Batwoman: The Complete Second Season Blu-Ray review
Warner Bros. Home Entertainment provided me with a free copy of the Blu-Ray I reviewed in this blog post. The opinions I share are my own.
Batwoman was the first of the new era Arrowverse shows intended to keep the flame burning after Arrow wrapped.
Star Ruby Rose, who played Kate Kane/Batwoman, was presented on equal prominence with Grant Gustin’s Flash, Stephen Amell’s Arrow and Melissa Benoist’s Supergirl. The series seemed in jeopardy when Rose abruptly announced her departure from the series shortly after the conclusion of the first season.
Undeterred, the CW announced Javicia Leslie would be filling the role of Batwoman as a new character, Ryan Wilder. Leslie immediately felt like a stronger, more nuanced presence as the new Batwoman. Rose constantly seemed overshadowed by most of her co-stars specifically Rachel Skarsten, who played Kate’s sister Alice.
That’s not the case with Leslie, who has a more relatable backstory than cousin to a billionaire. The change in leads does not alter the show’s LGBTQ+ roots as Ryan is also a lesbian with various love interests popping up during the 18 episodes.
Early on in the season, the writers juggle the fallout of Kate’s potential death/disappearance and the arrival of this new Batwoman. Understandable tension develops with Ryan and Kate’s tech ally, Luke Fox (Camrus Johnson), but Kate’s stepsister, (Nicole Kang) is happy to have another hero in the fold.
The writing team shows a commendable effort to make Ryan more than just a Kate stand-in slowly incorporating her own subplots and characters.
Still, there’s a sense of unneeded obligation to craft a compelling conclusion to Kate’s journey so she still remains a significant focal point. Batwoman’s second season struggles when the writers devote too much time to Alice — a character that worked fine as an evil mirror to Kate, but feels unnecessary without her sister. Ditto for the subplots involving Kate’s ex-flame (Meagan Tandy) and father (Dougray Scott).
Like many CW superhero shows there’s a rush to add more heroes to the fold. This season’s new hero was telegraphed early on so it wasn’t shocking and it does break new ground for the CW Verse regarding its superhero leads.
Fans of the first season might initially be disappointed with Kate’s departure, but Ryan’s addition actually marks a significant improvement overall.
VIDEO/AUDIO
Batwoman’s second season gets a full 1080p full HD video and DTS-HD master audio for English 5.1. The video quality is impressive for a network TV series and is very high quality.
There’s not a ton of background noises to truly showcase the DTS-HD master audio, but there are some occasional effects that make good use of solid sound effects.
BLU-RAY & DVD FEATURES
- Deleted Scenes (Exclusive to Blu-ray and DVD)
- Gag Reel (Exclusive to Blu-ray and DVD)
- Villains Analyzed
- Never Alone: Heroes and Allies
18 ONE-HOUR EPISODES
- Whatever Happened to Kate Kane?
- Prior Criminal History
- Bat Girl Magic!
- Fair Skin, Blue Eyes
- Gore on Canvas
- Do Not Resuscitate
- It’s Best You Stop Digging
- Survived Much Worse
- Rule #1
- Time Off for Good Behavior
- Arrive Alive
- Initiate Self Destruct
- I’ll Give You a Clue
- …And Justice For All
- Armed and Dangerous
- Rebirth
- Kane, Kate
- Power