Batwoman: The Complete Second Season - Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

Batwoman: The Complete Second Season



Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score:


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Movie
Batwoman had a bit of a rocky start. At first it was due to fan backlash about Ruby Rose not being LGBTQ enough for Kate Kane, then it was hamfisted writing for the show itself, and then it got even worse as pandemic forced the show to wrap up before the season finale could be shot and shown. Not to mention Ruby Rose suffering a severe back injury on set and announcing suddenly that she wouldn’t be back for season 2 (there have been multiple interviews where Ruby claims that it was due to not healing right from the injury, and another more recent one where she claims she was allergic to the latex suit. But we we may never know the truth as contracts have their NDAs). Most series would have said “ok, we tried, best to just let this one go into the shadows. However Caroline Dries (the writer behind the show) and The CW decided not to go that route, but pulled a trick from the first season of Batwoman, and add an air of mystery by introducing a new character.

That “trick” that I mentioned was the Bruce Wayne trope, as I like to call it. By that I mean they open up the show with Kate Kane’s plane crashing, and a homeless woman named Ryan Wilder (Javicia Leslie) finding the batsuit in the crashed debris. Thus starts the “Bruce Wayne Trope” where Kate Kane is mysteriously missing for the whole season, yet everyone is trying to look for her and wait for her return (since obviously the character of Kate isn’t dead in the comics, and the show runners are leaving the possibility of Ruby Rose returning, or making a cameo, a hopeful possibility)...sort of like how Bruce Wayne was missing due to rights issues in the first season.

Obviously Batwoman’s departure has left a hole in Gotham’s crime fighting ability, but the Bat team incorporates Ryan into the persona of Batwoman in the meant time. In a sense this is a soft reboot of season 1 by any definition, as Ryan’s Batwoman is a whole new introduction, a whole new character in fact, and a whole new seasons worth of getting her used to the role. In some ways it works on it’s own, but in many ways this is a downgrade from the already mediocre season 1 that we had last year. I’m not one who has to have social justice completely eradicated from cinema and TV (many TV shows used their platform to discuss social issues over the years), but the series has taken the award for “most hamfisted social justice writing of the CW DC shows” away from Supergirl (which has actually gotten better in the last year or so).

Javicia Leslie herself isn’t bad in the role, and in many ways I have to hand it to her as she’s navigating uncharted waters. She’s “Batwoman”, but not really any Batwoman we’ve ever known. She’s a completely new character made just for this show, and that gives her leeway to make the character her own without having to ascribe to written comic book characterizations. However, the show just can’t get over the writing. It’s bad, really bad, at times too. The social issues are crammed down your throat in ways that even The Rookie: Season 3 couldn’t pull off, and the constant “is Kate Kane alive?” story gets old fast when we KNOW that it’s not going to happen.

I’m actually one of the people who thinks that Batwoman shouldn’t have recast the character for the role. The show was hardly a winner for The CW ratings wise, and the constant problems with casting and general public appeal should have been a warning sign. The show could have gone out with some dignity and chaulked it up to bad timings in the universe, but instead they recast, rebooted, and sunk lower in the ratings than they did before. Nothing against the actors and actresses involved, but season 2 is just bad TV, even for The CW and their stereotypical angsty super hero shows.




Rating:

Rated TV-14 by the MPAA




Video:

Aesthetically Batwoman shares more in common with Arrow than any other show, but with it’s own little tweaks here and there. The dark looking show is filled with slate blues and soft grays, but is using a cinematic 1.85:1 aspect ratio instead of the typical 1.78:1 used to the DCTV shows. Blacks and grays are prominent on screen and showcase tons of fine details to observe. Clarity is usually spot on clear, but I noticed that overhead shots, and edges of the screen would look diffused and soft. Something which occurred with such regularity throughout the show that I have to assume that it was an intentional optical effect rather than a defect. Colors are dulled a bit, but still no less vibrant, such as the red hair on the Batwoman outfit, or bursts of green and blue from villains costumes.







Audio:

The audio mix is on par with the previous season’s too. A powerful, forceful action track that really likes to grab on tight and not let go as it shakes you around. The bass is palpable and felt in every single episode to great aplomb. Gun shots hit hard, as does the extra weight from fisticuffs and the typical hand to hand combat sequences common in the show. Dialog is crystal clear as usual, with little (if any) negatives to say about balance with the more boisterous activity found in the show. Surrounds are not always utilized ALL the time, as the show tends to be very front heavy until the action scenes stretch their legs. All in all, a good mix that does well for a super hero show.




Extras:

• Deleted Scenes
• Villains Analyzed
• Never Alone: Heroes and Allies
• Gag Reel

Final Score: ​

Could Batwoman pull itself out of this second season slump with a great 3rd season? Well, yeah, it has some very interesting things leading up to the finale (with a possible Penguin reveal next season), but lets face it. I thought the same thing with last season and look what we got. So I don’t have my hopes up. The Blu-ray set itself is about on par with the previous release, meaning bare bones audio and subtitles with a modicum of a livable extras on bed of great audio and video. Still, my recommendation for this season is “meh”. It’s not the worst, but by golly it’s not even close to good either.


Technical Specifications:

Starring: Javicia Leslie, Dougray Scott, Camrus Johnson, Rachel Skarsten, Nicole Kang, Meagan Tandy
Created by: Caroline Dries
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 AVC
Audio: English: DTS-HD MA 5.1
Subtitles: English SDH
Studio: Warner Brothers
Rated: TV-14
Runtime: 765 Minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: September 21st, 2021

Recommendation: Meh