Batwoman Roundtable: Series Premiere

The series premiere of Batwoman aired on The CW on Sunday night, and the synopsis of that episode is as follows:

Kate Kane (Ruby Rose) never planned to be Gotham’s new vigilante. Gotham is a city in despair, the Gotham City Police Department have been overrun and outgunned by criminal gangs. Enter Jacob Kane (Dougray Scott) and his military-grade Crows Private Security, which now protects the city with omnipresent firepower and militia. Years before, Jacob’s first wife and daughter were killed in the crossfire of Gotham crime. He sent his only surviving daughter, Kate Kane, away from Gotham for her safety. After a dishonorable discharge from military school and years of brutal survival training, Kate returns home when the Alice in Wonderland gang targets her father and his security firm by kidnapping his best Crow officer – and Kate’s ex-girlfriend – Sophie Moore (Meagan Tandy). Although remarried to wealthy socialite Catherine Hamilton-Kane (Elizabeth Anweis), who bankrolls the Crows, Jacob is still struggling with the family he lost, while keeping Kate –– the daughter he still has –– at a distance. But Kate is a woman who’s done asking for permission. In order to help her family and her city, she’ll have to become the one thing her father loathes –– a vigilante. With the help of her compassionate stepsister, Mary (Nicole Kang), and the crafty Luke Fox (Camrus Johnson), the son of Wayne Enterprises’ tech guru Lucius Fox, Kate Kane continues the legacy of her missing cousin, Bruce Wayne, as Batwoman. Still holding a flame for Sophie, Kate uses everything in her power to combat the dark machinations of the psychotic Alice (Rachel Skarsten), who’s always somewhere slipping between sane and insane. Armed with a passion for social justice and a flair for speaking her mind, Kate soars through the shadowed streets of Gotham as Batwoman.

Join NiceGirls Lisa and Cay as they discuss the episode using our feature SASSY: S(tupid), A(wesome), S(o) S(o) and Y(our Thoughts):

STUPID

Lisa: I think Sophie was stupid for denying her love for Kate to stay at the school that didn’t support her true identity. I understand it was a tough decision to make but I think she made the wrong one. And now she is married to Tyler? Ugh…not cool.

Cay: The training session that was the first scene. Classic comic book kind of stuff, and cool to watch, but really, what if she had died? Adversity is one thing, flat out stupidity is another.

AWESOME

Lisa: When Kate and  Luke are in the bat cave and she says to him “I need you to fix his suit” (referring to the Batman suit) and he says “the suit is literal perfection” and she says “It will be when it fits a woman!” Yesssssss! That was so awesome and so is Ruby Rose (my girl crush).

Cay: I love Luke’s character – he reminds me a lot of the “sidekick” on a bunch of CW/Arrowverse shows, but he’s enduring nonetheless.  I also liked the reveal that Mary, Kate’s step sister, isn’t as shallow and innocent as she appears.

SO SO

Lisa: I think her father never wanting to let Kate be a Crow was upsetting but so-so for me. He was being selfish and it’s understandable giving she is his child, but I just don’t buy his reasoning so that storyline is meh for me.

Cay: The editing seemed rough between Kate getting taken captive and suddenly showing up at Mary’s “clinic”. I felt like something was missing here and it hurt the story line a bit. The father-daughter drama seems par for the course and completely predictable so far.

YOUR THOUGHTS

Lisa: I think this was a strong pilot. Ruby Rose kicks ass as Kate Kane and Batwoman. I like that she is openly gay and unapologetic for the badass she is. Alice is a great villain and Luke is the nerdy friend we all need in our life. I am here for this show and look forward to this season.

Cay: There is nothing particularly unique about this show – similar character tropes that we’ve seen before and the pilot was predictable in many ways (father-daughter relationship, adorkable sidekick, etc). That said, I enjoyed it and I think the dynamic between Kate/Alice and Kate/Beth is fascinating and I’m really interested to see it play out.

Batwoman airs on Sunday nights at 8pm on the CW.