TV REVIEWS: FTN Reviews Batwoman Season 1 Episode 15: Off With Her Head

Man, when Batwoman brings it, it BRINGS IT. “Off With Her Head” was a crucial episode for multiple characters. Mainly, the family Kane, and while usually one of these characters would get the shaft, all three were shown in perfect measure and it helped bring out the best in the episode.

Alice thought she had finally gotten her Mouse back, but Cartwright had her pegged, and instead, Mouse put her in the chair with the Fear Toxin (courtesy of an “old colleague” Johnathan Crane) and thus helped her “face her fear’. But what was her fear? Cartwright? Being locked away? Nope, it was his mother. “Mommy Dearest”.

And you thought Dr. Cartwright was a monster? Nope, he learned all his best tricks from her. Mabel Cartwright was a wicked woman who abused Alice to her breaking point and beyond, all because Alice was young and beautiful and Mable was not.

You might think that showing that Alice was MORE tortured during her time with the Cartwrights is a bit cliche, but you’re thinking about it backward. Outside of a few things, the worst things that Dr. Cartwright had done was tell her she could’ve leave and convinced her that her family abandoned her. Which was terrible, mind you, but hardly physical torture…which was where Mable came in.

And then, just when you thought you got the whole story, he mentioned their mothers’ earrings. We find out that not only DID he find their mother in the river…he was going to put her face on his mother, “It was too beautiful to waste”.

That moment was chilling, as was the reactions both daughters had to that. Alice killed Mable, embracing the darkness within, and when Kate found out…well…

Kate was walking a fine line this week from the moment Alice left Cartwright for her. She confided in Jacob about Alice being alive (without revealing too much, obviously) and then throughout the episode she talked so much about being the best of them, about having honor and such. It was very real, and very true, but slowly…it started to turn.

It honestly started with him trying to kill himself, and Kate doing everything in her power to save him and reaffirm her position despite what she wanted to do. Then, Mary and Luke found out about Beth’s murder at his hands…and she wasn’t happy at all. Then, when he mentioned the earrings, and we found out about the head, she lost it, and she killed him. It was a powerful scene, and the look of Ruby Rose as she didn’t even hesitate to kill him until it was too late to snap out of it was great. Alice’s delight in her sisters’ actions was also quite powerful.

“Congrats daddy, now both your daughters are killers.”

You can’t blame Kate for what happened, and ironically, this ties into Crisis On Infinite Earths where Bruce warned her that it just “starts with one life…then another…then another…” She likely won’t go down that path, but you never know.

As for Jacob, it was great seeing the more fatherly version of him appear, from wanting to kill Cartwright himself, to being the one to save Alice and try to console her, you have to wonder what his role in all of this will be in the time to come.

“Off With Her Head” pulled off many powerful scenes, and it made the chemistry between the family Kane all the stronger, and more twisted. Let’s see what happens next!