In Review: Batwoman Premiere “Pilot” Episode

The Story

The Batwoman Pilot episode premiered Sunday evening on the CW with Ruby Rose playing a gritty, powerful and convincing Kate Kane. As in DC Comics, Kate is a cousin to Bruce Wayne and heir apparent to the Bat-Empire in the wake of Batman’s three-year absence as Gotham City’s Dark Knight and protector.

WARNING as this review has SPOILERS!!!

The episode begins with the abduction of Kate Kane’s former lover Sophie Moore as played by Meagan Tandy,  by the episode’s villain Alice, portrayed by Rachel Skarston, who by the end of the episode we find out just happens to also be Kate’s long lost and presumed dead sister.

It seems that in Batman’s absence, the crime-ridden Gotham of old has begun to creep back, with the Kane family headed by Kate’s father, Jacob Kane, played by Dougray Scott, stepping in to help protect Gotham via his advanced Crow Security agency, which Kate Kane has wanted nothing more than to join and help keep Gotham safe.

But having lost his family once, Jacob Kane’s overprotective nature, works to try and keep Kate out of harm’s way, which only leads her to break into the seemingly abandoned Wayne Enterprise building on her own, in order to try and find a lead on her ex-girlfriend’s abduction by Alice and her gang of mask-wearing criminals.

Here Kate Kane meets the head of security Luke Fox, played by Camrus Johnson, who unwittingly allows Kate access to Bruce Wayne’s secret and possibly secondary Bat-Cave, which happens to be directly below the Wayne Industry building, rather than Wayne Manor, along with Bruce Wayne’s greatest secret, his alter ego as Batman.

Donning a modified cape and cowl to fit the newly minted Batwoman, Kate Kane then emerges to take on Alice and save her now married and past lover Sophie Moore, as well as Gotham’s citizens, who have gathered for the first public function and movie in the park “Zorro”, since Batman’s unexplained disappearance.

In a whirl of action and fun, Batwoman manages to save the day, while also realizing that her greatest enemy is indeed her long lost sister! All in all, not a bad premiere episode to kick off CW’s newest superhero and franchise.

The Acting

The show is clearly stolen by Ruby Rose’s portrayal of DC and CW’s strongest lesbian crime-fighter who makes wearing armored leather along with a cape and cowl easy while beating up bad guys and swinging from buildings easy and believable.

While Rachel Skarston’s portrayal of Alice wasn’t entirely convincing as the psychopath seen in the comics, and while Camrus Johnson might still be a far cry from the heroic Batwing, his character is potentially destined to become, Ruby Rose’s performance is clearly strong, believable and charismatic enough to carry the show, while the other supporting characters catch up to her stellar performance.

And interestingly, we also see the introduction, of Vesper Fairchild, as portrayed by real-life news anchor and reporter Rachel Maddow, as a fictional media personality and former love interest of Bruce Wayne.

Overall

Batwoman’s pilot episode was a very strong and compelling episode as well as a great beginning to what will hopefully be a long and exciting Bat-tastic series, with Ruby Rose steering Batwoman’s growth and future adventures for many seasons to come.