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Batwoman’s midseason premiere may not have done much to reflect the events of Crisis on Infinite Earths, but the same can’t be said for the followup episode. “An Un-Birthday Present” uses the fallout of Crisis in a very intriguing way – reuniting Kate Kane with literally the last person she ever expected to see and leaving us to wonder if other, similar twists are forthcoming in other Arrowverse shows. Best of all, this twist helps lend a new touch of depth to what is easily the series’ most underwhelming character. All in all, a real win-win that helps recover the momentum that was lost last week.
The previous episode’s cliffhanger turned out to be exactly what it seemed, as Kate finds herself confronted with an alternate universe doppelganger of her sister who somehow survived the events of Crisis. The whys of Beth’s survival don’t necessarily matter. It’s enough to assume the creation of Earth-Prime has resulted in all sorts of random glitches like this across the world. glitches which will serve as plot catalysts in all these shows. It’s basically like the aftermath of Flashpoint on a much wider scale.
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What matters is that the emergence of Beth Kane comes at a perfect time, allowing the series to do some much-needed fine-tuning of its depiction of Beth/Alice. Alice has been the series greatest weakness from day one. Rachel Skarsten just hasn’t painted a very convincing portrait of a woman driven mad by a brutal childhood and retreating into the safety and security of storybook fantasy. Her Alice performance is stiff and forced in a way that doesn’t really suit the character.
But if there’s any takeaway in Episode 11, it’s that Skarsten feels much more at home playing Beth than Alice. There have been hints of that in the past, with her Alice performance coming across as more genuine and believable when the character drops the act and her real personality and affection for Kate shine through. Now it’s much more apparent. Skarsten deserves a lot of credit here for delivering such a distinctly different performance. This is a Beth with all the warmth and humanity and uncertainty of purpose that Alice lacks. And in perhaps the clearest test of all, Skarsten nails the climactic scene where she has to portray Beth pretending to be Alice. It works. By the end, it’s hard not to wish for Skarsten to keep playing this dual role, even though it’s quickly becoming apparent that won’t happen.
The final scene strongly suggests Beth and Alice are having their “Nebula in Avengers: Endgame” moment. These two people shouldn’t exist in the same reality, and the pain will just continue to get worse until they either merge or one kills the other. It’s hard to say which would be the better outcome, dramatically. Combining Alice and Beth into one, unified person seems like a cheap and easy way of forcing Alice on the path to redemption. On the other hand, if that shakes up the character enough that we get to see more of the genuine side of Beth’s sister and less of the dull storybook villain, maybe that’s worth the trade-off. Meanwhile, Alice killing Beth seems an unnecessary twist when Kate already has ample reason to despise her sister.
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Beth’s surprise appearance gives a boost to several other cast members in this episode. Certainly, Ruby Rose shines as her character struggles to come to terms with this reunion and the larger implications. But Beth’s presence also benefits Luke and Mary. Any opportunity to push Luke outside his comfort zone as the show’s snarky tech dude is worth taking. And as for Mary, some of this episode’s more memorable scenes come when she forms a bond with the doppelganger of the woman who murdered her mother.
“An Un-Birthday Present” also makes strong use of the flashback scenes to further flesh out Alice’s traumatic past and her relationship with Mouse. Unlike Arrow, Batwoman uses its flashbacks more sparingly. They crop up only when they have something meaningful to contribute to the feud between Kate and Alice, which makes them a more effective and welcome addition to the mix. If anything, the flashbacks work to justify Skarsten’s portrayal of modern-day Alice by showing us how much this persona is a mask designed to help a lonely, frightened girl survive an unending nightmare. That helps to an extent, though there’s still a long way to go before Alice truly lives up to her potential as Batwoman’s main antagonist.
