Batwoman Episode 02/01 - "Whatever Happened to Kate Kane?"

[Dr.]

Scheduled airdate: January 17, 2021

Synopsis:

GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN - Kate’s friends and family hold on to hope that Kate may still be found, a homeless 25-year-old named Ryan Wilder (Javicia Leslie) stumbles upon Kate’s Batsuit. Focused on no longer being a victim, Ryan takes the suit to use as armor and goes rogue in the streets of Gotham, taking out various members of a new gang called the False Face Society. Meanwhile, both Jacob Kane (Dougray Scott) and Luke Fox (Camrus Johnson) launch searches for Kate, Mary Hamilton (Nicole Kang) grapples with losing yet another family member, Sophie Moore (Meagan Tandy) struggles with things left unsaid to her first love, and Alice (Rachel Skarsten) is furious that someone got to Kate before she could exact her revenge. At the same time, “Bruce Wayne” (guest star Warren Christie) returns under the pretense of searching for Kate, but the truth is he wants his suit back and it becomes the clash of imposters as “Batwoman” and “Bruce” square off in the action-packed season premiere.

 

[NotNickFury]

Well, tonight's the night. Very curious to see how this all works out.

 

[Slick]

I’m excited to have the show back tonight.

 

[Primal Slayer]

It feels weird to have CW shows back in my life. I've grown accustomed to them not being around lol.

Lets hope that Batwoman can bounce back and be as better than ever. Though this could lead to more "original" characters taking over for comic characters.

 

[terry78]

I had no idea this started up again tonight.

 

[Primal Slayer]

So Kates private plane crashes with Kate nowhere to be found. Was she abducted by an alien? Someone from Apokolips? Ended up on a different earth?

 

[NotNickFury]

Come on. A plane falling out of the sky is literally a job for Superman...and Supergirl. Either or, really.

 

[Primal Slayer]

Come on. A plane falling out of the sky is literally a job for Superman...and Supergirl. Either or, really.

I was half expecting this to be a flashback to Supergirl lol. I wonder if they'll even bring up calling on Kara or if Kates disappearance will be brought up in the other Arrowverse shows.

Kate had to talk to Kara in person to talk about Kryptonite? Couldnt just zoom her?

 

[NotNickFury]

I was half expecting this to be a flashback to Supergirl lol. I wonder if they'll even bring up calling on Kara or if Kates disappearance will be brought up in the other Arrowverse shows.

Kate had to talk to Kara in person to talk about Kryptonite? Couldnt just zoom her?

No lie, for a few seconds I thought Ryan was witnessing the same plane that Kara saved in the Supergirl pilot, before remembering wait, that's not possible.

 

[Primal Slayer]

Well they certainly made Ryan very unlucky!

Not sure why Alice's gang would squat in a random apartment that could be rented out at any time but....at least it ties her to Alice which is good.

Julia now having the most connection to "Bruce" makes her a lot more interesting. Still wondering what happened to everyone Batman fought/had connected to. Is there no Bat family?

They really spent all of 1 min with whatshisname fooling people into that Bruce Wayne was back. Talk about wasted storyline potential.

 

[NotNickFury]

All that buildup and 'Bruce's identity is revealed in all of one episode. I have to wonder how different this might have played had Batwoman's first season not been cut short, but now the secret is out.

The connection between Alice and Ryan is, I think, a bit of a stretch because why would Alice's gang just be in some apartment? Alice is about as involved in everyone's lives in Gotham as Reverse Flash is for people in Central City. But hey, it at least gives Ryan motivation for wanting to kill Alice, so I'll give it that.

 

[Primal Slayer]

All that buildup and 'Bruce's identity is revealed in all of one episode. I have to wonder how different this might have played had Batwoman's first season not been cut short, but now the secret is out.

The connection between Alice and Ryan is, I think, a bit of a stretch because why would Alice's gang just be in some apartment? Alice is about as involved in everyone's lives in Gotham as Reverse Flash is for people in Central City. But hey, it at least gives Ryan motivation for wanting to kill Alice, so I'll give it that.

The secret is out, he's de-faced, and already back in jail. That was a waste of a storyline.

 

[Shinobi Shaw]

I mean I enjoyed it. Hush was rushed but I enjoyed.

Javicia is fine as hell and has acting potential.

 

[fan4stic]

Hush was way too interesting as a villain and they blew him off like that.

This is the story man. This is the juicy stuff this season should've been about. I don't know why the writers decided to take their big cliffhanger and get rid of it in 1 episode. The only CW superhero show that I think had a strong cliffhanger and gone just like that. Way to show me your writing game is still low and unambitious, show.

In my brother's words: "I feel cheated."

 

[flickchick85]

Something tells me there was supposed to be a surprise Kate cameo in SG's finale before Covid shut it down. Oh well. It's also pretty obvious to me that whatever plans they had for the Hush/Bruce storyline were nixed when Kate was, so this was an anticlimactic way to tie off that loose end and a true waste of that storyline's potential.

But Javicia is already a massive upgrade in the series lead department, so there's that.

 

[Primal Slayer]

To sum up everything
It was a decent premiere.

So Kates private plane crashes with Kate nowhere to be found. Was she abducted by an alien? Someone from Apokolips? Ended up on a different earth? Hopefully its exciting enough. I seriously thought that when the plane was crashing that it was a flashback to Supergirl and thats how we'd be introduced to Ryan.

Ryan, herself was a good character. I like her well enough, still think introducing someone brand new was unnecessary but she's here and I dont mind her so thats good. They certainly pulled out all stops into giving Ryan a tragic backstory. Not sure why Alice's gang would squat in a random apartment that could be rented out at any time but....at least it ties Ryan to Alice which is good. Javacia is A LOT better in acting than Ruby was during her 20 episodes so thats always a good thing.



They really spent all of 1 min with whatshisname fooling people into that Bruce Wayne was back. Talk about wasted storyline potential. It was literally useless, he was dealt with within 1 episode and the status quo is back to normal. The Prince of Gotham is back in the city and everyone is just like "oh. hey." and then he'll disappear again with everyone going about their day.

Julia now having the most connection to "Bruce" makes her a lot more interesting even if it was wrapped up so quickly. Still wondering what happened to everyone Batman fought/had connected to. Is there no Bat family?

Alice continues to be the best part of the show, her outting Kate to their dad was a great scene.

 

[vantheman77]

Not a bad season premiere as the series lead is an upgrade. Everything else was wasted from the first season concerning the Hush/ Bruce Wayne storyline.

With the future state seeing Luke's brother as the Next Batman, I hope they adapt it for this season.

 

[Frodo]

Well, I thought it was just okay.

I mean, the lead is a solid actress , but in terms of the writing and storytelling, I'm still not all that impressed.

Then again, I wasn't really a fan of the series last season overall, so , I suppose if someone really dug last season, they'll probably be fine with the premiere .

I'm not gonna follow the show week to week this season, but I'll check it out occasionally. Hopefully the new lead will get some real juicy storytelling and material to chew on.

I give it a C+, maybe a B- .

 

[Dr.]

For me, some details of S1 are already hazy. But as I recall, there was an issue/complaint vis-à-vis Alice’s Elaborate Scheme to acquire a kryptonite bullet in order to pierce the batsuit and kill Batwoman. I.e., why bother with “elaborate” when it would be far easier to just assassinate Kate (since Alice knew Kate’s secret identity)?

However, now (?) we find out that Alice wanted Jacob to use the bullet and be horrified that he killed his own daughter! Okay... So was this a clever reveal that was planned all along? Or was it a after-the-fact fix for a plot hole? It kinda felt more like the latter.

 

[Frodo]

Well, the writing has never been the show's strong suit, and was more of the problem with season one than Ruby Rose was, frankly.

Don't get me wrong, the new lead is a definite improvement, and she's a good actress. I've seen her in other stuff before this and she can deliver. These writers on the other hand...not so much.

If this show is going to improve, it's gonna have to take more than just changing lead characters. The writing on the show actually has to get better.

 

[Shinobi Shaw]

Yeah the writing is definitely the Achilles heel of this show. I mean Hush could’ve easily been the Big Bad this season, they could’ve wrote the whole season around him and Ryan and then have that big confrontation as the payoff.

But this is the CW.

 

[Frodo]

Yeah the writing is definitely the Achilles heel of this show. I mean Hush could’ve easily been the Big Bad this season, they could’ve wrote the whole season around him and Ryan and then have that big confrontation as the payoff.

But this is the CW.

Yeah. I was cringed once the show revealed the car Bruce was driving was supposed to be the Batmobile.

Normally I don't get all that hung up on stuff like that given this is the CW , but still. I rolled my eyes and had to put my fan reservations aside.

I rather they not even attempt it at all than do what they did, but whatever, it's Batwoman.

 

[Primal Slayer]

While I cant blame them during COVID, once they are able to do more, I really need them to start working up Gotham as a character within itself. It needs to be a bit more outrageous, stylish, Wayne Corps needs to have actual people in it. Thats en entire storyline with itself.

 

[terry78]

It's basically just Chicago right now.

 

[NotNickFury]

Yeah, compared to the other cities on the other shows, especially National City, Gotham feels empty. Say what you will about the quality of Gotham, but that show put the city as front and center. Remove Gotham City from the equation here, and Batwoman could be set anywhere.

But Star City, National City, Central City, and Freeland all have a feel that line up with the tone of their shows. Gotham City here doesn't really feel like...well, Gotham. Even the brief snippets we got of Gotham in the Season 1 finale of Titans felt more down and dirty than here.