Rose is perfectly cast. The show has a lot to offer, too.

Gritty and fiercely feminist, the series is very much an Arrowverse show that also stands as its own thing.

The best part of the new series is that unfussy, effortless way of getting Kate's sexual orientation out of the way, and also Kate herself. She's a bantamweight crusader with lightning moves as opposed to devastating ones. ... What's less-best is the usual reliance on the sort of story that Gotham has undergone countless times before. There are no surprises left here, not even a decent dopey headline in the still-dopey, ever-credulous Gotham newspapers (which still don't have websites).

Batwoman really sings when it’s building the adversarial relationship between Kate and Alice, an opposite-sides-of-the-coin situation with similar vibes to Batman and the Joker. Skarsten is having a blast alternating between whimsy and dangerous menace, and her villain feels like the only performance that’s been lived in for more than two episodes. Better yet, it’s bouncing off of Skarsten’s unpredictable energy that Rose’s surly, tamped down performance works best.

The series doesn't exactly hit the ground running, and appears short on arrows in its quiver, to borrow from another DC-CW staple. If that dynamic doesn't improve, other than the most loyal acolytes of the DC universe, it's a poor candidate for committing many more nights to it, dark or otherwise.

Everyone involved, of course, might fare better if they had a decent script, proper lighting, well-choreographed fight scenes and sets that didn’t look as if they had been nailed together from whatever was left after Michael Keaton left the building in 1989. ... For now, though, pure and perfect trash is what we need – and Batwoman provides.

The show doesn’t seem to know how to handle Bruce’s absence, so he’s mentioned at every turn, making Kate feel less like a person with her own story than someone grafted onto his. ... The visual palette is all muddled grays or treacly, warmly lit flashbacks. The fight scenes lack tension and dynamism, relying on quick cuts and multiple angles to manufacture a false sense of energy. There’s also a missing spark of chemistry among the cast.

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

As a lesbian who respects herself, i have to say i have been a fan of Batwoman since the early 2000s. This TV series version could have been so much more but it's hurting me to say, it failed me. I was expecting at least some of the darkness and the controversy of the comic character. Nope. I didnt feel it. I was super-excited with Ruby Rose when i read she was picked. Turns out she has a pretty face, a badass look but she doesnt convince me with her acting. There is something missing. So now I'm stuck; on the one hand i dont want the show to get cut off coz of the terrible reviews (including mine) thus its rare to actually get a lesbian leading character and a superhero. On the other hand, i find myself not eager to see the next episode.

**** too bad as everyone's saying, but it does have MANY flaws. Some acting is poor, the story is also fairly one-dimensional compared to the other CW DC shows, and yes, there is a good deal of feminism. It's still pretty action-packed and we got a fairly interesting approach to a main villain. I do hope this gets better throughout the rest of the season. (Review posted October 6th)

Batwoman, the actor, is cast well. The rest are not. The plot is incredibly predictable. There are inconsistencies and actions by characters which are nonsensical. A cookie cutter superhero show which will only be enjoyably to those too young or too recluse to have seen any other superhero show. Too bad.

Nothing special to be fair. There is many better tv shows these days. The Titans or Gotham are much much better.