It’s been three episodes of Batwoman so far, and tonight with “Down, Down, Down” we get the reveal that many have been waiting for…the reveal of Kate in her Batwoman costume full-stop. The journey to that point was honestly really good, and while familiar flaws still trope Batwoman in some ways, it’s picking up in others.
Let’s start with the good, as mentioned, Kate finally donning the Batwoman outfit was really cool. And the reason for her donning the outfit was because she had no choice, but also made the choice that Bruce currently isn’t: to protect the city. Seeing Kate struggle with the fact that since she put on the suit to save Sophie that many enemies are coming out of the woodwork was great stuff. Unlike Oliver, or Barry, or Kara, Kate didn’t plan to take up a mantle, she did it to save a loved one and that’s it. But now, she knows that she is the only one who can defend Gotham from Alice and the others coming. She’s not Batman, but she’s better because she’s there right now and willing to fight for everyone: She’s Batwoman, and that’s boss.
Speaking of boss, Tommy Elliot is finally here! True, we got a version of him in Gotham via teen Tommy Elliot, but that show couldn’t go as far as they needed to in order to make him Hush. Here…they can do that. And while Hush didn’t show up in full, we did get to see the madness of Tommy in full display. From his petty rivalry with Bruce, to him finding out who Batman was (thanks to a man who answers Riddles…), and talking about parts of his famous origin story, it was all good stuff for those hoping Tommy would be a long-time villain. And it appears he will get that chance down the road.
Meanwhile, Alice continues to deliver a fun performance, torturing her father with mind games to make him realize the truth, only for others like Catherine to make him question it. I still think her scenes with Kate are the best in the series because they’re just done so well performance-wise. Her saving Kate from Tommy at the end was really entertaining, “A red wig? And I’m the crazy one…”
Sadly, yet again, it’s the supporting cast that really lets the show down. Sophie becoming the bodyguard to Mary was an awkward and weird connector to Arrow (Diggle, who is better than Sophie currently), and honestly didn’t add much to the show. Why did she feel the need to approach him about protecting his daughter? Why was that such a “special assignment”?
As for Sophie, her chat in the elevator with her husband about Kate was awkward beyond words, and honestly really sad. The fight scene with her flashing back to last episode was fine, but that scene…not much.
Catherine is slowly getting shown as more than she appears. I don’t know what “283” is supposed to mean, but she clearly does. Does Alice know something big that we don’t? Maybe…she was the reason Beth was never found? Hard to say.
Still, this cast needs to step it up else be left behind by the better performances, and of course, losing audiences at the same time.
In the end, “Down, Down, Down” continued a solid run for Batwoman. It’s not the best CW-show on the air right now, but it’s hardly the worst, and it’s still early, let’s see how far this rabbit hole goes.
Todd Black
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!
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