Batwoman Season 1 Episode 12 Review: Take Your Choice
Diana Keng
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While Batwoman Season 1 Episode 12 answers some questions, it also left a lot on the table.
In the original series order, this would have been the season's penultimate episode, the set up for the finale.
As such, it does a good job rehashing some of the more memorable moments so far.
There's a few specific things I am particularly grateful for: one, they didn't try to tie it in with Valentine's Day; two, Kate made a definitive (and sensible) choice; and three, Mary got to fight (and beat) Alice.
Alice: That blood is the only thing that will keep me alive.
Mary: I know and I can't think of anyone who deserves it less.
Of course, I'm saddened by Beth's death but, seriously, did any of us believe that she would survive to the end of the season?
Setting aside the obvious danger of Alice herself, the fact that she looked exactly like Alice meant that Beth would constantly be in danger of being mistaken for her.
What was done well was building a believable but still ideal Beth for us to care about.
Smart, kind, funny, and genuine, it wasn't hard to dream of Kate getting the sister she didn't have. And the interplay between that dream and our reality is the crux of the situation.
Without Kate's guilt over being unable to save Beth, would we have the Batwoman we have today? Would Kate have become the Paragon of Courage?
Kate: Guilt can make people do crazy things.
Beth: This isn't guilt. This is courage.
If she had saved Beth and gone on to find her soulmate and enjoy waffles every weekend, would Gotham lose its defender?
Because, let's be honest, it takes a special level of "damaged" to put on the cowl and take on the streets of this particular city.
And like so many people in the Arrowverse, Batwoman characters are never truly gone.
There's Chuck Dodgson (I still chuckle over the oxymoronic nature of his name), whom we haven't seen since Batwoman Season 1 Episode 5. Funny how he and Jacob haven't run into each other until now.
He gave a very pretty speech about Alice's honesty about being bad versus Jacob, who did bad things as a means towards his ends. But it feels like there's a very specific and personal incident that set Dodgson against Jacob.
The only thing more dangerous than a corrupt man is one who thinks he's noble.
Dodgson
So that's something that might get explored further in the future -- if Alice ever remembers to rescue Dodgson from prison.
Reggie rescuing Jacob was unexpected, to say the least. I think Jacob's going to have a difficult time leaving his jailcell days behind him.
Alice's hallucination of Catherine was an interesting moment of insight into Alice.
It reminded me of the smile Alice had when she found Kate's box of mementos. There was a momentary glimpse of Beth under the dissociated mental instability.
Hallucinating isn't usually a sign that things are getting better, but if Ghost Catherine were to be seen as a projection of Alice's understanding of why Beth is more loved than she is, then it would indicate that Alice recognizes what it'll take to become a better person.
Alice: Kate is going to pick me.
Catherine: For your sake, I hope that's true. But just in case she chooses otherwise, I'll save you a seat in Hell.
However, as Kate probably realized when Alice bounced back to her I'm-the-only-Beth-Kane-in-this-verse-suckers perfect health now that her dear sister has officially chosen to let her die, she's not going to be too motivated to improve her behavior.
But that brings us to the new, yet old, player on the scene. Not that we necessarily needed more, but I've been wondering for a while what happened to August Cartright.
Like the other traditional elements of the Arrowverse archetype that Batwoman has broken with, drawing the lines of combat here is more of an optical illusion than a still life.
It would be so very "basic" to have our hero vigilante contending solely with her arch-nemesis. And vice versa as well -- Alice and her gang with only Team Batwoman in their way.
As we race towards the resolution of the first big story arc of Batwoman Season 1, the teams have splintered and gotten reconfigured.
Kate and Luke should have Mary on their side, but she still doesn't know Batwoman's true identity.
Meanwhile, she appeared to be truly and completely done with Kate's inability to get out from under her need to save Alice when Kate wanted to give Mary's Coryana Desert Rose serum-laced blood to both Beth and Alice.
I had hoped that it would be the moment Mary would get invited into the Bat Cave, but alas, it was not to be.
Alice's gang seems to hang out in stasis a lot these days.
With Dodgson in prison, Mouse in the hospital, and Alice traipsing around the city, I'm curious what the rest of the gang does when all the commanders are M.I.A.
But the villains are about to start getting in each other's way.
Alice called the Crows hoping they would kill you. Even on her deathbed, she is ruthlessly brilliant.
Kate
Now that August Cartright is involved with Jacob's case as expert witness Dr. Campbell, Alice has someone determinedly gunning (quite literally) for her.
And, once she's free from the handcuff and hospital bed, she's going to realize that Mouse is not where she left him and that she has an enemy with no scruples to deal with, in addition to the Crows and Team Batwoman.
How weirdly heartwarming was it seeing Mouse defy his father the way he did?
One of the better trademark moves the show has developed (unlike their representation of sanitary syringe use, blood extraction, transfusions, and cell degradation research) is in "showing" versus "telling" what the relationships between characters are like.
We've seen it between Catherine and Mary, Kate and Jacob, even Sophie and Kate (#eyeroll).
And with the hospital room scene between Mouse and Cartright, we saw how the relationship between Mouse and Alice shaped him as a man.
You looked at me and you saw a monster. She saw the window to the world.
Mouse
You're forgiven if you get distracted by some very pertinent questions as you watch Batwoman online.
ICYMI, Mary's blood can now cure ANYTHING (except bullet wounds.) The potential uses are ridiculous.
What is she (or anyone) going to do with that superpower?
What condition was Carl in when found in the janitor's closet? How does Wayne Tower only have ONE security guard?
Did the Crows find the Bat Cave or not? If not, how is that even possible?
Why didn't the Crow guarding Mouse's hospital room question Alice's statement about "transporting the prisoner" and, when she didn't transport him anywhere, didn't that seem strange? To anyone?
Further on that, how did Cartright/Campbell transport Mouse to the warehouse?
What else niggled at you as you watched the episode? Share your nit-pickiest peeves in the comments!
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.
