Renee is pissed she’s being kept in the dark about another Ivy victim and accuses Ryan of hiding things from her. Poor Montoya is barely keeping it together right now. She’s a workaholic who uses her job as an escape from life, but now everything about that escape reminds her of her lost love. Watching Pam turn into someone Renee barely recognized, broke her (and frankly, Victoria Cartagena broke me here), and she won’t rest until she finds the culprit.
Meanwhile, the rest of the team is watching this go down on the monitors, so Alice decides to regale Luke and Mary with the love story of Pamela and Renee. I would give just about anything for weekly Alice lore dumps, please and thank you.
The sun starts to come up, and Mary’s beginning to feel a little icky, so they try watering her. Alice suggests having Sophie question Virgil (Black Glove hat guy) for info, but Ryan is confused because Sophie doesn’t know where Virgil is. Except Alice, being the good roomie she is, gave Sophie exactly that information, so Ryan heads out to stop her girl from making a huge mistake.
In the seemingly unending tunnels that span Gotham City, Sophie threatens to burn Virgil alive unless he answers questions about his employer. She doesn’t even wait for him to start talking before name-dropping Jada Jet. Turns out, his OG employer was actually Tommy Elliot’s mother. Sophie could not care less about the Elliot connection, burns Virgil’s face, and demands to know how Jada is connected to all of this.
Before Soph gets any more info though, Batwoman shows up and Sophie lets her know how pissed she is that she had to find out about Virgil from Alice instead of from her friend (I don’t think you know what that word means, girl).
Soph is tired of Ryan’s excuses; the way her voice broke when she accused Ry of siding with Jada?! Meagan Tandy, how very dare you. As someone whose first instinct is to protect, it’s hard for me to watch this play out with Wildmoore because I get it! Ryan has a hard time trusting people, but also thinks she can prevent the people she loves from getting hurt by withholding information. Her intention to keep Sophie safe is wonderful and sweet, but Sophie is also her own woman with agency and has proven over and over that she has Ryan’s back.
The two hear a noise, and discover that Virgil hanged himself with his chains. Sophie storms off and wow I hope she doesn’t decide to do something sexy and impulsive to staunch her emotional wounds…
Back in the Batcave, Alice tries to emotionally push Mary into being angry with Ryan for leaving her, while literally pushing her into the increasing sunlight. The light slowly starts to take hold of Mary, and as Alice continues to question Ryan’s decisions, Mary attacks Luke from behind (with his own keyboard, which is funnier than it has any right to be).
Watching Nicole Kang embody Ivy is absolutely delicious. And the way Alice sidles up to Mary once the transformation completes?! Whew, I cannot wait for the havoc these two are going to wreak on Gotham. Before they head out, Mary calls Montoya with a fake tip on a Poison Ivy sighting at the botanical gardens, because OF COURSE.
Montoya, sans backup, arrives at Ivy’s literal home field, and is greeted by one, Dr. Mary Hamilton in her full green glory. This is hands down one of the most beautiful scenes on this show thus far. The plants move in concert with Mary as she slowly and deliberately plays into Montoya’s guilt over turning Pam in. Renee has her gun at the ready, but you can tell that using it is the last thing she wants to do. Before she has to make that decision though, Poison Mary summons vines that pull the detective out of frame.
Meanwhile, Ryan finds Luke recovering in the Batcave and he tells her that sunlight is the trigger. Luke suits up and the two head to the Batmobile. I did not anticipate getting as emotional as I did over seeing these two Black ass heroes walking in unison to save the day, but here we are, I guess.
The two arrive at the botanical gardens and survey the scene. They don’t get very far before they too are attacked by Poison Mary’s vines.
Once they get untangled, Luke starts talking to his AI dad and gets no response from the suit. He does get a response from Mary, who’s snuck up behind him giving him shit about needing his dad. Luke promises to help her, but this version of Mary doesn’t need his help. She needed them to listen sooner, and now it’s too late. She strings up Luke and reveals that she removed the AI from the suit.
AND THEN BATWOMAN LITERAL SWOOPS IN! No joke, I gasped at this shot. Our baby is all grown up and sticking that landing!
Ryan apologizes to Mary for being a bad friend, but this is way more than that. Nicole Kang manages to embody Ivy in a way that remains true to who Mary is, but also heightens the frustration we’ve watched her experience. As Ivy, she’s no longer encumbered by the metaphorical vines that have kept her from speaking her truth to her friends. Mary lays into Ryan about giving more time and attention to Jada than her actual friend and teammate. Points. Were. Made.
They hear helicopters overhead and Ryan begs Mary to leave with them, but Mary insists on being heard. We’ve BEEN yelling LISTEN TO MARY for over two seasons now, it’s about time! Poison Mary wraps Ryan in vines yet again and Homer Simpsons into the vines. Montoya reappears, sets Batwoman free, and reminds them that Mary is now the most dangerous person in Gotham.
In the Batcave, Ryan and Luke acknowledge how shitty they’ve been to Mary recently. Well, Ryan acknowledges it and seems genuinely upset; Luke only mentions it in reference to deserving his torn rotator cuff. I’m just glad they’re having the conversation and realizing that just an apology won’t be enough to get their friend back. They decide to try and make a cure, but Ryan’s going to call in a favor since they’re down their only scientist.
Okay, here we go. Everybody sitting? Great.
Sophie is at The Hold Up nursing her bad day with some whiskey, when Renee joins her at the bar. She seems genuinely worried about Sophie’s state and hopes that her presence isn’t making Soph’s day worse. Sophie tells the detective that there are other people she’d rather not be drinking with, Montoya takes it as a compliment, and these two give each other eyes like I’ve never seen. Like, I’m shocked the alcohol didn’t just burst into flames from the heat between them.
Cut to Sophie pinning Montoya against the wall (I’m starting to think Meagan negotiated wall pinning into her season 3 contract) and the two intensely making out. Look. Wildmoore is endgame in my heart. That hasn’t changed. But by golly do I enjoy a love triangle. And this love triangle involves THREE. QUEER. WOMEN. OF. COLOR. In the year of Beyoncé 2021, I did not imagine we would get this. I didn’t dare wish for it. But Batwoman is out here doing what so many other shows are afraid of. They’re showing that intersectionality isn’t just about pain; we have “regular” drama too! Let us be messy! Let us love hard! Let us take out our frustration over the fact that the woman we’re crushing on won’t let us in, by hooking up with someone we have an intense history with!! I can’t wait to see how this unfolds. CANNOT WAIT.
As the episode ends, we see Ryan calling Jada to presumably help with the cure, and Alice and Mary driving away together to do Rao knows what.
One of the best joys of watching television, is getting “got” by television. When I tell you I did NOT see Renphie (??) coming, y’all, whew! Bravo, writers, bravo.
Next week, mid-season finale!?