Episode 11, "An Un-Birthday Present"

—>>> back to: Batwoman, Season 1, Episodes 7 – 12 <<<—

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

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“General”:

A new Beth, flashbacks from the evil basement, and no Batwoman shows up.

My highlights from this episode (without particular order):

1 – The flashbacks from Alice’s past! In the flashbacks we learn more about Alice’s past as she was trapped in the basement of that madman. We witness the point where she turns from Beth into Alice to survive that time! Very intense and atmospheric scenes. Especially that one with the little cat.

2 – Rachel Skarsten performed big time! The scenes with Sophie are really stunning. She plays this scene in a great fashion, showing brilliantly the madness of Alice. And how she crushes Sophie by attacking her “weak points”. Well played and a good script for sure!

3 – Kate saves Beth this time! Even from a trunk! That scene was so intense, especially with the scene ahead where Kate realised that her other version did save Beth. And I wasn’t 100% sure she would get her out that trunk in time. That save will be really good for Kate’s mind.

4 – Some really funny lines! And not “only” between Alice and Sophie. I mean some really funny lines were there as well. Like the one where Luke explains to Beth that her dad (this version of him) is imprisoned for murdering his wife. Also to watch drunk Mary explaining her Multiverse theory to Kate….pure gold!

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Kate was really lucky not to get outed as Batwoman. Alice could have told Sophie any time. In the last episode she wanted whole Gotham to know, but here, she didn’t tell Sophie. Ok, she doesn’t have proof for that, but I guess that would have been another shock for Sophie.

Also Mouse was really close to outing Kate as Batwoman as well. I don’t know if these hostages didn’t hear his hints… but that was a close call! As you should know, I love the suspense of these “secret identity aspects”.

I am not sure, but it seems that Sophie does suspect Kate to be Batwoman again. Batwoman’s outing as being lesbian was a big clue. And how she looked at Kate at the end of the episode as the people demanded from the police to call Batwoman…. I wonder how that aspect will develop in the next episodes!

Hard to tell why the police didn’t want Batwoman to get involved in the hostage situation. Don’t they fully trust her? And where were they during the episode? They didn’t attempt anything to free the hostages. And it was only Mouse and some goons. Or does the police chief have really issues with Batwoman being a lesbian?

The motorcycle scenes were pretty cool. Although Kate should have been much more injured by such an impact. Ok, perhaps the van didn’t hit her leg, hard to see. But besides a scratch in the face, there was nothing. It was a little odd that Mouse kicked her KO as she was wearing a full motorcycle helmet. The visor was broken…but I don’t think his foot would fit into there. Ok, not really an issue in the end 😉

Alice had her first real fight scene as she managed to escape and kill two crows. That was a really good action scene! Loved the tension as she pointed that gun at Sophie. Intensssse! A little minus was here for me that the alarm goes off…..and only Sophie shows up to see what’s going on! Where were the other crows? It looked that Sophie runs low on staff… 😉

The scene where Mouse exposed the new Beth by ripping off her wig. Loved that! Practically an unmasking 😉

I like the whole “Beth from another earth showing up”-aspect! The episode started with the Beth cliffhanger from last week and finished with another Beth cliffhanger. This will be really interesting! Even the next episode is 3 weeks away…. But I wonder if the new Beth and Alice can exist. It doesn’t look that way.

So I only have 2 possibilities in mind. Alice kills the new Beth ….OR…. they both became one! Both endings would be another tragic outcome…..especially for Kate, Jacob, and Mary.

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>>> Rating “General:” <<<

(4 out of 5 – A good storyline which great moments! And a fantastic Alice!)

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“Mask”:

Batwoman screen time: barely 15 seconds….. with a new cowl.

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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) – self unmaskings (with a witness) – unmaskings (“unwigging” in this case) – mask damage – “mask talk” (incl. “secret identity talk”) – additional masked women –

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Who knows her secret identity by now?:

For sure: 6 – 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

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

+ 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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Sexy “mask-related” -scenes:

Mouse rips the wig of the “new” Beth off and basically unmasks her thereby (as not being Alice).

Batwoman’s new cowl gets introduced in some seconds. It was shown on that magazine cover in the last episode already, but now we see this new version in “action”.

Some secret identity issues (Mouse speaks with Kate about Batwoman…more or less)