Episode 17, “A Narrow Escape”

—>>> back to: Batwoman, Season 1, Episodes 13 – 20 <<<—

[SPOILERS ahead, I recommend that you watch the episode before you continue!]

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“General”:

My highlights from this episode (without particular order):

1 – Luke and Batwoman/Kate can rely on each other! Batwoman/Kate talks Luke out of killing the guy who killed his father. I am sure he might break apart after he would have done it. It was good for Kate to finally tell Luke the truth about Cartwright. Not only for their relationship….it also lifted a heavyweight of her. After their talk, she will deal with it better.

2 – Kate was afraid of being Batwoman! Not a good thing of course, but I liked how they showed it. Both Kate and Batwoman had panic attacks. Kate doesn’t think she could be the hero anymore. Luckily that was finally changed at the end of the episode. I hope she can deal with the Cartwright murder now much better. However, this whole dark conflict in her mind was a great addition to her character, shows again how troublesome she often feels.

3 – Mary finally tells Kate that she knows about her being Batwoman! Mary tried to bring Kate to admit it in the last episodes, but that didn’t work out. Now, in this desperate situation, she told Kate. I wonder how Mary will now help Batwoman in the future. The trailer for the next episodes already leaves some hints.

4 – Mary and Luke….again! Well, the episode had the best comedy scene near the very end. The way Luke tries to pretend that Kate isn’t Batwoman….just hilarious! He talks and talks, but as Mary just KNOWS it, he can’t convince her at all….

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Let’s continue with some things I didn’t like about this episode. Normally I ignore most of the plot holes in movies. But there were some scenes/aspects that I didn’t like in this episode:

– A car with huge barrels and a timer is parked in the pretty empty Wayne Garage. How did it get there without anyone noticing? How does it park there without anyone noticing? I mean the building is pretty empty, but surely the park decks are being watched by Wayne security?

– Batwoman’s panic attacks are getting really dangerous. Good that they are hopefully over now. But she does unmask herself twice in the episode. Luckily the evil crow guy was already unconscious! He could have easily have seen her unmasked face if he had woken up! And in the other scene: Batwoman runs up to the top floor of the building. Why doesn’t the crows follow her there? She unmasks there in a pretty dangerous spot! I know she has a panic attack and can’t think rationally at the moment, but damn, that could have easily killed her vigilante career! What if someone sees her there? What if the crows find her there without her mask on? She would be finished….

– And most importantly: The fact that Mouse kills that doctor. Ok, that is a “smart” move to get control over the situation. But how did he make a face mask without anyone noticing? Where is the body of the doctor? When the Doctor (Mouse now) goes home… does no one notice that Mouse isn’t there? What happened to the warden that was in the room when the doctor got killed? If he isn’t dead, he knows that Mouse attacked him. All these aspects making the storyline with Mouse becoming the Dr. in a prison…rather hard to believe for me. But perhaps the whole thing will soon be discovered and/or perhaps some issues will be explained in the future.

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I really liked the dream scene with Alice and Kate at the beginning. It was fun and unusual to see the sisters playing video games and having a good time. For a moment I thought that it might be a flashback, but after all, it was just a dream that turned into a nightmare.

Are Alice and Elliot working together? That would explain why she wasn’t really hurt from the attack. And I think they are….as that shiv was clearly visible. I think Elliot wanted Alice to see it.

The scene where Batwoman stops the jewel thief had a great camera sweep as she uses her grapelgun to get to him. I was a little irritated that Batwoman wanted to let him go. Ok, he is “just” a thief, but I would expect her to send him over to the police or the crows. The panic attack as she thinks he is dead….was a pretty emotional scene, loved it!

The fake Batwoman idea was really good! I like that some people want to give hope to the city. It showed Kate how much Batwoman is needed and inspiring people… and that she must continue with her night job.

I am glad to Sophie is a crow again, as her job is so important for her. The team-up with Julia was nice and it will be very interesting to see how they will continue to work together in that task force.

Sophie wasn’t in contact with Kate or Batwoman lately, I wonder how that will continue.

I am still not sure about Julia’s agenda. Is there something more than just her helping out in Gotham? I did like her pep talk to bring Kate back on her feet.

The villain of the week was just an …imposter…in the end. There was no (real) Detonator, just agent Robles that was used his identity to tie up some loose ends. The idea of having a bomb victim deciding who would die had a nice touch. Reminded me of TDK, where Joker had pretty much the same idea.

It was a really strong episode for Luke. Not only he had a lot of screentime, but it was also cool to see another Luke as he trained and confronted the killer of his father. I wonder how he will develop in the next episodes.

The revelation that Batman broke his “no kill” rule himself was a stunner. Especially as it is revealed that he (seemingly) killed …..the JOKER!

I wonder how Alice and Mouse will break out….and when? Seemingly there are not the only ones who want to get out there… 😉 (#Trailer for next episode)

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>>> Rating “General:” <<<

(3.5 out of 5 – A really good episode with some great scenes….and some issues as well)

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“Mask”:

Batwoman screen time: 08:11 (long cut) + scenes with a fake/imposter Batwoman: 03:24

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“Mask action” (highlighted if yes): – attempted unmasking (to check if there is a face mask) – forced unmaskings (incl. a witness) – self unmaskings (without witness)….3(!!!!), Batwoman twice + the fake Batwoman once – self unmaskings (with a witness) – unmaskings – mask damage – “mask talk” (incl. “secret identity talk”) – additional masked women (one fake Batwoman) – close calls with opportunities to unmask Batwoman

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Who knows her secret identity by now?:

For sure: 7 – 3 of these are villains

Luke Fox as her “tech guy” who equips her – (since ep1) – Ally

Julia Pennyworth (since ep7) – Ally

Parker Torres (since ep10) – possible Ally

Mary (since episode 13) – Ally

~~Sophie~~ (doesn’t think that Kate is under Batwoman’s cowl anymore…for now)

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+ Alice (recognised her sister’s eyes under the Batwoman cowl) – (since ep2)

+ two of Alice’s crew: Mouse (since episode 6) + Chuck (mentions it in ep5)

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