Batwoman Season 2 Episode 5, "Gore On Canvas" Batwoman Review: Gore on Canvas (Season 2 Episode 5) Batwoman Season 2 Episode 5, "Gore On Canvas"

Batwoman Review: Gore on Canvas (Season 2 Episode 5)

Batwoman, Reviews

The search for Kate intensifies, while the tension between Ryan and Luke comes to a head on Batwoman Season 2 Episode 5, “Gore on Canvas.”

Jacob and Sophie think a notorious painting by Jack Napier, yes that Jack Napier, will lead them to Safiyah and Kate. They enlist Batwoman’s help in stealing the painting from a dangerous secret society.

If we’re being honest, this is a filler episode. Yes, there are a few reveals about Alice, but mostly we’re led on a wild goose chase just so the show has a reason to keep talking about Jack Napier.

Batwoman Season 2 Episode 5, "Gore On Canvas"

We only hear the name Joker once, the rest of the time it’s Napier. Almost as if the show is contractually allowed to use it a certain number of times.

In a 20 episode season, a couple of unimportant hours are going to sneak through. What’s concerning is that this is only Episode 5, and we’re already getting filler. Batwoman Season 2 is off to such a good start so far, now is not the time to slow the storytelling momentum.

The Crows ruined Ryan’s life by sending her to prison and still constantly harass her. She, understandably, has no interest in helping them with anything. However, when Luke confesses that they killed his father, but they need their help to find Kate, she relents.

Once again, we see how truly awful the Crows are when they run a suspect down with their truck, then leave him for dead. Every single time they’re on an operation, the Crows find a way to break the law, while Sophie continues to make excuses for them.

In this age of protests against over-policing and racial profiling, it’s time for Batwoman to do a story seriously examining the abuse and misconduct of the Crows. A private, well-funded police force with military hardware seems like a plot too timely to pass up.

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Batwoman Season 2 Episode 5, "Gore On Canvas"

The show has done such a good job exploring race and class issues in the city, this is a story that it would handle with the depth and perspective it deserves. Considering Ryan and Luke’s tragic experiences with the Crows, and Mary’s father being the Commander, there are several avenues into this storyline.

Movies and TV have told us for years that the GCPD is too corrupt to be trusted. That’s why Gotham needs Batman.

Since the Crows are Batwoman’s version of police, it’s time for the show to take a long look at them, Jacob, and Sophie. A Black Batwoman taking down corrupt private police is a story that would be far more powerful than her fighting Alice or Safiyah.

In the end, the painting was a fake, so neither the team nor Jacob and Sophie are any closer to finding Kate.

Speaking of Sophie, she’s devoted herself to rescuing Kate since she’s “the love of her life.” Honestly, we can’t buy this deep, abiding love she suddenly has for Kate because she spent Batwoman Season 1 either ignoring her or judging her.

Batwoman Season 2 Episode 5, "Gore On Canvas"

Sophie played ping pong with Kate’s feelings before finally moving on with Julia, so her constant declarations of love ring hollow.

When Batwoman calls her out on working with the Crows, and basically covering for them, she weakly says she’s trying to change the culture from the inside.

It boils down to the character not having a personality of her own. She’s Kate’s ex, Jacob’s second in command, Julia’s girlfriend, and Ryan’s arresting officer. We’re 25 episodes in, and we have no idea who Sophie Moore is. And at this point, we don’t really care.

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The other avenue to getting Kate back sees Alice meeting Ocean at a bar, then following him to his motel room to kill him. Turns out he’s Safiyah’s brother, and their memories of knowing one another have been erased.

We’re fascinated by anything Alice does, and we definitely want to know more about her time on Coryana. Unfortunately, there’s something about Ocean that’s just not clicking. Despite the possibility of their romantic past, he and Alice don’t have nearly the same spark as her and Safiyah.

Batwoman Season 2 Episode 5, "Gore On Canvas"

Introducing Safiyah’s brother before we fully get a chance to know her or her motivations seems like we’re getting the story out of order. We need time to become invested in her before we can even think about her brother.

Giving him a vague past with Alice feels like the show wants to force us to care about him. It’s a shortcut that we’ve watched too much TV to fall for.

We also don’t want the show to become bogged down in more neverending family drama. If Safiyah is the big bad who has an evil plan for Gotham, let’s focus on that, and not her sibling issues.

Batwoman Season 2 started so strong with a string of stellar episodes, so it’s disappointing to see things slowed down with this filler. The show has set a high standard for itself, meaning we’re expecting to get some story and character movement every episode, neither of which we got this time.

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What did you think of this episode of Batwoman? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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

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Stephanie Holland is a nerdy lover of Star Wars, Disney, Doctor Who, Arrowverse, Star Trek and WWE. Is living the dream of turning a lifelong obsession with TV into an actual job. Still waiting for a reboot of the '80s classic Small Wonder.