Arrowverse Couch Club, Week 4: March 22 episodes

SPOILER ALERT!

This was a notably lighter week for the Arrowverse, but we still had quite an eventful Sunday night with both new and familiar superheroines continuing to kick some major ass. Between Kate teaming up with Alice and Alex getting to see what (virtual) life as the Girl of Steel is like, let’s dive right in to this week’s dual offering.

Batwoman – "Through the Looking Glass"

  • While we can (hopefully) all agree that Alice being locked up is a good thing for Gotham, how did you feel about the way Kate accomplished it? Was her betrayal completely necessary, or did you find yourself feeling at all bad for Alice?
  • At this point, it seems pretty likely that somebody within the Crows was involved in the cover-up of Lucius Fox’s murder. Though there are still a lot of missing pieces in the puzzle, how do you think these two aspects could be connected?
  • After that last scene, the question has to be asked: Sophie or Julia?

Supergirl – "Alex in Wonderland"

  • Now that Alex has accepted her father’s death, how do you think this will affect her going forward?
  • One of the big reveals from this episode is that Eve Tessmacher, or possibly Hope, is not only completely free, but is working for Obsidian North. What do you think this means for the Leviathan storyline going forward?

Lastly, which was your favorite episode from this week?

  • Batwoman - “Through the Looking Glass”
  • Supergirl - “Alex in Wonderland”

0 voters

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I fully expected Alice to stab Kate in the back at the end, so it was really a surprise to see Kate be the one to do so. Though I certainly understand the necessity of the move, I’ll be damned if I didn’t feel at least some sympathy for Alice at the end. Not only was Rachel Skarsten’s continually phenomenal acting effective in getting me to feel sympathy for a homicidal maniac, but there’s just something heartbreaking about seeing her worst fear come to life like this. Additionally, you really can’t even claim that Kate had the most noble of intentions, as her fear about becoming like Alice made this more of a selfish move. She’s certainly in a really dark place right now, and while I have no doubt that she’ll come out of it all while learning to embrace some of that darkness, I’m still completely excited to see just how she’ll be able to accomplish such a task.

I’m not sure if Lucius was CEO of Wayne Enterprises here like he is in the comics, but assuming he still had some sort of connection to the company, that could be a reason why this is such an apparently big conspiracy.

As for who the mole could be? Call me crazy, but I’m becoming a little more suspicious of Tyler – Sophie’s ex-husband. Granted, it’s not so much because of anything specific he’s done, but more so due to process of elimination. There are really only four Crows agents we’ve gotten to know this season. There’s no way in hell that Jacob or Sophie would be involved in this, and Chuck Dodgson was already revealed to be a double agent for Alice, so using him again would just feel redundant. Assuming the show follows through on this, it would feel empty if the mole was revealed to be some random agent we haven’t seen before or has only had like a line or two. Ruling out those three, Tyler’s the only Crow left who’s gotten some actual character development. Granted, the show would still have to give him a believable reason for such a betrayal, especially considering how far back this goes, but I don’t think I’d be all that surprised to see it come to fruition.

This is a tough one, because I’ve really enjoyed seeing Kate’s relationship with both women. After “Grinning From Ear to Ear,” I did find myself starting to lean toward Sophie, mainly because of all the fantastic tension between her and Batwoman. That said, I think I have to give the edge to Julia because of how much more open their relationship is. Julia not only knows that Kate is Batwoman, but is also accepting of the darkness inside of Kate that she admitted to being afraid of. Not that Sophie would necessarily be judgmental of Kate for the latter, but I’m just kind of dreading her finding out Kate’s secret. It’s the lying that will ultimately set Sophie off, and for good reason. Long-term, I think it’s something they can move past if the writers want to make Sophie Kate’s endgame love interest, but for now, it seems like Julia may have the advantage in that department.

Assuming that the thread actually gets picked up again, I could see this development transitioning nicely into Alex’s desire to be a mother. It’s clear after this episode that she still had some unresolved family issues that needed to be worked out. It’s possible that on a subconscious level, her resentment toward her father could’ve played into a certain level of hesitation toward wanting to embrace that journey again. It could be a stretch, but maybe if she had all this pent-up anger and blame toward one of her parents, it could’ve caused her to have some unrealized doubt concerning her own ability to be a parent. I don’t think it’s necessarily a given that the show will make a connection between these two threads now, but I do know that I’ve been wanting the writers to pick up on Alex’s desire to be a mother, a storyline that’s been really important to her character that they seem to have forgotten about this season.

First off, I’m sure this is a result of the multiverse’s post-Crisis reset. While most of the show’s main characters would still remember the events of Non Nocere right before Crisis, it’s possible that those events never actually happened on Earth-Prime, which would mean that Hope never actually took the fall for Lena under the guise of Eve.

Seeing as how Earth-Prime Andrea doesn’t have the same sort of connection to Leviathan as she did on Earth-38, I think it’s possible that not only did we see Eve instead of Hope at the end of the episode, but that she is once again acting as Leviathan’s agent. With Gemma rekindling her friendship with Andrea and Eve undercover as an Obsidian employee, Leviathan could very well be taking a different approach to bringing Andrea into the fold this time around.

I thought it was a clever way to capture Alice, but part of me really enjoyed their banter together. They really worked well together and she even kept her promise to Kate (“He’ll live.). I would have enjoyed a longer stretch of the two of them working together but I also understand it could have gotten tired after a while. I also didn’t want them to soften Alice too much as I like her demented villainy.
I liked the fact how so many people thought so highly of Lucius. When the alleged killer talked to Luke and said how proud Lucius was of his son and couldn’t stop talking about him, it made me teary. There is a big conspiracy going on regarding his death but I do not know any members of the Crows other than Commander Kane and Sophie so I could not even guess. I hope they develop this more. I just hope that they don’t tie it back to Batman at all as Batwoman has been keeping separate.
As for Sophie versus Julia, it will always be Sophie. She’s her lobster. (Sorry Friends reference). They will go through trials and see others. But they will eventually be together. I just hope they don’t drag it out too long. Though I like the fact that Batwoman is dating Sophie and Kate is with Julia. Interesting play on a superhero trope.

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For those going through Legends withdrawal, here is a “lost episode” I came across here:

I definitely get wanting to ensure that Kate makes her own legacy and isn’t just seen as a female Batman, but I also would get excited if this thread ends up having some direct ties to Bruce. For one, the show has already succeeded in ensuring that Kate has her own story and character outside of Batman, and I’m confident it’ll continue to do so. But at the end of the day, the two of them are still intrinsically connected, and it’s not like they can just pretend that Bruce doesn’t exist. If they manage to give us a little more detail about the Arrowverse Batman, including why he disappeared, w/out having it overshadow Kate, I’d be all for it

Even though Kate did end things w/ Sophie pretty quickly, it is still a unique contrast between the two situations. I certainly wouldn’t be opposed to Sophie ending up as Kate’s long-term love interest, nor would I be that surprised either, though I do think it’s still too early to tell when it comes to that particular aspect. Considering that neither Renee Montoya nor Maggie Sawyer look like they’re gonna be a part of Kate’s love life here, it’s clear that this is 1 element from the comics the show is looking to change up. When you’re subverting something significant like that, it’ll likely take time to be fully realized. Whether it was an iconic romance like Barry and Iris on The Flash, something completely different like Oliver and Felicity on Arrow or something completely original like Sara and Ava on Legends, all of those relationships didn’t really manifest until season 3. Who knows if Batwoman will follow a similar formula, but it is interesting to compare that particular element to the way other shows approached it

Logically, it was the right thing to do. Logically, the only way to truly catch Alice was to trick her. But, like many characters on this show, I am more emotion driven than logic driven, so I felt awful for Alice. Especially as she was screaming for them not to leave her, after telling Kate what her worst fear was. Rachel Skarsten continues to just give it her all, and I am invigorated every time she’s onscreen! Or crying. There’s really no in between. Ruby Rose, too, seems to get more comfortable with Kate every single episode, and while I believe last week was definitely her high point, she did a great job this week at being numb. Because what else can you do after something like that? You see that Kate’s trying to shut herself away, keep her emotions out of the picture so she doesn’t become, well, Alice, and it’s heartbreaking.

I’m really enjoying this subplot! I wish it had been developed more sooner, because the Kanes nearly overshadow it. @arkhamassassin mentioned Tyler as a possible suspect, and they do make a compelling case, but my gut says no. Why? It’s a combo of not having seen him since Sophie’s bit with him finished and not wanting him to be a reason Sophie and Kate end up being a couple. Sure, it’s good for drama, and the CW adores drama, but having Tyler be secretly terrible feels like it would come out of nowhere, and they would use it to go, “Wow, Sophie! You made a mistake! Kate is your soulmate!” and at this point, it would feel like retreading her past arc. I think it still has the opportunity to be compelling if Jacob was somehow more implicit than he thought, or something along those lines, but I Do Not want it to be Tyler. (It is a valid theory, though!)

I gotta say… Sophie, simply because she feels more fleshed out. I wasn’t totally sold on them at first, and they both still have growing to do before they’re ready to be with each other again, but Sophie has gotten more character development, especially after “Grinning From Ear to Ear.” Julia’s fun and snarky, but she hasn’t gotten a chance to grow, nor does she show any sign of undergoing character development, so I think their relationship would be rather stagnant. Besides, I like her better as an occasional ally who has sexual tension with Kate because of their past, and just that.

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Skarsten has rightly gotten much of the attention/praise for her acting, but you’re definitely right to commend Rose here too. The performance is certainly more subtle than it is for Alice, but there are still plenty of complexities to Kate, especially now, that also make her fascinating to watch. That’s something that really makes this show so engaging - the face that they can have the villain consistently steal the show, but still keep the hero complex enough so that you don’t lose interest in her.

I’ll be the 1st to admit that my theory isn’t the strongest and definitely isn’t 1 that I’m gonna be fighting for tooth and nail the way I might for other speculations. You also make a really good point about how that potential twist shouldn’t be used for the purpose of advancing the romance, as it’d need to be a compelling development on its own. I still think there’s no way Jacob is knowingly involved, but it is an interesting idea that maybe he could’ve unknowingly made a mistake a while back that led to all of this. That’d still leave the question of who’s trying to kill anyone who knows anything about the murder open, but it’d still make for some potentially good drama for Jacob down the line.

Batwoman: You can feel for Alice when she is betrayed by Kate, but it is something that I should have expected. I was caught off guard when it happened. Kate gave up on saving Alice when she chose doppelganger Beth. I liked Kate wrestling with the kill. More so because of the lack of guilt. Even Alice thanked her doing it (even though it was the plan from the get go).

the Lucius Fox murder conspiracy probably originates higher up the food chain. I would not be surprised if they have a Crow on the payroll, but is basically a hired goon equivalent, and wouldn’t have to be someone we’ve been introduced to.

Supergirl: I somehow missed the Eve/Hope reveal. We still don’t know Leviathan’s agenda. unless I missed that as well. I liked how you would see more bodies when shown the room with the VR bodies. I suspect that Leviathan Lady is going to be surprisingly powerful. not unlike Madam(e) Gao on Marvel’s Defenders and related solo titles.

With the reruns, we can still have a meeting on the reruns or something more wild card but still related to the 'Verse.

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It would definitely be pretty amusing to see Supergirl get into a fist fight w/ an old woman. And speaking of Marvel, I guess she wouldn’t even be the 1st Danvers to do so in recent memory

a17

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I forgot about that old lady. Insert derogatory remark about Skrulls and/or shapeshifters here

Derogatory remarks are optional and solely intended for individual use. not for resale.

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