Batwoman Season 1 Episode 6 Review: I'll Be Judge, I'll Be Jury
Diana Keng
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While Batwoman Season 1 Episode 6 fulfilled a sort of "ripped-from-the-comics" entertaining adventure, it suffered from two major flaws.
The first is a bit petty, I'll admit.
It's a wonky detail that either wasn't thought through thoroughly or is missing key context to make it make sense.
In the opening scene, Angus Stanton was walking into the parking lot talking on his cel phone when he was confronted by the Executioner standing on the other side of the downed power pole and smashed car.
When the Executioner opened the hydrant and water began flowing towards Stanton, why in the world did he try to escape by climbing a metal fence?
He didn't ENTER the parking lot by climbing a fence, so why would he try to leave that way?
Granted, the Executioner is pretty freaky-looking. MAYBE Stanton was in such a panic that he wasn't thinking straight. But that sort of dumb deserves zapping.
Jacob: What's he wearing?
Kate: It's an old fashioned executioner's hood. Axe is a nice touch.
In any case, the second issue is more structural. While television episodes often have a primary and secondary plotline, it's nice when there's some attempt to tie them together.
Here, we have a central narrative focused on the hunt for the Executioner -- who he is, why he's targeting his victims, how he's going to kill them -- and a secondary also-ran about Alice and Mouse.
Never do the twain meet.
And while it's fun riding along with Batwoman and Luke for all the action of the Executioner's shenanigans, the Alice and Mouse adventure pulls focus in a distracting manner.
From the expert technique Alice used to transform Mouse to his perfect deception in tricking her with Kate's voice, they are a deadly, unstable, and talented duo.
And then there's the odd little echo of Kate's reasoning about becoming Batwoman when Mouse claims he's better family because he was there when Alice needed him.
Real family doesn't abandon their own.
Mouse
Initially, Mouse seemed dominated by Alice, content to be cared for and to comply with her wishes.
But when he began to suspect Alice's allegiance to Kate, he quickly became the aggressor, clearly frightening Alice and killing poor Deveraux (who was pushing his luck already with that checkers game).
So the fact that the episode ends with their reconciliation -- which echoes Kate and Jacob's but which is far more touching -- I have to wonder which storyline held precedence?
Minor gripe: Catherine states that the weapon Mouse eventually steals can penetrate the Batsuit.
Didn't Bruce Wayne already invent a weapon that did exactly that?
Didn't we see it in Batwoman Season 1 Episode 3 when Tommy Elliot stole it so he can kill Batman?
And wasn't Alice on the rooftop where Tommy dropped that weapon? Couldn't she have gotten it then?
Crazy doesn't necessarily equal genius, I guess.
What is genius is incorporating Mary as the millenial voice of reason in a mix of mostly fixated, concrete-sequential thinkers.
I llove that she's smart enough not to want to know Batwoman's real identity.
I love that she's professional enough to point out that Batwoman should've taken Sophie to a real hospital.
I LURVE that she's loyal enough to Kate to throw truth in Sophie's face every chance she gets.
Mary: I didn't do that.
Sophie: Well, you better undo it.
Mary: Batwoman would kill me. Frankly, she's scarier than you.
Our VotW turned out to be a noble-hearted vigilante -- clever and crazy, yes, but noble enough to be driven mad by the idea Stanton, Donnelly, and Calverick had turned him into a murderer by sending innocents to his electric chair.
And Elden never planned on getting away with killing Stanton, Donnelly, and Calverick. The stolen gas pellets got triggered by a dead man's switch. He planned on being dead before Calverick got gassed.
In an awesome, twisted way, Bertrand Elden's quest to right the wrongs he'd been forced to commit as Blackgate's executioner parallels Jacob's intent to right the wrong he committed in giving up on Beth's search.
Jacob's been forced to admit a lot of things he's avoided facing for the last 15 years.
He was wrong to give up looking for Beth.
He was wrong to push away Kate.
He was wrong about Alice (and Catherine too if you think about it).
And, now, he's admitted that if he were to stop blaming Batman for the accident that killed Gabi, he'd have to blame himself.
I don't know if forgiving my father will help me forgive myself but I have to try.
Kate
Kate and Jacob will always be at cross-purposes as long as she's Batwoman but bringing them back together is probably one of the major purposes of her return to Gotham.
As Mary points out, she's running low on family and no one can afford that, can they?
That need for family is what holds together Mouse and Alice, draws Alice and Kate to each other, and drives Mary to Kate and Jacob to Catherine.
If Beth is salvageable, it will probably require Jacob and Kate to unite. I'm not sure what that's going to look like but there it is.
The Law's not perfect, I'll give you that. Doesn't mean you get to rewrite it in blood.
Batwoman
There were some tantalizing Easter eggs dropped although they could also turn out to be red herrings.
After you watch Batwoman online, come back at me with your thoughts on the following:
Was it important that Vesper Fairchild identified The Joker as Jack Napier, a name only given to the Joker in the 1989 Batman film?
Okay, so who had 'Batwoman rescues a psychopath' on their bingo card? Because I have some big fat empty spaces for 'Batwoman takes down Alice' and 'Batwoman gets a cat out of a tree'. Talk to me, Gotham. Anyone else feeling a little BAT-trayed?
Vesper Fairchild
Why did they choose to focus on Blackgate Prison when Gotham primarily incarcerated the non-crazies in Gotham State Prison?
Where do you think Mouse's dad is?
How is Alice making faces for Mouse?
Will Jacob change the Crows' strategy now that he's been called on how they only protect the wealthy?
How long can Sophie keep her mouth shut about both Kate's and Mary's secrets?
Will Batwoman's involvement in bringing to light the truth about Stanton, Donnelly, and Calverick affect her working relationship with Luke?
All this Bat Tech and you came up with frozen water.
Kate
Luke's reveal about the death of his father -- how and when it happened -- was possibly the first real bonding moment he shared with Kate. It would suck to have Lucius Fox's murderer go free and for Luke to secretly blame Kate.
How far down the rabbit hole are we now? Let me know in the comments!
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Diana Keng was a staff writer for TV Fanatic. She is a lifelong fan of smart sci-fi and fantasy media, an upstanding citizen of the United Federation of Planets, and a supporter of AFC Richmond 'til she dies. Her guilty pleasures include female-led procedurals, old-school sitcoms, and Bluey. She teaches, knits, and dreams big. Follow her on X.
