Batwoman
Season 2 Premiere - Episode 1 - "What Happened to Kate Kane?"
When we last left Batwoman and the Gang, Jacob declared "war" on Batwoman, making an attempt on her life, now its open season on anyone wearing the costume, but his relationship with Sophie is likely damaged beyond repair. Meanwhile, rubber-room all-star Alice murdered Mouse, and using the still unbelievable face grafting procedure, has transformed Tommy "Hush" Elliot into the fake Bruce Wayne, sending him on his way to BW-HQ...
Luke Fox: The best part of this episode...with the exception of his being so gullible in believing Elliot was Wayne. His blaming himself for Kate's "death" was effective, and its an emotional avenue the character should explore. If he took Kate's words to heart (last season) that there's no Batwoman without Luke Fox, then he--after his years as the keeper of the Bat-secrets and experiences with Kate--should be far more assertive (or occasionally hostile) in this season, and not a bumbling pushover for anyone who wants to stomp their way into the Bat realm.
Kate Kane/BW2: So, the plane crash is the way Kate is booted from the series. Still, not once did I believe she died in the crash. I'm almost certain Rose (or a replacement actress) will be called on to shoot some explanation scene about why she decided to play dead (Julia / Safiyah sub-plot), or she might show up toward the end of the season when everything back home is spiraling out of control.
Wilder/BW2: Javicia Leslie's acting was very, very rough, especially in her flashback "trauma" / plane crash scene, which was supposed to be her emotional rung to climb on her way toward taking up the BW identity. She blames the "dirty" Crows for her drug arrest, so everyone should expect Wilder to wage her own, irresponsible fight against Jacob--no matter the warnings she might get from Luke.
The implausibility issue with Wilder is that the throwaway "martial artist" line does not make anyone prepared for the kind of higher end fights BW is regularly involved in, nor should she learn how to use the BW tools so quickly (or at all in so short o period of time); further, even Kate--months after gaining experience as BW--still had her ass handed to her from time to time (as recent as the season one finale), so Wilder should have found herself brutalized....unless the criminals are conveniently inept...
Alice / Tommy "Hush" Elliot aka Fake Wayne: Beyond just accepting the fantasy of the face grafting procedure, it does not account for differences in physical form. Surely, anyone close to Bruce, such as Luke and Julia would instantly see that the expected height, build and gait to his walk are not like Wayne at all. Someone should have conducted what should be a simple matter of calling the real Wayne's phone to verify that the man before him is an impostor. Yes, Julia figured it out, but all of the physical details--years of knowing Wayne--should have tipped off Luke from the start, even in his current emotional state.
Alice laying around with Mouse's corpse? In-series, even if this episode took place only a few days after the S1 finale, an untreated (i.e. embalmed) body would begin to show the rapid decomposition process in effect, and certainly, nature's natural clean-up squad--rodents and insects--would have been all over his body.
Jacob /Sophie: When we last saw Jacob, he promised war against Batwoman, however, if he bought Alice's revelation, only to see another woman in the suit, he might assume she had something to do with the plane crash and....
Julia Pennyworth: Still holding back on Safiyah from Sophie (and anyone else).
Mary: More of the same. Her blubbering over Wilder was not being empathetic, but out of nowhere, all so the showrunners can continue to do more of the same, and have her convince Luke to allow Wilder to take on the BW role, when at present, it makes no sense at all. At this point, "Team Batwoman" has secrets bleeding into the streets, since just about anyone can waltz or con their way into that "secret" world.
NOTES: Wilder's statistics speech was rather cringeworthy; it was if Dries thought she was going to have the character make some grand, sociopolitical speech about the plight of black children in society, it failed. Real people do not speak in that "I'm making a speech" manner, and certainly not from the underprivileged black perspective. This is the reason why the Black Lightning showrunners created a believable standout with characters speaking like real people--real black people. In other words...this series needs to bring in other, mature writers who actually know how to write for such a character.
Plot convenience 101: Giving Wilder a connection to Alice to justify her still wearing the suit / seeking revenge. Of all of the empty buildings in the city, Alice and her gang decide to squat in an occupied apartment building? Especially as they were established as using warehouses and sewers as their HQs. All too convenient. In creating characters and giving them motivation for their crusade, said motivator has to be more than random chance in the way it was presented here. From this point forward, she's stumbling her way into the BW role, instead of taking it on for a larger, developing purpose as seen with Kate. That, and now that Kryptonite is creating some sort of anaphylactic reaction in her, she will have her own reason to seek Team BW for help, or possibly ease the audience that the only person who would know how to treat her is someone from the Supergirl series.
...on that note...
One thing that cannot be ignored is the detail from season one, was Luke questioning Kate about knowing about a "Superman," which confirms that he--like many people in the world--still have no idea about the events/effect of COIE (and a "Supergirl"). Even after Luke mentioned Kate was headed to see Kara, there's still no substantial post-CW-COIE world merging / building up to this point. Oh well. If there's not going to be any crossovers with the other DC series (or so one article suggested as much), two which are cancelled this season, it will not become yet another plot hole taken from the CW-COIE.
Ruby Rose's absence carries more weight now than the point when she announced her departure.
GRADE: C.
