swapped video links at request of Terminus_Est; What Exit?
Casting changes
The biggest change, of course, is that Ruby Rose will not be returning as Kate Kane. Instead, a new character named Ryan Wilder, played by Javicia Leslie, will take up the Batwoman cowl. Elizabeth Anweis will also not be coming back, her character Catherine having been (rather surprisingly) killed off in the middle of Season 1. No other changes to the main cast have been announced, so Rachel Skarsten (Alice), Meagan Tandy (Sophie), Nicole Kang (Mary), Camrus Johnson (Luke), and Dougray Scott (Jacob) will be coming back. Christina Wolfe (Julia Pennyworth) and Garbriel Mann (Tommy Eliot/Hush) will also be returning as recurring cast. Also announced as recurring cast are Warren Christie as Bruce Wayne/Batman and Shivani Ghai as Safiyah.
Curious how they will handle the transition. Will Kate die or just go away (in the comics almost no one stays dead) Alice without the sister dynamic will lose something IMHO.
When she was cast I was surprised, because Ruby Rose does not stick around in anything she does. She has some kind of serious commitment problem, so whenever I see her in something new I am expecting her to be gone a few episodes later. I thought maybe agreeing to Batwoman was a sign she was maturing. But nope.
There are all sorts of rumors regarding Ruby Rose’s departure from Batwoman. The most generous one is that she was having difficulty due to her sustaining a back injury from performing a stunt on the show. The official story is that she was unhappy with the long hours required.
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 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 and Luke Fox launch searches for Kate, Mary Hamilton grapples with losing yet another family member, Sophie Moore struggles with things left unsaid to her first love, and Alice 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.
Some cast interviews ahead of the season premiere:
So we now have 3 Batwomen of differing ethnicity. Sweet!. Fighting crime is a 24/7 job so it makes sense they’d have shifts just like the regular police do.
The writers were faced with a pretty tall order coming into this season. First, they had to deal with the loose ends generated by the pandemic-shortened first season. Second, and more importantly, they had to deal with the departure of the principal actor. Now they could have simply ignored the problem and recast the character of Kate Kane (as many were expecting them to do), but they chose instead to incorporate Ruby Rose’s leaving into the storyline and have a different character become Batwoman. Third, as a consequence, they had to introduce that new character. I think they accomplished all three objectives pretty well, in the space of the premiere episode.
Last season’s loose ends were pretty much all tied up. Tommy Elliot disguised as Bruce Wayne was quickly (rather too quickly) taken care of. Alice’s plan for the kryptonite was also neatly explained; rather than using it to shoot Batwoman herself, she would get Jacob to shoot her and then watch was he realized that he had shot his own daughter. I wonder if that was the original plan for the season cliffhanger.
Rather than killing off Kate Kane outright, they chose instead to go with a plane crash and a mysterious disappearance. No body means we can’t be sure that Kate is really dead, which leaves the door open for her possibly return. The disappearance was also convenient excuse for “Bruce Wayne” to reappear after his own mysterious disappearance and kick off his infiltrating the Batcave to acquire the kryptonite for Alice. The kryptonite was also tied in to the plane crash as the reason Kate was on the plane was that she had gone to National City to talk to Supergirl about said kryptonite. (Don’t they have encrypted communications in the Arrowverse?)
The plane crash also served as our introduction to the new Batwoman, Ryan Wilder. The plane literally crashed right in front of her and so she was able to pick up the Batsuit. How’s that for tight writing?
The one place, I felt, the episode fell flat was Ryan’s initial outing confronting the thugs in an alleyway. There she was, jobless, living out of her van, whole tragic backstory, and she’s cracking jokes. Her dealing with not knowing how the Batsuit worked was also played for laughs. The comedy just didn’t work - leave that for Legends of Tomorrow.
Alice was a joy to watch as usual. She might have become even more demented now that she’s been robbed of the chance to kill Kate or otherwise cause her death. Although the as-yet unseen Safiyah is claiming that she caused Kate’s plane to crash. Hmmm…
I was very pleased by this episode. It clarified Alice’s reason for wanting armor-piercing bullets (to give to Commander Kane so he could kill Batwoman, and then find out who she was), introduced an interesting new Batwoman, and teased Alice’s new motivation (and when Alice finds out that someone is usurping her sister’s role as Batwoman, she’ll freak - something to look forward to).
It also gave a reason for Ryan to go after Alice - she and the Wonderland gang were the squatters that killed her adoptive mother. The Wonderland gang may be gone, but Alice remains.
DOWNRIGHT BATTY - After her quick spin in the Batgear, Ryan Wilder is back to facing the daily challenges of life as herself. Meanwhile, Alice has a new, devious plan to get the attention of both Gotham and Safiyah (guest star Shivaani Ghai). With Kate still missing and the city in an uprising, Luke and Mary are desperate to find a stand in. In a pinch, Ryan dons the suit again and comes face-to-face with Alice for the first time. Back at Crows Headquarters, Sophie and Commander Kane try to uncover who may have had a vendetta against Kate.
Although a few species of bats eat vertebrates, most eat insects, fruits, or nectar.
Not sure any North American bats eat anything but small invertebrates.
I’m glad they’re addressing Alice’s poisoning of Mary and Catherine. If anyone has a reason to hate Alice, it’s Mary.
It seems strange to call back Sam Littlefield just so he can play a dead body. I rather suspect that those scenes with dead Mouse in the sewer were filmed last season prior to Covid shutting down production. The later scenes in the morgue were probably filmed using a dummy, the better to have bats bursting out of it.
The one closeup they showed was of a vampire bat, which are from Central and South America but quite unknown in North America. Gotham is a weird place.
They’re doing a very good job with the unexpected reboot. Sadly, they still haven’t dumped Sophie
during the final scene, I was thinking “kill her! kill her! kill her!”
sadly, it looks like she’s going to survive. Bad actress, bad role. Needs to go already. But I can understand if that was too much on top of the Covid concessions and writing out Kate.
I still don’t get the Crows and what they are, exactly, nor why any city or police force would put up with them. If they’re private security - why are they doing work for a routine convenience store robbery? corner stores aren’t going to pay the rates for an elite guard.
Also, why would anyone submit to their questioning rather than going to the real police? That part of the world building just doesn’t make sense. (also, even knowing about Mary’s set up, Sophie shouldn’t have gone to her with bat bites. Mary doesn’t have the equipment, staff, or room. She’s a decent choice for someone someone without insurance who pulled their best friend out of the town square, and is desperate for any kind of medical care at all. She’s a stupid, stupid choice for anyone with any level of legitimacy. Of course, Sophie is a stupid, stupid character who needs to go already.)
That’s pretty much what we’re being asked to believe. Incidentally, almost no one knows anything about this incarnation of Batwoman because she’s an original character created for the series.
NEW HERO, NEW SUIT - As Ryan Wilder continues to prove herself as Batwoman, she encounters the challenge of every superhero - living a double life. Mary is still Team Ryan, while Luke continues to have reservations - especially when Ryan makes some alterations and unveils a new Batsuit! Meanwhile, Victor Szasz (guest star Alex Morf) is slashing his way through the city streets, and Commander Kane has The Crows trying to stop the flow of Snakebite through Gotham. Safiyah (guest star Shivaani Ghai) takes notice of Alice’s antics and Sophie finds herself in unexpected circumstances.
I love superhero shows. I wish the CW did a better job with them. I think generally the actors, costumes, sets, and effects are all decent, but their writing often seems stupid to me. I really wish they had used a previously existing character from the comics, who still could have been played by Javicia Leslie, rather than inventing “Ryan Wilder”.
Batwoman’s viewership continues to decline. I don’t have a lot of faith that they can turn it around.
I liked this portrayal of Victor Zsasz; he was wonderfully deranged. So I’m rather disappointed that he got taken down so easily, by an apprentice Batwoman no less. Hopefully he’ll be back. Maybe Safiyah can spring him out of prison. His job for her isn’t done.
Speaking of Safiyah, her appearance just opened more questions than answers. Did she or didn’t she arrange for Kate’s plane to go down? If she didn’t then who’s taking credit? Is she really holding Kate as a sort of bargaining chip against Alice? What’s her interest in Sophie?
