It's time for another edition of the Tuesday TV Touchbase.
What am I watching on TV?
Let's find out.
Batwoman
OK, let's deal with the big der fleidermaus* in the room: Whazzup, Ruby Rose?
*German for "bat"
Mere days after the season finale of Batwoman, Ruby Rose announced she would not be returning to the role of Kate Kane and her bat masked alter ego for season 2.
Ruby said it was not an easy decision to make but gave no specifics as to why she felt there was a decision to be made.
There are some reports that Ruby Rose's exit from Batwoman was not 100% her decision but again, that's all rumors and hearsay.
I will say I was not very impressed with Ruby Rose at the start of the season but as the season progressed, I was liking her more and more in the role of Kate Kane and Batwoman.
Batwoman in general didn't impress me at much in the first handful of episodes but the series proceeded to improve and find its groove.
Bringing Mary into the inner circle was a smart move. OK, I think too many people know Kate Kane is Batwoman to tyhe point that maybe Jacob Kane is the only one who doesn't know his daughter is Batwoman. Still, May has proven herself too valuable too many times to her step sister whether Kate is in or out of the Bat-Suit. I like Mary as a character and welcome the opportunity to put her to use more as she becomes part of Team Batwoman.
Luke Fox has come a long way during the course of the season. His relationship with Kate continues to have some tension but that has eased up a bit when Kate acknowledged that Batwoman would be lost without Luke's support.
I could do with a lot less of Jacob Kane and this corps of super private cops, the Crows. For all their bluster, weaponry and technology, the Crows are no more effective than their underpaid brethren in the Gotham City Police Dept. and are just as prone to corruption.
I could probably do with a lot less of Alice as well. Don't get me wrong. Alice is an endlessly fascinating character and whatever is going on in any given episode becomes a whole lot more interesting when Alice is on screen. Over the course of this season, Alice has elicited abhorrent disgust as she tortured and slaughtered her way through Gotham and also elicited pity of almost equal measure as the story of her lost childhood and her own torture and trauma come to light.
That being said, Alice doesn't need to be come Batwoman's Skeletor, the big bad responsible for everything that goes wrong in Gotham City. I would suggest that Alice spend sometime on the shelf for awhile. I imagine, however, that evoke some sense of continuity as the show's lead is re-cast,we may see more, not less, of Alice.
As to the re-cast, that's a tough call to make. While Ruby Rose may not have had a strong start as Batwoman, I became used to her particular style in her duo role. Still, of the names bantered around as a replacement, I'm rather fond of Stephanie Beatriz, Det. Rosa Diaz from Brooklyn Nine Nine.
Supergirl
Lex Luthor wins again.
Due to the pandemic shortened production, this season ended sooner than it was expected. As such, Lex is holding the key to Leviathan's power and is more in control and in power over so much of the Earth than he was before.
Bringing in Jon Cryer as Lex Luthor last season was the best thing this show has ever done and this season continued to prove just how good a call that was bring Lex Luthor into the mix and how great a call it was to cast Cryer as Lex.
The show did kind of lose its way a bit over the season. The first half of the season was a mish mash of Leviathan hijinks, Lena Luthor still being in a pissy mood at Kara Danvers and some hokum involving J'onn and his maybe not quite as evil as we thought he was Martian brother. And also zero build up to Crisis On Infinite Earths which was a big no-no.
After Crisis (which I thought was great), it felt like Supergirl was in some kind of start over mode. Any momentum from the first half of the season was lost.
Also lost this season was Supergirl's skirt. I understand the logistics of giving Kara pants but I still miss the skirt outfit.
The season ends, as noted earlier, with Lex Luthor with an even more consolidated grasp on power than he had in the aftermath of Crisis. On the good news front, Lena finally sees the error of her ways in regards to Supergirl.
What happens next? It will take a long while before we find out. All the Arrowverse shows are will not have new seasons this fall with their premiers bumped up to January 2021. Except for Supergirl which will be even later.
In addition to delays caused by the pandemic shutdown, Supergirl will need to work around Melissa Benoist who is expecting a baby. Her pregnancy and subsequent maternity leave will add even more time to the start of production on the next season of Supergirl.
Stargirl
The debut episode represent writer Geoff Johns at his best and at his worst.
If anyone has followed Johns career, you know he does love himself a massacre. Multiple heroes dying to make sure the reader knows this shit is for real. Stargirl episode 1 kicks off with the brutal and lethal assault on the Justice Society of America by the villains of the Injustice Society. It's kind of cool to see comics accurate costumes for Doctor Mid-Nite, Wildcat and Hourman but here's Geoff Johns is indulging in one of his worst tropes.
But we get to see Geoff in an area that he really excels, writing people, particularly young people, as real, nuanced and complex. Our focus is Courtney Whitmore, a teenage high schooler who is not coping with change at home. Her mother Babara has remarried to Pat Dugan, an earnestly kind man who just can't seem to connect Courtney. The newly blended family has moved to a small midwestern town called Blue Valley which does nothing for Courtney's bad mood.
Things change when Courtney discovers some strange items among Pat's stuff including photos and memorabilia of the JSA and secured in a long wooden box, a golden glowing staff that responds to Courtney.
Pat Dugan was Stripsey, the sidekick to the Star Spangled Kid who would later be known as Starman.
Watching Courtney interact with the Cosmic Staff is a lot of fun. The Cosmic Staff has a mischievous nature; I'm not sure if we're all in for a sci-fi answer with some form of AI involved or if the Cosmic Staff may have some sort of quasi magial attributes. I suppose we will learn more as Courtney learns more.
Stargirl is off to a really good start and embodies something we all really need right now, a sense of fun.
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What else am I watching right now? Still following Killing Eve. The season finale is next week so I'm expecting to write up about that in next week's Tuesday TV Touchbase. I am also following Snowpeircer; more on that coming up in a future post. Also still watching What We Do In the Shadows which just got renewed for a 3rd season.
Also, the ABC private eye series Stumptown that Andrea and I followed for season 1 has been renewed for a 2nd season.
Until next time, remember to be good to one another.
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