Kiki admits that you don’t move on; you live with it every day. A little thing she learned from her therapist. See, I told y’all the Bat team could benefit from therapy! Kiki’s incredibly smart therapist also told her that the first thing she needed to do was accept responsibility for her actions.
Sophie is apparently out to challenge Ryan’s “best superhero landing” title, because she uses the line launcher and lands perfectly on Wayne Tower. Even Luke comments that Ryan would be impressed, but Sophie uses it as an opportunity to reiterate just how hard Ryan is to read. Sophie Moore woke up this morning determined to process her feelings no matter who it’s with or what situation they’re in and honestly, I respect it.
Luke tries to read Sophie by saying it’s clear she has a type, but Sophie is like “nah, I was into Ryan before I knew she was Batwoman.” Um, EXCUSE ME?! How long have you been into Ryan, Sophie? HOW LONG?! Was it before or after you insisted it wouldn’t even be an “enemies to lovers maybe”?? You’ve been running your mouth about her ALL DAY and NOW you want to clam up?! It’s rude, and I won’t stand for it. (I’m kidding, you’re perfect, I love you.)
Anyway, Sophie finds Luke’s dad’s A.I. and it’s still working! Before they leave, they spot Marquis’ laptop on the desk and decide to hack it because why not, I guess.
Back at Jeturian, Zsasz is taken out by guards and Jada asks Ryan where they go from here. Ryan is understandably still salty and assumes Jada will reveal her secrets to the world. And finally, Ryan gets to tell Jada every single way she’s hurt her since they’ve been reunited. She’s hurt her as Ryan and as Batwoman. She tells her everything she wanted in a mother; it’s the same list that Ryan told Sophie at the beginning of the season. Jada does that thing where she tries to justify what she did because look how good Ryan turned out and look at the havoc Marquis is wreaking on Gotham. Whatever you need to tell yourself, Jada.
It’s not lost on me that Ryan stands in her vulnerability twice in this episode. It’s terrifying for her to bare her soul to Jada, the woman who she’s wanted nothing but love and acceptance from. But she does it anyway, and she does it while literally standing over her mother. It’s such a beautifully acted scene by both Javicia and Robin. Before they can continue, Sophie calls Ryan to warn her about Marquis’ plan to use Arkham inmates, including Zsasz, as his personal security. And she knows this because she hacked the laptop and oh yeah, also broke into Wayne Tower. Ryan is livid because she asked Sophie to lay low, but Sophie is done being told to stand down. They soon realize that Marquis has been in contact with one, Kiki Roulette.
And speaking of Kiki, she’s just about fixed the joy buzzer and informs Alice and Mary that there’s only one buzz left. Also Marquis doesn’t actually leave them alive. You see, she’s been working with him this whole time. Alice tries to shoot Kiki, but the gun she grabs is the infamous “BANG!” gun!! They’re then joined by the aforementioned Arkham inmates, all equipped with actual guns.
While this is happening, Marquis catches Sophie and Luke at Wayne. He calls Kiki who tells him about the one buzz. Remember when Kiki said she went to therapy to learn how to live with her past? Well! Her therapist was the one and only Harleen Quinzel. Reader, when I tell you I SCREAMED. Anyway, Batwoman shows up at the workshop so Kiki puts Marquis on speaker with his sister. He continues to threaten to out Ryan, but Ry knows he won’t do it. So instead, he threatens to hurt Luke and Sophie (by height order, if he has to…LOL).
Sophie reminds Ryan that she can in fact take care of herself, and she and Batwing fight off their attackers while Alice, Mary, and Ryan take down theirs. In all the hubbub, Kiki runs off with the joy buzzer.
Back at Jeturian, Jada is waiting on the roof for Ryan. Ryan apologizes for letting Marquis get away with the joy buzzer, and Jada takes responsibility for failing both of her kids. She did and does love Ryan, but she buried those feelings deep down. Turns out, Jada puts up walls when she doesn’t want to get hurt. She implores Ryan not to let that be her life; to let herself feel and feel deeply.
Luke is back talking to his “dad” about figuring out that he didn’t need the suit to actually be a hero. Lucius tells Luke that he’s proud of him, and the smile on Luke’s face is everything.
Down at Joker’s workshop, Marquis is surveying the scene and cackling away when he meets up with Kiki. They decide to team up and hopefully answer the question of who will get that last buzz.
I was so confused about why Alice was down in the sewers again, forgetting that she’s a whole ass fugitive. Mary finds her sister and tells her she wants to do the hard work of making amends with the people she’s hurt so she doesn’t end up like Kiki. The bag she has with her is for Alice so she can get as far away from Gotham as possible. But Alice isn’t ready to go. (Okay legit, their faces were SO CLOSE, I thought they were going to kiss. I know they’re really playing up the sister thing, but !!!) She doesn’t want to be a sociopath anymore and wants Mary’s help to fix her…by using the joy buzzer on herself instead of Marquis. Low blow using the sister card there, Alice.
We end up back at The Hold Up, but this time Ryan is calmly pouring two drinks (while looking FOINE, I might add) as Sophie huffs in ready for another lecture about staying safe. Everything about Ryan’s energy says that’s not what this is, though. She calmly looks Sophie in the eye, hands her a drink, and FINALLY decides to get real with Ms. Moore.
Ryan says out loud what her actions have been saying for weeks: she’s scared. She’s scared of loving and losing; she’s scared of caring and getting her heart broken; she’s scared that the moment she lowers her walls everything good that has come into her life will disappear. It’s what she’s used to right? When something that has protected us for so long is suddenly no longer serving us, it’s terrifying to consider letting it go. For Ryan, that something is the wall she’s had up since she was in the foster system. For Sophie, it was being a Crow. For Alice, it’s being a sociopath. For Mary, it’s hiding behind the infection. For Luke, it’s the idea that he’s not a hero. For me, it’s the idea of being undeserving. For you, it could be literally anything else. The power comes in identifying it, naming it, and trusting that taking steps to move beyond it will bring you peace.
What’s so beautiful is that Sophie listens to Ryan and immediately says she won’t keep pushing her into something she isn’t ready for or comfortable with. But Ryan’s face goes soft, she figuratively and literally leans into her peace, tells Sophie she won’t have to push, and pulls her in for a kiss. (I did chuckle at the fact that she needed to stand so that she was standing over Sophie for once.) The music in this scene is UNMATCHED, whew!
Neither Sophie nor I can believe what is happening, but in the pause between kisses, the two make eye contact and everything else melts away. It’s just them. They stumble into the loft, kissing the whole way, and their joy is so palpable y’all. That’s honestly what stood out to me most in this scene; they seemed excited and relieved to finally be in each other’s arms. So excited that Sophie accidentally knocks over Ryan’s lamp in her attempt to remove her shirt. So excited that Ryan can’t even undo Sophie’s belt. (No I will NOT be ignoring Sophie’s TOP BEHAVIOR, are you KIDDING?! She FLIPPED THEM. Ahem.) It’s adorable and real and awkward and I loved everything about it.
Super romantic and sexy love scenes have their place, don’t get me wrong, but there’s a different kind of intimacy that comes with seeing two people enjoying each other while also fumbling through the experience. It’s perfect in its imperfections. And have I mentioned their joy?? Y’all, they are so happy. THEY ARE HAPPY. They GET to be happy.
One of my favorite things about this is that it didn’t feel rushed or like it came out of nowhere. We have spent almost two full seasons (three for Soph) getting to know Ryan and Sophie individually as fully fleshed out characters, while also watching their relationship (platonic and romantic) grow. Ryan has dipped her toe in the pool of vulnerability with Sophie multiple times, but when it got scary, she retreated back to what felt familiar. Her conversation with Jada finally gave her permission she didn’t even realize she needed (a thing Carmen said to me as we debriefed) to start to lower those walls for Sophie.
I cannot imagine how difficult it must be to write, direct, or participate in a sex scene, but every single person involved with this knocked it out of the park. On directing the scene, Camrus told TVLine, “I’m just so incredibly blessed and happy that everyone trusted me so much to do the scene because this is the most pivotal moment of the season, and of the series in many ways.” I could feel the weight of what we were watching, and it’s beautiful to know that Cam took that weight seriously and treated it with such care. I honestly don’t think I’ve fully processed what this show has given us. This is one of the longest on-screen sex scenes between two Black women on non-cable television. ON THE CW. ON A SUPERHERO SHOW. They DID THAT. Whew, ngl, I’m tearing up as I’m writing this because this Black nerd who loves women and comics and stories and television is overwhelmed by the reality of what they did.
My wish is for every other show to treat Black queer women the way Batwoman has. Thank you Camrus for your care in directing a moment that you knew would mean so much to the fandom. Thank you Javicia and Meagan for your gorgeous portrayals of these women. Thank you writers for giving us fully formed characters to root for and fall in love with.
We’ve got two more episodes left this season, y’all, and while I know this is preaching to the proverbial choir… RENEW BATWOMAN!! We need it and we deserve it.
Before I go, please enjoy my unfiltered live reactions to The Scene(tm).
Aaaaand part deux #Batwoman pic.twitter.com/7jQdVDivFZ
— Nic 🍉 (@njnic23) February 3, 2022
See y’all back here in a few weeks!
