'Batwoman' episode 8 'A Mad Tea Party' is possibly the worst episode of the series so far
Spoilers ahead for 'Batwoman' episode 8...
'Batwoman' episode 8 titled 'A Mad Tea Party' was expected to break Kate Kane (Ruby Rose) into pieces because all the hope that she had had in finding a way to get her sister Beth (Rachel Skarsten) back has failed. She can no longer believe that Alice (aka Beth) will surrender and that leaves her no choice but to stand against her sister. Instead, Kate has lost the family that she had had, but the desperation; the hopelessness of this situation doesn't come through. Similarly, the confrontation between Alice and Jacob Kane (Dougray Scott), which is something that the show deemed important enough to build up over seven episodes is pale beyond reason and it feels as if the potential of the arc was not sufficiently explored.
This man who believed that his daughter was dead was told she was not and everything he believed so far was a lie. He comes face-to-face with her after years and it's just the two of them. His daughter Beth has transformed into an evil villain who heads a gang that is hell-bent on exacting revenge against the Kane family. So how does he react? Shouldn't there be heartbreak written on his face? We are not talking of using dramatics here, but more about there being an absence of an emotion that one would have expected. This is something that Jacob had experienced beautifully when he was enclosed in a poison chamber with Batwoman, so what stopped him from expressing genuine regret that he did not do more? It is not just this particular scene that has problems. Every scene that is of any consequence has been torn apart by arbitrary shots.
For instance, the scene of Alice handing over one dose of an antidote when she had both Catherine Hamilton-Kane (Elizabeth Anweis) and Mary Hamilton (Nicole Kang) poisoned was a scene poised to be a great portrayal of a conflict. What we got instead was Alice repeatedly taunting Catherine about her lies. Yes, she is angry about what Catherine did and how she snatched away Beth's chance of escape. However, we do not get to see this anger because at the most important moment the camera doesn't focus on Alice but on Catherine and Mary. This doesn't seem right because neither Mary nor her mother Catherine's reaction warrants the decision.
Let's talk about Alice and Mouse's (Sam Littlefield) grand plan. What we had expected was a lot bigger and what we got instead is definitely not "grand". Sure, the expectations we had were built by what occurred in the comics. While it was always clear that the show would change things around to explain Batman's absence, we did not expect it to do so in such a haphazard manner. With more than half a season left, there is no further build-up to what Alice has planned. She had intended to kill one of the Hamilton family members and she achieved it.
The other most important transition that the episode failed to explore is that of Kate giving up on Beth. Kate has held on to Beth for years. Even when her father believed that Beth was dead, Kate hadn't given up. After Alice's recent transgressions, however, Kate has no choice but to stand up to Alice without giving her any leeway for once being her twin sister. The pain that she should have felt in doing so? We see nothing of that.
It has become a pattern of sorts where major moments in the show that should be driving it forward with intensity are mostly washed away and the only thing that keeps this show afloat is Alice's dramatics and Batwoman's stunts. And the two times Alice says "Thank You" -- once to Jacob and once to Catherine: If even an ounce of this had been visible in the other scenes, this episode could have been good.
The next episode of 'Batwoman' episode will air on Sunday at 8 pm ET on The CW.
