[SPOILERS ahead, I recommend that you watch the episode before you continue!]
[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 – A new season! Even it was "just" 3,5 months between seasons 2 and 3.... I am VERY glad that the show is back!
2 – Batwoman and Batwing in action! It was great to see the two in action together for the first time. Looking forward to how they two will work together in the future! Also, it will be very interesting to see how Luke will grow into the role. Right now, neither he nor the suit is fully ready for the job! The suit has still some flaws, but the way Luke reacted to the gunshots we could clearly see that he has some sort of anxiety issues after being shot by Tavaroff in season 2. And well, that's understandable! He will need to overcome his fears and then these two can be a great team in the future. Mary and Sophie are also there to support them. And well, Alice will now be ....somehow...in the team as well. Will be verrrrry interesting to see how that will go ;-)
3 – A new Mad Hatter! I like how this guy became the new Mad Hatter and introduced his powers in such a gruesome way. Forcing that guy with mind control to kill his friend...well, a really evil way to start his new, short "career". The actor sold the part really good and I liked his really crazy, evil plan. Very satisfying how Alice got rid of him by stabbing him in the back. A thing, that happens quite often around Alice ;-)
4 - The debut of Renee Montoya! It will be very interesting how her role will play out, but I enjoyed her debut a lot! I am very curious to know more about her. I was a little surprised that she isn't a detective here (like in the comics) and is working directly for the major in this task force in a basement. The ending of the episode was also surprising as Renee was blackmailing Batwoman into working with her and Alice by revealing that she know her secret identity! More on that later on.... Hope to learn more about her backstory soon. How did she end up in that basement and leading this rogue's operation? It was fun to see the newspaper articles about some villains (Penguin, Riddler, Catwoman) on the wall of her shady office.
5 – Ryan and her birth mother! It's very interesting that Ryan told only Sophie about the fact that her birth mother is actually very much alive...as Alice told her. Why didn't she tell Luke and Mary? Well, I guess the two won't be happy about it that she didn't want them to know it.... I always thought that there was a special connection between Sophie and Ryan, and I think they two will become much closer this season ;-) . For now, Ryan didn't want to know more about her mom, but well, things will change for sure. Will be interesting to find out why her mother spent 2 million dollars to cover up her pregnancy.
6 - Mary becomes Dr. Mary Hamilton! Yeah, that graduation went certainly not as she pictured it! But I am looking forward to seeing how Mary's role will now evolve. I guess she will be very busy with her new role as a legitimate doctor during the day as well. But I am sure she will find time for her "night job" as part of the Bat team.
7 - The "new" Alice! I really like the perspective of Alice's new role on the show! I was a little surprised about all the mail from Jacob in her cell, and yeah....it was all just in her imagination. She really seems to have rather BIG mental issues now. Creating such a fantasy, there is quite a lot wrong seemingly with her, even more than usual. I wonder how much that will affect her in the future.....
Aspects I didn't like in this episode:
>>> Ok, I'm not a doctor, but the scene where Mary operated on the professor and removed a lot of organs in a rather short time....would someone actually survive that? Even none of them were singly existential to his survival, but removing that many in a short time may kill him anyhow(?). And she even had to work alone with would make it very difficult as this isn't the normal procedure where there is a whole team. But it provided an intense scene for sure.
>>> I was very much surprised that Batwoman didn't even deny it as Renee called her Ryan Wilder. I mean Alice can't prove to Renee that Ryan is Batwoman. Why did Batwoman just accept that Renee called her Ryan? Now Renee can blackmail Batwoman at any time with the knowledge of her secret identity. And Alice knowing that secret is dangerous....as she just proved. Alice has a lot of leverage over Batwoman/Ryan as well. Will be interesting to see how Ryan/Batwoman will handle that!
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More interesting aspects for me:
---- Well, it was interesting to see Sophie fooling around with other women as Kate had left Gotham at the end of last season. My bet is that Sophie will fall in love with Batwoman 2.0/Ryan as well if she hasn't already ;-)
--- We know already that Poison Ivy will show up in this season. Judging from the titles of the first 5 episodes, I think she will appear later on. And as Batwing and Batwoman already secured her plant.... I think she will steal it from the Batcave....or blackmail them to hand it over. ;-)
--- Interactions with Mary and Alice are always interesting and I loved how they "teased" each other once more as Mary visited Alice as a favor to their father.
--- Mary had prepared a speech and then she had to hold the speech that this Mad Hatter gave her. It was supposed to be a very happy day for her, but again.... she has to deal with unwelcome events. As so often Mary isn't allowed to be happy...
--- Batwoman broke the law as she rescued Alice from prison, even she was just "borrowing" her. But she hurt several prison guards as she had to fight them off. Normally the police would be pretty angry about it. I guess as Batwoman is now forced to work with Montoya and Alice.... there will be no consequences as Montoya works for mayor Hartley.
--- The scene with Batwoman and Alice in the prison cell was really intense. It showed how crazy Alice is by now and Rachel Skarsten played it great (as usual).
--- Jada Jet had only a short first scene, but we should see a lot more of her. Judging from the trailer....already in the next episode. I am very curious about her character and her motivation and past.
--- The AI in Batwing's mask seems very advanced and Luke's father has given his voice to it. This way Luke will have some sort of interaction with his dad. And perhaps there are some more messages for Luke in there as well. I hope that helps Luke to adapt to his new role.
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>>> Rating “General:” <<<
4 out of 5 - A good start to the season! So glad that there is no new Batwoman that needs to be introduced for the first time. The villain worked well, the new characters are interesting and I am thrilled to see how the story will continue.