Spoilers Batwoman - Season 2
- Thread starter dahj
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Batwoman
Season 2 - Episode 17 - "Kane, Kate"
Last time on Batwoman, Luke was misused by ignorant writers--as always--in not dealing with the what should have been the depths of his identity as a black man/world view's blow in relation to a life threatening situation with law enforcement. Elsewhere, Safiyah's hatred of Alice not marching to the beat of her drum led to the predictable murder of Ocean (and a possible chapter of Alice's growth as a character), while Jacob is in jail, thanks to the GCPD really moonlighting for Roman's side-hustle as Black Mask. That, and Safiyah confronted NuKate about her true self...
Luke Fox: Luke is convinced Kate's memory can be restored, and is quite joyful telling Wilder that--with Wilder actually trying to set up as many roadblocks as possible about the prospect of Kate being whole again.
NuKate is starting to remember her friendship with Luke for a number of reasons--such as reintroducing her Kate's diary, and giving her the keys to her motorcycle. Feeling that she's gained another piece of her puzzle, she goes for a ride....back to Roman with Kate's diary, informing him that they can learn everything they need to about Kate--and can gain access to the Batcave. The ill-minded Safiyah approves of this turn of events, believing it will help her restore Discount Themyscira.
Wilder/BW / Mary: BW continues to search for NuKate, torturing Roman's guard by spraying perfume in his eyes, but gets nowhere...until she's spotted by Sophie at Kate's bar, getting drunk. Later, Sophie finds Wilder packing her bags, moving out of Kate's loft. Sophie tries to convince Wilder that she's earned the Batwoman alter ego, and that Kate would be proud of what she's done, and agrees to help Wilder from this point forward. That said, when Wilder catches NuKate talking to Luke and Mary about reclaiming her old life, Wilder believes her time as BW is coming to an end, so she retreats to her van, spilling her problems to the memory of her mother. Suddenly, the GCPD force their way into the van, and arrest Wilder--along with planting Snake Bite syringes on her,,,
Brought to Roman--who knows Wilder is Batwoman--he tries to coax her into "getting the soul" of Gotham back if they work together. He plays with her mind, finding commonality in the idea of feeling good about what they're doing. Wilder refuses to join him, so he leaves her in a GCPD car. Luke eventually discovers Wilder is under arrest, and wonders where NuKate is....
...the woman in question is walking down memory lane with Sophie about their past. Eventually answering Luke's call, their idea to rescue Wilder is spashed by Luke's cold water regarding not being aware just how many GCPD members are on Roman's payroll, and who is not. Mary believes this is a job for....Batwoman....and gives NuKate her costume, with Sophie volunteering to accompany her. Before Sophie can take another step, NuKate spins around with a Bat-tranquilizer gun in hand, firing it into Luke, Sophie and Mary (while mocking Sophie, admitting she used Sophie's emotions against her all along).
Locked in a cell, Mary wonders why Circe/NuKate did not kill them, moving Luke to believe there might be some part of Kate left in Circe to reach...
Meanwhile, NuKate rummages through one abandoned secret Bat-room after another, then opens the case containing various confiscated biohazardous weapons. Seeing a highly toxic plant, she smiles (SEE Alice).
In custody, Wilder tries to tell her parole officer that she's innocent and will not make it out of jail alive. To prove she's not crazy, she reveals shes Batwoman, and as her guard attempt to shoot the parole officer, Wilder defeats the guards...and escapes...
Wilder returns to the Batcave, but before she can free the others, finds herself hunted by Circe/NuKate, who fires a Bat-crossbow at her--then turns on the captives. Wilder strikes NuKate, leading to a fight, with NuKate overpowering Wilder, while Luke struggles to reach the fallen crossbow. Finding a way to break out of the cell, Sophie aims the crossbow at NuKate, but the woman calls her bluff--twisting the emotional knife--and leaves.
Luke discovers what NuKate stole--including the Bat-suit and bio-weapons. Wilder--feeling powerless--is frightened about what NuKate will do next.
Roman Sionis/Black Mask / NuKate: Roman recruits a number of former, angry Crows into his False Face gang. Tavaroff is there, but feels joining Roman's gang is simply being a cog in another machine--first the Crows, then Black Mask's. Roman suggests Tavaroff can be the machine...
NuKate is taken to Mary's apartment, still failing to recognize Mary, who--in her typically self-interested fashion--agrees that she probably needs Alice. Heading to the subway car to find Alice, the criminal threatens Mary's life if she cannot revive the clearly dead Ocean. Mary states that there's nothing she can do, but thanks Alice for saving Kate, only for Alice to reply (through tears) "...but look at what its cost me..." (meaning Ocean's murder).
Later, the heartbroken Alice carries an urn to the river, pouring what has to be Ocean's ashes into the waters, but her moment of grief is interrupted by the obsessed Safiyah, saying she's there to "pay her respects."
Safiyah claims she took Ocean away from Alice for the latter taking the Desert Rose from her, and hints that a "storm" is coming to Gotham and wants to protect her from it. The villain says she will use the restorative properties of Poison Ivy's plants (which NuKate stole from the Batcave) to restore Discount Themyscira, and proceeds to go on and on about wanting Alice back, and loving her, adding she is all Alice has now that she has no boyfriend or father. Clearly conning Safiyah by embracing her, Alice replies "...because you took them from me," and stabs the villain in the stomach with the Desert Rose Dagger, leaving her to lay in a death-like state until Alice has her father and sister back in her life.
Once Roman has the biohazardous weapons in his hands (including Killer Croc's tooth and the Joker's acid flower), he tells Tavaroff that he intends to use a combination of them to create a terrible weapon. While's he explaining that, NuKate uses a piece of Kryptonite to deface the symbol on the BW costume.
NOTES:
Continuing Caroline Dries' sinking-ship style leadership, the series writers have now completely tossed any trace of / attempt to explore Luke's experiences as a black male in the aftermath of a violent encounter with law enforcement. Oh, but one can guess that one of a few things might happen: one, Luke is set to become Batwing in the next episode, so he might have some sort of would-be "feel-good" showdown with Tavaroff (who beat Luke in an alley in the previous episode, so there's a revenge angle to play), either with Tavaroff "as is," or if he's augmented by the stolen bio-weapons, but in the end, Luke will stand "triumphant" over the former Crow and probably make some speech that's more Democratic National Committee convention night than anything a real black man born and living his American experience would ever say.
If anything in that neighborhood of plotting occurs, it will simply hammer more nails in the coffin of yet another Berlanti/DC series that uses black lives--particularly black males--as "we are so good and relevant" tools for White Liberals like themselves, instead of any honest interest in exploring the experience of black males with the depth seen with other subjects (despite a well-ingrained belief that they are still entitled to speak for everyone no matter how little they know about a racial group).
One of the teasers shows NuKate in an altered Batwoman costume--one without the chest symbol. With Wilder lacking a suit, but its seems close to a guarantee that she will end up facing NuKate again, and in someway, lead to jarring NuKate's memory back. One might guess that the end result (after the Roman/Tavaroff/Safiyah dust clears), will be Kate's realization that the city is not "her's" anymore, and she needs to find herself. I would not be at all surprised if NuKate (or another character) says Wilder was more Batwoman without the the suit than NuKate was wearing it.
In any case, next week is the season 2 finale.
Oh, and now Wilder's parole officer knows she's Batwoman...
GRADE: D-.
Season 2 - Episode 17 - "Kane, Kate"
Last time on Batwoman, Luke was misused by ignorant writers--as always--in not dealing with the what should have been the depths of his identity as a black man/world view's blow in relation to a life threatening situation with law enforcement. Elsewhere, Safiyah's hatred of Alice not marching to the beat of her drum led to the predictable murder of Ocean (and a possible chapter of Alice's growth as a character), while Jacob is in jail, thanks to the GCPD really moonlighting for Roman's side-hustle as Black Mask. That, and Safiyah confronted NuKate about her true self...
Luke Fox: Luke is convinced Kate's memory can be restored, and is quite joyful telling Wilder that--with Wilder actually trying to set up as many roadblocks as possible about the prospect of Kate being whole again.
NuKate is starting to remember her friendship with Luke for a number of reasons--such as reintroducing her Kate's diary, and giving her the keys to her motorcycle. Feeling that she's gained another piece of her puzzle, she goes for a ride....back to Roman with Kate's diary, informing him that they can learn everything they need to about Kate--and can gain access to the Batcave. The ill-minded Safiyah approves of this turn of events, believing it will help her restore Discount Themyscira.
Wilder/BW / Mary: BW continues to search for NuKate, torturing Roman's guard by spraying perfume in his eyes, but gets nowhere...until she's spotted by Sophie at Kate's bar, getting drunk. Later, Sophie finds Wilder packing her bags, moving out of Kate's loft. Sophie tries to convince Wilder that she's earned the Batwoman alter ego, and that Kate would be proud of what she's done, and agrees to help Wilder from this point forward. That said, when Wilder catches NuKate talking to Luke and Mary about reclaiming her old life, Wilder believes her time as BW is coming to an end, so she retreats to her van, spilling her problems to the memory of her mother. Suddenly, the GCPD force their way into the van, and arrest Wilder--along with planting Snake Bite syringes on her,,,
Brought to Roman--who knows Wilder is Batwoman--he tries to coax her into "getting the soul" of Gotham back if they work together. He plays with her mind, finding commonality in the idea of feeling good about what they're doing. Wilder refuses to join him, so he leaves her in a GCPD car. Luke eventually discovers Wilder is under arrest, and wonders where NuKate is....
...the woman in question is walking down memory lane with Sophie about their past. Eventually answering Luke's call, their idea to rescue Wilder is spashed by Luke's cold water regarding not being aware just how many GCPD members are on Roman's payroll, and who is not. Mary believes this is a job for....Batwoman....and gives NuKate her costume, with Sophie volunteering to accompany her. Before Sophie can take another step, NuKate spins around with a Bat-tranquilizer gun in hand, firing it into Luke, Sophie and Mary (while mocking Sophie, admitting she used Sophie's emotions against her all along).
Locked in a cell, Mary wonders why Circe/NuKate did not kill them, moving Luke to believe there might be some part of Kate left in Circe to reach...
Meanwhile, NuKate rummages through one abandoned secret Bat-room after another, then opens the case containing various confiscated biohazardous weapons. Seeing a highly toxic plant, she smiles (SEE Alice).
In custody, Wilder tries to tell her parole officer that she's innocent and will not make it out of jail alive. To prove she's not crazy, she reveals shes Batwoman, and as her guard attempt to shoot the parole officer, Wilder defeats the guards...and escapes...
Wilder returns to the Batcave, but before she can free the others, finds herself hunted by Circe/NuKate, who fires a Bat-crossbow at her--then turns on the captives. Wilder strikes NuKate, leading to a fight, with NuKate overpowering Wilder, while Luke struggles to reach the fallen crossbow. Finding a way to break out of the cell, Sophie aims the crossbow at NuKate, but the woman calls her bluff--twisting the emotional knife--and leaves.
Luke discovers what NuKate stole--including the Bat-suit and bio-weapons. Wilder--feeling powerless--is frightened about what NuKate will do next.
Roman Sionis/Black Mask / NuKate: Roman recruits a number of former, angry Crows into his False Face gang. Tavaroff is there, but feels joining Roman's gang is simply being a cog in another machine--first the Crows, then Black Mask's. Roman suggests Tavaroff can be the machine...
NuKate is taken to Mary's apartment, still failing to recognize Mary, who--in her typically self-interested fashion--agrees that she probably needs Alice. Heading to the subway car to find Alice, the criminal threatens Mary's life if she cannot revive the clearly dead Ocean. Mary states that there's nothing she can do, but thanks Alice for saving Kate, only for Alice to reply (through tears) "...but look at what its cost me..." (meaning Ocean's murder).
Later, the heartbroken Alice carries an urn to the river, pouring what has to be Ocean's ashes into the waters, but her moment of grief is interrupted by the obsessed Safiyah, saying she's there to "pay her respects."
Safiyah claims she took Ocean away from Alice for the latter taking the Desert Rose from her, and hints that a "storm" is coming to Gotham and wants to protect her from it. The villain says she will use the restorative properties of Poison Ivy's plants (which NuKate stole from the Batcave) to restore Discount Themyscira, and proceeds to go on and on about wanting Alice back, and loving her, adding she is all Alice has now that she has no boyfriend or father. Clearly conning Safiyah by embracing her, Alice replies "...because you took them from me," and stabs the villain in the stomach with the Desert Rose Dagger, leaving her to lay in a death-like state until Alice has her father and sister back in her life.
Once Roman has the biohazardous weapons in his hands (including Killer Croc's tooth and the Joker's acid flower), he tells Tavaroff that he intends to use a combination of them to create a terrible weapon. While's he explaining that, NuKate uses a piece of Kryptonite to deface the symbol on the BW costume.
NOTES:
Continuing Caroline Dries' sinking-ship style leadership, the series writers have now completely tossed any trace of / attempt to explore Luke's experiences as a black male in the aftermath of a violent encounter with law enforcement. Oh, but one can guess that one of a few things might happen: one, Luke is set to become Batwing in the next episode, so he might have some sort of would-be "feel-good" showdown with Tavaroff (who beat Luke in an alley in the previous episode, so there's a revenge angle to play), either with Tavaroff "as is," or if he's augmented by the stolen bio-weapons, but in the end, Luke will stand "triumphant" over the former Crow and probably make some speech that's more Democratic National Committee convention night than anything a real black man born and living his American experience would ever say.
If anything in that neighborhood of plotting occurs, it will simply hammer more nails in the coffin of yet another Berlanti/DC series that uses black lives--particularly black males--as "we are so good and relevant" tools for White Liberals like themselves, instead of any honest interest in exploring the experience of black males with the depth seen with other subjects (despite a well-ingrained belief that they are still entitled to speak for everyone no matter how little they know about a racial group).
One of the teasers shows NuKate in an altered Batwoman costume--one without the chest symbol. With Wilder lacking a suit, but its seems close to a guarantee that she will end up facing NuKate again, and in someway, lead to jarring NuKate's memory back. One might guess that the end result (after the Roman/Tavaroff/Safiyah dust clears), will be Kate's realization that the city is not "her's" anymore, and she needs to find herself. I would not be at all surprised if NuKate (or another character) says Wilder was more Batwoman without the the suit than NuKate was wearing it.
In any case, next week is the season 2 finale.
Oh, and now Wilder's parole officer knows she's Batwoman...
GRADE: D-.
I'm curious how reproducible the batsuit is but I suppose the answer is whatever is needed of the plot.
If Ocean had been named Land would Alice have buried him? I'd be skeptical of not seeing the body but the desert rose can't raise the dead? Hopefully she didn't just leave Safiyah out there.
It seemed a bit weird seeing Sionis don the mask, I would think even crooked cops might show a bit of reservation at that. Still the fan wank elements with the artifacts was fun though I'm not quite sure what to make of Tavaroff Bane.
If Ocean had been named Land would Alice have buried him? I'd be skeptical of not seeing the body but the desert rose can't raise the dead? Hopefully she didn't just leave Safiyah out there.
It seemed a bit weird seeing Sionis don the mask, I would think even crooked cops might show a bit of reservation at that. Still the fan wank elements with the artifacts was fun though I'm not quite sure what to make of Tavaroff Bane.
Kate-as-Circe is confusing. I have to keep reminding myself that she really is Kate, even though she's functionally an impostor pretending to be Kate. Anyway, I guess I should've seen this coming, since they never did find the trigger word to undo Kate's brainwashing. She did "come back" a little too easily.
I'd expect that in next week's finale, they will find the trigger word and Kate will be back for real, though what happens next season is hard to predict. I mean, I assume Ryan will remain the lead, but will Kate go off to find herself or whatever, or will she stick around as a supporting character? I doubt they'd kill her off for real this time.
Tavaroff mentioned the Joker's acid flower, Clayface's mud, and Killer Croc's tooth. The Penguin's umbrella was also in evidence. I thought I saw the Joker's joy buzzer too -- figures he gets more than one prop in there.
It's hard to believe Gotham has such a long history of Batman fighting supervillains when it's only been a few years since Oliver Queen said Batman was just an urban legend. But maybe Gotham's post-Crisis history is closer to the familiar version.
Interesting that they built so many new sets for the Batcave -- not just the biohazard room, but a meeting room, an armory/lab, maybe others. They wouldn't have built all that for just one scene. They'll be using those sets more in the future. Except it's odd that they'd budget so much new set construction just before the season finale.
I'd expect that in next week's finale, they will find the trigger word and Kate will be back for real, though what happens next season is hard to predict. I mean, I assume Ryan will remain the lead, but will Kate go off to find herself or whatever, or will she stick around as a supporting character? I doubt they'd kill her off for real this time.
Tavaroff mentioned the Joker's acid flower, Clayface's mud, and Killer Croc's tooth. The Penguin's umbrella was also in evidence. I thought I saw the Joker's joy buzzer too -- figures he gets more than one prop in there.
It's hard to believe Gotham has such a long history of Batman fighting supervillains when it's only been a few years since Oliver Queen said Batman was just an urban legend. But maybe Gotham's post-Crisis history is closer to the familiar version.
Interesting that they built so many new sets for the Batcave -- not just the biohazard room, but a meeting room, an armory/lab, maybe others. They wouldn't have built all that for just one scene. They'll be using those sets more in the future. Except it's odd that they'd budget so much new set construction just before the season finale.
Just a dumb thing but judging by the size of the display when the rooms were unlocked I think the only people whose names would fit would be Kate Kane, Luke Fox and Beth Kane. (silly observation don't take too seriously)
Watching the beginning of the episode, I had to wonder if there was a behind-the-scenes mix-up. I was already expecting the goon Ryan questioned to be visibly scraped up from being thrown through a window at the start of the scene, and it feels like spraying perfume into open cuts would be a lot more effective as a way of roughing him up a little than just trying to get it into his eyes (especially since he could just close his eyes). Or maybe the network thought that would've been too violent when they did their script review and they just deleted the references to cuts and scrapes since the scene still mostly makes sense without them.
I agree that it feels a little weird from a Doylist perspective that the show has started its between-season glow-up before the season has actually ended, but it's not entirely unprecedented. Stargate SG-1, for instance, built a ton of new Goa'uld ship sets they used for the rest of the series, as well as designing and mass-producing the Zat gun props, for their season one finalé, when you'd expect that sort of thing to be a splurge in the season two premiere. Maybe they had some budget left over because of the reduced season run and other pandemic problems, or they were renewed early enough to start spending on season 3 before they wrapped season 2, and were able to get a head start on expanding the Batcave. Plus...
Of course, from a Watsonian perspective, I really like that they've teased new regular elements in the show even just a couple episodes before or after the season break. It makes it feel less artificial that, in addition to all the big-time stuff that normally happens in season premieres, it's also the first time they open that door in the set we never noticed before and reveal that the place we spend half of every episode has actually been twice as big as we thought the whole time (which I just realized is exactly how they switched from a Bat-Bike to a Batmobile this season). Slightly less effective, but also welcome, is holding the new stuff back and introducing it in episode two or three.
I agree that it feels a little weird from a Doylist perspective that the show has started its between-season glow-up before the season has actually ended, but it's not entirely unprecedented. Stargate SG-1, for instance, built a ton of new Goa'uld ship sets they used for the rest of the series, as well as designing and mass-producing the Zat gun props, for their season one finalé, when you'd expect that sort of thing to be a splurge in the season two premiere. Maybe they had some budget left over because of the reduced season run and other pandemic problems, or they were renewed early enough to start spending on season 3 before they wrapped season 2, and were able to get a head start on expanding the Batcave. Plus...
they also have at least one new super-suit for Batwing, and judging by Circe Marge-Simpson-ing the Batsuit at the end of this episode, we'll probably see at least one new permanent Batwoman costume for season 3 introduced next week, too.
Of course, from a Watsonian perspective, I really like that they've teased new regular elements in the show even just a couple episodes before or after the season break. It makes it feel less artificial that, in addition to all the big-time stuff that normally happens in season premieres, it's also the first time they open that door in the set we never noticed before and reveal that the place we spend half of every episode has actually been twice as big as we thought the whole time (which I just realized is exactly how they switched from a Bat-Bike to a Batmobile this season). Slightly less effective, but also welcome, is holding the new stuff back and introducing it in episode two or three.
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Come to think of it, I want to know what the heck was up with that conference room in the Batcave. How many people did Bruce have on his Bat-team before he retired? Let's see, we know about Batman, Alfred, and Lucius Fox, but what about various Robins or Batgirl?
I had to get some dental work done and the dentist scheduled me to start on one date and complete it on another a little later so it would overlap the end of the year so that we could charge one date against my insurance limits for one year and charge the other against the next year's limit to save some money (US health care, go figure...). Maybe their budget works in a similar fashion?
@Mr. Adventure, @Christopher: your budgeting theories make sense. I think the production team is planning ahead to Season 3 with those extra side-rooms of the Wayne Building Batcave.
I would be glad to have a copy of the map created for the briefing room.
I would be glad to have a copy of the map created for the briefing room.
As always.
The Desert Rose has whatever curative properties the writers want it to from one episode to the next. No consistency whatsoever, so there's no reason why the rose could not revive Ocean (and dare the writers to explain how it reconstitutes decomposing internal organs, restore consciousness, etc.), but as I've pointed out before, there was no way Ocean was going to live / allow Alice to have some semblance of normalcy, so his death was written on the walls almost from the episode he was introduced.
Not sure what to make of that.
I did not expect the big Circe/Kate reveal.
It was cool getting to see more of the Batcave. I'm assuming now that we've seen them Ryan and Co. will start to use them.
Guess Ocean really is dead and not coming back this time.
I was surprised to see Tavaroff and his guys were so quick to join up with Black Mask. It wasn't that long ago that they were fighting False Face Society.
I did not expect Ryan's parole officer to ever find out about her being Batwoman, so that was a shock.
I did not expect the big Circe/Kate reveal.
It was cool getting to see more of the Batcave. I'm assuming now that we've seen them Ryan and Co. will start to use them.
Guess Ocean really is dead and not coming back this time.
I was surprised to see Tavaroff and his guys were so quick to join up with Black Mask. It wasn't that long ago that they were fighting False Face Society.
I did not expect Ryan's parole officer to ever find out about her being Batwoman, so that was a shock.
I agree with your "trigger word theory" brings Kate back for real in the finale, but I disagree with your assumption that TPTB would not kill off Kate "for real" this time.
I suspect that Kate will be put in an untenable position for a Bat hero, save her recently reincarnated self, or save Sophie, Mary, Luke and yes, even Ryan.
Who knows, maybe the trigger isn't a word but an action, like the death of Alice at the hands of Circe.
Imagine how freaked Kate would be to come back to herself as her sister dies while trying to save her twin.
Can't wait for next week!
I didn't say I assumed they wouldn't, I said I doubt they would. There's a difference. Assumption is blind certainty that one is right; doubt allows for the possibility of being wrong. I think it's unlikely that they'd kill her off, both because she's such a major comic book character and because they've played the "Kate's dead" card twice this season already, so it would be kind of an anticlimax to do it again. But I do not assert that it is impossible.
I'm also skeptical that they'd kill off Alice. For all of the issues with getting Alice to work as a character without Kate, Rachel Skarsten is a major asset to the show and I think they'd want to keep her around. Besides, Alice has been on kind of a redemption journey all season, which feels like they're setting her up for a more heroic role going forward.
I doubt Alice will be killed off, despite the fact that she is running out of plot, now that she's accepted by Jacob, tried to rekindle her romance with Ocean (only for the character to be killed off--of course--so even that part of her journey has run out of road), and helped to find and restore Kate. She will never be an exonerated killer-turned-hero, and there's no believable way she can remain free in Gotham, and just pick up the pieces of her past, or--in a worst case scenario--join the Bat-team. The showrunners painted themselves into a corner by having a mass murderer as a regular character.
Batwoman
Season 2, Episode 18 - "Power" - Season Finale
Roman Sionis/Black Mask / NuKate / Safiyah: Black Mask hacks into all TV broadcasts, delivering his his manifesto, which attacks the GCPD, the "light" treatment of Jacob, and other matters of alleged corruption. He's left masks around Gotham for random citizens to take down the system through mindless rioting. Meanwhile Circe dons her modified bat-suit, joining Black Mask to watch Tavaroff being transformed into Dollar Store Bane; he explains how his grand plan is for his civilian side to eventually "kill" Black Mask, thus a grateful city will all but lift him up as an unquestioned king of sorts.
Luke Fox/Batwing: After searching through the deserted Batcave rooms, Luke discovers his own childhood sketches of what a "black Batman" would be among his father's possessions. Eventually, he finds a prototype costume based on those sketches.
At the clinic, Mary shows what a great "doctor" she is by crapping on the Hippocratic Oath to "do no harm" when she considers it a "waste of air" to use oxygen on a recently admitted Tavaroff--who seems larger than she remembered. Eventually, Dollar Store Bane awakens, breaking free, spots Mary and moves toward her. Mary's attempts to flee are not successful, and she's knocked off of a fire escape, only to be caught from what would have been her death by Luke in the "Batwing" suit. As Luke faces off with Tavaroff, Mary meets Wilder, giving her the gas version of Snake Bite, believing it will restore Kate's memory.
On the street, Batwing fights Dollar Store Bane, announcing himself as "justice" (SEE NOTES) as he kicks the former Crow...
Wilder/BW / Mary: Wilder still complaining about her place as Batwoman. Sophie tries to give her a pep talk that being Wilder is Batwoman, suit or no suit. Alice arrives, just as riots break out on the street, and the mayor is (seemingly) mortally wounded. Despite her misgivings, Wilder asks for Alice's help infiltrating Black Mask's lair in order to rescue Kate. As usual, Alice jokes around, but agrees to help. Alice mentions that Safiyah murdering Ocean was the criminal's guarantee that she would spend the "rest of my life in agonizing grief." but in no shock to anyone, Wilder is less than sympathetic. Alice plays her own bit of psychoanalysis on Wilder, accusing her of killing her birth mother, who died delivering Wilder...
Entering Black Mask's HQ, they are attacked by Circe, but she's allowed to escape by Roman's gunfire. Alice stays behind to stall Roman, sending Wilder after Circe with Mary's Snake Bite gas. Roman blabs his plans to Alice (instead of shooting her in the head at point blank range), allowing her to sprays the Joker's Acid Flower into Roman's face....
Wilder (in the Batmobile) chases Circe, and is nearly killed by Circe's motorcycle-mounted missiles. Eventually, Circe crashes, but still fights Wilder, who--in cringy fashion--demands Circe call her "Batwoman" (SEE NOTES). Wilder drops the Snake Bite cure, only for it to be retrieved by Alice (...and how did she find them with no tracking device or info on the direction of the chase?) who uses it, but it has no effect. Grappling with Circe, Alice and her sister fall over an overpass railing, and into the river.
Under the influence of Snake Bite (and somehow not drowning), Alice imagines she's talking to Ocean, who tells her he was killed while he tried to book a flight to the other side of the world to establish their new life together. Crying, she realizes this is a Snake Bite illusion, and has to say good-bye to Ocean. Kissing him, she continues to cry....
...Circe's hallucinations has her mind going back to the search for Beth in childhood, only this time, young Kate opens the door to the basement and is reunited with Beth. At that moment, both are pulled from the river, but Kate needs to be resuscitated. Kate finally recognizes Alice as her sister, just as the police arrive and after two seasons, do their job by arresting Alice on the spot. Go figure.
Jacob: Who?
Wrapping up--
With an Alice and the now insane, masked Roman committed to Arkham Asylum, and rioting ending on the streets, order seems to be restored. At her parole hearing, Wilder delivers a hollow self-empowerment speech, and is granted parole.
At the loft, Luke, Mary and Kate play catch-up and celebrate, with Luke talking about his father turning his childhood sketches into a real Batwing suit. Kate finally admits that until Alice actually desires to be Beth, she cannot help her. Luke and Mary bail once Wilder shows up; Wilder assumes Kate will resume the Batwoman identity, but she says Wilder is Batwoman (SEE NOTES). Later, Kate visits Sophie, announcing that she's leaving Gotham to not only see Jacob and "a friend" (SEE NOTES) in National City, but to find Wayne, who might be able to help Alice become Beth. Kate adds that she and Sophie are not meant to be together.
Because unrealistically feel good crap just happens on this show, Wilder suggests creating a teen community center above Mary's clinic, which Mary finds doable. As for Luke, even with a Bat-suit he is always going to be the equivalent of a day player on someone else's show, with Wilder referring to him as her "backup".
Wilder visits Alice at Arkham, telling her Alice's imprisonment is justice for her mother, adding that she hopes she never sees Alice again (as if that's going to happen). Alice twists the knife, informing Wilder that her birth mother did not die in childbirth, but is still alive...
At the river, as various Bat-villain objects float by, Poison Ivy's...ivy from a cracked container inches its way up the shore. (SEE NOTES).
NOTES:
The disaster that was Batwoman's second season.
1. Ruby Rose. After the actress was nearly paralyzed by an on-set stunt and ultimately walked away from the series, this was the prime opportunity to not only recast the character but continue building on the Kate-centric plots that were already in progress (specifically her spiraling relationship with Jacob). Instead, the showrunners' decisions, which stand as an acknowledgement of how they mishandled the entire Rose affair--ran with a hole-filled "Kate might be dead / brainwashed villain / will she return to her old life" plot, with the burned face matter an obvious and poor way of trying to justify why Wallis Day--who has an entirely different body type, voice and is taller than Rose--was cast as Kate, when the practice of characters re-cast with no explanation ever offered is more than common in TV history.
2. Black lives--as seen through the Batwoman showunners' lenses--are not a serious concern, but seeking "points" for being "relevant".
As we see in this episode, there would be no real continuation or conclusion (not that there's a conclusion to real world issues of this kind) of Luke Fox's Very Special Episode, which was an exercise in dismissive use of the plight of the American black male as nothing more than a tool to make the White Liberal showrunners feel relevant--a trait shared with many of their ilk on the political side of American life.
As noted before, the showrunners never had the will or sense to employ writers who can do what the 37 previous episodes would not introduce, build and seriously address.
This episode's "writer"--that failed series EP Caroline Dries--used Luke as a stand-in for real world events, but failed to live up to the obligation to go all of the way--at least touching on the realistic aftermath of Luke's plight, one which--as I predicted--should not have included this piss-poor, insta-"feel good" takedown of Tavaroff and yes, the expected, Berlanti Production-stamped, Very Special Episode-esque moment with Luke answering Tavaroff's question (about the identity of Batwing) with a would-be tough "Justice".
No, that was not justice, nor any sort of coda to Luke's recent arc; real black males do not--in the event they survive--overcome law enforcement abuses with magical super-suits that provide empty attempts at insta-"feel-good" resolutions. They do not go back to sipping champagne as if all is right in their world, when the very next time they do those seemingly normal things, such as step out on the street, or the law knocks on their door, it could be the beginning of their last moments on earth.
To reiterate, this was a rushed, quickie wrap-up of absolutely no consequences that--for a show that loves to stand on the soapbox--lacked the grinding turmoil, the sickening minute-by-minute outrage and hopelessness real black males feel after being harassed and/or assaulted by law enforcement. For all of their...hand-to-the-heart speeches about "caring", White Liberals of the kind running Berlanti Productions ignore what black voices say without end--does little to change deep-rooted societal, legal and philosophical racial decay that has black people--males above the rest--with their backs against the walls of a world, essentially waiting their turn.
This series' parting shot was a gargantuan, Luke Fox wrapping paper-covered middle finger to black males.
3. Knowing what's coming.
Dries' "script" (if it can be accurately classified as that) had characters repeatedly telling Wilder that she's The One Batwoman, beating viewers over the head with the fact that Wilder was not going to step aside for the restored Kate. We already knew the show was going in that direction, so there was no need for other characters to harp on that. Further, a script does not need to have characters constantly reinforce what Wilder should be demonstrating through her actions, which was not allowed to happen as she complained her way through most of this episode instead of reminding herself (and viewers) why she's earned the Batwoman identity.
Kate leaves to see a "friend" in National City. We know who that is, but it remains to be seen if the production schedules (including delays, the pandemic, etc.) ever lined up this meeting--assuming it was something meant to go before cameras.
Poison Ivy's plants are inching toward Gotham, so we can guess the villain will make her BW debut. You--sure as Hell--knew there would be no Joker or Penguin on this show.
Wilder will now spend most of season three searching for her birth mother, probably ending up paired with Alice in order to find her.
So, season two of Batwoman ends, and if anyone ever doubted the "sophomore jinx and/or slump" regarding sequels, second acts or TV seasons, this is the etched-in-granite proof of that jinx. What started off as a promising, occasionally strong TV series (in its first season), has gone where nearly every Berlanti show has gone before: a self-made pool of failure. I doubt there's a groundswell of enthusiasm for what season three promises.
GRADE: D-.
Season 2, Episode 18 - "Power" - Season Finale
Roman Sionis/Black Mask / NuKate / Safiyah: Black Mask hacks into all TV broadcasts, delivering his his manifesto, which attacks the GCPD, the "light" treatment of Jacob, and other matters of alleged corruption. He's left masks around Gotham for random citizens to take down the system through mindless rioting. Meanwhile Circe dons her modified bat-suit, joining Black Mask to watch Tavaroff being transformed into Dollar Store Bane; he explains how his grand plan is for his civilian side to eventually "kill" Black Mask, thus a grateful city will all but lift him up as an unquestioned king of sorts.
Luke Fox/Batwing: After searching through the deserted Batcave rooms, Luke discovers his own childhood sketches of what a "black Batman" would be among his father's possessions. Eventually, he finds a prototype costume based on those sketches.
At the clinic, Mary shows what a great "doctor" she is by crapping on the Hippocratic Oath to "do no harm" when she considers it a "waste of air" to use oxygen on a recently admitted Tavaroff--who seems larger than she remembered. Eventually, Dollar Store Bane awakens, breaking free, spots Mary and moves toward her. Mary's attempts to flee are not successful, and she's knocked off of a fire escape, only to be caught from what would have been her death by Luke in the "Batwing" suit. As Luke faces off with Tavaroff, Mary meets Wilder, giving her the gas version of Snake Bite, believing it will restore Kate's memory.
On the street, Batwing fights Dollar Store Bane, announcing himself as "justice" (SEE NOTES) as he kicks the former Crow...
Wilder/BW / Mary: Wilder still complaining about her place as Batwoman. Sophie tries to give her a pep talk that being Wilder is Batwoman, suit or no suit. Alice arrives, just as riots break out on the street, and the mayor is (seemingly) mortally wounded. Despite her misgivings, Wilder asks for Alice's help infiltrating Black Mask's lair in order to rescue Kate. As usual, Alice jokes around, but agrees to help. Alice mentions that Safiyah murdering Ocean was the criminal's guarantee that she would spend the "rest of my life in agonizing grief." but in no shock to anyone, Wilder is less than sympathetic. Alice plays her own bit of psychoanalysis on Wilder, accusing her of killing her birth mother, who died delivering Wilder...
Entering Black Mask's HQ, they are attacked by Circe, but she's allowed to escape by Roman's gunfire. Alice stays behind to stall Roman, sending Wilder after Circe with Mary's Snake Bite gas. Roman blabs his plans to Alice (instead of shooting her in the head at point blank range), allowing her to sprays the Joker's Acid Flower into Roman's face....
Wilder (in the Batmobile) chases Circe, and is nearly killed by Circe's motorcycle-mounted missiles. Eventually, Circe crashes, but still fights Wilder, who--in cringy fashion--demands Circe call her "Batwoman" (SEE NOTES). Wilder drops the Snake Bite cure, only for it to be retrieved by Alice (...and how did she find them with no tracking device or info on the direction of the chase?) who uses it, but it has no effect. Grappling with Circe, Alice and her sister fall over an overpass railing, and into the river.
Under the influence of Snake Bite (and somehow not drowning), Alice imagines she's talking to Ocean, who tells her he was killed while he tried to book a flight to the other side of the world to establish their new life together. Crying, she realizes this is a Snake Bite illusion, and has to say good-bye to Ocean. Kissing him, she continues to cry....
...Circe's hallucinations has her mind going back to the search for Beth in childhood, only this time, young Kate opens the door to the basement and is reunited with Beth. At that moment, both are pulled from the river, but Kate needs to be resuscitated. Kate finally recognizes Alice as her sister, just as the police arrive and after two seasons, do their job by arresting Alice on the spot. Go figure.
Jacob: Who?
Wrapping up--
With an Alice and the now insane, masked Roman committed to Arkham Asylum, and rioting ending on the streets, order seems to be restored. At her parole hearing, Wilder delivers a hollow self-empowerment speech, and is granted parole.
At the loft, Luke, Mary and Kate play catch-up and celebrate, with Luke talking about his father turning his childhood sketches into a real Batwing suit. Kate finally admits that until Alice actually desires to be Beth, she cannot help her. Luke and Mary bail once Wilder shows up; Wilder assumes Kate will resume the Batwoman identity, but she says Wilder is Batwoman (SEE NOTES). Later, Kate visits Sophie, announcing that she's leaving Gotham to not only see Jacob and "a friend" (SEE NOTES) in National City, but to find Wayne, who might be able to help Alice become Beth. Kate adds that she and Sophie are not meant to be together.
Because unrealistically feel good crap just happens on this show, Wilder suggests creating a teen community center above Mary's clinic, which Mary finds doable. As for Luke, even with a Bat-suit he is always going to be the equivalent of a day player on someone else's show, with Wilder referring to him as her "backup".
Wilder visits Alice at Arkham, telling her Alice's imprisonment is justice for her mother, adding that she hopes she never sees Alice again (as if that's going to happen). Alice twists the knife, informing Wilder that her birth mother did not die in childbirth, but is still alive...
At the river, as various Bat-villain objects float by, Poison Ivy's...ivy from a cracked container inches its way up the shore. (SEE NOTES).
NOTES:
The disaster that was Batwoman's second season.
1. Ruby Rose. After the actress was nearly paralyzed by an on-set stunt and ultimately walked away from the series, this was the prime opportunity to not only recast the character but continue building on the Kate-centric plots that were already in progress (specifically her spiraling relationship with Jacob). Instead, the showrunners' decisions, which stand as an acknowledgement of how they mishandled the entire Rose affair--ran with a hole-filled "Kate might be dead / brainwashed villain / will she return to her old life" plot, with the burned face matter an obvious and poor way of trying to justify why Wallis Day--who has an entirely different body type, voice and is taller than Rose--was cast as Kate, when the practice of characters re-cast with no explanation ever offered is more than common in TV history.
2. Black lives--as seen through the Batwoman showunners' lenses--are not a serious concern, but seeking "points" for being "relevant".
As we see in this episode, there would be no real continuation or conclusion (not that there's a conclusion to real world issues of this kind) of Luke Fox's Very Special Episode, which was an exercise in dismissive use of the plight of the American black male as nothing more than a tool to make the White Liberal showrunners feel relevant--a trait shared with many of their ilk on the political side of American life.
As noted before, the showrunners never had the will or sense to employ writers who can do what the 37 previous episodes would not introduce, build and seriously address.
This episode's "writer"--that failed series EP Caroline Dries--used Luke as a stand-in for real world events, but failed to live up to the obligation to go all of the way--at least touching on the realistic aftermath of Luke's plight, one which--as I predicted--should not have included this piss-poor, insta-"feel good" takedown of Tavaroff and yes, the expected, Berlanti Production-stamped, Very Special Episode-esque moment with Luke answering Tavaroff's question (about the identity of Batwing) with a would-be tough "Justice".
No, that was not justice, nor any sort of coda to Luke's recent arc; real black males do not--in the event they survive--overcome law enforcement abuses with magical super-suits that provide empty attempts at insta-"feel-good" resolutions. They do not go back to sipping champagne as if all is right in their world, when the very next time they do those seemingly normal things, such as step out on the street, or the law knocks on their door, it could be the beginning of their last moments on earth.
To reiterate, this was a rushed, quickie wrap-up of absolutely no consequences that--for a show that loves to stand on the soapbox--lacked the grinding turmoil, the sickening minute-by-minute outrage and hopelessness real black males feel after being harassed and/or assaulted by law enforcement. For all of their...hand-to-the-heart speeches about "caring", White Liberals of the kind running Berlanti Productions ignore what black voices say without end--does little to change deep-rooted societal, legal and philosophical racial decay that has black people--males above the rest--with their backs against the walls of a world, essentially waiting their turn.
This series' parting shot was a gargantuan, Luke Fox wrapping paper-covered middle finger to black males.
3. Knowing what's coming.
Dries' "script" (if it can be accurately classified as that) had characters repeatedly telling Wilder that she's The One Batwoman, beating viewers over the head with the fact that Wilder was not going to step aside for the restored Kate. We already knew the show was going in that direction, so there was no need for other characters to harp on that. Further, a script does not need to have characters constantly reinforce what Wilder should be demonstrating through her actions, which was not allowed to happen as she complained her way through most of this episode instead of reminding herself (and viewers) why she's earned the Batwoman identity.
Kate leaves to see a "friend" in National City. We know who that is, but it remains to be seen if the production schedules (including delays, the pandemic, etc.) ever lined up this meeting--assuming it was something meant to go before cameras.
Poison Ivy's plants are inching toward Gotham, so we can guess the villain will make her BW debut. You--sure as Hell--knew there would be no Joker or Penguin on this show.
Wilder will now spend most of season three searching for her birth mother, probably ending up paired with Alice in order to find her.
So, season two of Batwoman ends, and if anyone ever doubted the "sophomore jinx and/or slump" regarding sequels, second acts or TV seasons, this is the etched-in-granite proof of that jinx. What started off as a promising, occasionally strong TV series (in its first season), has gone where nearly every Berlanti show has gone before: a self-made pool of failure. I doubt there's a groundswell of enthusiasm for what season three promises.
GRADE: D-.
Dougray Scott not returning for season 3
https://tvline.com/2021/06/27/batwoman-dougray-scott-leaving-jacob-kane-season-3/
https://tvline.com/2021/06/27/batwoman-dougray-scott-leaving-jacob-kane-season-3/
Scott's departure is not a surprise at all. The most believable actor on the series (with the most character potential) was--ultimately--ill served, with his character often used as a punching bag for things he was not responsible for. As if the series could not drop to another level, now there's Scott hitting the road.
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