After crashing into the Arrowverse so dramatically in 2018’s “Elseworlds” crossover, hopes were high for the CW’s first Gotham City-set Bat-drama when it launched in October 2019. However, a number of factors lead to Batwoman feeling like the poorest Arrowverse show.
Ratings have been abysmal, with a low point of 0.63 million viewers. To make matters even bleaker, lead actor Ruby Rose quit earlier this year, taking Kate Kane with her. But as always in Gotham, the darker things get, the more chance there is for salvation. When Season 2 premiers on January 17, there are a number of things that Season 1 did that the show must double-down on – and some ideas that Season 2 simply can’t repeat.
Worked: Hush Must Not Be Silenced
While Batwoman Season 1 boasted some minor Batman villains such as Magpie, the early appearance of Tommy Elliot in episode 3 gave fans hope that the show was going to bring in some major members of his rogues gallery too. Sure enough, by the end of the season, Elliot had transitioned into a comics-accurate version of his supervillain persona Hush.
The season finale hinted that Hush would play a big role in Batwoman Season 2, which the show needs to lean into. Elliot’s too good a villain to keep as Alice’s lackey, so let’s hope he’ll be back causing chaos soon.
Avoid: Send Alice Through The Looking Glass (Or Drop Her)
If fans were to point at one element that let down all of Batwoman Season 1, it’s got to be Rachel Skarsten as Alice. While Skarsten is a fine actress, she never quite hit the true otherworldly psychotic madness that makes the character in the comics Batwoman’s equivalent of The Joker. The CWverse Alice doesn’t even dress flamboyantly.
While the show started to do right with the villain formerly known as Beth Kane towards the season’s end, overall Alice just wasn’t that interesting. Either Batwoman has to send Alice truly off the deep end, or it needs to ditch her in favor of a better antagonist.
Worked: Badass Super-Spy Julia Pennyworth
While Alfred Pennyworth failed to make an appearance in Batwoman Season 1, his ass-kicking spy daughter Julia definitely made an impression. Julia assisted Kate Kane in numerous escapades and had previously taught her how to fight, not to mention the pair having a short-lived romance.
Julia is so capable she even filled in for Batwoman at certain points, including saving Kate’s bacon by keeping her secret identity a secret from Sophie. The good news is that Season 2 has promoted Christina Wolfe’s Julia to a regular character, and could now also easily position her as a teacher for new Batwoman Ryan Wilder.
Avoid: Keeping The Bat-Universe On The Sidelines
Gotham City, and the Batman universe that goes with it, is easily the most famous comic book location. It was a real coup for the CW to finally gain access to the Batman toybox, so it’s baffling that Batwoman still hasn’t made better use of Gotham. The GCPD has barely made an appearance, and we still don’t know the whereabouts of Commissioner Gordon.
There have been hints of the Joker’s death and what happened to Batman, but nothing about Alfred, Robin, Batgirl, or the rest of the Bat-family. Hotspots such as the Iceberg Lounge and Crime Alley haven’t been mentioned. Delve deeper into Gotham City in Season 2, please.
Worked: The Big Bruce Wayne Deceit
The transformation of Tommy Elliot into Hush was one of the big success stories of Batwoman‘s first season, and things took an even more interesting turn in the final moments of the last episode, “O, Mouse!” One of the best Hush storylines in Batman comics was when Elliot used his surgical skills to turn himself into a doppelganger of Bruce Wayne, which was also referenced in the Batman Arkham games.
It looks like Batwoman Season 2 is going down this path too, something the absence of Kate Kane will actually help with since there’s no one left on the show to call out Elliot’s deception.
Avoid: Removing Batman Altogether
When it comes to Batman, there are rights issues. Titans, for example, has Iain Glen as a Bruce Wayne who’s never seen wearing the bat-suit, and Gotham wasn’t even allowed to use the words “Batman” or “Joker.” Batwoman got permission to be in Gotham City, but the lame “Batman is missing” excuse satisfied no one.
The Birds of Prey 2002 TV series, which only lasted thirteen episodes, pulled exactly the same nonsense, and no one was impressed then either. Supergirl finally managed to feature Superman properly in its Season 2, so Batwoman needs to do the same with Batman. Or do a Gotham Knights and kill him off altogether.
Worked: The Mysterious Murder Of Lucius Fox
For a long time, it looked as if Luke Fox’s father and Bruce Wayne’s close friend Lucius was simply going to be a victim of Batwoman‘s bizarre desire to push the Bat-family away. Then came the revelation that Lucius Fox was murdered, and later in the season came the gut-punch twist where Luke discovers that the guy who he thought killed Lucius was actually innocent.
Fox’s murder was orchestrated by Tommy Elliot, and Luke’s search for answers was far more interesting than any of the Alice or Mouse shenanigans the show actually focused on.
Avoid: The Invincible Batwoman
Part of what makes Batman and the Bat-family (Batwoman included) so popular is their vulnerability. Unlike Superman, Wonder Woman, or even The Flash, they have no super-powers and can be taken out by a single bullet. That is unless there’s a super-Batman-suit that’s completely invulnerable to regular bullets, fire, and even explosions, which is the case in Batwoman.
One of the biggest plotlines in Season 1 dealt with a Wayne-developed gun that could penetrate the bat-suit, but now that’s destroyed it’s left the suit – and Batwoman – completely invincible. And that’s no fun to watch.
Worked: The Joker’s Daughter
Episode 14, “Grinning From Ear To Ear,” made one of the boldest villain introductions yet, Duela Dent, who has the potential to be huge on Batwoman. She not only possibly has Harvey “Two-Face” Dent as a father, which would be story-fodder enough for the show, but she also has an obsession with the Clown Prince of Crime that leads her to adopt the moniker of “The Joker’s Daughter.”
Batwoman seems to be leaning in this direction, what with her carving smiles into her victims The Dark Knight-style and having her face cut off at the end of the episode. In Batman: Death of the Family Duela Dent wore the decaying face of the Joker, which would be a horrifying – and exciting – image for Batwoman Season 2 to capitalize on.
Avoid: Twists We Don’t Care About
If there was a theme running through Batwoman Season 1, it was the show’s inability to focus on the right things. Viewers wanted to know more about Batman’s disappearance, the Lucius Fox murder, and Hush. Instead, we got a few twists based on characters we didn’t care about. The first half of the season set up that Kate’s stepmother was involved in Beth’s disappearance.
Not only did this lead to basically nothing, but Catherine Hamilton-Kane was so uninteresting even her death was quickly forgotten about. Beyond that, the major mid-season twist, which on The Flash or Supergirl would be a major villain reveal, was only that Mouse’s father was still alive. Viewers didn’t care. More interesting twists in Season 2 are welcome.
