The Bat is Back, But Is That Really Good for Gotham?
It’s been three years since the Batman abandoned Gotham. Mayor Atkins and the Crows Security force are ready to turn off the Bat-Signal once and for all. But, Gotham’s newest unhinged criminal Alice has different plans. After murdering two officers in cold blood, the new super-villain takes one of the Crows’ agents named Sophie Moore hostage.
A few nights later, the people of Gotham are doing their best to push Alice from their minds as many families gather for a movie night in the park. Things take a dark turn though as Alice appears with Agent Moore at the top of a building and a truckload of explosives at the bottom. It’s been a long three years but Gotham residents know how these things go.
But, it’s been a long three years and nothing like this has happened in that time. The Crows are powerless to stop Alice from triggering the explosion AND dropping Moore. But, as if on command, a familiar black shadow flies through the sky into the building where Alice is. She gets away but Batman stops her from causing any casualties that night and makes one thing clear to her, the Crows, and all of Gotham; the Bat is back. But are we sure that’s really a good thing?
Don’t get me wrong, I haven’t loved having the Crows in charge of the city. But, you know what we haven’t seen in three years? Supervillains. No Jokers, no Penguins, no Riddlers. Up until the Mayor’s Bat-Signal ceremony this week we hadn’t even sniffed a megalomaniacal terrorist with the intent of torturing our city to break the Batman. Sure, Gotham will always suffer due to crime like any other major metro area and the oppressive fear-state we live in under the Crows isn’t good by any means. But, Alice’s terroristic threats will likely only grow now that the Bat has returned.
And even if they don’t, even if the Bat stops Alice before she can cause any major damage to Gotham, it’s only a matter of time before the next villain steps up. As long as Batman is a force to be reckoned with in this city, sure we’ll be protected from the lowlife criminals and mobsters running the underground. But, with the Bat back in Gotham, it’s only a matter of time before this city becomes the battleground for an unstoppable force and immovable object once again. And we all know the Crows aren’t just going to give up their stranglehold on the city without a fight.
Also, and perhaps most importantly, why is everyone assuming that he’s BACK? The Bat was just a man and we’ve all assumed his death for the last three years, I understand that he’s a superhero but, it’s pretty hard to come back from the dead. How do we know this isn’t some impostor fanboy trying to live out his Batman fantasies? Even worse, how do we know this version of Batman isn’t in cahoots with Alice herself? There are still a lot of question marks surrounding what happened the other night. And I’d say Gotham’s still pretty far from being saved, even if it’s savior has actually returned.
Batwoman airs Sundays at 8/7c on The CW.
