‘Batwoman’ 1×10 recap: Kate feels the effects of the new multiverse

With the “Crisis on Infinite Earths” crossover now a thing of the past, the CW shows are beginning to feel the effects of a brand new multiverse. Sunday’s episode of Batwoman saw the first ripples of this new world as Kate Kane made a bold decision and had a visit from a shocking visitor.

In case you missed it, here is a recap of the biggest moments from Sunday’s episode, titled “How Queer Everything Is Today!”.

A shocking birthday surprise

We’ve got to kick this recap off with THAT shocking ending. It was Kate’s birthday and Luke surprised her with a birthday cake in the Batcave. After blowing out her candle and making her wish, Kate goes back up to her office and finds Beth standing waiting for her. Yes, you read that correctly, BETH IS ALIVE! #Mindblown

Kate is skeptical, you know, the same way you’d be if you watched your sister terrorize Gotham for months. She pulls at Beth’s face for any signs of a skin mask. It was actually pretty funny to watch and I can’t imagine how many takes it took. Beth was understandably confused and asked, “who the hell else would I be?”. Now, I know what you’re thinking because I thought it too: Alice is screwing with Kate to get into her head.

Wrong! Alice was actually arrested for trying to blow up a school. It really does look like this is the real Beth. So now, Alice and Beth both exist in this new multiverse, so what exactly is Kate going to do? It honestly makes zero sense at this point and I have SO many theories. I’m already looking forward to next week to find out if I’m right or wrong in my thinking.

Kate’s bold decision

The majority of the first half of the episode dealt with Kate’s struggle to stay true to herself. After she saved a train full of passengers from meeting their gruesome death, all of Gotham was focused on her love life. This didn’t sit well with our masked hero, especially since the entire city thought she was an item with a Chris Evans look-alike cop.

As we saw in the crossover, Kate is the Paragon of Courage and went through some pretty big changes, both personally and as a superhero. She made a big decision to come out to the city as a lesbian following a discussion with a queer teen whose parents refused to accept her sexuality. Kate decided to give her BFF Kara Danvers an exclusive interview and let her tell the story.

What interests me here is how the city will respond to its newest hero being a lesbian. I mean, it’s 2020. No one should really care, but Gotham isn’t your everyday-run-of-the-mill city. I have a strong feeling Kate will experience some backlash and how she responds to it will be key. The other big issue is Kate may have just exposed herself as Batwoman. Sophie was already suspicious and Kate’s coming out will only add fuel to that burning fire.

Episode Notes

• As I’ve said in past recaps, I’ve struggled with Batwoman at times. It’s a good show but it has not done a good job of setting itself apart from the other Arrowverse shows. It almost feels like it wants to be a mix of Arrow and Supergirl and that’s the problem. It needs to find its own identity and hopefully this second half of the season will do that.
• Another example of that is Jacob Kane’s storyline from the episode. He is in prison with all the other criminals he helped lock up. Sound familiar? Oliver Queen went through the exact same thing in Arrow Season 7 and Barry Allen’s father was wrongly accused on The Flash. As I said, it feels as if the writers are copying those storylines and attempting to make them their own. Not really mindblowing stuff.
• With all that said, Beth’s (or Beth 2.0 as I’ll call her) surprising reveal at the end of the episode really has me intrigued for the first time all season. How she and Kate will work through their relationship while Alice is terrorizing the city will make for a compelling story.
• The episode also provided another strong hint to my running theory that Kate and Kara will be the next superhero leaders in future crossovers. They are building their friendship and trust, which was key to Barry and Oliver’s relationship over the years. I for one, am all for it.

What did you think of that surprising twist ending? Let me know in the comments below!

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