i was worried for a moment as the last episode began that the creators might abandon their practice of not letting the viewer sympathize, even for a second, with someone we know to be a villain-- but thankfully, they didn’t. wonderfully executed, with stellar performances from both cristin milioti and colin farrell, and i think the benefits will be mutual after this. just as the penguin inevitably benefitted from his established presence in the dc universe, reeves’ batman will benefit in future installments from this spinoff. kudos to hbo too for taking this approach, building side stories around a main film, and i can’t wait for the upcoming dune to hopefully be just as good in quality.