Batwoman, the Arrowverse's newest series, is returning to wrap up its inaugural season this week, after a lengthy, unplanned hiatus due to the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Immersing viewers in the shared television universe's incarnation of Gotham City, Kate Kane has replaced her cousin Bruce Wayne as the city's Dark Knight. Here's a quick overview of the story so far to prepare for the DCTV series' return.
At the start of the series, Gotham is under siege by the deadly Wonderland Gang, which is led by the unhinged Mad Alice and sports an Alice in Wonderland-themed motif. With the city's police force overwhelmed, Gotham's primary source of legally authorized protection is the Crows. Founded and led by Kate's father Jacob, the Crows are a private security company that include Sophie Moore, a military academy classmate of Kate's who had formed a romantic relationship with her before they went their separate ways. Sophie eventually married someone else.
Returning to Gotham approximately three years after Bruce Wayne and Batman's mysterious disappearance, Kate becomes Batwoman with the help of Luke Fox. The son of Lucius Fox, Luke serves as caretaker of Wayne Tower, with Kate using it as her own headquarters as Batwoman while he continues to develop new weapons and gadgets for her. Kate's new superhero career is not met warmly by everyone, however, with Jacob vowing to stop the new vigilante in his city as Sophie discovers Kate's secret and decides to maintain it before their romance is rekindled.
While new and familiar foes surface across Gotham to menace Batwoman, the biggest antagonist of the first season remains Alice, who is actually revealed to be Kate's long-lost sister Beth. Following a car accident, Beth was kidnapped and her mother was murdered, with the young girl growing up to be the deranged serial killer and taking over the organization that would become the Wonderland Gang. Kate resented her father for years for giving up on the search for Beth and the revelation that Alice and Beth are one and the same puts an additional strain on their relationship, as Jacob's greatest failure comes back to haunt him.
Kate and Beth's dynamic has been a full-on emotional rollercoaster over the course of the season, with the former constantly humoring the latter in an attempt to regain her lost sister. However, after Alice murders Jacob's wife and Kate's stepmother Catherine Hamilton-Kane, Kate starts to see Beth as truly lost. Kate attempts to connect with the Beth Kane of Earth-99, displaced on Earth-Prime by "Crisis on Infinite Earths," leaving Alice feeling betrayed. After Earth-99 Beth's murder by a mysterious assassin, Kate confronts August Cartwright, the man responsible for transforming Kate's sister into Alice. In a fit of rage, Kate murders August, shocking Jacob and thrilling Alice.
With much of the Wonderland Gang dead, Alice is largely working alone as she continues to cut a path through Gotham. While she's imprisoned Arkham Asylum for now thanks to Jacob and Kate, it is only a matter of time before Alice escapes, likely with an even bigger vendetta against her family. And with a deadly hitman on the loose connected to Lucius Fox's death, it appears Luke may soon join Kate as superhero himself as the battle for Gotham's soul rages on.
Created by Caroline Dries and developed by Berlanti Productions and Warner Bros. Television, Batwoman stars Ruby Rose, Rachel Skarsten, Meagan Tandy, Camrus Johnson, Dougray Scott, Elizabeth Anweis and Nicole Kang. The series airs Sundays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on The CW.