I actually enjoyed and looked forward to Batwoman during its debut season. It was supposed to be twenty-two episodes, but we only got twenty. It came and went unceremoniously because of a global pandemic which permanently interrupted production and hopefully in the future, will convince the CW to have shorter seasons for its DC Comics’ shows. The scourge of actors playing super heroines, the onset injury, contributed to Ruby Rose quitting the titular role and unexpectedly led to fans being thrilled at the announcement that a black woman, Javicia Leslie, would take on the mantle during the second season. Other than Black Lightning, the former Arrowverse would get another black superhero! Before we run off into the second season like forgetful, ungrateful, greedy little turds, I want to memorialize season one for not only being a solid season, but better than longer running DC Comics shows airing at the same time, namely Supergirl, Arrow and The Flash.

I enjoyed Ruby Rose as Kate Kane/Batwoman. It was the first time that I saw her in a role and remembered her favorably. I have little memory of her in The Meg and her role in John Wick: Chapter 2 was anticlimactic. I still have Orange Is the New Black sitting untouched in my queue. I dig her style except the book bag at the club (no, honey, no). In the Crisis on Infinite Earths episodes, she distinguished herself as the curt, practical one who will not hold your baby or fake social cues if she was not feeling it. I enjoyed her chemistry with Supergirl. Kara and Kate were two sides of the same coin, and I was low key shipping them. I would have settled for Katecoming to Kara’s game nights or meeting up at the alien bar. Kate credibly had Supergirl’s back, and they were good friends. Kate was where ideals met the road and figured out how to practically work in the real world. Also she predicted a lot of threats before they came to fruition and was a strategic asset. Her lack of trust in some and wholehearted faith others made her a believable, more psychologically well-adjusted Bat. Unfortunately Sara from Legends of Tomorrow is in a committed relationship so we never got that hook up, but Alex definitely gave Kate the once over.

Sara is the first bisexual hero in the Arrowverse, but Batwoman is the first lesbian headliner though Thunder from Black Lightning technically preceded her; however is not the lead. It meant that a lot of people who never even watched the series still felt the need to denigrate it. While less of a womanizer than Batman, Batwoman could comfortably fit all her exes and one night stands in one room, and even though her romantic storylines never overwhelmed the narrative, it was enough to turn people against her and ignore the overall quality of the show. Her sexuality was essential to the character, but not the point. Kudos to injecting a little humor into the proceedings during Crisis when she briefly found a man hot. Sexuality is a spectrum, and the broken clock rule is real. Leslie’s hero is going to be bisexual. Will she have an easier time because some of her conquests will be men or a harder time because of people’s attitudes, even in the LGBTQ community, about bisexuals? We will see.

I loved Batwoman because she is defined by one line, “I don’t chill.” It was true. Kate was an unrelenting, daredevil, driven, instinctual action hero with flaws that made her relatable and were not alienating. She struggled with Batwoman’s identity and the role that her family and friends would play in her double life, but rarely her own. She knew who she was, but when she got shook, she took a break, which made me love her more. She did not really need the suit to accomplish her goals. It was a tool, and it had to accommodate her, not vice versa. She was Batman-maybe not as technologically well-versed, but definitely more psychologically well adjusted and understood the vigilante role that she wanted to play on the big stage in a way that Arrow, Supergirl and The Flash had to grow into and still needed coaching. It was refreshing and cool.

More importantly, her backstory yielded great story lines and riveting supporting characters. If we are losing Rose, can we keep Rachel Skarsten, who played Alice? Alice is the kind of villain that can stay for seasons and never get old. Initially I was skeptical of the character because of the physical resemblance that she bore to Harley Quinn and thought her whole feminine crazy schtick was a little over the top, but I was wrong. I am not going to spoil Alice’s storyline, but it is superb, satisfying and disturbing. By the end of the first season, she wins, and she had me feeling equal amounts of empathy and outrage at her character’s actions. I completely understood the logic behind her actions and was still horrified. She is less crazy than royally filled with thinly suppressed rage, and I was here for it. There is one moment when she drops the persona for a second to Dynasty slap someone and her voice drops eight octaves in a way that would startle a demon. Loved! Alice’s modus operandi actually provided a feasible way for Rose to exit and Leslie to take center stage, but by Leslie acting as a completely different person instead of Kate Kane, I am concerned that the series’ organic narrative momentum may come to a halt and be a complete reboot instead of a seamless transition.

I would make a horrible villain, but Mouse is the closest that I ever came to relating to one on a visceral level. He just wanted to be safe and comfortable with his favorite person, not fulfill some grand villain ambition. At some point, he was like, “Not worth it,” and won me over. He may be damaged, but he is healthier than his sister and father. He just wants to enjoy life, and he was refreshing in comparison to all the Type A personalities who had day jobs, extracurriculars, vigilante side gigs.

Mary, Kate’s step sister, is a national treasure as the most emotionally healthy character in Batwoman. At night, she helped people by running an underground urgent care center. She found a way to express anger and read people to filth while still accepting them with love and drawing boundaries. She also provides mimosas so is essential to the well-being of others.

If there was one character whom I hated, it was not Sophie, who had a great storyline as a likeable character still needing to come to terms with who she really is, but Jacob Kane, Kate’s dad who manages to be successful while having consistently dreadful judgment, never learning from his mistakes and engaging in one sided professional and personal relationships where he just takes and never gives. Dougray Scott plays him, which gives the character an underserved gravitas. He is the kind of guy that calls an employee’s mother to make sure that he gets what he wants even if it is not what is best for that person, but probably believes that he is looking out for her. He was not even good at fighting yet he was the head of a private security firm.

I feel so cheated that we never got the last two episodes of Batwoman, and without Rose, we never will. I am sure that future seasons, if they ever come, will be great, but let’s not forget what a good time we had.