Batwoman – Prior Criminal History

By starrymag | January 31, 2021

By: Alexandra Gil M.

 

 

This week’s episode starts with Alice (Rachel Skarsten) at the tunnels, going a little bit crazy talking to Mouse’s (Sam Littlefield) ghost and attaching some rats to his dead body while singing a creepy version of “Twinkle Twinkle Little Bat.” We soon realize that she is releasing some infected bats into Gotham.

 

Next thing we see is a little flashback from Halloween. Ryan (Javicia Leslie) is walking alone at night and she soon realizes that she is being followed by some guys. They start attacking her and trying to mug her, but then Batwoman shows up and fights them off. Ryan is not defenseless though as she holds her own and hurts one of the guys before Batwoman takes off. Ryan yells, “Thank you.”

 

In present day Ryan is at a job interview making a case for herself on why they should hire her, but the guy is only interested in the fact that it says on the record that she has been to jail. Ryan tries to explain that she had to plead guilty and spend only eighteen months instead of ten years. She tries to tell him that she did not commit the crime she was charged for, but he is not interested and asks if she could guess what he is thinking. “I am not getting the job,” she says.

 

Jacob (Dougray Scott) is watching the news. They are playing the clip where Batwoman (Ruby Rose) gets trapped inside the stadium and the crows led by him start to shoot her until they run out of bullets. He’s also leading an interrogation of Mary (Nicole Kang). He asks if Kate never told her she was Batwoman, like she would ever trust me with anything she says, it´s not Something she would use to break the ice. But Jacob is not completely buying it.  In parallel with this questionnaire we find out Luke (Camrus Johnson) is asking the questions from Sophie (Meagan Tandy) with some hard facts, saying that maybe the people after her were the ones that lured her into a trap and started shooting at her. He also says, “It’s too bad she didn’t have someone who loved her watching her back,” while having a staring contest with Sophie. She responds with, “I think we’re done here.”

 

Sophie runs into Julia (Christina Wolfe) at the hall while running from the interrogation room. Julia asks if they can talk and Sophie responds, “Now you got something to say after staying quiet for months about who Batwoman really was?” Julia answers with something very true: “It wasn’t my secret to tell.” But there is tension. Sophie is not happy with her and walks away.

 

When we come back to Ryan she is at the drug store trying to buy something for the pain in her chest, caused by the kryptonite bullet she was shot with last episode. But, of course, crime never stops. So, before she could ask the employee if they had a generic product for ibuprofen, a group of men are attacking the store. Ryan is not staying put and starts fighting them. In the middle of everything they try to shoot her, but that is not the worst part. After basically saving the store and the employee that got knocked down, the police arrive. To them it looks to them like she was the one robbing it. So, they take her in.

 

Going back to the crows headquarters, the third interrogation of the episode is taking place. Ryan is handcuffed when Sophie walks in. She greets her with a, “hey Sophie.”  According to Ryan, she has been in that same situation a lot of times before to be comfortable enough to go on a first name basis with each other by now.

 

Ryan does not try to defend herself with a big argument as she is still a little bruised from the fight and because a crow agent walks in and tells Sophie that they have security footage from the store and Ryan is not guilty.  They let her go, but before she leaves she lets it all out, – telling Sophie that she has been detained more times for crimes she did not commit than an actual serial killer. She is clearly referring to Alice. Then, tells Sophie that she knows the exact reason Jacob Kane has not killed her, but Sophie gets it wrong here and says, “Any sympathy he had for her died a long time ago.” But Ryan is confused and they both ask each other, “What are you talking about?” They are clearly talking about different things here. Ryan clarifies it stating, “If Alice wasn’t white she’d already be dead.” But Ryan has already figured it out by the time she walks out.

 

Ryan goes to Mary’s clinic next and she knows Alice is Beth Kane. Mary asks her who told her that, but Ryan is upset and yells if  covering for her runs in the family. She does not expect the following information when Mary tells her Alice killed her mom and that she died in her arms. Ryan says she´s sorry mainly because she understands that Ryan is determined to get justice for both of them. She asks her where Alice is so she can go kill her. The next thing they see is Mouse’s body carried in.

 

We come back to the crows building. Julia is exiting the place, but when she enters her car Alice is already waiting for her in the back seat. Though she insists that she is not there to kill her, instead she tells Julia that they have a common enemy and that is the same person who killed Kate: Safiyah. But Julia is not convinced and asks why would she work with a psychopath. Alice has a point because the answer is, “because there is another psychopath who is after you and is scarier than me.” However, Julia sees right through her because she goes into the fact that with Kate gone there is no one else that has any sympathy left for her. Alice just straight up stabs her in the side.

 

New Batwoman team Mary, Luke and Ryan are talking about the poisonous bats that are being released and how it is the same poison that killed her mom. They get interrupted by Mouse’s moving corpse. There was a bat inside him and, apparently, Ryan really hates them.

 

There is a Batwoman support manifestation at the streets of Gotham and they are the perfect target for what Alice is planning, Ryan offers to put on the suit to make them leave and take them to safety but Luke is not on board because: Hello, ¡Black! He says. But they are out of options so he agrees to it. So she goes to the top of the building to try and get the people out of the streets, but no one really pays attention to what she is saying. Jacob finds that she is not Kate, but someone else in the suit and insists to get the imposter off the roof.  Before anything else could happen, Alice shows and they start fighting.

 

Luke tells Ryan that he understands what Alice took from her, but reminds her that Batwoman does not kill. Ryan smartly says, “I’m not Batwoman,” and goes for it. Alice starts shooting ,but the suit is still bulletproof. And in the middle of the fight Mary may not be on Luke’s side on the not killing thing. She is angry and is tired of everyone forgetting that Alice killed her mother and says that if Kate had done what Ryan is trying to accomplish that perhaps her mom would still be alive today. However, before the fight is over the infected bats are released into the crowd that is manifesting.

 

Mary runs off to the clinic and Alice is already there, so she provides the blood that contains the antidote for the poison on the bats. Mary has a hard time believing it, but does not have another option at the moment. She takes it and takes it to Hamilton dynamics so they can duplicate it.

 

Back on the streets Ryan’s solution to the bats is putting them all on a big bus and bombing them while they’re inside. Problem solved. That is fixed, but at the clinic Sophie and Mary still don’t know what Alice’s play is or why she gave them the cure for the Gotham citizens that were bitten. Only that it is something bigger and they may not be ready for what is next. Sophie goes back to the Crow’s headquarters and finds Julia who has been tracking Alice and may have a possible location. She gives it to Sophie, but before she leaves she asks her if Kate told her she loved her. She says, “I just want to know if we’re over because you can’t trust me or because I’m not Kate. Sophie’s answer is firm: both.

 

Jacob tells Mary that he does not want to make the same mistakes he made with Alice and wants to find Kate. Mary agrees but says they should work together if they want to succeed.

 

At the Batcave Luke, Mary and Ryan are discussing the events of the day and how Gotham needs a Batwoman right now. Luke says they already have one, but where was she tonight wonders Ryan. She asks for a chance because she knows how criminals act, think and (of course) how to stop them. Off she goes.

 

At the end of the episode Sophie finds Alice, points at her with a gun and makes her put on some handcuffs. However, she is not the only one looking for her as someone appears from behind and knocks Sophie over the head. The woman says, “She’s mine.” It is Tatiana – a/k/a “The Whisper” (Leah Gibson). She knocks out Alice too and takes them both.