‘Batwoman 3×13: We Having Fun Yet?’ Review
Stars: Javicia Leslie, Rachel Skarsten, Meagan Tandy, Nicole Kang, Camrus Johnson, Dougray Scott | Created by Caroline Dries
The season 3 finale of Batwoman is finally here and if you think it arrived quicker this season than in prior seasons, you are correct! The series only had 13 episodes this season and while I enjoy Batwoman, the less episodes allowed the writers to focus on a stronger and more concise storyline. Let’s see if the finale can end the season on a high note!
What Happened This Week?
It’s the Joker’s fault, right?
The season finale starts with a montage we have seen several times already, the Joker taking over the school bus and using the joy buzzer on a young Marquis, supposedly setting him down the path to darkness. What is new in this montage is the Joker revealing his master plan to Marquis on how he will destroy Gotham with nuclear waste, turning the survivors into versions of the Joker.
Back in the present day, Marquis grabs the city’s attention by proclaiming he knows Batwoman’s secret identity and in five hours, he will reveal her name to all that come to his reveal party outside Wayne Enterprises. It’s all a ploy to hatch his master plan, which is actually the Joker’s original plan, to drop acid/nuclear waste on the citizens of Gotham from…. drumroll please…the Bat Blimp! Yes, Batman has a blimp in this universe and Marquis is going to use it!
Team Batwoman gets to work trying to find Marquis, they didn’t realize he took the blimp, and Jada even stops by to provide access to her company’s technology to help find our villain. After Ryan makes a deal with Alice (see below), Luke attempts to hack into the Bat Blimp and land it at the police station but unfortunately Marquis is too smart for this plan and shoots the computer system in the blimp, along with the pilot. While this stops Luke from hacking the blimp, it also stops Marquis from controlling the blimp.
Jada not only provides tech help; she also is convinced by Ryan that Marquis needs to be ousted from Wayne Enterprises (do you think?) so Jada implies in a press conference that Marquis actually killed his father. This acquisition causes the board of directors to fire Marquis and reinstate Ryan back in her position as CEO. I understand Jada has a lot of power in Gotham but even this is a stretch, even though it does reset everything for next season.
Eventually Batwoman breaks into the blimp, causing a confrontation between her and Marquis with the fate of Gotham hanging in the balance…cue ominous music. While Batwoman is fighting Marquis, and in a nod to prior episodes, Mary uses the Penguin’s hypnotic umbrella to hypnotize the citizens of Gotham during a television appearance and warn them to get inside or leave Gotham due to the nuclear waste literally hanging over their head.
Batwoman gets the best of Marquis in the fight and after hitting him in the face several times, he changes persona and reveals he is his old self. This ploy allows Batwoman to let her guard down, resulting in Marquis to push her out a broken window in the blimp, tumbling to the ground below. Using her grappling gun, she pulls Marquis out with her, eventually landing on the rooftop of the police precinct, thanks to a parachute she has for just these occasions.
Marquis isn’t done fighting though and tackles Batwoman off the roof, resulting in Batwoman hanging by one hand on the edge of the roof while holding Marquis with the other hand. When all looks loss and Marquis is begging Batwoman to let go, Alice shows up to save them! Alice pulls them up and then tosses the joy buzzer to Batwoman, who immediately uses it on Marquis. Back at Mary’s clinic, Marquis wakes up, normal again, as Ryan and Jada hug him. Is he really back or is it just another trick?
Alice vs. Beth
Alice has been grappling with the hard truth that her brain may not be “broken”, and she alone may be the reason she makes the choices she does. Mary has been trying to breakthrough Alice’s psyche in order to bring Beth back, but Alice still believes she needs the Joker’s joy buzzer to fix her mental state. Mary, being a medical doctor, realizes that the more Alice stays at Arkham Asylum, the worst her mental state becomes so Mary makes a desperate plea to Team Batwoman to save her. Mary pulls the “You told me you would listen to me more” card and despite the chaos Alice has brought to their team, Mary makes the case that Alice deserves a second chance, just like her.
Later, Ryan visits Alice in Arkham to interrogate her on why she deserves the joy buzzer and let’s just say Alice is less than convincing. Ryan is about to leave with the buzzer when Alice presents an offer: the joy buzzer for Marquis’ master plan. Ryan accepts the offer as the safety of the city is more important than Alice staying in Arkham forever. Alice tells Ryan the plan and Ryan being true to her word, gives up the joy buzzer and any chance of saving Marquis’ psyche. As Ryan is walking away, she tells Alice that she doesn’t need the buzzer as Alice, after everything she has gone through, is strong enough to fix herself. Alice arriving on the rooftop in the final battle makes Ryan’s words even more powerful as Alice finally realizes she is the one in control.
Quick Notes
- Alice seems to be back to being Beth as she returns to her brunette hair color and leaves a note for Mary that she is leaving Gotham to go “find herself.”
- At the site of the blimp crash, a local reporter in a hazmat suit reports the area is now contaminated with nuclear waste and is unsafe to be around without proper protection. Her story doesn’t get too far though before a shadowy figure with a limp and what appears to be an exposed leg bone, kills the reporter and her cameraman. Who is this mysterious person? We must wait till next season to find out.
Quote of the Week
Marquis (to Ryan): “Nice to meet you for real.”
Episode Grade: A- (Great)
Batwoman’s season finale feels very much like a series finale, but I hope I’m wrong as the series has finally found its voice after a tumultuous second season and replacement of the main star. Team Batwoman, while similar to the Arrow’s team in his own series, each have their unique qualities and quirks, which the writers were able to highlight more this season. The series never takes itself too seriously but at the same time, is respectful of comic book history while still putting a twist on characters.
The issue is the season finale wrapped everything up in too neat of a bow: Ryan and Sophie are in a relationship, Luke and Ryan have both become comfortable with being superheroes, Alice finally has transformed back into Beth, and Jada has her son back. This worries me that the writers knew the series wouldn’t get renewed and wanted to provide closure, even with a possible hint of another villain for next season. Overall, the season finale was a great episode that wrapped up the whole season’s storylines and gave the show something not often seen in a series: a happy ending. Here’s to hoping season 4 happens!
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