‘Batwoman’ premiere recap: Kate Kane finds her calling

Batwoman made her highly anticipated debut on Sunday night and she is here to kick some ass. In case you missed it, here is what went down in the pilot episode of the show.

Kate’s journey home

The show begins with Kate Kane training and learning survival and fighting techniques, much like her cousin Bruce Wayne did. Originally, she attended a military academy for training in order to join Gotham’s security force called The Crows, owned by her father. While there, she met and fell in love with fellow cadet Sophie Moore. After their romance was discovered by the high brass, she quit.

Fast forward to the present and Sophie is now a member of The Crows. So why does Kate return to Gotham? She gets a call from her half-sister Mary that Sophie has been kidnapped by the criminal organization, Alice and the Wonderland gang. And that’s all it took to get her to come home.

Family therapy

As Kate returns home, she has an awkward reunion with her father, who refuses to let her join The Crows. She breaks into Wayne Enterprises, which has pretty much been abandoned since Bruce Wayne left Gotham three years ago. Of course, that also happened to be around the same time that Batman disappeared. Weird huh?

Following a poor run in with Alice, Kate returns to Wayne Enterprises. However, this time she makes a few surprising discoveries. First, she finds the Batcave and finally learns that Bruce was Batman. Second, she realizes her true calling. She tells Luke Fox that the gangs and criminals aren’t afraid now that Batman has gone. She wants to take up Bruce’s mantel and continue his legacy.

Kate’s first run as Batwoman

For the first time, Kate puts on the Batwoman suit (or some really bad first version of it). She uses her cousin’s favorite toys to defeat Alice and save Sophie from a gruesome death. It was pretty badass watching Kate kick some butt and it probably won’t be the last time we see these two face off. The look Sophie gives the masked hero as she saves her makes it seem as if she either already knows it was Kate that saved her or she will learn it soon enough.

Things get complicated

In a flashback, a young Kate was in the backseat of the car with her sister Beth on her way home from a Bar Mitzvah. Their mom’s car was rear ended by a school bus that had been hijacked and nearly was sent into the river.

Batman showed up and used two grappling hooks to keep the car from going over the edge. He pulled Kate from the car and then quickly left the scene. Kate watched helplessly as the car went over and into the river with her mom and sister still inside. Kate never took off the ruby red necklace she and her sister both wore. And that’s where this story takes a turn.

Back in present time, Kate looks closer at a knife she pulled from her fight with Alice. She looks at the stone inside and realizes it matched the necklaces that she and her sister wore as kids. Yup, you guessed it! Alice is actually Kate’s sister Beth!

What did you think of the episode? Let me know in the comments below!

Batwoman airs Sundays at 8/7c on The CW.