Batwoman Review: Off With Her Head (Season 1 Episode 15)
Batwoman Season 1 Episode 15, “Off With Her Head,” is a bit of a disappointment. You’d think that something involving fear toxin and flashbacks to Alice’s past would be intriguing, but unfortunately, it doesn’t quite work here.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s not a bad episode by any means; it’s okay. Perhaps the issue is that the flashbacks are starting to go the route of Arrow‘s flashbacks — drawn out and constantly revealing some brand new horror/twist and not in a good way.
Alice’s time in captivity is turning into Oliver’s time on the island. She better not have the equivalent of Oliver’s declaration that he wasn’t on the island for the entire five years. I don’t think I could take it.
That’s to say that hopefully, the Queen of Hearts is Alice’s last tormentor. She’s endured enough trauma, let’s not go overboard with introducing bad guy after bad guy. As Kate says, August was the one who made Alice sew pieces of skin together; he’s bad enough. We don’t need more.
Hopefully, Batwoman won’t make the same mistakes Arrow did and will dial it back with the flashbacks. Batwoman‘s flashbacks certainly aren’t boring, but it’s something to watch. After all, Oliver’s time on the island was interesting at first.
Despite not fully enjoying the flashbacks, there’s no denying that Rachel Skarsten delivers an amazing, emotional performance in both the present-day hallucinations and in the flashbacks. It’s impossible not to feel for Alice, and that’s a testament to Skarsten.
The moment in “Off With Her Head” that is a bit too much, at least personally, is when Alice finds her mom’s head in the freezer. Alice is grown up by that point, so it’s been years since the car crash, and so when (and why) did August fish the body out of the river, and how was it not decomposed?
The “twist” comes out of left field, and it’s not like Alice needed any more reasons to despise the Queen of Hearts nor August, and the same can be said for Kate.
The only interesting thing to come out of all of this is Kate makes her first kill, and it’s not for survival nor to save the day. It’s in a fit of rage.
Mary: Where’s Kate?
Luke: Figured you’d also call her.
Mary: Aren’t you like her keeper?
Luke: Aren’t you like her sister?
It’ll be interesting to see how this changes Kate, and how it will change Batwoman as well. She could continue as usual, or she could go more Season 1 Oliver Queen. There are lots of options here, and it’ll be exciting to see what Kate ends up doing.
Based on the promo, she’ll be teaming up with Alice. I’m not sure if that’s the best thing, but it’s definitely unexpected and exciting.
Stray Thoughts
- What is it with that family and being obsessed with people’s skin?
- Mary searching for a fake book to open up a secret passageway is why I love her.
- It’s shocking no one has figured out that Mary knows yet. She is dropping lots of hints.
- Luke being upset that he’s out of the loop, Batwoman-wise, is cute.
- Remember how Jake called Sophie for help with identifying a mole in the Crows? What’s happening there?
What did you think of this episode of Batwoman? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
Critic Rating:
User Rating:
Batwoman airs Sunday at 8/7c on The CW.
Follow us on Twitter and on 
Instagram!
Want more from Tell-Tale TV? Subscribe to our newsletter here!
Allison Nichols
Allison is in a love affair with television that doesn't seem to be letting up anytime soon. Slightly damaged fictional characters are her weakness. She loves to spend her free time curled up with a cat and a show to binge-watch. Allison is a Tomatometer-approved critic (Rotten Tomatoes).