Critical Condition: Batwoman

Batwoman | TVNZ OnDemand, 7.00 Monday/TVNZ 2, 8.30 Tuesday

☆☆☆☆ “Gritty and fiercely feminist, the series is very much an Arrowverse show but also stands as its own thing. It’s exciting and new and filled with intriguing characters and complex relationships that set up the series as a potentially worthwhile experience. And while deeply rooted in Batman lore, the show works just fine without him. Batman is missing, but his absence isn’t suffocating.” — TV Guide.

☆☆☆☆ “There’s a lot going on here but it never feels crowded. The action sequences are simultaneously thrilling and restrained. There’s a sassy script packed with pop culture references and some nice visual gags … In short, the whole thing is put together with the usual DC polish. And when Batwoman finally makes an appearance it is utterly and completely thrilling.” — The Age.

☆☆☆☆ “As The CW’s stalwart gritty superhero drama Arrow prepares to leave the air, the network may be positioning Batwoman as its most logical heir. It certainly has the right look, not to mention the same kind of self-serious, determined hero. But if Batwoman is going to continue to stand out among the pack, it will lean into what makes it different (namely: Kate) rather than Gotham politics as usual.” — Variety.

☆☆☆☆ “This show about Bruce Wayne’s younger cousin, Kate Kane, who comes home to Gotham and dons the batsuit, has a generic quality — sufficiently well executed, with touches of quiet wit, but tinny and lacking in personality or excitement overall.” —  New York Times.

☆☆☆☆ “Batwoman is pretty much a nobody on the TV screen, a dud as both a vigilante crime-fighter and a ticked-off relative with unresolved grief issues. Mostly, she’s just another paint-by-numbers CW superhero, joining a collection of other, steadfastly rote shows.” — The Washington Post.