Batwoman - Season 1

[RedMountain]

Yeah and I imagine the next plot point will be trying to kidnap Fox's son in hopes he can decode it.

[Maskripper]

Yeah and I imagine the next plot point will be trying to kidnap Fox's son in hopes he can decode it.

Yeah, if you check the trailer (in my review on the previous page)

Spoiler

.....that is a "possibility". ;-)
And it seems that team Batwoman recruit Parker (the tech-girl from ep10) to help them on decoding.

The main question for me is: What does Alice actually want with that book?
Does she now want to kill Batwoman? I don't think so. Or does she wants it so that no one else has it?
Alice could "just" kill Kate, as she is not protected by the suit. And even as Batwoman....she is in danger.
The neck and the lower face aren't protected. Don't know about the cowl, but I guess that is bulletproof.
And there are hundreds of other ways to kill Batwoman....gasssing, drowning, suffocation, big explosions, heavy stuff falling onto her etc.. --
So, it will be really interesting to see why they want to get their hands on the book.

Spoiler

(Julia as well! For Safiyah?)

[Visitor]

Alice wants to control the threats against Batwoman. After all she disabled the Hamilton weapon that could have killed Batwoman. Being able to deactivate the suit gives Alice another option.

[RedMountain]

I think my biggest issue, more of an overall gripe, is all the focus and use of Batman and his stuff in the show and the journal kind of continues that. Batwoman was honestly my favorite comic book until they did the nonsense with her not being allowed to get married per DC and the writers left, but the thing that made Kate and Batwoman so amazing was that she was a completely stand alone character to the bat family. She was inspired by Batman to start doing what she did, but she had her own entire support team and resources and gear aside from Bruce and she did her own thing. Hell she even fought and captured Batman at one point and kind of like he did with Huntress he made some comments to her about "letting her" operate in "his" city. She was never really on good terms with the Bat family until later, heck she even broke Batgirl's nose when the younger bat completely underestimated her skills and tried to fight her over an investigation. Just a mini-rant I guess, I just get tired of Hollywood differing so much from the source material. They had a ton of amazing stuff they could have used just between Kate and her dad and Alice, etc. from the comics that would have made for a great show vs. this taking over for Batman and watching over Wayne Enterprises stuff.

[Maskripper]

^Well, then you should blame Warner Brothers ;-)
They don't wanna have Batman on a TV show. So...he just can't be there, pretty simple.
And besides, if Batman would be a big character in the Batwoman show....it would be troublesome as it could take away the focus from Batwoman.
As she is the title hero of this show.....she must/should be the biggest hero in the city right now.
Otherwise she might look like a sidekick of her own TV show.

[RedMountain]

I don't think you quite got my post at all. My biggest complaint is that Batman is mentioned at all or even part of the background of the show. Not sure where you got that I wanted a Batman show out of any of that, lol. Batwoman's comic never involved the bat family or Wayne Enterprises in anything more than a passing mention or very brief role so it just irritates me a bit they ignored all the source material from her comic surrounding her family drama and the work with the DEO, which IMO would have made a more interesting show vs. the fill in for Batman role they've given her. I know they probably had to root it in Batman lore somehow to get people interested outside of us comic nerds, and judging by the comments I read on the review sites for the episodes most people aren't even aware Kate had a really solid comic run, but it just annoys me.

[Maskripper]

...My biggest complaint is that Batman is mentioned at all or even part of the background of the show. ...

First you say they should be true to the source material, and then you say Batman shouldn't even be mentioned at all in this show?
I'm no comics expert but Batman inspired Kate to become Batwoman as he saved her from a thug, without him she most-likely never would have become a crime fighter.
So I think that Batman is important to Batwoman and must be mentioned here and there. I think this way it's a solid middle way.
Batman can't be the city's big hero in this show ....and neither they should ignore him completely.
And if they decide to remove Batman from Gotham...his proberties and gadgets are available. So it is a logic step for me that she would take over his stuff and his role as she is his cousin (in the show).
I know this way provoked a big fuss....but I don't think there was a big alternative when they wanna make a Batwoman show.
Of course they done some things wrong in how they presented that (#trailer) and they should have a real explanation for the fact that Batman is missing.
That would have made things easier for the show.
But this is still the first season, let's see how the develop that Batman aspect in the future.
More hints and explanations would be nice.
-
P.S.: And I didn't thought that you wanted a Batman show, I just thought you wanted him in it. Ok, my bad, that was wrong.

[DrDominator9]

As long as they don't go the route that they went in the Supergirl tv show, of bringing in Superman just to be a jobber, to make SG look like the better hero in every way possible. If they do that to Batman, I'm out. And I like this Batwoman show a lot! But that would be it for me!

[Maskripper]

I made a preview for the last 2 episodes of the season! Incl. the available trailer and the synopses and promo pictures.
And I present all the big questions that I would like to be answered in the finale of season 1.

https://maskripper.org/batwoman-special ... the-season

Especially looking forward to Batwoman VS her father and all the possible secret identity issues that might come up!
And some of the villains will try to hunt her down as well. Oh man!
So thrilled about these last episodes of the season....Can't wait!
Damn.......I will be crushed when the season is over and there will be 5 months without a new episode....


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[shevek]

Lots of talk about this past week's Episode 18, and that's as it should be. It was by far the best episode of the series - it had the most sex, the most violence, the most villains, and the highest amount of tight costumes. Even a bit of peril with Kate in chains, although we never get a seriously good look at her captivity with actual camera panning. (The longest shot is when she gets freed with the laser)

As far as the Batman inclusion issue, let's look at it this way. In many of these series, the established male legacy hero (whether it's Superman, Flash, or Batman) is made to look inept in comparison so that the female leads seem more competent. Its the progressive practice of "equity". (And yes, this also happens in the Harley Quinn cartoon, where Bruce Wayne and James Gordon look like blundering oafs). That's just what these kinds of shows do nowadays to effect a certain level of agenda. If you want to watch a free superhero TV show, you have to accept it at this point. You have to be OK with drastic changes in canon such as making Batman a killer (having murdered Joker) or a whole bunch of people knowing Bruce Wayne's closely kept secret.

But sometimes there are worthwhile tradeoffs. As I mentioned above, after a lot of decompression on the endless Alice arc, the show is finally starting to open up and feature a wider variety of supervillains with staying power. First of all, Magpie looks very sexy in her suit, and quite gorgeous in her civilian outfit as well. This is her second appearance, and I'm thinking she'll be back again at some point. Second, there is Tommy who is becoming Hush. He'll be a formidable force, hopefully. And finally Batwoman gets a chance to do some really long extended fight scenes where she kicks the asses of something like 20 traffickers and mafia henchmen, and meanwhile we see that she is by no means infallible - she gets knocked out, chained up, hair pulled. She's still on a superhero learning curve, and though her ability to avoid getting shot and/or ever double-teamed does verge on the nearly miraculous, she's still no Mary Sue.

I was also impressed by the details that went into setting up the pile of comic books in Tommy Elliot's warehouse. The writers created a whole new comic book character just for that universe: Kitty Delgado, a voluptuous cat-burglar who seems somewhat modeled after Marvel's Black Cat. It wasn't something they needed to include at all, but they put in there to stir up the sexiness, and to rev up the sexual tension between Julia and Sophie, who along with Reagan (and maybe Magpie too?) form quite a phalanx of super-hot lipstick lesbians. Not complaining one bit. Perhaps they are realizing they need more voyeuristic eyeballs to increase their audience size.

So I was basically satisfied with this episode, and more engrossed in both the action and the physical appearances of the characters (even stepsister Mary got a chance to look great in her party dress) than I've been for a while regarding this show.

I only really have a few questions:

- The scene with her fighting the sex traffickers could have used some punched-up pathos and extra motivation. In the background of the shipping container, you only see a brief glimpse of the trafficked victims, and they don't look particularly afraid or desperate, just staring straight ahead like the extras they are. A few close-up shots of whimpering, or grateful looks for being saved, would have gone a long way to ground the emotional resonance of the scene.

- I'm not sure how the science works when Magpie tosses the book off the building, and Batwoman then dives off the same building. attempting to catch the journal. The book had such a head start on its descent that she should not have been to catch it, since both she and the book fall at essentially the same rate (allowing for wind resistance etc.). That's just a bit of wishful magical thinking on the part of the writers.

- Near the end when Alice extracts the tracker from Magpie's skin, it's not made clear who put the tracker in her. Does she have the tracker because it was inserted in her by the Arkham institution? Or did Alice put the tracker in Magpie, agreeing to remove it only when Magpie's job for her was completed? If so, where would Alice and Mouse have gotten the technology to make and install such a tracking device? It seems to stretch incredulity a bit.

Otherwise than that, I generally had a good impression of the episode.

[DrDominator9]

Wonderful analysis there, shevek. Thanks!

[Maskripper]

..... She's still on a superhero learning curve, and though her ability to avoid getting shot and/or ever double-teamed does verge on the nearly miraculous, she's still no Mary Sue.

.......................
I only really have a few questions:
......
- I'm not sure how the science works when Magpie tosses the book off the building, and Batwoman then dives off the same building. attempting to catch the journal. The book had such a head start on its descent that she should not have been to catch it, since both she and the book fall at essentially the same rate (allowing for wind resistance etc.). That's just a bit of wishful magical thinking on the part of the writers.

- Near the end when Alice extracts the tracker from Magpie's skin, it's not made clear who put the tracker in her. Does she have the tracker because it was inserted in her by the Arkham institution? Or did Alice put the tracker in Magpie, agreeing to remove it only when Magpie's job for her was completed? If so, where would Alice and Mouse have gotten the technology to make and install such a tracking device? It seems to stretch incredulity a bit.

Otherwise than that, I generally had a good impression of the episode.

A really nice post! Yeah, I thought you might like this episode ;-)
-
Regarding her getting shot: She manages to avoid it often...but still she was shot a few times already! But that wasn't a problem so far, due to her bulletproof suit. The only thing, at least with "normal" guns....she can be badly wounded or killed as her lower face and neck aren't protected. These are the weak spots.
I think this works much better than on Arrow for example. How often he fights against highly armed goons and nearly never get hit....
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Yeah, the thing with the book was odd, as she also returned way too quick. But that are so minor "mistakes" that I for my part don't care...as long as they don't overdue it.
-
I don't know for sure who put the tracker there in Magpie. But I would think it's from Alice. I mean the whole "Mouse plays that Arkham doc" has quite some logistical problems....but it's fun to see how they control Arkham by now.
Of course the tracker could be part of the program in Arkham....but thereby I think they would somehow admit that breaking out is sooooo easy that they have to track them in case they break out.

[Maskripper]

Batwoman is on tonight at the CW! (followed by Supergirl)

[RedMountain]

Obvious potential meeting with Supergirl set up by this week's episode...and I've got to say, it's kind of dumb that you need that to kill Batman/Batwoman. It's a suit of armor...get a big enough projectile and the wearer will die from the kinetic energy transferred through the suit...the bat suit isn't completely impervious to damage to the point you need some silly plot device like this. If Kate gets shot with an RPG, she's not walking away from it, so just odd the bad guys need some strange mcguffin to beat the batsuit. I wonder where they get these ideas sometimes.

[Maskripper]

Obvious potential meeting with Supergirl set up by this week's episode...and I've got to say, it's kind of dumb that you need that to kill Batman/Batwoman. It's a suit of armor...get a big enough projectile and the wearer will die from the kinetic energy transferred through the suit...the bat suit isn't completely impervious to damage to the point you need some silly plot device like this. If Kate gets shot with an RPG, she's not walking away from it, so just odd the bad guys need some strange mcguffin to beat the batsuit. I wonder where they get these ideas sometimes.

Well, I think too that they don't "need" this weapon to kill her. But so far, we don't know how this weapon works....perhaps it's the way HOW it would kill Batwoman that makes it so interesting for Alice. Even I still don't believe that she really wants to do it in the end.
And after all it's a hero show, these heroes are always way too hard to kill anyhow, supersuit or not.
Take the Arrow for example....he has no armor at all and fights with.... an arrow....and still doesn't get killed in fights with dozens of armed henchmen.
Looking forward to know more about that weapon...and why

Spoiler

Krpytonite is used

---
Will post my review for this episode tomorrow as it's getting late here.

[Maskripper]

Episode 19, "A secret kept from all the rest"

–
“General”:
My highlights from this episode (without particular order):

Spoiler

1 – Batwoman fighting her way through Arkham! My favorite scenes of this episode! First the confrontation with Alice and Hush and then she has to battle lots of Arkham inmates to escape herself. Luckily for Batwoman many of the inmates wanted rather to escape quickly and many are just fighting each other instead of teaming up against the guards and her. Would have loved some more minutes here as the setup is just really dangerous for Batwoman and quite a thriller! Especially as the Crows are closing in....but they are too late to confront Batwoman.
2 – Mary! Again Mary is involved in some hilarious scenes...you just have to love her! Her first comment ("time to day drink") was a great start and all her comments towards Parker are just great as she is really pissed that some seemingly "random teen" knows that Kate is Batwoman and walks around the batcave. Also her handling of the equipment in the batcave is very clumsy....and funny. But no big surprise, how could she know how to handle such stuff? She will have to learn...and I'm sure she will be a quick learner.
3 – Kate realises how important Luke is! During the episode, it shows how important Luke really is when it comes to Batwoman being in the field. I really like the scene where Kate hugs Luke near the end and tells him how important he is ("no Batwoman without Luke Fox"). After all she can always rely on him and one of the very few people who is in daily contact with Kate. He even was ready to die to protect the journal's secret that is so dangerous for Batwoman!
4 – Jacob and Batwoman on the rooftop! I love the suspense as they finally meet again and of course he shows how much he hates vigilantes. But at least he gives Batwoman some credits as he warns her instead of setting up a trap there for her. I just love the constelation with Jacob and Kate and Batwoman as he really despises Batwoman for being a viglante but loves his daughter Kate on the other side! And as he warns her ("when I see you again...it's war!") this scene was the first step in the upcoming confrontation with the Crows VS Batwoman! Oh, looking forward to that SOOOO much :-)
–
I don't really like the start of the episode as Hush runs through the library killing random people that are no threat to him. Ok, he might do that that no one gets alerted about his presence. But there is a guy with a bandaged head and two pistols walking around the library! And no one at all spots him and alerts the police/security? There must be folks who see him and doesn't get killed as he doesn't spot them....
Of course Kate is realllly angry about Reagan stealing that journal! And I like how she confronts her about it. Hard to say if there is any chance that Kate may forgive her after she now knows why she stole it. Even she had good reasons to do it.....I don't think there relationsship has a future as the stolen journal may lead to some tragedy....
Alice shows again how right Kate was in putting her in Arkham as she casually kills guys who can't decode the journal. Much as Hush, she is a ruthless killer. Mouse is the only one of the trio who is really reasonable right now in my opinion. I was a little surprised that Alice now really seems Kate to die. I don't think she will pull through with that in the end. It will be interesting to see what these three want to achieve in the final episode of the season.
Kate has a hard time trusting the people around her. Reagan stole the journal from her and Julia has her own agenda about the journal. Luke is defending Julia and thereby Kate has serious beef with him as well. But in the end of the episode most of these problems were solved.
Since Batwoman broke up their short flirt, Sophie hadn't much scenes with Kate either. And I'm not sure why she isn't chasing after Kate now. Perhaps their past is still a big problem...so she decides to get closer to Julia. And, no surprise, Kate isn't happy about it. Will be interesting how this love triangle will go on.
As Parker was already in the trailer, it wasn't a surprise that she would show up in this episode, but I already thought back in her debut episode (10), that she might show up again, as she is a skilled hacker. And she was badly needed as Luke wasn't here. The scenes with Mary and Parker were funny and Parker's was a nice addition as her teeny behaviour is so much different form the others.
I think it was quite odd that the batcave was declared "outdated" for the task that Parker was assigned to do. In the past it always seemed that the batcave was pretty much high-tech. Ok, perhaps Luke hasn't upgraded all systems to the newest possible standard. And perhaps Luke might work with Parker on that.
The quick scene where Batwoman confronts Hush on that overpass(?) was nice. And it showed again that Batwoman might need a ranged weapon as she could shoot quite a lot of rounds at her. Ok, her suit is bulletproof, but what is he hits her lower face or neck? Don't know if he was really aiming for it...but maybe he needs to improve his pistol skills even she wasn't that close. Ok, so far, he is new to this whole "villain" thing, guess he will improve on that.
The scene were Alice talks to the swab, pretending it was Parker.....just GREAT! ---She wasn't too happy about Hush showing up without her.
I was impressed how tough Julia pulled through the electroshocks! And she mentioned that wasn't the worst she had suffered....that shows that she wasn't in such a situation for the first time. Hopefully her past will be uncovered more and more in the future. She is still a pretty mysterious character for me, which makes her even mroe interesting!
The end of the episode leaves me very....puzzled! Kryptonite is the big danger for Batwoman? So I guess that bullets with krytonite can go through the batsuit just like the railgun projecticles? I am sure that will be explained further in the last episode of the season. And still I'm not 100% convinced of WHY they all want that weapon....ok, it may make it easier to kill Batwoman. But there are plenty of other methods to kill Batwoman without such a weapon. Well, I am sure the last episode will solve this matter.
-

>>> Rating “General:” <<<

4 out of 5 – A very good episode with quite some highlights!
(It was a close call between 4 and 3,5 bats, but the Arkham scenes made the difference)
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“Mask”:
Check out my mask rating, more screenshots and the Batwoman scenes on my Blog:
https://maskripper.org/batwoman-season- ... l-the-rest

--------------------------
Conclusion:
A very good episode with some thrilling scenes and very funny moments as well!
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Pictures (more on my Blog):






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What are your thoughts on the episode?
–
Here is the trailer for the final episode of this season:


Well, looks like Batwoman gets into MASSIVE trouble in this one!
I wonder if she will come out of that without Jacob finding out that his daughter in under that mask!
Also, it will be interesting to see what will happen to Alice, Mouse and Hush and their plans to kill Batwoman.
I think that one character won't make it to the end of the episode....

[batgirl1969]

Kate really should get Reagen and Julia together in the same room and interrogate them about the journal, use some light bondage and maybe.....some other tactics to make them talk!!! would be cool if she used a truth serum on them both and they both revealed how madly in love with Kate they each are and we flip to a scene with Kate in the middle of a Blonde bed sandwich....It's Gooooood to be the Batwoman!

[Visitor]

Computers get outdated in computing power quite quickly. However Luke keeping the older systems makes sense since updating legacy systems to modern computers takes a real effort because you are basically rewriting all the old code. If you had the scene where Parker complains to Luke about it, then you would have probably have him pull out unnoticed newer computers.

[Maskripper]

Season 2 of Batwoman starts in January...not in the fall as planned. DAMN Corona!!!!!

https://dctv.news/cw-schedule-changes-t ... -crossover

[Maskripper]

I mostly recovered from the shock that Batwoman's second season starts in January 2021 instead of the fall later this year.
Due to the Corona virus they simply can't shoot soon enough to keep the usual fall start of (most of) their Arrowverse shows.



On the good side CW president Mark Pedowitz mentioned that they -nonetheless- intend to give the Arrowverse shows "full" seasons with up to 22 episodes.
Normally the CW shows which start in January only get up to 13 episodes so they would be all aired before the summer.
Supergirl and Legends of Tomorrow starting even later in "midseason" which should be in March/April.

If these two will get short seasons with only 13 episodes....the other Arrowverse shows which start 2 or 3 months earlier in January...should have more episodes as they simply have more time to air episodes. IF all of these shows end around the same time which they should.
So, if Batwoman's second season would get a full season with around 20 episodes, it would air until July or even August.
Of course I would love as many episodes as possible in this second season.
I would be already ok with 16 episodes....but 18 or more episodes would be really great!

To have to wait 3 months longer for new episodes is one bad thing.
But....IF we get a (nearly) full season after all, I would be very happy!
In the end the most important aspect is how many episodes the season will actually get.

----------------------

Let's focus on the final episode of the show, which will be shown on the CW today (starting tomorrow on the app/cw site)!

Here is the trailer:

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With the knowledge of the last episodes, the synopsis and pictures for this final episode of the season.....this should become a worthy, tragic, emotional finale to this season!

What will Alice, Hush and Mouse do? Are they ALL willing to kill Batwoman?
Why do the Crows capture Mary?
Why is Kate crying? Something really horrible must have happened! Was she unmasked by the Crows? Was someone hurt or even killed that she cares for?
Will Sophie and Julia be able to save Batwoman (if needed)?
What's with the kryptonite? Will it be used in some weapon? How will the villains get kryptonite?
Will someone not survive the episode?

I am soooo thrilled about this episode! I am expecting a tragic and dramatic episode with a solid cliffhanger at the end.
Also I'm sad about it....just as it is the last new Batwoman episode for nearly 8 months.

-
My favorite scenes from the trailer:

Why is Batwoman so shocked?



Cornered by the Crows! Can she protect her secret identity? Or will they unmask her?

(cropped images from the trailer )

[shevek]

Batgirl1969 must really enjoy this show. The previous episode had a superhero show all-time record of six lesbians (Kate, Sophie, Julia, Reagan, Parker, and Parker's girlfriend) and the new season promises to add a whole organization of lesbian pirates from the island of Coryana led by Safiyah Sohail (from the comics). I think that's probably more than even the L Word used to have!

P.S. Oh, and I forgot one thing which was small but very annoying - in the scene where Luke begins to decipher his father's book, the writers make at least two mistakes which could easily have been factchecked:
- "heth" is not the first letter of the Aramaic alphabet (that would of course be "aleph")
- there is no such thing as the Babylonian alphabet, because they used cuneiform which is a syllabary

[Visitor]

The final twist of the season is the appearance of

Spoiler

Bruce Wayne

[batgirl1969]

Thanks Shevek, YES I LOVED it....sapphic paradise!! the amount of lipstick in this episode overwhelms me.....I LOVE kate and that saucy british blonde tart....I would Make HER my Girl if I was Kate....but I am really hoping Kate meets up with and a surprise hug and kiss with Supergirl!! Imagine these 2 even if just a scene!!! hot!

[Dogfish]

One thing I'm still having trouble with in this show is all the fuss being made about Kryptonite as a weapon to kill Batwoman despite the fact she's clearly got enough of her face visible in the mask to shoot off, and despite the fact that plenty of baddies have had the beating of her in one on one fights and she still needs to breathe. There was a conversation in the show Luke Cage where the baddies tried to work out what it'd take to kill the 'bulletproof' guy, and it was sort of interesting because it did look like it'd be really hard to physically drop the guy. But Batwoman is clearly just a woman in an armoured suit and most of the baddies have some sort of experience of having bested her even temporarily once or twice.

[Visitor]

"We're going to need something stronger." - Jacob Kane after looking at the spent bullets that bounced off the suit.

Stupidness part was a circle of Crows surrounding Batwoman and all firing so any misses could be friendly fire.

[Maskripper]

One thing I'm still having trouble with in this show is all the fuss being made about Kryptonite as a weapon to kill Batwoman despite the fact she's clearly got enough of her face visible in the mask to shoot off, and despite the fact that plenty of baddies have had the beating of her in one on one fights and she still needs to breathe. There was a conversation in the show Luke Cage where the baddies tried to work out what it'd take to kill the 'bulletproof' guy, and it was sort of interesting because it did look like it'd be really hard to physically drop the guy. But Batwoman is clearly just a woman in an armoured suit and most of the baddies have some sort of experience of having bested her even temporarily once or twice.

I think that the whole need for a super weapon to kill Batwoman gets overdone. We had the coil accelerator and the rail gun already and now a potentional new weapon that seems to use kryptonite projectiles. Of course it would be cool for a villain to have such a weapon...but there are hundreds of other ways to kill her...as was already discussed in this thread.
I don't agree on: ......... "Batwoman is clearly just a woman in an armoured suit and most of the baddies have some sort of experience of having bested her even temporarily once or twice.".............
Yes, the suit protects her, but her fighting skills were good enough to get the upper hand in most situations. She doesn't have superpowers like Supergirl, she has to rely on her training and skills. And I guess since these are Batwoman's first months...she will evolve and get better in combat. She could use some more and better ranged weapons as the fight with Titan clearly showed.
---------------------------

@ Visitor:
Yeah, they are standing in a circle, but as they are most likely ALL quite a lot taller then she is...they are shooting a little downwards. So I guess the danger of friendly fire is rather small....if they are skilled enough.

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But these are only small aspects of hundreds topics from this episode.
I will post my detailed review tomorrow as there is MUCH to tell about this episode.

[Maskripper]

Episode 20, "O, Mouse!"

–
“General”:
My highlights from this episode (without particular order):
If you have difficulties in reading the spoilers below, just mark the text. ;-)

Spoiler

1 – Batwoman VS Titan! I loved their encounters, these were some intense fight scenes! Batwoman got into serious trouble twice and it showed that she could need some more and stronger ranged weapons, especially VS fighters that are really strong on close combat like he was. Her bracers were really crucial in these figths ;-)
2 – Alice VS the professor! This scene showed the complete range of Alice. First some witty and hilarious dialoges(!) and then as she realises that he told her everything of interest....her madness surfaces as she kills him off. She is a really charismatic villain with no remorse at all for taking a life.
3 – Mary tries to convince Jacob to work with Batwoman! The scene on the rooftop was a thriller as Mary passionately tries to bring her father to see Batwoman as an ally instead of a menace. Even Jacob is pissed about Mary being involved with Batwoman it seems that she convinced him....
4 – Jacob betrays Batwoman! This wasn't a surprise to me as I saw the trailer for the episode....but damn....Jacob is really on a warpath! Instead of unmasking and arresting her, he tries to kill Batwoman! What is wrong with him? I thought for some moments that this couldn't be the real Jacob and it would be a Mouse with Jacob's face. I mean Batwoman's actions doesn't justify it at all that the Crows would try to execute her like that! But Jacob seems to hate her even more than he had expressed so far. And the Crows didn't question him as they all follow his example as he opened fire. And of course, Kate is shocked about her father trying to kill "her" like that. More on that later. Right now Jacob has become pretty much a villain himself.
5 - Kate presents the Kryptonite that Kara gave her! And the fact that she wants to keep it as she promised...shows that she really cares a lot about Kara. I read that Caroline Dries told that she originally should look at a picture of Kara that she has in her office. That scene couldn't be shoot anymore due to the abrupt halt as they couldn't film any longer. That shows how much she cares about her. I'm sure we will see they team up in a future Crossover (#World's finest?). They had a great chemisty in Elseworlds and Crisis...so I am looking forward to more!
6 - Alice and Mouse! - Wow, some great scenes with them! I smiled big time as the bats flew through her hideout. Mouse earned some more sympathy "points" as he really wants Alice to forget about her war against Batwoman. He was happy with their situation in Arkham...but Alice is so blind in her rage that she can't see clearly anymore. As Mouse expresses his wish to leave her, she even poisons him as she couldn't let him go. And in her logic that means that he has to die. Some emotional scenes with were perfectly played by Rachel Skarsten and Sam Littlefield. In the end I felt really sad for Mouse. I thought he might die in this episode...but certainly not like that!
7 - Tommy Elliot transforms into Bruce Wayne! Well, I certainly didn't see that coming! It's really nice improvised cliffhanger. He can become a big threat to team Batwoman. The question is, as Tommy Elliot can't mimick voices like Mouse could, how long will he be able to fool them? Or will he be able to sound like Bruce Wayne?
–
The opening scene with the fight with Jacob and Kate VS Titan was really good. In this one Jacob wasn't as triggerhappy as later with Batwoman. He could have shot him with the shotgun at the beginning. Luckily for Jacob Kate was there to save his ass, even she got into trouble as well. And it was one of the rare scenes were Jacob and Kate were together lately. However it is kind of dangerous for Kate to show her fighting skills in front of her dad....he might get ideas ;-) . Even she didn't have a choice here.
What really surprised me in a bad way that Hush suddenly knows that Kate is Batwoman! When did that happen? In the last episode Alice and Mouse didn't let him in on that secret. Why did Alice shared that secret with Hush? With him knowing it.....it will get very dangerous for Kate/Batwoman! I don't know why it wasn't shown as Alice told him that secret. Surely Tommy would be really stunned by that revelation as he knows Kate from former encounters. Perhaps that reveal was planned to be shown in the original plan with 22 episodes.
I am not very happy with everyone's obsession to get a gun that can kill Batwoman. I mean we already had the rail gun and the coil accelerator. Now projectiles with kryptonite that can also penetrate her suit? I mean there are so many other options to kill Batwoman! Her lower face and neck isn't protected, and she was lucky so far to didn't get a hit there. And also you could gas her, suffocate her, drown her, use heavy explosives etc.. There are plenty of ways to kill her, even with that suit. Or you could unmask her and then hunt the unprotected Kate. The villains need to get more creative! The "super gun" aspect gets overdone now in my opinion.
Mary and Kate had some hilarious scenes again. Love their chemisty! Kate remarks about her non-existing knowledge of football as a lesbian and her idea with the "sexy cheerleaders"... :-)
The Titan was a good adversary for the episode! An interesting background story and his fighting skill were a big problem for Batwoman and the Crows. He was a real force and the scene as he had pinned her down and she addressed his "human" side was done very well and was important to get to know him better.
Julia and Sophie were a little bit sidelined in this one but they had very interesting scenes. Sophie will have major problems with Jacob trying to kill(!) Batwoman....that may lead to Sophie leaving the Crows if Jacob won't change his attitude towards Batwoman.
It will be really interesting to see what's behind these pictures of Sophie and Julia! What did Julia do to motivate someone to threaten her like that? What was weird that these pictures didn't show Julia and Sophie in my opinion! They looked different! Perhaps that was due to the production halt? I guess they weren't be able to shoot that scene like they wanted to.
The scene near the end with Kate and Mary was intense and written very well. Kate is really shocked about Jacob's behaviour and Mary manages to calm her down. It was an intense scene between the sisters and showed how much their relationsship evolved since Mary knows about Kate being Batwoman.
Now Jacob seems on the lockout for a "stronger" weapon as well! I hope he doesn't get his hands on another super weapon that could penetrate Batwoman's suit. Come on Jacob, think of a good trap where Batwoman can't escape and then rip her mask off! ;-)
I loved the two scenes where Batwoman user her grapple gun in the stadium, these action shots were well done!

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>>> Rating “General:” <<<

4,5 out of 5 – Even there were some aspects that I didn't like.....this improvised finale of the season offered SO many highlights! A worthy end to the season :-)
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Conclusion:
A thrilling, improvised finale of the season with some BIG highlights!
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Pictures:





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More screenshots, my mask rating and the videos can be found on my Blog as usually:
https://maskripper.org/batwoman-season- ... 20-o-mouse

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What are your thoughts on the episode?

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236 days left until season 2!

[Visitor]

Ruby Rose is leaving and Batwoman will be recast for season 2.
https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/rub ... 05528.html

[Dogfish]

Although she's denied that it's for health reasons, my hunch is that it's probably for health reasons. She's taken some proper damage over the years and I could imagine that she probably doesn't want to do what could be quite a few more years in an action show.

Also I don't think she was well used in this series. I first saw her in John Wick 2 and in that she steals every scene she's in without even speaking. In Batwoman they don't manage to tap into a fraction of that screen presence.

[Nykron]

According to Variety, her exit “had nothing to do with her health or injury.”

https://variety.com/2020/tv/news/batwom ... 234611163/

[Dogfish]

According to Variety, her exit “had nothing to do with her health or injury.”

https://variety.com/2020/tv/news/batwom ... 234611163/

Yeah I'd read that. I just don't believe it to be the case. Wouldn't be the first time somebody fibbed in a press statement.

[brdiy]

Or is the show so bad even the lead doesn't want to be associated with it any more?

[Mr. X]

Or is the show so bad even the lead doesn't want to be associated with it any more?

This.
My guess is she's fleeing before she gets type cast. If she had thought ahead she should have let her hair grow out for the show then ditched it when leaving. Now she maybe type cast.

[Dogfish]

Or is the show so bad even the lead doesn't want to be associated with it any more?

She's been in a Resident Evil movie so I doubt that's a factor.

[Maskripper]

This will be a rather long text...but I just have a lot to say about the latest news on the Batwoman show.
I woke up some hours ago I turned on my phone for a quick check if something interesting happened while I was asleep.
Oh boy! My jaw dropped right to the floor! Really? Is that news for real? No joke? Oh my.....!!!!
As a HUGE fan of the show this news hit me like a train. And that after the news from last week with the January start date and the final episode of the season.
The lead actress of the show is leaving after season 1?!
This is something verrrry unusual as this just (normally) doesn't happen.
I can't think of many examples where that have happened in a TV show. OK, for example...in the Spartacus tv-show the main actor was replaced, but because he was very ill, as he had cancer. Certainly not a case which compares to this one. I'm sure there are some other examples, but not really from TV shows that I follow/ have followed.
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Here is the statement of Ruby:
I have made the very difficult decision to not return to Batwoman next season. This was not a decision I made lightly as I have the utmost respect for the cast, crew and everyone involved with the show in both Vancouver and in Los Angeles. I am beyond appreciative to Greg Berlanti, Sarah Schechter and Caroline Dries for not only giving me this incredible opportunity, but for welcoming me into the DC universe they have so beautifully created. Thank you Peter Roth and Mark Pedowitz and the teams at Warner Bros. and The CW who put so much into the show and always believed in me. Thank you to everyone who made season one a success – I am truly grateful.
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Here is the statement of WB:
Warner Bros. Television, The CW and Berlanti Productions thank Ruby for her contributions to the success of our first season and wish her all the best. The studio and network are firmly committed to Batwoman’s second season and long-term future, and we — along with the show’s talented creative team — look forward to sharing its new direction, including the casting of a new lead actress and member of the LGBTQ community, in the coming months.
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Well, there are no reasons given for why she has left the show. Right now I can only speculate:
- Was it because of her injuries that forced her to leave nearly all action scenes to the stunt team? That was denied by some sources.
- Was it because of all the hate the show receives from the trolls and haters? Maybe
- Was it because she doesn't feel good working on a TV show instead of movies as it is quite the difference?
- Perhaps it was too expensive to keep her? I would say no, as these contracts are surely made for a long run and not only for one season.
- Was the network not happy about her in the role?

Well, I do hope that at some point we may get an answer to why she left, but I think that won't happen anytime soon
-
Actually there were some signs that something like that might happen.
Oddly enough I thought some monts back about the possibility of a recast for her role. But quickly I thought that things like that doesn't happen, so I discarded that thought quickly.
I was wondering why Ruby was doing so few promo events in the past month. I mean Nicole Kang, Camrus Johnson and Rachel Skarsten did make a lot of promo for the show...on their social media accounts, on takeovers on Instagram, promo videos on youtube and so on. And Ruby, as the lead actress....only showed up on rare occasions. OK, I thought about if she had some sort of clause in her contract that she doesn't have to do such things. But I thought it was highly unusual.
Last week the CW released this promo image that I posted last week as well:

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And I was thinking: Is that really Rube Rose on that picture as Batwoman??? I still think it isn't Ruby Rose!
Last week I thought: Ok, Ruby couldn't come to this promo shot because of the pandemic and all. I thought this might just be a random woman that was taken for a quick promo picture and they thought that no one would notice with the cowl on her head. But with the news that Ruby leaves the show....this image was perhaps a big, fat sign of the things to come....
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What do I think about Ruby and her part on the show?
Well, I'm a HUGE fan of the show as you should know by now. And I will remain a HUGE fan until the end of the show, no matter what happens.
I wasn't the biggest fan of her being chosen for the role....at first. I mean in her roles in Meg, Resident Evil (Final chapter), XXX 3 and John Wick 2 her acting....was ok for me, but there was certainly room for improvement.
But I think the role really grew on Ruby and her acting improved over the season to a good level. Yet, Ruby always remained somehow in the shadow of Rachel Skarsten in my opinion. Ok, that may be because of the role as Alice is very different of course and offers a bigger variety.
I really like Ruby as an actress and as a human, but I am not a hardcore fan like so many seem to be (15 million followers on Instagram alone!).
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What does this mean for the Batwoman show?
Well, it will be VERY ODD to see someone else in that role! But I am sure that I will get used to it when they drop all the promo images and vidoes ahead of season 2.
I hope that I am already "used" to the new actress when the new season starts.
The recast of Kate Kane/Batwoman is a BIG DANGER .....and A HUGE CHANCE at the same time!
Everything depends on WHO they actually choose for the role! It can get a disaster.....but it can also be also be a BIG chance!
WB and CW now have to be really careful of who to choose. Personally I think that the actress doesn't need to be from the LGBTQ community, even if it may fit to the role as a gay actress doesn't need to act that she's gay.
I don't have candidates right now, since I don't know about 99% of the actresses if they are gay or not, as I don't care about it.
My wishes for the casting would be like this:
- A rather tall and verrrrry well-trained actress, as it would fit really good to a crime fighting vigilante (in my opinion)
- An actress with an already established fanbase that then follows the show as well (like with Ruby)
- A woman that looks at least a little bit like Ruby....so that the transition gets a little easier
-
Surely many of the trolls and haters that this show attracted with a lesbian, badass, jewish woman with short hair in the lead role....might celebrate this recast as some kind of "victory" of their pathetic, hateful, troll-agenda. But actually, if they cast wisely....this can turn into the stellar opposite....a smashing DEFEAT for those creatures.
It's really sad how many folks are seemingly just on "social" media to spread their hateful opinions as they love to pull down others. But enough of that....
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I know she won't read it...but I just wanna thank Ruby Rose for all that she has put into this show. THANKS RUBY!
My limited english can't really express how grateful I am for you being on the show. But you brought Batwoman and Kate Kane to life in your very own, unique way.
And whoever will follow your footsteps....you were the first Batwoman! I will never forget that :-)
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However we will get a new actress for the role as Batwoman and Kate Kane and the show will continue!
Ruby Rose has left the show....but BATWOMAN will return!


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[Artee]

I personally felt she was a little iffy at the start of her role but really grew into it, will be difficult seeing a different actress as Batwoman in season 2.

Sad she's leaving.

[DrDominator9]

Honestly, I thought Ruby brought a lot to the role and liked her acting choices. I also thought she was hot and actually preferred watching her full face as Kate. I too am sad she's leaving. I honestly think her shoes will not be easy to fill. This will not be an easy fix for the showrunners.

[Dazzle1]

There are three ways they can address it.

1. Not at all, just cast the new actress. It worked when Harrison Ford replaced Alec Baldwin for the Jack Ryan movies, it sort of worked when Val Kilmer and George Clooney replaced Michael Keaton in the Batman movies

2. The plastic surgery excuse. Kane has an accident and has a new face.

3. New alter ego. Since the WB has never cared about continuity or following D.C canon, they could do that.

[bushwackerbob]

I am not in the industry so I offer no special insight, but I do enjoy reading about the making of and the behind the scenes stuff of these television series and sometimes you pick up stuff here and there. One thing that I have read is that being the lead on a broadcast network series can definitely be a grind, not a lot of time off during filming, that the job can dominate your life for a good part of the year. I have heard that it can be exhausting, not to mention the fact that the job can be limiting in that the shooting schedule may prevent an actor or actress from getting other gigs. I remember David Caruso from NYPD Blue wanting off after the first season because of the hectic work schedule, that he was used to movie shoots schedules and I think he was simply not prepared for the amount of time it took to be the lead in an hour drama where the shooting schedules sometimes got intense. Perhaps the same thing happened to Ruby Rose, that she simply didn't want to potentially commit 5 to 7 years working that grueling schedule if that job did not ultimately make her happy and fulfilled as an actress. Just my take.

[Mr. X]

Or is the show so bad even the lead doesn't want to be associated with it any more?

She's been in a Resident Evil movie so I doubt that's a factor.

True. True.

[Visitor]

More likely it's the scheduling or conflict with getting movie roles. At least in the early episodes she was in enough scenes to have to work almost every day and it would take hours to get into costume.

[Maskripper]

@ Artee:
My thoughts exactly! But I also think that it CAN turn into a good thing in the long run (check my post above for more)
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@ DrDominator9:
Yeah, the recast will be verrry difficult. That decision is soooo important, I so hope that they will make the right call as it's THE lead role
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@Dazzle1:
I would choose option1. Pretend that nothing has happened at all. (in the show)
Every explanation they could come up....would be more or less.....crazy
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@Bushwackerbob:
Well, you may be in the right track as this new article suggests:
https://tvline.com/2020/05/20/ruby-rose ... ure-scoop/

Hard to say if any of it is true....but it could be.

[Mr. X]

On the "complaining" issue. One of the reasons these shows end up with these bad plots is because of all the complaining from people saying characters are not gay enough or where are the trans people or Supergirl is being sexually exploited or.... In fact I don't really know of any modern show that holds to old media standards anymore. For the last decade or two its been constant complaining by one group always demanding everyone be represented or characters changed or things torn down (except for native americans... no one demands more native americans... hmmm). Who jumps down someone's throat for the slightest of slights. Who gets someone cancelled or fired for the slightest of slights. Ask Chris Mathews about that.

You can't take away someone's steak and replace it with tofu then yell at them for complaining especially when that replacement was done to prove a point or for social justice or for teaching someone a lesson or pushing an agenda or for bullying. No I don't believe there are good intentions here.

[batgirl1969]

More likely it's the scheduling or conflict with getting movie roles. At least in the early episodes she was in enough scenes to have to work almost every day and it would take hours to get into costume.

Takes hours to get in costume....But I bet I could get her OUT of that costume PDQ!!!!!

[AvaHeinz]

People in the industry (especially those who knows Ruby Rose) said that she is unhappy with the crew and the hours it takes to works.

This is long speculated and most people don't like to work in TV industry because of this. TV shooting take a long time a day for a long period of time over the year (like 10 months shooting constantly about 14-16 hours on set a day) and if you are "Locked" in this long time, you are generally going to be at odds with the production crew.

I personally don't think Ruby Rose is going to be able to take the lead on a movie or TV shows (She actually quite bad at acting, which is typical as she was a model) and I sadly I think this would probably be going to be the end of Batwoman as history told us no popular show in history survive a recast (read 8 simple rules, 2 and a half man et al) and only one show that survive the recast that I know of, and that would be Top Gear (When they replace Jason Dawes with James May) the odds are against batwoman here

[Mr. X]

I personally don't think Ruby Rose is going to be able to take the lead on a movie or TV shows (She actually quite bad at acting, which is typical as she was a model) and I sadly I think this would probably be going to be the end of Batwoman as history told us no popular show in history survive a recast (read 8 simple rules, 2 and a half man et al) and only one show that survive the recast that I know of, and that would be Top Gear (When they replace Jason Dawes with James May) the odds are against batwoman here

I remember lost world up and just changed all the actors mid season can claimed they all got transferred into new bodies. Show wasn't that great anyway but clearly that stuff does not work.

As for recasts and replacements they kind of did that with Babylon 5 where the first season was one guy then they brought in Sheridan. That worked for the rest of the show run. But yes most of replacements are shark jumps. Seaquest for example.

[AvaHeinz]

I personally don't think Ruby Rose is going to be able to take the lead on a movie or TV shows (She actually quite bad at acting, which is typical as she was a model) and I sadly I think this would probably be going to be the end of Batwoman as history told us no popular show in history survive a recast (read 8 simple rules, 2 and a half man et al) and only one show that survive the recast that I know of, and that would be Top Gear (When they replace Jason Dawes with James May) the odds are against batwoman here

I remember lost world up and just changed all the actors mid season can claimed they all got transferred into new bodies. Show wasn't that great anyway but clearly that stuff does not work.

As for recasts and replacements they kind of did that with Babylon 5 where the first season was one guy then they brought in Sheridan. That worked for the rest of the show run. But yes most of replacements are shark jumps. Seaquest for example.

Babylon 5 case is not a recast tho, more like a transfer of role (or lead in this case) which they transfer the main role from Sinclair to Sheridan, this is done quite a lot in TV industry where one lead character handed his/her lead to another character, it mostly serve the way long running TV show (Like coronation street, neighbour and so on), but you will sometime have them worked in short TV shows like True Detective (which is non-chronological and change from Matthew McConaughey to Colin Farrell to Mahershala Ali for example) or shows like Silent Witness, Spook, Strike Back, even Game of Throne.

It will only be a recast if they recast Bruce Boxleitner into Jeffery Sinclair roles.....

Show generally did not sit well in recast because they lose touch on the direction (Hence the recast) and also lost their appealability (People will still see Ruby Rose as Batwoman and it will be kind of odd if it wasn't) and if they are fixated on getting the same role, which in this case is the only way this is going to work, they know their show is numbered. It's like if they recast someone to play Supergirl, will you still watch it and feel the same as with Benoist's Spuergirl?

[Visitor]

Some shows can survive depending upon the replacement at least for awhile.

"Alias Smith and Jones" had to replace Pete Duel when he committed suicide since he was the co-lead star.

Even earlier "Maverick" replaced James Garner when he left in a contract dispute with the studio, but it didn't last too long. But that show was filmed where they wrote scripts and assigned them to whichever actor playing a B. Maverick brother was available with them filming usually two episodes at a time.

"Mission: Impossible" replaced the lead actor after the first season because as an Orthodox Jew he wouldn't work on the Sabbath, so Peter Graves came in for 4 seasons.

[bushwackerbob]

It seems to me that looking back on the series that have lost their lead actors that the ones that were able to survive were the shows that cast a new actor in a new role in the series, not necessarily have the new actor inhabit the same role. Obviously you can't do that here. One aspect that I do see in the Batwoman series favor though is the fact that we only have one season of Ruby Rose's Batwoman, that I think the idea of recasting the role would have been more difficult and daunting if this was happening after season 2 or 3 of the series or later when Ruby Rose's imprint on the character would have been more pronounced and the prospect of recasting the character would seem even more difficult than it is now.

[RedMountain]

This actually may be a good thing for the show and overall character of Batwoman. I like Ruby and she was fun in XXX, John Wick, and The Meg, but let's be honest, she's not a lead actress for a reason and her acting skills are not really up to snuff for being the lead on a show like this. I wish her the best, but if they cast the right lead for this it has a chance to bring the show's overall quality up quite a bit if they can improve the writing. We've seen poor writing bring down a decent show and great lead already with Supergirl.

Her departure also seems a bit odd and smells quite a bit of behind the scenes drama because if it was for an obvious reason like her back/health I don't see why she wouldn't come right out and say it. You're leaving a TV show, there's no reason to be cryptic about it and create more speculation if you're just leaving for a simple reason. Normally when those "I've really loved working with, etc." statements are made, it comes out later there were big issues behind the scenes.