Batwoman Season 1 Review: 9 Ups & 5 Downs

8. The Tone

Each show within the Arrowverse has their own distinct tone. While Arrow was the dark parent that started it all, it spawned the delightfully cheery Supergirl and The Flash and also made room for the campy over-the-top goofiness of Legends of Tomorrow. As fun as all of those spin-offs are, Batwoman couldn't operate in the light... she needed to be more like the originator; she needed darkness.

The show may have a few issues to work out early on, but figuring out its identity is not one of them. It's pretty clear from the offset what the show wants to be, portraying Gotham City for the corrupt hellhole that it is, allowing it to tackle the harder-hitting - and more grounded - stories that we would have only seen unfold on Arrow.

Batwoman is darker than most of its predecessors and thrives because of it, and that is what ultimately allows this Dark Knight to rise.