Batwoman Review: Mad as a Hatter (Season 3 Episode 1)

While Mary struggles with the loss of her family, the hunt for the missing Bat trophies takes center stage on Batwoman Season 3 Episode 1, “Mad as a Hatter.”

The first Bat trophy to wreak havoc on Gotham City in Batwoman Season 3 is Jervis Tetch’s top hat. That’s right, the Mad Hatter. This new Mad Hatter is a wannabe influencer obsessed with Alice.

This episode isn’t really about the Mad Hatter. He’s a pathetic loser who got lucky and stumbled on the hat being sold online. It actually sets up the idea that these trophies are even more dangerous if they fall into impulsive, unstable, non-genius hands.

As a season opener, “Mad as a Hatter” does a great job of establishing where all the characters are at, and what we can expect for them. It has us instantly invested in the characters’ lives while resetting some of them following a few Season 2 missteps.

In particular, we’re really excited to see the unapologetically villainous Alice back. Rachel Skarsten is so adept at giving Alice a wide range of emotions in only a few minutes’ time.

When she finally figures out that Jacob isn’t coming to rescue her (she’s actually imagined the whole scenario), Skarsten expertly takes Alice from denial to devastation to evil menace in the course of one scene. That evil smile is a masterclass in acting all by itself.

Since you can’t keep a good psychopath down, Alice uses the missing Bat trophies to improve her circumstances. She offers up her supervillain expertise in exchange for her eventual freedom. This will obviously lead to her inevitably masterminding an evil plan because that’s how things work in Gotham City.

We are introduced to Victoria Cartagena as a hardened Renee Montoya who now works on the Rogue squad. Apparently, she’s been waiting years for Batman’s enemies to make another appearance.

We didn’t get to spend much time with Montoya, but our first impression is that she’s willing to do anything to protect the city, which might turn out to be a major weakness.

In the past, we’ve been very clear about our thoughts on a possible Ryan/Sophie pairing, and those haven’t changed. However, now our objections aren’t about a lack of chemistry, it’s about how great these two are as friends.

Javicia Leslie and Meagan Tandy are developing a really beautiful, lovely, platonic relationship.

Sophie tracks down the truth about Ryan’s birth mother, helping her deal with the fallout in the process. These two strong Black women have never truly had someone who understands how difficult it is to exist in the male-dominated hero world.

Watching their friendship grow into something special will be far more interesting and gratifying than any romance.

Even if we didn’t know going into the season that Robin Givens’ Jada Jett is Ryan’s birth mother, the episode makes it clear without actually saying the words. We also need to take a moment to discuss the great casting of Givens, as she and Leslie look like they could really be related.

Between tracking down the Mad Hatter and saving lives, Mary and Luke are dealing with family issues. Mary is feeling the loneliness of Jacob and Kate’s absence, while Luke discovers the mysterious glitches in his suit are caused by what appears to be an AI based on his father.

Good season premieres are supposed to get the audience excited and invested in the next six months of stories. Batwoman Season 3 Episode 1, “Mad as a Hatter,” not only has us ready for where the series goes next, it’s re-lit our obsession with these characters and their world.

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

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Batwoman airs Wednesdays at 9/8c on The CW.

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