Batwoman has steadily raised the stakes for its characters and the overall tension throughout this first season. There have been some tumbles here and there, but Kate and Alice’s story is the fuel for this series so far, along with their tug of war over who can turn the other to their side first. Last week’s episode was the pinnacle of that struggle, which makes “Drink Me” feel a little trivial at first. But tonight’s episode actually proves to be a nice reprieve from the seriousness and dread the show has delivered for the past few weeks. The humor is also, interestingly, an excellent way to cope with the devastating loss of Beth.
While this episode takes a massive sidestep away from the heartbreak and drama that made last week so compelling, it doesn’t fall flat thanks to a much-needed injection of fun. The villain this week is wackier than what viewers are used to; as an ill young woman whose primary caregiver dies, Natalia Knight turns full horror-movie villain and puts on a vampire charade for Gotham. Despite the wackiness, this show is a part of the Arrowverse, where kooky bad guys show up every now and then to keep the audience entertained, as well as deliver nods to the comic books. And there have certainly been worse villains.
Even the characters call out how funny a vampire in Gotham sounds, with Kate delivering the line, “I’ve always wanted to slay a vampire.” Nocturna is as sultry and wicked as she is deathly allergic to a phone screen’s light, and is the perfect balance for Kate’s often sullen nature. This new villain also gives viewers a look at Kate’s gay bar, which looks like a ton of fun.
After Catherine’s death and her work with Beth’s antidote, Mary’s dynamic in the group is changing. She was once just eating pizza drunk in Kate’s office, but now she’s working with the team,—only to a certain degree, because Kate hasn’t revealed she’s Batwoman yet. But Mary’s analytical mind is beneficial for the team, even if it’s only surface-level problems right now. But the worst-case scenario happens when Mary puts it all together and figures out Kate is Batwoman on her own.
At the start of the season, when Mary was vying for even a glimmer of Kate’s attention, it was clear how much this sisterly bond meant to Mary. She doesn’t have any other siblings, and her mom was a staunch businesswoman. Mary wanted Kate’s affection, and got it only after her mother was murdered—but even that renewed bond is complicated by the fact that it was Kate’s sister, Alice, who did it. Mary was furious with Kate’s personal insistence on saving Alice from her evil mind, even after that villain killed her mother. Her relationship with relationship seems to be mending and even blooming—now Mary has to deal with this fact that Kate hid this Batwoman secret from her. Mary isn’t a spiteful or mean person. But she’s been hurt yet again, and who knows how that can damage her bond with Kate. Kate really doesn’t need another sister angry at her, but it looks like that’s where the next episode’s heading.
The concept of guilt is, again, heavily looked at in “Drink Me.” Between hope and courage, Kate has dealt with a lot of emotions that are all tied to the immense guilt she feels for not saving Beth from the falling car when they were 13. These feelings all came out the most when Beth came back. Plus, it was multiplied by 100 when Kate chose not to save Alice. So when Beth died (again), Kate was understandably beating herself up at the beginning of this episode. She spirals a little more this week, which is why the vampiric distraction was welcome.
Alice and Kate unpack what happened, with Alice saying, “I mean nothing to you.” This is a punch in the gut for Kate, but it’s also the product of Alice’s turmoil as well. Batwoman’s writers have been done a commendable job of showing Alice’s evil nature and skill for killing without a second thought, all while humanizing her. As I’ve said before, Alice is, without a doubt, one of the most exciting villains, and Rachel Sarksten actually evokes a sense of unease with how good she is in the role. This episode shows how Alice is dealing with Kate’s decision to give Beth the antidote. Alice is angry at herself for letting Kate in and thinking she could bring her to the side of evil. She’s mad that she didn’t listen to Mouse, who’s now missing, and she’s just plain livid at her plight in life.
The drama and humor aside, this episode also focuses on Sophie and Kate’s lingering feelings for each other. It’s been very apparent that these two women aren’t over each other. As much as Sophie’s screwed Kate over in the past, it doesn’t limit the substantial connection they feel for each other. Sophie’s suspended from The Crows due of her involvement with Batwoman, which could mean these two have more time to grow closer.
Mary is likely pissed at Kate, Alice definitely is pissed at Kate, and Jacob also has Batwoman on his shit list, although he doesn’t know it’s Kate. Kate deserves a little affection, but she’s going to face the music sooner rather than later.
Stray observations:
- It was pretty clever to have Kayla Ewell play Nocturna since she also played a vampire in The CW’s major, bloodsucking hit The Vampire Diaries.
- Is that a Mary and Luke romance that I smell brewing? It’s been sort of hinted at before, but this episode kind of made it a little more obvious, with Luke coming in and saving her from an unwanted conversation. But, maybe it’s just showing how much closer they’re getting because of the team. It’s anyone’s guess at this point.
- How cute is Kate’s look at the bar opening? She was also pretty calm and cool when talking to Sophie and the possible-Nocturna. It almost makes up for her massive smooch with Sophie later. Almost.
- After Beth says that Kate has a soulmate on her Earth, it was heavily implied that it was Sophie, and remember how we all collectively hoped it wouldn’t be Sophie after all? We’re pouring one out for all of us tonight.
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– Wait, how did they find Jacob innocent? That seems like quite the leap.
– Looks like Sophie won’t take the fall for Beth’s death.
– That Kate/Sophie moment didn’t feel like it had sexual tension. It just felt weird.
– Will Mary resist Nocturna because of her blood? (Looks like we’re going to find out.)
– Does Sophie seem more dressed down in uniform? Loose hair, too many buttons undone, etc?
– Mary setting Sophie up is fun.
– Is Kate wearing an untied tie?
– I didn’t realize the Crows had been around that long. I felt that they were a relatively recent thing.
– There’s the Luke/Mary setup….and that tie did look good.
– How do I know that this isn’t a Batman story? Everybody wants to actually emotionally process instead of bottling it up.
– An abandoned cathedral? I’ve never heard of an abandoned cathedral in the Western world.
– So how did Nocturna get her fangs? Or her combat training? Or the medical knowledge to use other people’s blood? Or…
– I don’t feel anything for Sophie, one way or the other.
– Mary is one smart cookie.
– An abandoned cathedral? I’ve never heard of an abandoned cathedral in the Western world.I mean it is Gotham. It’s probably between the Abandoned Toy Factory, and the Abandoned Stoneworks and Statuary, across the street from the Abandoned Chemical Plant.
Theoretically Kate’s “real estate” business should be making a mint just by writing off a few of these Abandoned properties.
It has a bigger Abandoned Warehouse problem than Star City. Hell, I think the whole port’s abandoned, too (according to BvS). Gotham City’s government can’t, like, un-abandon places like that to put people back to honest work and away from crime?
You forgot the abandoned night club with the name that references twins.
Turns out “ACE” stands for “Abandoned Chemical Engineering.”
An abandoned cathedral? I’ve never heard of an abandoned cathedral in the Western world.We got a bunch here in Montreal. (Then again you can spit anywhere at hit a church) Lol
Now, do you mean an abandoned cathedral or an abandoned church?
Tune in on the next episode of “Soap”?
Wait, how did they find Jacob innocent? That seems like quite the leap.
I’m so glad I’m not the only one thinking I missed something – like a part of some episode that explained that.
I had the same thing last week with the out-of-nowhere cold open in the jail with Jacob, Sophie, and the doctor. I genuinely thought my stream was missing an entire segment before the first commercial break or something.
“How do I know that this isn’t a Batman story? Everybody wants to actually emotionally process instead of bottling it up”My favourite quote of 2020, so far…
I think that a certain August Cartright/Dr. Campbell must have convinced the jury off screen while plotting to kill Alice.
Churches get abandoned/sold in the western world all the time. There are tons of old churches in the UK that have been turned into houses/flats and offices, and lots in NY, London, Dublin (this one’s particularly cool: https://www.thechurch.ie/), and other cities that have been turned into bars & clubs. Somethere like Gotham, which is supposed to be crime-ridden, would likely have lots that have closed and are sitting unused instead of being redeveloped into new things.
There’s a difference between a church and a cathedral.
So despite what Kate keeps saying about giving up on saving Alice her actions keep saying otherwise. She…1. Met Alice in the alley and let her walk away.2. Met Alice in her hideout in civvies and rather than going in as Batwoman and capturing her.3. and she didn’t tell the Crows or at least Sofie that the Beth that was killed was NOT Alice thus giving Alice the chance to start over should she so choose.
“she didn’t tell the Crows or at least Sofie that the Beth that was killed was NOT Alice”I mean, she could have, but why would they have believed her? And how would she have explained it? I don’t know if they have Alice’s DNA on file – they would at least have her fingerprints since they did capture her. Beth would match anything they had on file to identify her as Alice. How would Kate explain that this Beth is from an alternate Earth that ended up here after a universe-ending crisis?
I think we can put to rest the idea that they retconned Sofie knowing about Batwoman being Kate. If she didn’t know she wouldn’t have been kissing her at the end of the episode.
Between killing Beth last episode and that Sophie kiss this episode it’s like this show is personally challenging me to drop it.
Kate just waltzes in to Alice’s hideout to tell her she’s done trying to save her. Yeah, cool story Kate, maybe actually DO SOMETHING? Put her in cuffs, knock her out, tell the cops and/or Crows where she is, Jesus just do ANYTHING. You can’t claim to be cutting ties with her and still just be letting her off the hook, girl!
*Wags her finger at Alice* “Ohhhhhhhh just you know the next time you do something I’m going to throw insults at you and not try to arrest you at all, just like before.”
“Also, my friend can yeet your pale ass into the fucking sun. I think that’s how the kids say it.”
There’s the little problem of every one thinking Alice is dead. Cause that’s gonna take a loooooooooong explanation.
You’re not wrong, but still, the Wonderland gang’s still mostly at large, and if Kate did something and got the cops/Crows to raid the building, then they’d definitely at least take Alice in for questioning (and then probably realize she is Alice and then have a lot of big questions but still). And even if somehow Alice herself could evade capture, taking out members of her gang could be good.
I hope Nocturna is a recurring rogue, and maybe becomes an actual vampire Since this show has been very good about skipping past annoying stuff that other ArrowVerse shows do, I am hopeful that Mary is going to not just figure out that Kate is Batwoman but also be over the drama about it I am not a big Sophie fan but if her accepting being suspended from the Crows leads her to tell Kate that she chooses her over her job, I might be okay with her
Mary is MUCH too good a character to take offense at not knowing. If anything, based on her past behavior, I suspect she’ll find it enormously cool and immediately want in.
From the way she went “Kate is TOTALLY Batwoman”, I feel like it’s going to be like that and she’ll pull a Thea when Oliver finally told her about being the Arrow.
I hope so.
Her face when she figured it out sure seemed to point that way.
Also she feels that Batwoman “owes” her one (many). She’ll realize that Batwoman trusted her because it was “Kate” trusted her. Hopefully she’ll rationalize it in a way that legitimately makes them closer.
But Batwoman did stop at the bodega and get her cookies.
Mxyzptlk, come back! You missed one!
Based on what’s happened so far and how it’s been handled, I trust this show not to handle Mary’s discovery by dusting off a Supergirl script from last season, or a Flash script from a few seasons ago, or any of two dozen Smallville scripts from the 2000s. That “how could you lie to me” crap is not only irritating, it’s way past old.Speaking of the 2000s, Twilight was not an early 2000s thing, as Luke implied, but a late 2000s thing. Come on, it wasn’t that long ago.
When Sophie decided to let Batwoman escape I thought “They’re gonna kiss before this episode is through.” Yup. We’re definitely stuck with her all season.
It’s not even like the Vampire craze ended, on the same channel as this we have a spinoff from a long running show about Vampires.
True, but it has rather died down in the last few years.
It’s cyclical. Vampires wax and wane in popularity like the moon.
We’re at spinoff of a spinoff now. Vampire Diaries -> Originals -> Legacies.
re: early/late 2000s, Moonlight debuted in 2007 and totally flopped for being too early on the vampire revival.
Hmmm he might be referring to Anne Rice and the whole Lestat / Interview with a Vampire. Late. Gotham looks like they’d be down with Anne Rice.
I would like if more often “hey you know, not wanting to tell people that you are a masked super hero might be a good idea, specially for people like me who are related to you/friends with you/ your other half” was the thought process of those finding out.
Thing is, not telling them doesn’t make them any less endangered and in some cases has actually gotten them killed. Mary was targeted by Alice as early as the second episode of this season, not because of her connection to Batwoman but because she was Kate Kane’s stepsister. Nothing would have changed if she knew who Batwoman was and the only reason she was saved was because Alice told Kate what she was doing.
I thought it was more of a Buffy reference since the Nocturna character really resembled the early 2000’s styling (got a big Faith vibe) with the long leather jacket and basically just all dark leather and lipstick…
I thought Luke was referring to Underworld, which is definitely what Nocturna reminded me of. That was early 2000s.
I too am hoping it’s not another “I’m pissed you lied to me” angle. I kinda predict that Mary may be stoked about his revelation and maybe she’ll “get it” now and be more understanding of the situation. We do not need to drag out the shock,/anger/acceptance angle for a few episodes here.
Well, this was disappointing. On the one hand there was no sexual assault like there was in Nocturna arc from the comics which is a very big plus. On the negative side, she wasn’t a Vampire? That’s lame. Considering most of Kate’s rogues gallery are supernatural based I don’t have high hopes for the future.Good that Mary finally knows about Kate but not good that she had to find out on her own. I’m sure that won’t lead to drama in the future.And lastly FUCK OFF WITH SOPHIE AND KATE SHOW. This relationship has been so thoroughly tainted by Sophie’s awfulness that I’m honestly not sure why I should be happy to see them together. Like she even said in her speech before the kiss that she would choose her job over Batwoman.
I feel feel the Kate/Sophie drama is a symptom of a larger issue with CW DC shows in that they almost always seem to introduce the central love issue right away and then just assume that everyone is on-board and invested with it instantly. Thus when you need to create those narrative barriers, they just set them up writing that since this is already bought in to it, they don’t have to actually write why everyone should root for that couple.
I’m not sure you can really say that though considering the only Arrowverse show that’s stuck with its original central romantic pairing is The Flash and I suppose Supergirl if you consider Kara and food to be the primary romance on that show. Arrow spent most of its first season trying to set up a love triangle between Ollie, Laurel and Tommy that they very quickly jettisoned when they realized Amell and Rickards had better chemistry. Supergirl has rather famously churned through non-food love interests for Kara, and Legends never really had one to begin with.
Food will always be Kara’s true love.
I wish I could be as happy as Kara is here:
No they’re right, because they did try to pair Ollie and Laurel up for the longest time regardless of the no chemistry, and they tried to pair Kara and Jimmy despite the negative chemistry. They did drop both eventually but still, they pushed them for all of their first seasons
-Aww, Mary and Kate acting sisterly during the doctor appointment.-“Nobody wants to learn about zoning laws sober.” Kate is funny but not good at covering her tracks.-The Crows are really going to yammer on about outlaws when they just set up roadblocks and fuck up civil liberties whenever they feel like it.-Alert alert Sophie at Kate’s gay bar. Mary playing Sophie’s wingwoman is amazing.-MARY FIGURED IT OUT! HAIL MARY FULL OF SASS!-I can’t believe I’m saying this but I don’t mind Batwoman+Sophie’s rooftop hookup? It’s too early to work but Sophie doesn’t know it’s Kate and at least she’s trying to move on from both Kate and her BS marriage.
Sophie doesn’t know it’s KateI’m prrrrrrrrrrretty sure Sophie knows it’s Kate.
I mean, it seems pretty dumb that she doesn’t. but they showed us Kate doubling up with that woman in the Batsuit and just showed us Mary explicitly figuring out Kate’s Batwoman, so it would be weird if the audience was just expected to think Sophie knows.
Sophie literally saw Kate and Batwoman in the same room together (thanks to Alfred’s … niece?). At this point she doesn’t think Batwoman is Kate.
-The Crows are really going to yammer on about outlaws when they just set up roadblocks and fuck up civil liberties whenever they feel like it.Simple; they have the tacit approval of the Gotham City government, and costumed vigilantes ever since Batman left typically don’t. AT least since Jim Gordon’s out as Commish (and I want to know why THAT happened, or where Barbara/Oracle is).
I spent much of this episode hoping Kate would just tell Mary the truth already. And then Mary went and figured it out all on her own. Go Mary! (Now just don’t do a fakeout like you did with Sophie.)Speaking of, I really liked Sophie and Mary together tonight. Also, with Jacob back running the Crows, he’s officially taken by the title of The Worst. I just continually wish she wasn’t trapped in UST with Kate AND Batwoman.A nice rogue this week to add to the gallery. Also, it’s interesting seeing Alice going up against Kate’s other foes. I’m glad to see they might stick with that for a while.Kate and Luke have such effortless rapport at this point and I’m really loving it.
deathly allergic to a phone screen’s light
Pretty sure that was the UV projector Luke used to look for DNA on the Batsuit. It would likely have had a similar effect as sunlight.
Or a weapon from Blade’s arsenal. Something either Whistler or Scud whipped up in BLADE II.
Alice’s henchmen were conspicuously absent when Nocturna attacked her.
I’d say this show gets worse every week, but it really doesn’t. It’s just the same damn thing every week: Alice has an eeevilll plot to kill Kate. Kate says she’s not going to give up on Alice despite all evidence. They meet and reach an uneasy compromise. Rinse and repeat.
but it feels like it gets worse
so .is there an in universe explanation as to why batwoman only fights Gotham’s female villains?Did Batman take out all the male ones (plus batwoman and ivy) before leaving town)?I mean the comics were from the old days where , much like many sports, and the oscars , men and women competed separately but I’d love to know if anyone ever hung a lampshade on it in the show..
I’m assuming once Batman left Gotham, his regular rogues didn’t hang around to fight just the police. I can imagine them saying “What’s the point?”
Finally: Mary knows! Though I wish Kate had told her and I really hope they don’t play the blame game with that – it’s a done to death trope.Not finally: Kate & Sophie – these two still have next to no chemistry.Maybe finally, but probably not: Kate gives up on trying to redeem Alice? (God I hope so but we know it won’t stick)
Is it the writing that is unbelievably awful, or is it the acting?I understand that we are living in a moment where criticizing poor work is not allowed if a woman is responsible for that work, but propping up every pile of shit just because of gender bias isn’t the answer. It’s just lazy.
I am a tad confused, does Sophie knows Kate is Batwoman?
And shouldn’t she had realized it anyway the moment she kissed her?
They did have a relationship, not to mention she should had recognize her even with the mask on from such close distance. I mean common comics, stop treating people like if they are lobotomized !!!
Alice has been one of the most interesting Arrowverse villains ever. And the actress is amazing.
oh, and go Mary! Hopefully she won’t react like Lena Luthor
At this point Sophie doesn’t think Kate is Batwoman. Thanks to Alfred’s niece (?) she literally saw Kate and Batwoman in the same room together.
I wish they would do something with Alice where Alice is a distinct personality from Beth and sometimes she would revert back to Beth because at this point its been proven time and time again that Alice is evil but no matter how many times Kate says she will stop her she has free access to Alice’s hideout and does nothing. She could bring her in, knock her out or whatever with all of Bruce’s and Luke’s equipment but she just kind of lets her go. Having Beth come out from time to time would at least give Kate some pause about stopping Alice since it would at least seem like two personalities fight for control. Rachel Sarksten is an excellent actress and the scripts for the most part have been really good but there is only so long that this show can have Kate just keep letting Alice go before it gets old.
Am I the only one getting bit tired of Alice?
No, you are very much not alone.
I love this show, but it definitely needs more Luke & Kate time because those two are hilarious together.
Fingers crossed for Mary becoming Orphan it Spoiler or some version of a female vigilante after that discover. Every main Arrowverse hero has taken some sidekick under their wing at some point(Kid Flash, Roy Harper, Mon-El, etc.)
So, after weeks of it being a major plot point that they’re trying in vain to prove Jacob’s innocence (because apparently no one ever thought to talk to Mary, who WAS THERE WHEN HER MOTHER DIED AND WITNESSED THE WHOLE THING AND KNOWS JACOB DIDN’T DO IT), suddenly he’s just exonerated off-screen, between episodes, and we’re not even told how it happened, just that he’s free now and everything is fine. That’s some high quality storytelling, right there.Also, with all that’s been going on the past couple episodes, when the hell did Kate find the time to take a smiley family photo of Beth and have it framed?
That picture of Beth seemed very out of place. It was definitely a picture of Beth from the alternate Earth, and not Alice. Kate only met Beth a couple of episodes ago, and last episode she was dying. So when did they take that (professional looking) photo? I can accept a group photo/selfie of Kate and Beth, but not a class photo style picture.
This blatant disrespect for Sophie every review is getting uncomfortable
Might have something to do with her being the worst character on the show.
Sophie as a love interest is getting trashed for her indecision.Nocturna is a duplicitous murderer. I really hope that this show, with its queer lead and existing in an Arrowverse that has done wonderful things for bisexual representation, does a kinder job in the future when crafting characters that can be read as bisexual. So far I am very disappointed.
Bat in the belfry?
This week’s review is late. I wouldn’t worry, except coverage on this site is often dropped with no warning.