As a fan of Arrowverse, this series was definitely something that I looked forward to, especially since the hero was part of the annual crossover events from last year. Anyway I just got the chance to watch the whole season, and wanted to write on this series.
Brief Story Line
After spending years in training, Katherine "Kate" Kane (Ruby Rose - The Meg, Resident Evil: The Final Chapter etc) reluctantly returned to her home town Gotham city where she met again with her father Jacob Kane (Dougray Scott - Ever After, Mission: Impossible 2 etc), step sister Mary (Nicole Kang - You TV series etc) and step mother Catherine (Elizabeth Anweis).
Gotham had been left by their hero Batman for 3 years and in addition to GCPD, the city was now protected by a group of private security called the Crows led by Jacob. One of Crows' high level agent was Sophie (Meagan Tandy - Jane by Design TV series etc) who had a past romantic relationship with Kate.
Meanwhile a new group of ruthless criminals led by a mysterious psychotic woman named Alice (Rachel Skarsten - Reign TV series etc) started terrorizing Gotham and seemed to have personal vendetta on Jacob. Due to unexpected turn of event, Kate was caught up in the fight between Alice and the Crows and she assumed the identity of Batwoman with the help from Lucius Fox' son, Luke (Camrus Johnson).
So how would Kate juggle between her personal life as well as filling the role left by Batman? Find them all in this superhero series.
End of Brief Story Line
I have never read any of Batwoman comics and I think I have never seen her in any adaptation before, so to be honest I have no idea what to expect from this series. The first time I saw her was during the 5th annual Arrowverse crossover event Elseworlds 2 seasons ago where I thought she seemed like an interesting character. When I finally got the chance to watch the series from the start, the pilot episode was actually pretty intriguing with the introduction of the main villain Alice plus several of the main cast.
From the point of view of regular audience such as myself, I felt the first 3 episodes were quite OK and fast paced where the story developed quite nicely. However, from the moment Kate Kane became Batwoman, I suddenly felt it became less exciting. In fact I thought it was not clear whether the writers wanted to make the story having a dark or light tone. Then came that amazing Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover in the 9th episode. After that I thought the series became really interesting and gained momentum. OK there might be 1 or 2 episodes that were just OK but majority was exciting.
Most disappointing though was the season finale. I think it was due to the Covid-19 pandemic that impacted on the production schedule. From what I understood, the first season was supposed to have 22 episodes but it was cut short to 20. That episode did not really have a season finale feel as it lacked the spectacular and amazing sense you would get in any of the Arrowverse series. And another point that disappoint me was the news I read in the media just few weeks ago that the lead series Ruby Rose decided she will not return for second season. My goodness that would make the whole universe be in a bit of chaos, especially since we are already accustomed with her as Batwoman.
Anyway, regarding the cast, I thought Ruby Rose made a good Batwoman. She certainly fit the "super gay" character perfectly not only with her appearance but her aura as well. The character that I loved the most in here was certainly Alice who I thought was played amazingly by Rachel Skarsten. I almost felt like she was the female version of Joker. The rest of the characters were so so, except for the step sister Mary who brought some light in this series. The action sequence were done pretty decent with some gadgets that reminded me of The Dark Knight/Batman, with some fights that might not have been as spectacular as Arrow but they were adequately done. Not too much CGI special effects here like in The Flash or Supergirl but the rather bright Gotham city sets were quite well done.
Overall, though the series was mildly entertaining with a bit of drama and intriguing villain plus obviously the Batman references, I really thought it could have been better, especially in the early part where it seemed like they were still trying to figure out their own identity. But the improved second half made me enjoy the series a lot better, sadly halted by the unexpected non climactic ending. So if you are a fan of Arrowverse then this series would certainly be one not to miss in order to enjoy continuity of the future crossovers. However, if you are the rather old fashioned type, this one might not be to your liking especially with the sexual orientation. On the other hand, the representation part was what made the critics love them. Whether you would enjoy this one or not, depends on your own preferences. Just give it a try so you can decide for yourself.
Mike's movie moments rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
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