Into The Arrowverse: The return of Wally West!
By Ariba Bhuvad
Pictured (L-R): Ruby Rose as Kate Kane/Batwoman and Meagan Tandy as Sophie Moore — Photo: Katie Yu/The CW
Batwoman Episode 114: “Grinning from Ear to Ear”
It looks like the post-Crisis excitement for Batwoman has officially died down, at least when it comes to this week’s episode. I think we hit a roadblock and a lot of that has to do with the fact that we’re focusing too much on Sophie and Batwoman’s relationship, or whatever we want to call it.
It continues to baffle me that no one recognizes the vigilantes under those “masks.” I know these are just TV shows, but it’s stretching my suspension of disbelief. When Sophie kisses Batwoman, how can she not recognize her ex-girlfriend?
Apart from that, I’m also just not into this relationship. I feel like Sophie hasn’t been the best friend and wasn’t the best girlfriend to Kate, and I’m not sure she deserves to be with her. That’s my opinion, at least.
Kate was all into it until Luke reminded her that anyone she’s intimate with or brings into her life is going to have a target on their back. And I’m so glad he expresses this to her because it temporarily stops whatever was going on with Sophie, who was a little too heartbroken over the “breakup”.
I know I’m hating on Sophie a lot, but I do want to commend her ability to stand up to her mother, who drops by for a surprise visit. Up until now, Sophie has kept her sexuality a secret. Her mother visits to confront Sophie about separating from her husband. She takes this moment to reveal who she really is, and it’s sad to see her mother’s negative reaction. Kudos to Sophie for telling her truth; we’re proud of you!
This episode’s saving grace is the introduction of a new villain, one that connects to DC comics in a big way. At the start of the episode, we meet a young woman Duela Dent, aka the Joker’s Daughter in the comics. Now, you may be wondering, is she actually the Joker’s Daughter? At the beginning of the episode, she did carve a smile into her face, so there’s that.
However, in the context of the series, Duela Dent is Harvey Dent’s niece. Fun fact: she’s called herself almost every DC villain’s daughter in the comics — you know, like the Scarecrow’s Daughter, the Riddler’s Daughter, the Penguin’s Daughter, etc.
It suffices to say that she could easily be related to any of these characters because of her maniacal personality. She reminds me a lot of Harley Quinn, actually! Anyway, I think we ought to keep our eye on Duela because she is definitely going to keep things exciting. Let’s just be thankful that she made the episode worth watching!
Oh, and of course, the final minutes of the episode reveals that maybe, just maybe, Scarecrow might be the next villain to join Batwoman. We see a lot of familiar-looking toxic gases in the air, so let’s just go with the assumption that it is him because that’s pretty freaking exciting.
Thank goodness for the Arrowverse finally bringing in some of these classic DC villains, right?!