them needing to die. What's the problem now? It seems conveniently changed to create angst.

I cn't quote the actual lines, but they said they believe the problem has arrived because the universe has become a lot smaller with the destruction of all the other universes.

 

[Primal Slayer]

But pre-Crisis, they had dopplegangers co-existing without any harmful side effects or one of them needing to die. What's the problem now? It seems conveniently changed to create angst.

That was Pre-Crisis though, the line between worlds was a lot thinner. The Flash said that the vibrations changed after Crisis and apparently cant handle multiple versions of the same person anymore. But will it be addressed outside of Batwoman? Likely not.

 

[Dark Raven]

I knew that was going to happen in the end, even up to the last minute. But how did the plastic surgeon get there so quickly after torturing his disfigured son? That doesn't make sense.

I was hoping they would also go through with killing Alice. Now her relationship with Kate can never recover.

 

[Thome216]

I would say never say never about their relationship not recovering. Looked at in black and white, Kate made the better choice. If only one should live, why choose the monster? It's like the ending of the Good Son.

(And of course alt-Beth was not going to survive, sadly. I was hoping they could merge them but, oh well...)

Still, I'm wondering if Kate's decision to finally stop trying to save her might shake up Alice. The whole time she's been saying that she's not Beth anymore while also still trying to get Kate back on her side, which has not been working. The fact that Kate chose another over her, may force Alice to either go all out as a bad guy (which has been pretty far already) or to try and find within herself something that Kate would fight for.

I'm hopeful we'll eventually see Red Alice.

I think this was a very good episode.

 

[Lencho01]

I laughed at the Mission Impossible moment. The "No, no, no..." part made me laugh too.

Ending twist was not a surprise, but dude got there pretty fast.