Douglas Scott, who played Jacob Kane in the first two seasons of Batwoman, has officially left the CW series.
Jacob, the father to Kate Kane (Wallis Day), Mary Hamilton (Nicole Kang), and Alice (Rachel Skarsten), last appeared in season 2, episode 16, titled Rebirth. In the instalment, Jacob disbanded the Crows and was arrested for aiding Alice. Following his arrest, Jacob was transferred to Metropolis to await trial. Scott was not seen in the final two episodes of season 2, and right after finale aired last Sunday, Batwoman showrunner Caroline Dries confirmed the actor’s exit from the series.
“Having Dougray Scott as Jacob Kane on Batwoman was incredibly special for all of us,” Dries said in a statement. “An actor with his pedigree and reputation elevates any project, and he had great chemistry with his castmates. We loved telling Commander Kane’s story for the last two seasons, and we will always leave the door open to have him return. We wish him the very best!”
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Dries said that writing Jacob off is part of the natural conclusion to the Crows storyline.
“The character obviously had a really intense storyline,” Dries said, referencing Jacob’s grief over the loss of his daughter and his subsequent Snakebite addiction. “The story was just lending itself of wrapping up the Crows because we took such a hard stance against police brutality this season and really used the Crows to represent the metaphor of that. For us, the story could really only end to Ryan’s (Javicia Leslie) satisfaction [if the Crows were] shut down completely. To us, there was no version of the Crows that could exist that felt okay; that felt like a compromise.”
Dries continued: “Once we kind of made that decision – and obviously Kate isn’t staying on the show – this character of Jacob had sort of run its course, for better or for worse, through that storyline. So it worked out that it was mutual [with Scott]. We ended up being able to really write to a good ending for Jacob, just kind of knowing in advance that’s what we were going to do. I’m very pleased with how that storyline worked out for him. It allowed us to give Dougray some really rich stuff toward the end.”
Batwoman season 3 is set to premiere on October 13th at 9 p.m. ET on The CW.