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

[Primal Slayer]

The ratings were dismal to say the least. Of course its hard to really judge with it being the only new CW show on at the moment.

THE CW | The new Batwoman drew 663,000 viewers and a 0.1 rating, down from both its Season 1 averages (995K/0.26) and its freshman finale (740K/0.2), marking its third smallest audience to date and matching its demo low (which was reached about a year ago)

Ratings: NFL Divisional Playoff Draws 29 Million to Fox, Batwoman Dips

 

[Pfeiffer-Pfan]

What a shame. I was hoping the new Batwoman would have piqued more interest. Let's hope it stays steady at least.

Doubt the show is in danger of going anywhere, though.

 

[Primal Slayer]

Im sure that Charmed, All American, Black Lightning will be lower so yeah itll be fine.

 

[Frodo]

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.

I agree. Gotham for all its flaws, did give it's city its own personality and vibe.

 

[Sithborg]

A Batwoman actress who can act, will wonders never cease. Considering that the supporting cast was what was keeping me around last season, I am a big fan of the new actress already. Such a massive shift in the series will of course cause issues in the writing, so I am fine with the hiccups this episode.

It's basically just Chicago right now.

Nah, its still very much Vancouver.

 

[terry78]

Close enough.

 

[Dr.]

Given self-isolation and the late start for many shows, I'd have thought ratings would be higher - with folks starved for any entertainment, even if mediocre. But ratings seem to be down for all scripted series.

 

[flickchick85]

Given self-isolation and the late start for many shows, I'd have thought ratings would be higher - with folks starved for any entertainment, even if mediocre. But ratings seem to be down for all scripted series.

That's been a thing the whole pandemic - people expected shows to get higher ratings upon their return since everyone was stuck at home more than ever, but nope - more people seem to have permanently turned to streaming instead. People continue to cut the cord at a growing rate, so I'm pretty sure changing viewing habits will only cause a continual decline in cable/broadcast ratings across the board. It'll be really depressing if Superman & Lois debuts to a .1 or something, but that's certainly possible at this stage. Which is not to say people aren't watching; they just aren't watching live anymore.

 

[Primal Slayer]

Given self-isolation and the late start for many shows, I'd have thought ratings would be higher - with folks starved for any entertainment, even if mediocre. But ratings seem to be down for all scripted series.

I think a lot of people are also cutting the cord and focusing more on streaming then watching live.

 

[terry78]

People are still watching reality shows like bachelor and whatnot

 

[fan4stic]

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.

At least it makes sense and, to me, feels like it was planned from before, as I think it makes sense that Alice's plan, for her, would be to hurt her dad, after her whole anger at feeling replaced and such.

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, 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.

I agree. Gotham for all its flaws, did give it's city its own personality and vibe.

Gotham also had a tendency to not get rid of their villains and their potential as characters. Like imagine if Nygma got arrested in the premiere of season 2, after he'd begun his villainous story. How boring would that have been? I'm nostaligic for the days when villains were involved in the long form storytelling of the show, like in Smallville.

 

[Dark Raven]

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?

Not only Zoom. Why are there no Covid flight restrictions in place?

It was ok as a premiere. I would've preferred Julia as Batwoman though. Or even Sophie. Or they could've recast Kate.

That Bruce Wayne story went away quickly. He didn't fool anyone for long. Why is there only one Batsuit? Surely he must have more than one instead of needing Batwoman's modified one.

The Batmobile looked just like a regular sports car.

Btw has Rachel Maddow given up on these news broadcast segments which were common in the first season?

 

[Holy Slapper]

I liked it. Javicia is definitely better than Ruby in the acting department, although I think her acting improved towards the end of season 1. Considering how little Tommy knew of Bruce's life, I think it was actually more realistic that he was caught so quickly. Given the budget they have, I thought the Batmobile looked badass. Was it a Lexus or a Ford Mustang? Anyway, much preferred the look of it to the one in The Batman. I realize that is probably an early version, but it looks ****ing ****e.

 

[nightwing06]

It wasnt horrible but it wasnt great either.Far to contrived and i know some people wanted the Tommy as Bruce storyline to continue but im glad it ended.
Van outrunning the Batmobile...yeah ok

 

[batdude]

The ratings were dismal to say the least. Of course its hard to really judge with it being the only new CW show on at the moment.

Ratings: NFL Divisional Playoff Draws 29 Million to Fox, Batwoman Dips

Let's not forget this was up against a Tom Brady playoff game. it could bounce back. when the rest of the shows come back.

 

[Dr.]

I thought the premier was rather clumsy and contrived — just in terms of the narrative logic and construction.

Of course, one can extend a lot of amnesty based on the behind-the-scenes tribulations. So inasmuch as…

- S1 was truncated by two episodes due to COVID
- the star abruptly quit (or was terminated)
- the decision was made to switch/rewrite the protagonist (rather than just recast the original role)

… I suppose the showrunners cobbled together a reasonable fix.

…

Visually, I guess Warren Christie was satisfactory. However I was underwhelmed by his actual portrayal of Bruce Wayne. Granted, he was a fake. But Tommy Elliot knew Wayne well and was able to fool Luke Fox, et. al. for a least a while. We must presume, therefore, that the characterization was more-or-less correct. And that doesn’t bode well for possible future appearances of the real Wayne — to be played, presumably, by Christie.

(Of course, if Wayne never shows up again, problem solved. )

 

[NotNickFury]

That's another thing. If you're gonna go through the trouble of casting someone to play this universe's take on Bruce Wayne, surely you have more planned beyond one episode? Even with the connection to Kate gone, that's still Bruce Wayne.

Tyler Hoechlin didn't just appear in the Season 2 premiere of Supergirl and then just peace out forever.

 

[Holy Slapper]

That's another thing. If you're gonna go through the trouble of casting someone to play this universe's take on Bruce Wayne, surely you have more planned beyond one episode? Even with the connection to Kate gone, that's still Bruce Wayne.

Tyler Hoechlin didn't just appear in the Season 2 premiere of Supergirl and then just peace out forever.

I was under the impression that a real Bruce Wayne/Batman won't be allowed to appear on tv by order of DC/WB. Someone pretending to be him in one episode is fine.

I thought it was given that Hoechlin would appear in multiple episodes down the line.

 

[Primal Slayer]

So All American managed to pull in 1.06 million total viewers and a 0.4 demo rating which is a series high and I think first time they broke a million viewers. So Batwoman 2x02 will definitely have to improve. But looks like Netflix streaming really helped AA, who knows if it wouldve helped Batwoman as well.

 

[chamber-music]

I feel like part of the reason they are having Black Mask and his false face gang be villains is to get around the whole Covid thing. A bunch of masked goons seems like a easy fix for the pandemic.

Also Black Mask seems to be the defacto villain for any Batman franchise related female character now.

All American is a surprisingly good show. It is soap opera and message heavy but it is well written for a CW show.

 

[fan4stic]

Considering how little Tommy knew of Bruce's life, I think it was actually more realistic that he was caught so quickly.

Maybe, but the show also could've found a way to not undo it in 1 episode.

 

[NotNickFury]

I was under the impression that a real Bruce Wayne/Batman won't be allowed to appear on tv by order of DC/WB. Someone pretending to be him in one episode is fine.

I thought it was given that Hoechlin would appear in multiple episodes down the line.

If that's true, I would think/hope that would've changed. Especially in a post-Crisis world. I mean, we did get five seasons worth of a younger Bruce Wayne on Gotham. Sure, it's not the same thing, but we still got Bruce at least. Even if another universe's Bruce never suited up, as we've seen with Iain Glen's Bruce on Titans, that'd still be fine.

 

[Dr.]

For what it's worth...

The CW re-ran the season 2 premier on Monday night. And it scored pretty much the same rating as Sunday night.

 

[Primal Slayer]

For what it's worth...

The CW re-ran the season 2 premier on Monday night. And it scored pretty much the same rating as Sunday night.

Reruns never fair well. If anything id look at it positively with those people not having watched it on Sunday and will tune next week

 

[Holy Slapper]

So the new Batmobile is a 2020 Corvette C8.