Welcome back to Gotham! The city’s own paragon of courage Kate Kane defends Gotham as Batwoman, but her life has been difficult. While Kate has stopped a myriad of Gotham’s baddies, she seems to have met her match with a former football phenom who can no longer feel pain. So don your cape, grab your family betrayal, and join us as we give you five thoughts on Batwoman season 1, episode 20 “O, Mouse!”
1. A foe failed by the system.
After Alice created a distraction by overriding Arkham’s security, it looks like its been overtime for the Crows and Batwoman, with the streets of Gotham overrun with potentially dangerous inmates. This week’s threat, Tim “The Titan” Teslow, is a former football star who was sent to Arkham after killing a referee during a playoff game. It seems like the actions were blamed on steroid abuse, but it’s revealed that Tim isn’t attacking at random, but rather going after people from his football past. After a conversation with Teslow’s brother (now a superstar himself), it’s revealed that Teslow was a gentle giant before his football career. The true source of his problems wasn’t steroid abuse, but rather those on the coaching staff lying about his wellness reports as the game of football continued to put him at risk.
The biggest problem is that football completely damaged his ability to feel pain, meaning that with his strength and athleticism, he is the strongest opponent Kate has had to face. Her suit might be completely bulletproof, but her body can still be broken. The thing about “O, Mouse!” that is refreshing is that while the show acknowledges the threat of “The Titan,” the team is totally sympathetic to Teslow. He is a man who was failed by the system, a situation that could have been prevented had he been given care, someone that the team needs to deal with, but wants to truly help. Though, there were a couple of jokes that boiled down to “Kate doesn’t understand football because lesbian,” that felt truly lazy.
2. Turning to an unlikely source for help.
Kate becomes seriously injured in her first fight with Teslow and at the behest of her sister, decides to turn to an unlikely source to get help in removing the danger to the citizens of Gotham, her father. Jacob Kane has declared all-out war on Batwoman, blaming her for the breakout at Arkham and suggesting that in his mind she is about as dangerous as anyone locked up there. This is not limited to Batwoman either. Jacob declares that anyone helping the bat in any way will be subject to the same punishment as the vigilante.
Yet Kate needs help, it seems the only way to take down Teslow is a whole platoon, something Jacob has. After a heated moment between Jacob, Mary, and Batwoman, Jacob decides to help. Kate is optimistic that perhaps this will be the moment that she can earn her father’s trust and finally reveal her secret to him. Dougray Scott has been doing good work with Jacob, adding nuance to a character who could have been incredibly one-note and boring. This week is no exception, you can see the conflict as he realized that he has lost the support of everyone in Gotham, including his step-daughter. It is a shame that they seem to have dropped the aspect of “The Crows heightening the inequality of the city” angle, but the tension of a potential all-out war with Batwoman is interesting too.
3. The question about kryptonite.
It seems like there is only one substance in the world capable of killing the Bat and its Kryptonite. That means that once again the race in on to deal with this imminent threat. Alice wants some (much to the chagrin of Mouse) and is once again willing to do whatever it takes to get it, even if it means putting herself further in harm’s way. Meanwhile Luke is searching for the way to destroy his father’s piece, the only piece in Gotham (or so he thinks.) What’s interesting is just how behind Alice is in getting her hands on some. It’s in Wayne tower and is currently being destroyed.
Continued belowWhile it’s perhaps not the most creative decision to pivot from one MacGuffin to another so quickly, the interesting aspect of this one is that Kate is willfully keeping herself in danger based on her promise to a friend way back in Crisis on Infinite Earths. Kate’s word to Kara is more important than her safety and shows that her emphasis on friendship and loyalty is difficult to break. It also highlights the betrayal of her father and how much it must sting given the value she places on those things.
4. Betrayals seem to be a specialty of the Kane family
While Jacob agrees to work with Kate, it seems to everyone else on the team that he is not necessarily being forthcoming with the vigilante. This becomes clear when Julia and Sophie return to Crow precinct to find that the Crows are out in force at Gotham’s stadium. Jacob betrays Kate, using Teslow as bait to get him and Batwoman isolated in a position for his men to attack, murdering Teslow and assaulting Kate. She is able to escape but seems incredibly shaken by the whole experience. If there is a throughline of season 1, it seems to be that Kate’s biggest flaw is trusting her family too much. It has backfired multiple times with Alice and has now backfired against her father. While the betrayal Kate feels is rough, Alice’s betrayal is incredibly devastating.
At the beginning of “O, Mouse!,” Mouse announces that he is leaving, going to find his wonderland, even if Alice doesn’t join him. Mouse has been a bit all over the place during season one, but it seemed like more than anything else, his primary goal was to be safe and happy with Alice, isolated from everyone else. Mouse has been increasingly more frustrated with Alice’s continued fixation on Kate but is pleased to see that Alice has decided to join him, rather than be left alone. In a shocking and gut-wrenching moment, Alice poisons Mouse, no longer wanting his interference but refusing to leave as well. While it varied from week to week, Mouse always seemed to have a certain level of innocence (hence, inconsistent.) In “O Mouse,” Sam Littlefield delivers a spectacular performance, the hurt look on his face when he realizes what is happening is one that’s going to stick with you.
5. An admirable finale, given the circumstances
“O, Mouse!” was not intended to be the season finale of Batwoman but the thing is that it largely worked! There were some big show altering moments, Mouse is dead, Jacob is on the warpath, Julia and Sophie aren’t safe, it’s leaving plenty of breadcrumb trails to keep us guessing until Kate and crew return.
While it would have been cool to see what they were building to (cause it seems like it would have been pretty epic,) this isn’t a bad note to go out on. Batwoman is up there in terms of Arrowverse first seasons, it hit the ground running and was good at keeping you on your toes and it gave lots of exciting and satisfying twists and turns. It’ll be cool to see where the show goes from here, especially now that we have “Bruce Wayne” (it’s actually Hush) to throw a wrench in the team and their dynamics. So hats off to the team of Batwoman! Thanks for a great first season and it’ll be exciting to return to Gotham in season 2.
So there you have it, Julia and Sophie are on the run, Alice has a new second in command, and it seems like Kate is going to be having trouble defending her city. It’s been a lot of fun watching season 1 with you guys, and I look forward to seeing you in the future. What did you think? Sound off below!
