Batwoman “Rule #1” Review

Season 2 Episode 9 – Batwoman hunts down Black Mask, who has taken Angelique prisoner.

What I Liked

1. After the Police Commissioner is gunned down, I do like the investigative parts that follow from both Sophie and the Crows, plus Ryan, Mary and Luke. They manage to spot a graffiti tag and follow it back to Jordan who is the only one to witness the killing. She then turns to Sophie, who only turns out to be her sister.

2. Finally, a good solid badass scene from Batwoman. After she swoops in when the armed gang attack Sophie and Jordan. She wipes the floor with both the armed attackers, and then “interrogated Jordan”. It’s just actually nice to see her on form for once.

3. Go Mary! After they realise Angelique was the getaway driver in the Police Commissioners death, Ryan begins making excuses for her. Mary then abruptly shuts her down, comparing the same situation to Kate and Alice. A solid scene that’s for sure.

4. Kind of glad Jordan ripped Batwoman’s wig. When they’re all at the bar discussing Jordan’s graffiti crimes, she explains to Ryan that Batwoman is “cringe”. I agree, I love the suit but the wig is weird. There, I said it!

5. I really like this Black Mask. Despite the absolute gruesome scene with the massive saw going through one of his now ex-employees, he literally shuts down Batwoman after she makes the most pathetic pleas on the planet. Sophie manages to return the favour and save her life just in time. Sophie and Black Mask were the saviours of this particular scene.

6. Despite rush have a mostly poor episode, I did really like the Bat rules she introduced near the end of the episode to Luke and Mary, it made sense, and hopefully, it’s them coming together properly in a major way.

What I Disliked

1. I kind of get the premise of the star character narrating to their diary, with Kate it made sense. Bruce was her cousin and she effectively took over the mantle. But…why is Ryan doing it? She didn’t know Kate…doesn’t know Kate, and is literally just taking the mantle. It was weird last week and it’s still weird this week, even more so now that Kate is “dead” according to them.

2. So, Batwoman knows she’s surrounded when she goes to investigate Angelique’s kidnapping. And somehow pauses after taking just two of them down to then be knocked out. Come on man, just please give us a moment where she can actually take out more than 1-2 people at any given time. It’s embarrassing.

Favourite Moment

So it’s actually Black Mask who has Kate. We also got an introduction to Enigma as well, and she looks incredible in the role. I’m really liking where this is about to go that’s for sure.

Standout Character

I’m giving this one to Sophie. She’s been fantastic this season so far and this episode was no different. She saved Batwoman, bonded with her sister a lot better and was overall a great part of this episode. It’s nice to see her actually understand that the law is flawed.

Verdict

This was one of those episodes that I was on the fence with. The end reveal was great, Black Mask and Sophie were brilliant, but the Batwoman side just needs better writing. She needs to stand on her own properly, especially in the middle of a fight. It’s poor when we’re 9 episodes in and she’s barely had a decent fight.

Rating 7.9/10

Promo For Next Episode