I think there’s a legitimate chance that her redemption could be teased to a greater degree, especially since it was revealed that the last parts of her humanity were taken away through deep hypnosis instead of trauma, I don’t see a redemption in store for Alice, at least not a full one. While she’s clearly had to suffer far more than anyone should, she’s also consciously done too many evil things for a full redemption to really make sense. Not only that, but I think the show has a good handle on her character, and I’m sure the writers recognize how popular Alice is and likely wouldn’t want to completely overhaul her character w/ that in mind. And I’m certainly in that camp that wouldn’t really want her to turn into a full-on her, though perhaps making her a little more of an anti-hero could also work if she’s gonna continue to essentially be the co-star of the show. I get that she can only be so villainous while getting this much attention, but the show’s gonna have to move on from Kate eventually (possibly as early as next week given the teaser we just got), and so Alice will have to find a different purpose. Whether or not she can end up being a little better than she has been, I doubt that path will stray too far from the evil one she’s carved out so far
While it still feels odd to have a lingering kryptonite in Gotham instead of Metropolis, Smallville or National City, I think this has been a really effective way to have Ryan hit the ground running in her debut as Batwoman. Being able to accomplish as much as she has all while having this lingering injury really shows why she deserves the cowl and shows that she’ll continue to prove herself worthy of it as the years go on
One other element of this storyline that I only just came to appreciate was the way in which the 2nd and 3rd episodes barely addressed the injury. It seemed strange to practically ignore such a huge development especially when it was the big cliffhanger that ended the season premiere, but now I really see how it fit into the narrative. Much in the way that Ryan largely ignored the injury to not seem weak, the show itself did the same to better mirror that. That way, when the kryptonite poisoning started getting so bad that she couldn’t ignore it anymore, it hit the viewers just as hard…well not physically, but emotionally
It’s been pretty compelling to see her manage this and find ways to persevere, but I’m also looking forward to seeing her operating at full strength, which we really haven’t seen her do while wearing the new suit. There’s obviously always gonna be big trouble for her, but I have to figure that after being healed by the Desert Rose, she’ll feel better than ever and ready to take on Safiyah, Black Mask and whatever other threats come her way. Plus she’ll probably get to come out of it w/ a cool scar that’ll hopefully impress a girl that’s not Angelique, because that ship sank pretty quickly this week
On the one hand, as crappy as it was to see him walk away from Jen right in front of her, I’m more willing to forgive that since she was also having trouble accepting her new form. It’d be incredibly difficult to adjust to someone you love looking completely different after so many years, so it’s understandable that some people aren’t gonna take it as well as others. Had Jen been even more upset by this move, it would’ve been harder to forgive him, but her own understanding helped make that particular situation a little better. Plus he had still built up good will by being the one to collect her particles in the 1st place, so it all resulted in me being fine w/ where they stood by the end of the episode
On the other hand, what I can’t forgive nearly as easily is the way Jeff so casually dropped all of his misgivings about Lynn’s addiction when he realized that it could help him get closer to taking down Tobias. Say what you will about the way he’s treated Lynn this season in regards to her addiction, but at least he wasn’t inherently wrong about his criticisms, even if he was delivering them in a way that was probably too harsh while failing to recognize his own serious problems. But the fact that he seemingly did a 180 and just assumed that Lynn would be fine w/ taking another meta booster to help pin down Tobias’ henchwoman showed an incredible lack of consideration for what she’s going through as well as what he’s been saying all this season. He’s coming across as a man who’s lost all faith that Lynn will be able to kick her addiction, and so it seems like he just figures he’ll use it to his advantage. Even if he doesn’t bring it up again and even apologizes (again) for saying it in the 1st place, the way Lynn looked at the boosters at the end of that scene tells me that he might’ve pushed her back down that path despite her resistance. I’m desperately hoping that’s not the case while preparing for the likelihood that it’ll happen regardless. Assuming it does, Jeff’s gonna have to do a lot more than apologize for being the 1 to push Lynn back toward a relapse
Part of me definitely still feels that Eva needs to pay for what she’s done, but by letting her go at the end of the episode, I think Barry and Iris were more so realizing the reality of the situation as opposed to solely thinking that she was redeemed. Don’t get me wrong, the latter definitely played a role in the decision, as they definitely did get through to Eva on some level, or else she wouldn’t have destroyed her army and free everyone trapped in the Mirrorverse. But beyond that, Team Flash had seemed resigned to the fact that they’d be unable to stop Eva in an actual fight. Sure, they can fight off her less powerful clones, but Eva her(not)self was still capable of moving at the speed of light in addition to her other abilities. Barry’s never been that fast and will likely never reach his comic-accurate top speed that could match her, so in that moment, they probably felt that this was the best decision they could make under the circumstances. I suppose they could’ve been more prepared by having a containment cell w/ no reflective surfaces ready to go, but I guess they just hadn’t gotten around to it yet. Letting her go certainly wasn’t an ideal choice, but I also can’t really blame Barry and Iris that much after what they had just managed to accomplish
While I’m definitely convinced that Sam will stray further from what’s truly good as the season goes on, possibly even allying himself w/ Captain Luthor at some point, I don’t think he’s gonna get to a completely irredeemable point. Unlike a lot of selfish, power-hungry villains, Sam’s heart is in the right place of wanting to protect as many people as possible, and I think between that desire and still having his daughter and Clark as potential beacons, I can’t quite see him going full villain. The adversarial relationship he has w/ those 2 definitely feels right given previous iterations of the character, but it’s kept a bit restrained and allows Lois to still have her father in her life to some degree. I’m anticipating that things will eventually get even more confrontational for them, but something will likely make Sam realize that he’s inching toward the wrong side and come back toward the light. Hell, I could even see him making a big sacrifice play to stop Luthor, or at least try to, toward the end of the season as part of some sort of redemption. His character definitely has that sort of vibe in the early goings, and it should be interesting to see how his arc continues to play out
I’ll add that to the list of things that will never happen but would be hilarious if it could.