For much of its first season, Batwoman saw headlines about its low viewing figures in comparison to the rest of The CW’s superhero shows. Fortunately, it seems to have ended on something of a high in the run-up to the finale. I think this was partly helped by the hero’s strong showing in the “Crisis on Infinite Earths” crossover and because they started using more Batman-centric characters like Hush.
As such, the final four episodes saw a gradual rise, with episode 17 and 18 getting 634,000 viewers, episode 19 704,000 and the season finale up to 752,000. That’s a decent bump, with many pinning this on the show introducing Warren Christie as the Arrowverse’s Bruce Wayne (via Hush getting plastic surgery to perfectly disguise himself as him).
You might argue that as Bruce Wayne was a surprise twist, there’s no way those tuning in for the broadcast could have known in advance, but the online buzz about the finale means that streams of the show probably saw a boost. Positive though this is, it has to be said that 752,000 is still a substantial decrease on the 1.86 million viewers that tuned in for the show’s premiere.
But, as you’ll no doubt be aware if you’re a fan, this good news has been substantially overshadowed by what’s happened over the last 12 hours. It emerged last night that Batwoman lead Ruby Rose was quitting the show and that The CW will recast. Right now, we have no firm idea of why she left, though rumors are swirling already.
Regardless of the particulars of Rose’s departure, when Batwoman returns in January 2021, we’ll be seeing a new actor under the cowl. Let’s hope they can match Rose’s performance, as I’m really curious to see what Tommy Elliot/Hush is going to do with his brand spanking new face. And if we now have a fake Bruce Wayne on the scene, can an appearance from the real one be that far behind?
