It’s the standard for any superhero TV show. The lead will, inevitably, have growing pains as they attempt to become the best hero they can be. Arrow, The Flash, Supergirl, Legends of Tomorrow… they’ve all done it, numerous times, and each time it became more exhausting to watch. The CW’s Batwoman, now entering Season 3, has had even more heroes experiencing the stumbles of superheroism out in the field.
When Kate Kane (Ruby Rose) first discovered her cousin Bruce’s dark secret, she put on his Batman suit and stepped out into Gotham to become the hero they desperately needed in Batman’s absence. Only, she didn’t know how this complicated and complex suit worked, as it was built to be exactly what Bruce needed. She fumbled with the gadgets, stumbled in the field, and eventually got around the learning curve with a few minor changes, turning it into her own Batwoman suit. Then, in Season 2, Ryan Wilder (Javicia Leslie) found the suit and stepped up… only to experience the same things. In fact, Ryan had more growing pains (or, at least, more that we saw on-screen) due to her not having the same military background as Kate. And, again, Ryan made some changes to the suit and optimized it for herself instead of Kate, effectively ending her growing pains.
Now, Batwoman Season 3 has seen Luke Fox (Camrus Johnson) become another protector for Gotham: Batwing. And, for the third time, we’re seeing the growing pains of heroism. His Batwing suit was created many years before by his late father, Lucius Fox, and was not entirely finished. So, as Luke and Ryan are starting to kick butt around the city, Luke’s also facing the challenges of such a unique piece of machinery that he has to trust to work properly… or he may end up dead. It’s a new twist on the story we’ve seen twice before on Batwoman, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t just as tired. This story was already stale when Ryan became Batwoman because we had just watched Kate go through the same thing. For Ryan, given her lack of official training and that she became the new protagonist of the show, it was easier to understand and watch this story told all over again. It was necessary to bring her in as the new protagonist of the show, and it added to her journey because she had to prove herself just as capable as Kate was, if not more so.
However, watching this for a third time in the series’ third season is just too much. So easily could the Batwoman writers have had Luke work his way around the growing pains of becoming Batwing during the off-screen break between Season 2 and 3, coming back with the Bat Team stronger than ever. If it was always the plan for Luke to experience his own version of this, it’s arguable that he should have become Batwing sooner. It would have made more sense for Ryan and Luke to be on this journey together during Season 2, rather than viewers never getting a chance to see the Bat Team operate at their best because it’s just this same story over, and over, and over again.
It doesn’t even seem that Luke’s are the only growing pains that will be underway during Batwoman Season 3. At the end of the premiere, “Mad as a Hatter,” it was revealed that Alice (Rachel Skarsten) and Ryan would be working together on Reneé Montoya’s (Victoria Cartagena) rogues unit. So, in addition to Luke’s suit not working properly, Alice will be struggling with the line between heroism and villainy. She’ll be learning how to conduct herself with oversight for the first time, unable to just stab anyone she wants with her butterfly knife. Plus, Alice and Ryan will be working together, which will have growing pains all on its own. Ryan blames Alice for the death of her adoptive mother, and their relationship is fraught. The dynamic between them is great, but they’ve never actually been able to get on the same page and work together. Now that it’s no longer an option, it’s going to be painful for both of them. They are surely going to struggle to be a team, torn between their two very different ways of handling problems.
It seems that the rest of the Bat Team will have their own troubles with Alice as well, which will be interesting but ultimately the same. With Luke in the field, the team has to figure out a new way to operate in the Bat Cave. Luke was the main man behind the computers, the expert with all things technology. With him no longer behind the screen, who’s going to step up to fill the void? Likely Sophie (Meagan Tandy), but again, that’s probably not going to come to her right away, just like it didn’t for Luke.
At this point, keeping the growing pains coming seems like a cheap way to ensure that the Bat Team never becomes too powerful to easily stop any threat that comes to Gotham. Ryan is finally ready to stand tall as Batwoman, her mantle and legacy. But now she’s held back by Luke and having to save him in the field as his suit malfunctions. We’re in Season 3, and have yet to see the Bat Team operating at its best. It’s frustrating, as a viewer, to continue to be put through the same story with different characters. The show has grown in other ways, but is continuously held back by this aspect. Season 2 should’ve been the end of the growing pains, finally allowing for a chance to see what Ryan and her team are capable of. Instead, it feels like it’s going to be a slightly different repeat of the first two seasons, which is disappointing.
The growing pains are holding everyone back as heroes. With Kate Kane gone and Ryan established as the primary hero of Gotham, it’s time for her to show what she’s capable of. It’s not time for her missions to be screwed up because Luke’s suit isn’t up to code. Too much of the show relies on this type of story, and it’s time to see something fresh. Hopefully, it won’t last for very long and Season 3 will end with the dream Bat Team, but it’s unlikely.
Batwoman airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. on The CW.