Amac Productions

Batwoman.

There are so many things I want to say about everything that’s gone down with this show in the last couple weeks. But let me start with this:

When it was first announced Batwoman would be joining the Elseworlds crossover I was so excited to finally see a Bat any Bat in the Arrowverse and I’ll be honest, I knew very little about her character. I mostly heard about the addition to the Arrowverse because a favorite actress of mine was rumored to in the running for the role. Natasha Negovanlis.

I was even a little disappointed when I heard the role was cast and it wasn’t her. But my tune quickly changed when I heard it was going to be RUBY ROSE. I was all for it! I had first seen her on Orange is the New Black and I was so excited.

Once Elseworlds dropped and I got to see her in action as Kate Kane I could see all the potential she had, that the character herself had, and once the show was announced I wanted to see it.

But until the pilot dropped I still knew very little about Batwoman. While I am a huge DC fan, I am mostly a Superman fan. I know a little about all the other characters and heroes but not to the depth I know Superman and his mythology. He’s always been my favorite since I first saw Superman The Movie. I never thought anything would displace him.

Then the Batwoman pilot aired and I was hooked. Who was this lesbian badass who dresses the way I do, talks, walks, like she doesn’t care what other people think. What’s her story?

Since I work in a book store I promptly bought every graphic novel of her we had and started reading up on her history. She’s Bruce Wayne’s cousin but she is oh so much more. She’s honorable. She’s kind. She wants happiness and love in a way Bruce was always too bleak for me. She understands a balance in life is important. She’s got trauma and horrible backstory and a complicated relationship with her worst villain because it’s her sister. She has a complicated relationship with her father. Everything is rich in depth and character and is real. She struggles like everyone.

I waited every week to watch the show. To see it unfold and learn to love these characters being presented to me. Sophie’s story was one of my favorites. I started off the show trying and failing to understand her side of things because I felt until episode seven her choices made no sense to me. In episode seven we were treated to Sophie’s side and the moment she explained about her mom, I knew this was a character I would love.

The show had its rocky moments. The first five episodes weren’t the greatest but it got better and from there every episode brought amazing story telling and awesome character growth.

I looked forward to each and every episode with every fiber of my being. And when the pandemic struck it gave me something to look forward to. Something to take five minutes out of the terrible things going on in the world and just enjoy.

Even when it was announced the next season would be delayed until next year, at least there was another season coming. At least there was more to come. Something to look forward to.

And then the news about Ruby Rose exiting the series dropped.

I even remember that I picked up my phone as I was leaving my room because I was expecting a call. I glanced at the home screen and saw ‘Ruby Rose Exits…’ My heart dropped, my stomach plummeted, and my world shifted. I kept muttering ‘no’ over and over like that would somehow change things.

I was so sad to hear the news.

I respected her choice. I didn’t care why even in the coming days as mud was slung. I didn’t care if it was about long hours or being away from home. As someone who once left a job because of the toll it took on my mental health I wouldn’t fault if that was why.

I wished her the best. I looked forward to whatever that might be because I’ve followed Ruby Rose’s career. I enjoy her work. That will not stop.

It took days to wrap my head around it.

On that day, I decided I didn’t want to see season two anymore. That I wasn’t looking forward to it anymore. That the show should just end now before it ruins itself.

But as things progressed and I followed Ruby on Instagram and she asked fans to watch season two because this show matters, this show is important, representation is important. The world, the LGBTQ community has never had this sense of comfort and peace watching TV before. This show needs to exist.

With that, I changed my mind. I wrapped my head around the change and decided to cling to the idea that even if it’s not Ruby Rose playing Kate Kane, they didn’t cancel the show.

I’ll still get to see Kate Kane’s story play out. Even if it’s little different now.

I never thought I would be so wrong.

The news that they’re just going to replace Kate Kane with a completely new character broke my heart and leaves so many questions out there.

What about Alice and her relationship to Kate?

She wants to destroy Batwoman because it’s Kate. What happens when it’s no longer Kate?

Where is Kate? Are you going to kill her? Will you risk what will happen to your audience? Will Ruby return to explain her exit in the show? Or will it be a throwaway line?

What about Mary and all the progress they have made as sisters? Would she just let Kate walk out of her life again? If you do kill Kate, what will that do to Mary?

What about Jacob and his war with Batwoman? This story was moving and interesting because he’s unknowingly fighting his daughter. The stakes are so high because if he did shoot her, kill her and discovered he killed his daughter it would devastate him. It devastates Kate that she can’t make him listen. What happens when this is someone new?

What will this someone new have in common with any of the preexisting characters in the plotline?

Sophie is Kate’s ex. A woman according to an article with Caroline Dries Kate’s endgame love interest.

Mary is Kate’s stepsister.

Jacob is Kate’s father.

Alice is Kate’s sister.

Luke is Kate’s friend and asscoiate. 

Bruce is Kate’s cousin. 

Even Julia has a connection to Kate as a friend and former lover.

These characters and their stories revolve around Kate. This story was about Kate’s journey as a hero.

Who is this new person to them?

And I understand they could easily write in an answer. But these characters were specific to Kate’s life, her journey as a hero.

Someone pointed out that Arrow would have been bad if they handed the show over to someone else after only one season. Or that Gotham, the Batfamily has always had legacies ready and willing to takeover. That is even part of Kate’s story. But it’s hard to have someone entirely new become the new lead.

This is the pillar of the show.

The one the show, it’s characters, and everything revolves around. It’s hard to bring in someone entirely new after one complete season of someone else holding the reins and then just give it to someone else.

I understand that the show might be trying to preserve what Ruby Rose did or avoid the inevitable comparison should someone else play Kate Kane.

But an entirely new actress, a new character has to win everyone over so fast now.

I was willing to try before because I wanted to see how Kate Kane’s story plays out. Even if it wasn’t Ruby Rose. I wanted to see all those threads they had put together played out.

I wanted to see Mary and Kate grow as sisters. I wanted to see Luke and Kate’s playful banter as friend/brother/sister relationship grow. I wanted to see Jacob and Kate/Batwoman’s relationship change, evolve, or dissolve. I wanted to see Kate helping Gotham by being the good real estate company. I wanted to see how she handled Tommy Elliot pretending to be Bruce Wayne.

I wanted to see Sophie and Kate’s relationship play out. I wanted to see them try again. I wanted to see them have a relationship.

I wanted to see what became of Julia. If she’s as shady as we thought.

I wanted to see how Alice and Kate worked out their complicated sisterhood. I wanted to see how Kate dealt with her relationship to Mary that would always conflict with her relationship to Alice. I wanted to see what Kate did when Mary finally dealt with the grief over her mother’s death and that her mother’s killer still roams free.

I wanted to see Kate Kane’s life play out, even if she had a different face. 

I wanted to see it all. 

Her story had been so well concocted that I wanted to see it grow and I wanted to believe in the writer’s ability to make the new actress work.

But now, I feel cheated. I feel like I wasted my time.

One of my biggest problems with Supergirl, which is why I stopped watching was because every time I got attached to characters, by next season they were gone. Cat Grant, Lucy Lane, Maxwell Lord, Maggie Sawyer, Mon-el, Winn Schott and so on…

Someone once told me that our brain or heart can’t understand that the characters we watch on TV aren’t real. We love them, we hate them, we cheer for them, and we feel for them because as far as our brain chemistry is concerned they’re real to us.

Eventually, you say enough is enough when it comes to disappointment and heartbreak, so I stopped watching Supergirl because the changes were too much.

I wanted to give Batwoman season two a chance but now, I’m no longer interested, and I feel awful about this decision.

I feel awful, because representation is important. A show like this does matter. It matters to so many people, myself included. For the first time I saw myself, really saw myself in a character as Kate developed over the show.

She wore sneakers, sweatshirts, comfortable clothes, wore suits to fancy events, she has tattoos, she rides a bike, and is uncaring about what people think about her choices. She is who she is and she doesn’t apologize for that. For the first time ever those choices are praised, considered normal, and aren’t off-putting. I am brash, I say my mind, and I dress for comfort in t-shirts and sweatshirts with sneakers, I ride a bike, and I’ll never apologize for who I am to anyone.

Kate Kane is the person I needed when I was kid because I spent a lot of time convincing myself and others as a kid that my choices are not your concern, I dress the way I do, and talk the way I do because I’m comfortable. Kate Kane is considered attractive and cool despite not wearing typical female clothes or form fitting attire. There is nothing stereotypical about her character and she doesn’t let people push her around.

All my life on TV and around actual people I was told I acted wrong. That guys won’t find that attractive or you need to dress more like a girl in tighter clothes, you have the body for it, why not show it off? How will you attract anyone like that? Why would you ride a motorcycle? That’s dangerous. It’s not attractive.

I saw Kate ride a motorcycle and actively choose looks I was told were wrong and people love her. Look up to Kate. Pine over Kate.

And I also learned a lot from this show. Following Meagan Tandy on social media and her interviews about how much she loves playing Sophie Moore have taught me a lot of things I didn’t realize about myself but I am glad I did. Because I was ignorant to certain things. I’ll admit I am far from perfect. I thought I knew better but I knew nothing.

After watching episode seven I did a deep dive into what military school would be like and realized it was free. Sophie’s family was poor, she’s a black woman, and recognizes she is a member of the LGBTQ community, but doesn’t admit because life is hard enough. She choose a hard career made harder by gender and skin color, never mind loving someone of the same gender.

I thought I knew better, but I knew nothing before, and I have promised to change that now more then ever.

And I want to thank Batwoman, Sophie Moore, and Meagan Tandy for that, for the chance to better myself in all the right ways. Meagan Tandy is especially an inspiration for me and I wish her the best, so much so she was part of my initial decision to continue watching because of how much she loves and respects the character she plays. I am in awe of her, truly.

#BlackLivesMatter.

Batwoman season one was incredible and truthfully there are so many wonderful things about it that I love and I will always love. I eternally grateful for this show and maybe it will find an audience with it’s new lead and be successful, maybe one I’ll change my mind, and tune in. Maybe the new actress will be someone I want to see, maybe the premise will change my mind, or maybe in seven months I’ll feel more emotionally ready to welcome the changes.

I will never completely write it off because things change.

Until then, I have written this to make my peace with what has happened to the show. A sort of cleansing for myself to mentally and emotionally get my feelings out.

All in all, I wish the cast and crew who are returning for season two all the best. I wish the new actress luck because she’s going to need every bit she can get. I wish Ruby Rose all the best in the world and I look forward to wherever her career takes her. I wish Meagan Tandy all the best and I hope Sophie’s story continues in a way that honors her relationship with Kate because it would be a shame to lose it all now.

Good luck to the writers and the showrunner and the Arrowverse as a whole.

Thanks for reading!

Now more then ever, Spread the Love!

#BlackoutTuesday

#BlackLivesMatter