Batwoman: The Third and Final Season - Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

Batwoman: The Third and Final Season



Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score:

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Movie
Batwoman….well, lets just say that it’s not had the greatest of time on The CW. It was by far the weakest of the DC live action shows when it premiered a few years back, having to wrap up early due to the pandemic. Then came the problem of Ruby Rose leaving the role of Kate Kane, and The CW deciding to just continue with the show, but recast the lead AND create a whole new personna to play Batwoman. Well, as you can guess from my previous review of Season 2, things did not go well. The ratings were down, the new Ryan character (played by Javicia Leslie) just fell flat. Season 3 rolled again and right off the bat The WC announced that this would be the final season (not shocking considering most of the CW shows are being canceled over the last year except for The Flash).

Season 3 is actually a little worse than season 2, although not by much. It’s really just more of the same blundering failures that made the second season a dismal view for most viewers. The show was already a show that most people tuned out, but once Kate Kane left the show, it felt like a hollow (er) shell of it’s former self. Alice (Rachel Skarsten) is still sticking around like Dr. Harry Wells did in The Flash. This time she’s kind of helping, kind of not as Ryan has come into her own as Batwoman. Except this time we’re dealing with Ryan finding out her birth mom is still alive (and a big problem), There’s a new Mad Hatter and Joker on the loose, and Mary (Nicole Kang) is infect with the poison ivy virus.

Season 3 doesn’t even fall flat. It’s already flat from the previous season, it just kind of slinks along the floor like a half crushed bug animal begging to be put out of it’s misery. The series is just plain ridiculous, with dialog that would make DC’s Legends of Tomorrow cringe (played completely seriously instead of for laughs), and good old Arroverse problems. Mainly things such as overly socially ham fisted characters (we have Rachel Maddow playing a journalist), the problem of EVERY CW show becoming “team whatever” as we add Luke Fox into playing a fully suit powered side kick. Then there’s the fact that the budget has fallen off a cliff as the batmobile is just a corvette C7 with plastic stick on panels to make it look “cool” (seriously, you can actually see the spray paint difference between the panels and the fiberglass of the car itself). It feels like we’re back in the 1980s of Night Rider, even though the rest of the world is in the 2020s.

I tried to like Batwoman when it first came out as Ruby Rose is a reasonably athletic actress with a decent enough presence. However the show devolved seriously when she was lost, and it hasn’t been able to keep it’s head over water for the remaining 2 years. Ratings for season 2 were in the toilet, with season 3’s being projected to be even lower, but for some reason the series is allowed to finish. It’s not the worst show I’ve ever seen, but this is easily the worst of The CW DC shows, even though all of them were gasping for air before being canceled this last year.




Rating:

Rated TV-14 by the MPAA




Video:

If you’ve seen the last 2 seasons, then you know what to expect. Warner Brothers continues with a high quality 1080p encode in 1.85:1 framing with an aesthetic that mirrors earlier seasons of Arrow. The dark looking show is filled with slate blues, deep reds, and shiny blacks. Facial details are extremely revealing (almost too revealing as the makeup becomes obvious on Javicia), with bright neon colors for bat symbols on a chest, or green outdoor garden shots with poison ivy. There’s some very minor banding in the dark warehouse fights, but nothing too spectacular or disturbing. Overall, a solid looking show outside of the weak low budget CGI (pretty typical of the DC live action shows).









Audio:

The singular 5.1 DTS-HD MA track is a powerhouse, with deep bass tones and synth waves that really kick in with every intense action oriented bit of the show. Dialog is crystal clear and centered in the front of the room, and the surrounds get a lot of activity as Batwoman and her various battles get underway. Hand to hand combat has a little less weight than some shows, but the amount of background bass and clear sense of visceral impacts leaves the listener with a smile on their face. All in all, a typically excellent Warner Brothers DC live action show track.







Extras:

• Deleted Scenes
• Gag Real
• Batwing: A Hero's Journey

Final Score: ​

As a big fan of the Arroverse even AFTER it’s prime, Batwoman has just never struck gold for me. I wanted to like it. I gave it the benefit of the doubt first season, but the show has pretty much failed to rise above anything but a D- rated show for me. This season is pretty much on par with the previous one, just with weaker dialog and watered down version of Gotham in many ways. The Blu-ray is still amazing on the technical front, with great video and audio, but the extras are even more meager than last year. Skip it, without a doubt.


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: 545 Minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: July 12th, 2022

Recommendation: Skip It