Batwoman 3x13 : Are We Having Fun Yet? review

 

             Be warned there will be SPOILERS* involved in this review. With that being said let's get into it.

The third season of Batwoman has come to and end and with it we got quite arguably the best episode this season, a gratifying victory for Ryan and Team Batwoman but also a look at what lies ahead as a new threat emerges from the wake of chaos and destruction. The episode begins as Marquis discovers The Joker's original plan of pure genocide on Gotham City the day that Marquis and Alice were born. The Joker was going to rain down bombs of acid on the city via the Bat-Blimp. It's a plan that Marquis intends on seeing through himself and goes right ahead with it by starting off with a warning of revealing Batwoman's identity to the whole city. How did he manage to broadcast himself to the whole city? he used the Wayne Enterprises satellite which Luke says Batman had in possession to use in case he ever had to talk to the people and send out an SOS. So with Marquis's plan in motion and the identity of Batwoman being teased can Ryan, Jada, Sophie, Mary and even Jada stop him? 

Their plan gets put into motion as Jada equips Luke with a quantum computer which is even better than anything inside of the bat-cave. So Luke gets to work on trying to pin point a location on Marquis as Ryan goes to see Alice in Arkham who has her own case of getting the joy buzzer and using it. This meeting is where Ryan learns of Marquis's plan from Alice and this meeting also ties into the ending of the episode and how Marquis is ultimately stopped. So with Ryan now knowing of her brothers plan of trying to reign acid bombs on Gotham she goes to see her mom and the two come up with a plan of action. A plan that entails exposing Marquis's wrong doing of being the one behind his fathers death. By doing this Marquis is outed as Wayne Enterprises CEO and immediately Ryan is re-appointed into the position. Marquis watches on from aboard the bat-blimp but doesn't care about what has happened which makes him even more dangerous. 

The episode draws to a close as Batwoman makes her way to the location of the bat-blimp. Marquis kills the pilot and shuts off the sat-nav so he can't be followed by Luke. Batwoman has no other choice than to use her grapple and grapple onto the blimp where she is alone at first but soon gets confronted by her brother who is equipped with a parachute as he is ready to jump out with time ticking down to acid bombs being dropped onto Gotham. Back with the rest of the team and now with Ryan back in with Wayne Enterprises they get back into the bat-cave where Mary sends out an SOS of emergency to the citizens of Gotham. So with the population now in motion Batwoman and Marquis battle it out aboard the blimp with Batwoman repeatedly punching her brother demanding that he de-fuse the bombs. It looks like Marquis is coming around but of course it's just another trick and he stands up before literally pushing Batwoman out of the blimp before jumping out himself. Batwoman is seen falling through the air as she grapples onto Marquis mid-air as the two come to a crash landing on the top of a building. They start fighting again as the blimp just floats through the air still. Who will stop it? or will it all come crashing down?? It's none other than Batwing to the rescue who pairs his AI with the blimp which is the only solution he and the team come up with in such a short time. It's successful but the blimp still blows up in Gotham but far to the north-west, will it play into the ending and what comes next?? the episode ends as Batwoman thanks to help from Alice of all people manages to use the joy buzzer on her brother who is knocked out almost immediately. He wakes up back at Mary's clinic but for the time being it's unknown if he is truly back to his younger self or not. This was a great moment as not only did Batwoman get a gratifying win but so did Ryan Wilder. Easily one of my favorite aspects of this season as a whole. The episode isn't over yet however as Alice leaves a note behind for Mary who says she is going to find herself as we see her walking through her old hideout in the sewers. But more importantly going forward we see a new threat emerge within the area where the acid bombs dropped. A film crew are seen filming on the scene in full nuclear waste type gear. The reported is talking when all of a sudden she screams saying ''What is that??'' as a hand flies across the screen, the creature / person kills both the camera man and reporter before walking off into the distance. It looks like it has an entire arm made of skeleton bone which is very interesting indeed. Who could this be? Doctor Death? Solomon Grundy? Scarecrow? the choices are endless and rightfully so. The episode and season ends right there and then with a really satisfying end for Ryan / Batwoman and a very intriguing new threat for next season if like Legends of Tomorrow this show gets renewed. As for the episode overall it was my favorite this season by far. It felt like there was serious stakes to every decision which there was and the bat-blimp was a really cool callback to the Batman 1989 movie. 

And there you have it season 3 of Batwoman is in the bag. Not really the best of seasons to be honest but the finale and first couple of episodes early on really did save it from being truly awful. Javicia Leslie was the standout here throughout as the character and her story arc from beginning to end. I didn't really talk about it enough in my reviews throughout the season but she really was very impressive here. As for things I didn't like well there was plenty. Like Mary's transformation into a Poison Ivy rip off or the unrelenting cringe fest that at times was Marquis and his Joker impersonation. It didn't sit right with me even though in the finale it was probably him at his best and most tolerable. This wasn't a bad season but after the overall promising season 2 this did feel like quite a let down and was at times a chore to watch for me personally. All that remains now is to say goodbye for now and like Legends of Tomorrow hope that this show gets renewed for a fourth season. If not then thank you for the memories Batwoman. 

Episode ★★★★

Season overall ★★