Batwoman Review: O, Mouse! (Season 1 Episode 20)

Batwoman Season 1 Episode 20, “O, Mouse!,” serves as the season finale of this shortened season. Unfortunately, it isn’t the most exciting of finales.

The problem is that the hour focuses on the Jake Kane vs. Batwoman war, and it’s simply not captivating. It’s hard to care about anything Jacob does, and as mentioned in the review of Batwoman Season 1 Episode 19, “A Secret Kept from All The Rest,” it’s not as if this hatred/war is anything new in the Arrowverse.

Also, Jacob Kane is simply not likable. Sorry, but there’s rarely a moment where his presence is welcomed. He’s boring and impossible to root for. Alice is more likable than him, which is saying something since she’s murdered quite a few people.

Jacob’s vendetta against Batwoman is making him out to be a bigger villain than Alice. We understand Alice’s pain and reasons for doing all the twisted things she does. Jacob just seems to be anti-vigilante for whatever reason suits him at the moment.

He claims Batwoman is a terror to this city, but we haven’t exactly seen him do much when it comes to protecting Gotham. He complains about cleaning up Batwoman’s messes, but we don’t see him actually making any progress or righting any wrongs. Right now, it’s impossible to root for him or even care about this whole war.

It’s hard to even care that Kate’s heartbroken over the not-at-all surprising betrayal.

Luke: Besides Kate knows what she’s doing.

Mary: No, Kate thinks she knows what she’s doing which can be worse than most people not knowing what they’re doing.

Maybe if we had seen more of her relationship with her father outside of Alice/Beth-related storylines, we could have cared about them. It would have made Kate crying over her father’s betrayal a more emotional moment rather than a “well, what did you think was going to happen?” one.

Kate’s logic is off during the hour when it comes to her father. She’s misguidedly optimistic that he will see Batwoman differently if she apprehends Titan. Because Batwoman has never apprehended anyone before…come on, Kate.

While this mindset is frustrating, it’s a little forgivable because Kate is trying to see the best in her dad and doesn’t want to accept that he might hate Batwoman/her. Mary being there and being the voice of reason helps and shows that this is just Kate being foolishly hopeful. 

It’s clear that Tommy being fake Bruce Wayne was supposed to be the driving force of the final two episodes of the season.

Tommy posing as Bruce could’ve lasted just through the end of the originally planned Season 1, or it could be something that continues throughout a good portion of Season 2, maybe tying into the future crossover with Superman & Lois.

After all, Bruce got the kryptonite from Superman, according to Luke. So if Tommy decides to keep up the ruse (and can fool Kate and Luke), he could potentially be a part of the crossover. Or, perhaps, Tommy’s charade forces the real Bruce to return to Gotham.

Tommy’s new face sets up a lot of fun possibilities for the series, and now that reality got in the way of Batwoman’s original plan, it’ll be interesting to see how Season 2 is affected.

What I hope happens is that Tommy’s new face somehow allows for some flashbacks to when Luke first started helping out in the Batcave. What are your hopes for Season 2?

Stray Thoughts

• I was really starting to like Mouse…
• Also, we all saw his death coming, right?
• Julia cluing Sophie in on some of what’s happening is not only smart, it’s surprisingly sweet.
• Luke getting upset over things not being a secret continues to be the best.

What did you think of the Batwoman Season 1 finale? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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Batwoman airs Sunday at 8/7c on The CW.

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