TV REVIEWS: FTN Reviews The Batwoman Season 2 Finale

I had a lot of hope going into this season finale that with the arrival of Batwing and Wallis Day continuing to crush the Circe/Kate dynamic that things would get better and hopeful going into Season 3. I can now say…I was wrong to have that hope. Because “Power” did almost everything in its power to be tropey, full of contractions, and literally desperate to get rid of the Kane family for good.

Let’s start with the positive. Black Mask’s plan for Gotham was honestly kind of fun. A mix of The Purge (the first movie, not the sequels) along with No Man’s Land in a way. Asking the not-so-good citizens of Gotham to go and “rise up” to take down the system and rebuild it…under Roman Sionis. A nice twist, and one that helped make him a good villain for the back half of the season (and much better than Safaiyah in the overall).

Having Team Batwoman be without the suit, their gadgets, or even basic amenities was fun as well. Having them use walkie-talkies, using almanacs and phone books and maps to try and get everywhere. It was a fun thing if not a little over the top.

And of course…naturally at this point…Alice was the MVP. From start to finish she was the shining star of this episode, if not the season. Her actions and wordplay against Ryan, Circe, Black Mask was great. And her bringing back Kate was a truly heartwarming moment…that was ruined by the show trying to destroy all that it was built on.

Why do I say that? Well, in the course of about the last 15 minutes or so, in my opinion alone, the show went from a 3.5/5 to a 2.5/5 because of the choices that it did for Kate and Alice.

Right after Alice saves Kate…the GCPD shows up and arrests her. WHY WERE THEY THERE?!?!?! They had a city under siege, yet a group was able to go to a bridge to…just arrest Alice? Even the way they said, “That’s Alice of the Wonderland Gang” was dumb. Maybe Ryan called them, but she didn’t make it clear, and even if she did, that was dumb.

Then, there was Kate. Who was back in a way that just…doesn’t make sense (Snakebite is a memory reviver and can erase an alternate personality…sure…), and then she’s back for 5 MINUTES…and then she’s like, “I’m gone!” Why? Because apparently she suddenly has the urge to go and find Bruce. Why? Because “maybe if I find Bruce I can forgive myself for not finding Beth”. HOW DOES THAT MAKE SENSE!?!?!?

Oh,and that “goodbye” with Sophie? That was just soul-crushing because Kate would NEVER want a relationship that was easy! That’s part of her character is that she’s had to fight and claw for everything she has! She fought for her LGBTQ+ rights, she fought to gain respect from her father, fought to protect her city when Bruce was gone, fought to get Beth back, she keeps fighting, and yet she runs from the woman she CLEARLY LOVES because it “wouldn’t be easy”??!?!? No, just…no.

Furthermore, going back to Alice, Kate said that “if Alice doesn’t want to be Beth then I can’t help her”. Which is a complete contradiction to her arc in this whole season!!!! Alice found out that she WAS Beth the whole time and that Safaiyah took her choice of being Beth away from her, and did everything in her power to get Kate back…MULTIPLE TIMES!!!! Yet Kate is fine with her just…being in Arkham…without her…despite all she did for her? Yeah, that’s a fail.

“So was Ryan ok in this episode?” you might be asking give the criticism I’ve given her over the course of the season. The answer? No. Not only was she tropey as heck, she did the VERY stereotypical, “I’m nothing without the suit!” gimmick…and then in her rematch with Circe she beats her rather easily. Further showing the inconsistency with Ryan’s skill level in the show.

Oh, and if you haven’t heard, Jacob Kane’s actor is officially off the show…even though Jacob is in prison right now…ok…

Next, there’s Luke. The arrival of Batwing was HEAVILY hyped and we got…two scenes with him. TWO! One saving Mary, and one fighting Tamarov (who apparently was meant to be a character named “Menace” from the comics…yeah…no…”. Was his arrival epic? Yes. Was his “justice” line great? Yes. Did we deserve more of him in this episode? YES!!!!!

Finally, let’s talk about some of the other oddities and contradictions that this finale had. How did the Black Masks…have the Batsignal exactly…and get distributed to the “good people” of Gotham? Also, Mayor Adkins’s jeep was assault RIGHT OUTSIDE the place where Sophie and Ryan were? Vesper noted that “Gotham refused Black Mask’s invitation” and yet we clearly saw that wasn’t the case at all. So how did all those people get stopped? Oh, and despite Circe having a CLEAR lead on Ryan in the Batmobile she was able to catch up…no problem? Remember, Ryan stopped to get the Snakebite mist from Mary and had a few minute chat with her…and yet…she still caught up to her?

I know some people will say I’m overanalyzing this, and maybe on some points I am. But here’s the deal. Season 2 of Batwoman from the moment Ryan Wilder was announced had a question attached to it, “Can they make Ryan feel like a worthy replacement to Kate Kane?” And to me, and I know others who feel this way, the answer was no. It had nothing to do with Javicia Leslie for the record, she gave it her all and she did have good scenes. But the writers and showrunner were clearly trying WAY too hard to force her into taking Kate’s spot that the character lost a lot along the way.

Plus, when they brought back Kate, just get rid of her again, it ruined the return of her at all! Many fans are saying that they should’ve just done the Black Mask deal first and have Wallis Day take the mantle for the back half and not brought Wilder in at all, and I agree with them. And they could’ve done the “Black Batwoman” event with Sophie under the mantle and then give it up when Kate’s back to make their connection even deeper!

Season 2 of Batwoman was a lot of wasted effort and wasted potential, and “Power” was the exclamation point on that in many ways.