DVD Review: ‘Batwoman’ The Complete First Season Blu-Ray Review

I have to admit I have never really gotten into the “Arrowverse,” although I can’t rightly say why. From everything I have seen, they have done a superb job starting with Smallville through the present in doing justice to the characters and heroes we love. So much so that many people prefer their costumes and casting to those of the DCU films that have been thrown at us. Personally, I am a huge DC fan, and so, thinking back, it must have just been a matter of time management as to why I missed this era. That said, I had never seen the series Batwoman that just recently wrapped up its first season and so was curious to see what they were doing with the character. I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised.

The clear star and attraction of this series is Ruby Rose (Orange is the New Black) as the lead role of Kate Kane (i.e., Batwoman). In the series, we are left with a Gotham City in shambles. Batman has disappeared and the city of just reeling from it. Kate Kane takes up the role of the city’s primary vigilante, but, like Batman, she has a lot of baggage and demons of her own to deal with. The series was a decent job of building the character. Admittedly, the series started a tad slow but finds its way and really builds into something pretty great. The same can be said of the lead. She starts as a broken person, and we see her learn the skills and get the costume she needs as she goes along. It’s really a journey, and this season really works on that. Perhaps some of the best things about this are her “human” or the non-hero side. In her personal life, she deals with relationship issued, especially those regarding an ex-girlfriend, as well as delving into LGBTQ+ issues in a way that feels natural.

The production is also great. It really seems to try to keep up the aesthetic we have seen in recent years of gritty realism (as much as a superhero show can do that). The city looks realistic and dirty. The costumes seem appropriate without crossing over into absurd. The acting is top-notch with good dramatic performances and not the over the top performances that had been seen in some other shows. It really tried to ground the show in all aspects and does a good job.

The video of the series has more of a cinematic feel to it. With a 1.85:1 aspect ratio, each episode immerses you like a little movie. The video never seems to suffer from any issues like blurs or jumps, and the focus of the foreground and background work together fantastically. The blacks levels and this is very important in a show as dark as this one, are great. It’s not so dark that it hides details and washes out images in darkness. The sound is very good, too, with no artifacts or popping of any sort that I noticed.

Batwoman Season 1 DVD Extras

Disc 1

Deleted Scenes (HD, 2:08)

Disc 2

Deleted Scenes (HD, 2:14)

Disc 3

Deleted Scenes (HD, 3:20)

Disc 4

The Best of DC TV’s Comic-Con Panels San Diego 2019 (HD, 51:05) – A compilation of the various Comic-Con panels from 2019

Disc 5

Crisis On Infinite Earths (HD) – This is all episodes (5) of the crossover event

Crisis On Infinite Earths: The Architects Return (HD, 11:55) – This discusses the origin of the comic book character

Crisis Management (HD, 13:08) – This is a behind the scenes about everybody that helped bring the show to life

Crisis Past and Present: Kevin Conroy Bat Legend (HD, 3:17) – This talks about bringing legendary Batman voice actor Kevin Conroy into the show in a live role

Crisis Past and Present: Superman vs. Superman (HD, 4:37) – This extually explores Brandon  Routh’s version of Superman

Characters in Crisis: Pariah (HD, 4:20) – Discusses the appearance of Pariah in the series

Characters in Crisis: The Anti-Monitor (HD, 4:55) – Discusses the villain Anti-Monitor

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Overall, this show is definitely worth a watch. They did a great job of world-building while keeping the action going. The crossover episodes are very entertaining and the presentation is well-done. The only downside is that Ruby Rose has left the series and the next season will have a new lead in the role. Although, I am really curious to see how that is handled.

Batwoman: The Complete First Season is available on Blu-Ray and DVD on Tuesday, August 18th.

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