Editor’s Note: This review only covers the pilot episode of “Batwoman.”
The CW is a network with an abundance of queer characters in their shows, and thankfully so. But while they have shown to take importance in this kind of representation, they have also sparked controversy. Namely, with the killing of a beloved lesbian character on one of their most popular shows. The killing of Lexa on The 1OO was the catalyst for the “Bury Your Gays” protests online and resulted in a fundraiser for The Trevor Project. “2016 was a particularly difficult year for LGBTQ+ representation in the media,” a statement reads on the fundraising page. “In the first [six] months alone, we watched more than 25 lesbian and female bisexual TV characters die at the hands of tone-deaf showrunners and writers.” Representations of LGBTQ+ characters are still far fewer in comparison to heterosexual characters and Lexa served as a beacon for many of the young lesbians or questioning youth who were The 1OO’s primary audience. A lot has changed since then, with many other characters being introduced for lesbians to identify with, but the debut of the first lesbian comic book heroine in a titular role on television is something for the history books.
LGBTQ+ characters in superhero films are lacking. That’s a fact. And while Marvel has records that DC has yet to surpass, the creators thought that the first openly gay character to appear in the MCU should be a throwaway one. It was a “don’t be snacking or you won’t hear it” kind of moment which angered many, and the cutting of a scene confirming Valkyrie’s (played by Tessa Thompson) bisexuality also caused upset as it denied the representation that bisexual audiences are so desperately seeking. And while we know that gay-male representation in the MCU is finally coming with Eternals, DC said, “We’ll give the lesbian everything they want,” and delivered an entire series devoted to a lesbian caped crusader.
“She’s cool,” Supergirl (Melissa Benoist) says upon meeting the tattoed, sultry eyed badass Kate Kane. Standing atop Wayne Enterprises, a masked warrior with a flaming red wig, Ruby Rose made her debut as Batwoman in the Arrowverse crossover event, “Elseworlds.” Batwoman was first introduced by DC in 2006. The Jewish, lesbian socialite with porcelain skin, tattoos and all-black wardrobe, is who Out magazine asserted to be “the highest-profile gay superhero to ever grace the pages of DC Comics.” Gotham City’s sexiest heiress becomes notorious for her drinking and partying, while in her vigilante persona, she becomes one of Gotham City’s greatest protectors by choosing, like Batman, to use her wealth to help the people.
Men get a lot of hate when it comes to writing female characters, and rightfully so in most cases because, yes, some men do suck at writing about women. But when they get it right, they really get it right. And men like Greg Rucka and Haden Blackman have written Batwoman’s story with the delicacy and care that we, women and/or lesbians, aren’t often afforded. Blackman even made the decision to leave the series when DC Comics “forced to drastically alter the original ending of [the story’s] current arc, which would have defined Batwoman’s heroic future in bold new ways; and, most crushingly, prohibited from ever showing Kate and [longtime girlfriend] Maggie actually getting married.” While Batwoman has appeared in DC animated films, most notably Batman: Bad Blood, getting her own television series, created by a woman with, so far, one female director and several female writers to its credits, will hopefully be the defining moment in Batwoman’s heroic future.
The perfection that is the Batwoman comics could never be replicated, so to say that the pilot episode is a pretty mixed bag shouldn’t come as a surprise. Kate Kane, who’s been travelling the world training with combat specialists, returns to Gotham City hoping to join her father Jacob Kane’s (Dougray Scott) private firm, Crow Security. She arrives to find a city, as ever rotting at its core, without the protection of Batman. And with the citizens’ doubts in the Gotham City Police Department’s ability to protect the city, Crow Security seems to be the only thing capable of protecting the people who feel abandoned by the Dark Knight. Batman has been gone for three years and no one knows why, but his mysterious disappearance has Gotham divided and its peoples’ bitterness is clear. No one is more bitter than Kate Kane, who blames Batman for the death of her mother and sister and who feels he abandoned Gotham for the same reason he abandoned her family: He doesn’t care about the city’s people.
This animosity towards Batman is one of the clear differences between Batwoman the TV series and Batwoman the comics. In the comics, Kate is kidnapped by terrorists along with her mother and sister who are both executed. I suppose to keep it PG, the writers decided to change it up and make their death a failed rescue attempt by Batman. This causes Kate to hate him, as opposed to being inspired by him as is the case in the comics. This anti-Batman stance that begins the episode thankfully doesn’t last, as Kate learns that Batman is her cousin, Bruce Wayne, and that the death of his aunt and cousin has been haunting him just as much.
If there’s anything that can sum up the conflict of Batwoman’s debut episode it’s “Batwoman tries to save her ex-girlfriend from an Alice in Wonderland wannabe.” Alice (Rachel Skarsten), an infamous Batwoman nemesis from the comics, is introduced in the episode along with her masked cult followers, The Religion of Crime. It isn’t long before it becomes clear that Crow Security won’t be enough to stop Gotham’s crime-ridden streets, as Alice infiltrates the firm and kidnaps Agent Sophie Moore (Batwoman’s ex and her father’s favourite) for her vendetta against Jacob Kane. Alice is more of an intelligent and mischevious Cheshire cat than the pure and innocent Alice of the famous Lewis Carroll novels. “We’re all mad here,” she says, but one of the episode’s disappointments is how much less frightening she is compared to the comics. While she’s still an interesting villain, she lacks the supernatural, almost ghost-like appearance of the character. And I don’t know what The CW’s budget is, but I think they could have still stuck with her over the top Victorian costuming. Nevertheless, Skarsten is still engaging in the role.
It’s safe to say that one of the main characters in any comic, show or film involving Batman is Gotham City itself. It’s a big part of the framework for who Batman is, and personally, I’ve been disappointed with how Gotham has been filmed in recent years. Specifically speaking of Christopher Nolan’s film adaptations. To me, Gotham just felt like any other city. Hollywood hasn’t been able to capture the same authenticity that Tim Burton produced, and while I’ve never watched Fox’s Gotham and therefore can’t attest for how well the city is developed there, Batwoman is the first time since Burton where it didn’t feel like the narrative was set in New York, Toronto or Vancouver. Gotham is kept enshadowed, its inner workings remaining mysterious, with the story taking place mostly at night as though daylight has never breached the clouds above.
Something else the pilot gets right from the get-go is how the show tackles Batwoman’s sexuality. While it remains to be seen if she’ll still be Jewish, a mention of her sexuality is done within the first scenes with a flashback to Kate kissing Sophie Moore when they were both students at West Point Military Academy. While at the academy, her commanding officer inquires about Kate’s sexuality. She doesn’t deny the fact that she’s a lesbian, living by West Point’s honour code, “A cadet shall not lie, cheat or steal, nor suffer others to do so.” As a result, she is discharged under the “Don’t ask, don’t tell” policy. This event in Kate Kane’s life is a big part of who she is, and it was great to see this touched on in the first episode. While brief, these scenes are the best part of the pilot. They’re heartbreaking, as we see Kate lose the chance to make her father proud by joining the army and unwillingly having to let go of love in the process. While Ruby Rose plays Batwoman with stoicism, it’s in the moments that show Kate Kane’s vulnerability where Rose excels and highlights her range.
There are some technical elements in the Batwoman pilot that really work and others that don’t. All of the fight scenes are choreographed in a way that’s not overdramatized so that they feel realistic for a change. It’s a reminder that Kate Kane, like Bruce Wayne, isn’t superhuman despite wearing a cape. She bleeds and gets hit. But one thing that wasn’t executed so smoothly was the episode’s use of flashbacks, specifically speaking of the ones that give a glimpse at Kate’s childhood with her mother and sister. While, yes, it’s an important part of her story, they’re thrown in here and there and don’t feel like they fit with their contrasting cinematography and juxtaposing tone. They’re edited in a sporadic way and lack the same focus as the DADT flashbacks, taking away any emotional impact that should be experienced.
Rucka writes, “This new hero was, in many ways, a reflection of the Batman – the same ruthless pursuit of justice; the same savage need to defend the innocent. But this was not some Robin all-grown-up, nor was it some boy raised to fit boots he had no hope of being able to fill.” The audience knows this, and we don’t need to be told twice, but there’s a fear here with lines like, “They think I’m [Batman]. I’m not about to let a man take credit for a woman’s work,” that Batwoman is going to be added to the long list of media that are forcing progressiveness by making their actresses say cringe-worthy lines of dialogue to say, “Yay! Feminism!” We know women are amazing, just let Batwoman kick some ass and move on. As Rendy Jones says perfectly, “This is a new pinnacle of lazy writing and pandering and I’m fucking tired of it. I’m tired. Women most definitely are tired. Everyone is tired!”
At the beginning of the episode, Gotham City is about to pull the plug on the Bat-signal, but by the end, the city has a new hero with Kate Kane’s realization that she must find her own way to protect Gotham. It’s yet to be seen if the series will do the comics justice, as Kate Kane ends her 15-year search for identity with a crimson bat on her chest.
“Batwoman” premieres October 6, 2019 on The CW.
