What, exactly, are the Crows? And why is a mercenary military on the streets of the city “ok” with anyone?
I’m tired of the whole Sophie thing. She needs killing off already. (and not tragically, she’s not that interesting. Something where we don’t spend the next 10 episodes avenging her death.)
This is the same city that allowed a vigilante dressed up as a bat to run around taking down bad guys, so having a [del]mercenary[/del]private security force operating out in the open is a step up.
ETA: And of course the Crows really only operate where the people can pay for them.
LIES AND LOYALTY - Kate and Sophie must reconcile with their past as Kate questions just how much she can trust her former lover. Kate and Luke have an encounter with an old friend. Mary grapples with the fate of the Kane family as Catherine seeks Jacob’s help. Alice and a new cohort are in on yet another nefarious plan, but her motives are more than they seem.
Tell Me The Truth promo: - YouTube
Old friend = Julia Pennyworth, daughter of Alfred.
A comic book character unknown to me.
Brian
God, I love Mary: “You have two assistants who work past midnight for a real estate company without any real estate.” So now Kate bought a place to open as a gay bar, across the street from a known homophobe’s restaurant.
Julia Pennyworth, in her latest comic incarnation, is black or rather half black, I guess. So of course the inevitable backlash against whitewashing has begun. Notwithstanding that Julia’s original comic version was white.
Except for the flashback and that one scene in the car, was Mouse impersonating Jacob this whole episode? Wouldn’t the real Jacob be surprised when he returns from whatever trip he was on and finds out that he’s no longer getting a divorce?
They pulled the same trick as on Supergirl, by getting someone else to appear as Batwoman while Kate shows up in civilian wear. Somehow, I don’t think Sophie is as smart a Cat Grant and won’t figure out that Kate pulled a fast one. Mary will find out, however, sooner rather than later.
They really need to tell Mary already - I know secret identities are cool, but they’ve done this plot on both Supergirl & Flash, and it doesn’t work for either the characters in the show or the audience watching it, so they may as well move past it and make Mary part of the Bat-ourage.
With this episode, I very much sympathized with Sophie’s situation (in college, not as an adult), and still just don’t care at all about her. She could go yesterday.
AND THE AWARD GOES TO - Kate and Alice continue their sister/nemesis dance, while Alice and Mouse (guest star Sam Littlefield) construct their most evil plan yet. Mary invites Kate to a special event honoring Catherine and Jacob makes a decision that leaves Kate perplexed.
A Mad Tea-Party promo: - YouTube
A Mad Tea-Party sneak peek: Batwoman 1x08 Sneak Peek "A Mad Tea-Party" (HD) Season 1 Episode 8 Sneak Peek - YouTube
I thought the Mad Tea Party was going to be some grandiose affair, with the Kanes, the Crows, and maybe some other Gothamites like the mayor and the police commissioner. It turned out involve just Catherine and Mary and was much madder than I anticipated. Neither did I expect a major character to be killed off, this early in the series. Poor Mary. Anyone who can hurt her like that really is a villain and a true Big Bad.
Sophie’s husband was such a non-entity that, in his previous appearances, they felt the need to remind us of his existence in the “Previously on…” segment. This is the first episode where they didn’t do that. I think that means he won’t be sticking out for much longer.
Finally, we get a Crisis tease, which unfortunately was just some minutes from The Flash (I assume this week’s episode) tacked on to this one. I would have like to have seen Batwoman taking down some baddies and then Harbinger show up, like we saw in the online teaser. Oh well.
“You had a Significant Other in college!!!11!!!” is not the type of information that should take down a marriage and have someone’s current spouse brooding for days? weeks? on end. Especially several years out of school and into the marriage. Also, don’t Sophie & her husband have a house or a car or a favorite restaurant? Because assuming that it is a necessary conversation (see above), it seems that it should wait until they’re not at work. I really hope they both go away soon.
Just caught up on all the shows. Having a significant other in college/private HS is not a big deal. That you are bisexual is probably something that should have been mentioned at some point, I would think. ETA - also, that your old SO is the boss’s daughter also seems a significant data point.
And Kate talking to Bruce can stop any time now.
Binged all the current episodes today.
I have a few gripes with the writing. And I hate the red hair.
But I’ll keep watching. I think it has more good than bad.
AFTERMATH - While Gotham busies itself reacting to Batwoman’s awkward encounter, Alice celebrates her ultimate act of vengeance with Mouse (guest star Sam Littlefield). A devastated Mary focuses on Jacob Kane’s trial, while Sophie seeks advice about her love life from someone unexpected. As they tackle the newest threat to Gotham, Luke prioritizes protecting Batwoman’s secret, and Kate must decide what she is willing to do to honor Batwoman’s identity…and her own.
How Queer Everything Is Today! promo: - YouTube
Note that the crossover episode is #9 so we return with #10. I don’t anticipate any major changes due to the crossover, barring whatever character lesson Kate learned while in the Speed Force. I do anticipate she and Kara teaming up in the near future. World’s Finest!
The episode played out pretty much like a standard Batwoman episode, following on from the previous pre-Crisis episode, until the very last scene. Kate keeping busy dealing with the latest bad guy. Poor Mary, still estranged from Kate, dealing with the fallout from her mother’s death and stepfather’s imprisonment. Sophie’s husband has left her (does anyone remember his name?). Alice is so psychotic, even Mouse thinks she’s crazy. Serious LGTBQ stuff. Funny interactions with “Captain America”.
Oh, look, some acknowledgments that the Crisis happened: Oliver Queen is dead. CatCo is now a thing here. Batwoman comes out to Kara Danvers. Cool! I love mini-crossovers like this. Beth exists as well as Alice?!?!?! WTF is going on?
So, Kate is now triplets? Alice and Beth are maternal with Kate being paternal? Possible though rare. Not worth rewatching to see if anyone foreshadowed or contradicted this turn of events during the episodel.
MAKE A WISH - On the Kane sisters’ birthday, Kate and Alice contend with demons from the past, and an unexpected guest makes a surprise appearance in Gotham.
An Un-birthday Present promo: - YouTube
An Un-birthday Present sneak peek: Batwoman 1x11 Sneak Peek "An Un-Birthday Present" (HD) Season 1 Episode 11 Sneak Peek - YouTube
The sneak peek has what’s possibly a small spoiler, but it doesn’t say who the “unexpected guest” is.
An episode of Batwoman where the titular character didn’t appear, but for a short, token appearance at the end. I didn’t really mind that; the episode was strong enough.
However, we got way too much Sophie time. Do we really care about Sophie? Are we to believe that she’s going to get some sort of life lesson out of hearing Alice’s story? It would have been so much more impactful if Alice had told it to anyone else rather than Sophie.
Now Commander Kane has put out a shoot to kill order on Alice. I’m going to be super-pissed if Sophie kills Beth rather than Alice. Maybe they’re going to merge doppelgangers. Beth and Alice’s simultaneous headaches seem to point that way.
Mary is smart enough to figure out the whole multiverse thing on her own. She really needs to be invited into the Batcave.
So who was the “unexpected guest”? It couldn’t have been Beth, since we already saw her last week, and knew she would be making an appearance again.
TWO’S A CROWD - As Kate is pulled between two sisters, Luke and Mary are tasked with finding the cause behind Beth’s debilitating headaches. A visitor delivers some good news to Jacob, while Sophie takes her new role to the extreme and Alice makes a devastating discovery.
Take Your Choice promo: - YouTube
Of all the shows in the Arrowverse, Batwoman is the last one I would have expected to deal with the consequences of doppelgangers leftover from the Crisis. They adroitly managed to incorporate the dilemma in such a way that didn’t feel forced, with some real consequences to the main storyline. Alice, who still had faith to the last that Kate would choose her, is really going to hate Kate now her faith has been shattered.
I would have preferred that Beth stick around. She could have found work in Central City, to help out S.T.A.R. Labs with their continuing lack of brainpower. Alas, twas not meant to be.
I was fully expecting Sophie to shoot Beth. She fully displayed her fascistic tendencies hunting down Alice. Now it seems they’re going for some sort of redemption arc for Sophie. It was a bit of the cop out to reveal that Mouse’s father was still alive, disguised as a plastic surgeon of all things, and have him shoot Beth. That came out of nowhere.
BEING A HERO IS DRAINING - A new villain sinks her teeth into Gotham and The Hold Up opens in grand fashion. Sophie reluctantly requests that Batwoman keep her distance knowing their interactions could compromise her career.
Drink Me promo: - YouTube
The Batcave Tour: - YouTube
Building the Batcave: - YouTube
Nocturna was a nice change of pace from the from Kate’s gain and then loss of Beth. Also her gay bar “The Hold Up” finally opened allowing Mary, in her influencer persona to shine. Mary continues to show how awesome she is, by figuring out that Kate is Batwoman, all by herself. Who’s the World’s Greatest Detective now? Now, does Sophie know or did she just want to make out with Batwoman?
I had thought there would be more fireworks between Alice and Kate. Their encounters this episode were underwhelming. Looks like it’s more or less status quo for now. The only real difference is that Kate now truly believes Alice is irredeemable.