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TV REVIEWS: FTN Reviews Batwoman Season 1 Episode 2: The Rabbit Hole

October 14th, 2019 by Todd Black Comments

At this point in time by both Arrow and Flash, and technically Supergirl, all the characters had embraced who they are and started their missions for the city. But for Batwoman, that hasn’t happened yet. The mission hasn’t truly begun yet…and I’m ok with that. Not everything needs to rush in, and “The Rabbit Hole” focused on what should be the crux of this series: The Kane family…all of it.

After the reveal of Alice being Beth (somehow…), Kate became determined to find out the truth, no matter how horrifying it is. Or potentially how unreal it is.

I’ve already heard some people say they don’t like this approach, but honestly, it’s kind of refreshing. Because instead of Kane suiting up as Batman to be “the city’s new savior” after one encounter with Alice, she’s more focused on her family and finally getting the answers she’s been waiting years for. That makes more sense for Kate than trying to be Batman just yet.

And for me, some of the best scenes in “The Rabbit Hole” were when Kate and Alice were together. The waffle stand scene was a nice play on dialogue. With Alice both showing that she was Beth, yet also toying with Kate because she could see the doubt in her. Sure, Alice may not be the most menacing villain just yet (though as we’re reminded she did almost blow up a city block in her debut…), but that wasn’t the point of the episode. The point was to twist the knife with the Beth reveal by saying that this is Beth…it’s just that this version is rather crazy. Including her going after Mary because she doesn’t like to “share”.

The use of flashbacks to help flesh out the search for Beth and the mother was very nicely done. With Kate showing her drive to get her sister back, and blaming herself for not being with her in the car, as well as the pain Jacob went through when he found out the “truth”. Sure, there was some overacting, but the intent was there.

Unfortunately, there were some oddities in “The Rabbit Hole” that need to be addressed. First off, in the Elseworld’s crossover it was stated that Batman was basically a “myth” outside of Gotham, and yet, there was a Robin namedrop. Also, Wonder Woman was mentioned as being real…but where is she? Themyscira exists thanks to Legends of Tomorrow, but where is Diana right now?

Finally, my main complaint for the pilot carries over here in that the support cast isn’t that strong right now. Mary is still infinitely annoying, Sophie is being the “uncertain love interest”, and Luke Fox is honestly being useless and annoying. I don’t believe for one second that Luke Fox wouldn’t know how to work most of everything in the Batcave if he’s been picked BY BRUCE WAYNE to guard it and “keep the lights on”. And that line about his father makes me even more curious as to why he was chosen at all. Jacob is at least getting better in his character, but it’s not far enough yet.

Still, things are progressing for Batwoman, and I’m still eager to see where the season leads. And by the looks of the trailer for next episode, the red wig is coming.

Todd Black is reader of comics, a watch of TV (a LOT of TV), and a writer of many different mediums. He's written teleplays, fan-fictions, and currently writes a comic book called Guardians (guardians-comic.com). He dreams of working at Nintendo, writing a SHAZAM! TV series, and working on Guardians for a very long time!