Batwoman may not have given viewers a lot of incentive to keep watching early on, but the series is slowly but surely coming into its own now, and seems to be finding its groove in Episode 6. Not only is this episode more cohesive in its approach and its ability to balance the ensemble cast, it even manages to counter one of the most common flaws in the Arrowverse.

Batwoman: "I'll Be Judge, I'll Be Jury" Photos 5 IMAGES

Loading

I'm surely not the only one disappointed the series doesn't stick closer to the comics in terms of the Kate/Jacob dynamic. It's hard not to pine for a leaner, more efficient series that focuses simply on Kate the vigilante soldier and Jacob the battle-scarred handler. For better or worse, that's not what we're getting with the show. But at least this episode makes some significant strides with the two characters and their strained relationship. Having moved past that initial hurdle of Jacob confronting the truth about Beth/Alice, this episode is free to explore the fallout and the true reasons behind Jacob's hatred of all things Bat. That all pays off nicely in Kate and Jacob's emotional reconciliation scene.This episode is cleverly structured in the way it follows the parallel investigations carried out by Batwoman and the Crows. That helps highlight the central theme of vigilantism vs. law and order and the equal parts professional and personal dislike Jacob has for Batwoman. In another nice touch, it's fun to see how at odds the Crows are with the officers of the GCPD. In addition to all the usual friction you'd expect from a group of cops watching as their beat is taken over by highly paid mercenaries, you have one group that's wholly opposed to the idea of Batwoman and another who treats her as something between a necessary evil and a city mascot. Hopefully the series can continue to play with that divide between the city's blue collar police force and their high-tech replacements.The series even seems to be making some headway with Alice, easily the show's biggest weak point up til now. Adding Sam Littlefield's Mouse into the mix seems to have helped a great deal on that front. It helps shift Alice away from being an outright villain and antagonist to someone simply struggling to recapture a lost sense of family and belonging. Alice tends to work better during those emotional moments when the real Beth breaks through the halfhearted Wonderland facade, so this episode plays into that strength. There's also a welcome sense of unpredictability to their relationship, with this episode making it clear Alice may not be in total control of her adoptive brother/partner in crime.On the villain front, Episode 6 addresses what is often the biggest sore point with most Arrowverse shows. Too often, the smaller villains are treated like a means to an end or a plot device, with little regard given to fleshing them out or giving them clear motivations. Jim Pirri's Executioner is a welcome outlier. For once, the character's motivations are the entire point. Granted, going from jailhouse executioner (is that even a real job anymore?) to ax-wielding vigilante is kind of a melodramatic shift, but this is the Arrowverse, after all. It's nice to see such a minor villain this well-developed and understandable. That the Executioner's story dovetails so nicely with Kate and Jacob's shared struggle makes it that much better. Law and order is all well and good, but Gotham is one city where you can't ever trust the system.Even Luke gets a little much-needed fleshing-out this week, as we learn a little about his backstory and the sad fate of Lucius Fox. The idea of a heroic character being motivated by the death of a loved one is a trope-y as it gets, but anything is better than Luke just being the snarky tech dude week in and week out. At least he has a deeper reason for wanting to help Kate.Nor is Lucius the only major Batman character whose fate is revealed this week. Both Joker and Penguin are name-dropped at different points. I don't expect or even necessarily want the major Batman villains to come into play in this series (better Kate develop her own, unique rogues gallery), but it is at least nice to acknowledge the city's long, troubled history with these characters. What stands out most about these references is how much the show seems intent on paying tribute to the Tim Burton Batman films. Between Joker having the Jack Napier identity and Penguin having served a short stint as mayor, one could almost believe this series is a sequel to those movies. It could almost work, if you ignore the change in the city's architecture and pretend Joker didn't die in Batman '89...