The team wants Ryan to be their leader and do the right thing by turning in Angelique. There were several moments in this episode where they doubled down on Ryan being the leader. It felt like the writers telling us, “Hey. We know you’re wary about us bringing Kate back. But Ryan is Batwoman. Let us prove it to you.” Maybe it’s the big ole heart I wear on my sleeve, but I want so badly to trust that this is true.
“Maybe if I power pose, she’ll listen to us.”
As soon as I had the thought that we were blissfully low on Jacob Kane appearances, he and Julia go over the crash report together. He doesn’t believe what’s in it and wants Julia to hunt down any evidence that might prove it wasn’t an accident. If she finds nothing, he’ll finally let it go.
*cracks knuckles* Okay, here we go. One of my favorite scenes to ever scene on the CW. Interior: gay bar. Two gorgeous Black sisters enter, looking for a safe space and a drink. They bicker while another gorgeous Black woman, this one behind the bar, cleans glasses and smirks at their banter. Last one, I swear… “BLACK WOMEN THOUGH!” Okay, I’m back. So Ryan offers the Moore sisters a drink and Sophie introduces Ryan to her little sister Jordan. Ryan was very Team Jordan until she started shit talking Batwoman and accusing her of being just another suit. But Jordan isn’t just talk; she has a plan for stopping crime in Gotham before it starts. Both Ryan and I are impressed, and Ryan comps them their drinks. Jordan clocks some major vibes and eye action from Ryan and tries to be Sophie’s wingwoman! The two have a very sweet moment where Jordan looks her sister in the eye and tells her that just because their mom needs time to accept Sophie’s sexuality, doesn’t mean she does. Shout out to Meagan Tandy for that shift in emotions on her face as Sophie realized she didn’t have to pretend with her sister.
“Okay so I know she seems wound tight, but if you just give her a chance…”
This is the face of acceptance.
And speaking of acceptance, Jordan’s ready to hook up her sister with that fire bartender, but Sophie shuts it down with a “not even an enemies-to-lovers maybe” that had me ROLLING. (Have I mentioned the writing in this episode because THE WRITING!) Look, I don’t want to ship it, but I am but a weak gay. Obviously Sophie is well-versed in fic lingo, she knows how these tropes work. I’m just saying, it would be hot and I wouldn’t survive it.
Before Jordan can grab her sister’s phone and start swiping for her, Sophie calls Luke because she noticed Batwoman’s interest in the getaway car driver’s key bracelet. Mary knows that Angelique is Ryan’s lesbian Achilles heel (!!) and thinks they should just let Sophie handle this. In a shocking twist, Luke is putting his faith in Ryan this time.
Angelique calls Ryan and says she’s ready to talk to Batwoman. Ryan lets Luke and Mary know and starts to get a safe house set up for Ang, but when Ryan gets to Angelique’s apartment, the place is tossed, there’s blood everywhere, and they realize False Face has her. Angelique is face to face with a very bloody member of False Face and Sionis tells her that’s what happens when you try to leave.
The Bat Team pings Angelique’s phone and gets her location. Real quick — remember when Batwoman could barely land on her feet? Well now she sticks each and every landing and it warms my heart every time. Members of False Face attack Batwoman, and Javicia Leslie shows us what bo staff training looks like in action. She did this entire fight herself and it was epic. The goons knock her out though and she comes to on a conveyor belt with a chainsaw attached, just like ye olde comics. She watches Sionis murder one of his own people as he explains, “it’s an HR matter, what are you, OSHA?” (LOLOL) Batwoman bargains for Angelique’s freedom, and the two banter about changing the system. Ryan’s doing her best with what she has, but Sionis tells her that her best isn’t good enough. How many times has Ryan been afraid of that very thing? Kate left a very large (and very white) shadow for her to step into and until recently, she was constantly reminded that she might be trying, but she wasn’t Kate. It was a “blink and you miss it” kind of line, but it hit me in a way that showed this show knows what it means to have a Black Batwoman.
“How many more evil white guys am I gonna have to take down?!”
Apparently Black Mask’s daughter was killed by Kate, so Ryan promises to find out what happened to his daughter if he lets her and Angelique go. As the chainsaw gets closer, Sophie arrives to save the day! She shoots some goons and stops the chainsaw before it tore her future girlfriend in two. They free Angelique and Batwoman instructs Sophie to protect her.
Back at Crows’ HQ, Angelique confesses everything. Despite Sophie’s best efforts at offering her a plea deal if she gave up the real murderer, Angelique takes the fall for a crime she didn’t commit.
Meagan Tandy face appreciation.
Sophie goes to the loft where Ryan is waxing poetic about how skilled of a drinker Jordan is, but Sophie isn’t there for her sister. She tells Ryan that Angelique confessed because Black Mask threatened to kill Ryan. I’m never going to applaud someone going to prison (abolition is now), but on some level, I think we needed to see Angelique make a move like this to prove her loyalty to the woman she claims to care so much about.
Javicia Leslie face appreciation.
Jordan appears in the loft and the Moore sisters bond over how broken the system is. I can only hope that a little sisterly prodding will get Crowphie to put the Crows behind her for good. They really gave Sophie a whole activist abolitionist sister and I cannot wait to see more of these two together.
“You mean to tell me ‘enemies-to-lovers’ is the most popular romantic trope and by trying to fight it I’ll probably end up falling into it?”
At Crows HQ, Julia calls someone to talk about the crash, but the man on the other end of the phone is confused because the two of them already had this conversation. Julia has no memory of it so did something happen to her memory? Was someone impersonating her? I don’t know but there was a mysterious third loader involved in National City and I. Have. Questions.
Alice isn’t the only one remixing songs in this episode. Ryan has put together her own take on Dua Lipa’s “New Rules” with her version of Bruce’s Bat code. #3: Support—they always have each other’s backs. #2: Accountability. #1: Legacy—they must stand for something bigger than themselves. It’s not just about taking down bad guys, even though that’s a big part of it; they’re going to help Jordan build a community center to stop crime in the city before it starts.
I can’t help but remember when Ryan first found the suit and insisted there’s a big difference between putting on the suit and wearing it. She was a Black child caught up in a system that failed her; a Black girl doing her best to survive; and a Black woman who didn’t think she was worthy of protecting anyone. She put on the suit, but she wasn’t wearing it. In the last few months as Batwoman, Ryan has proved that not only can she wear the suit, not only does she deserve to wear it, but she also understands just how important it is to be a hero without the suit on.
Okay I know it doesn’t say “gay” but it looks like it says “gay.”
Lest you have forgotten about our dear Alice, she and Fake Kate dig up what Alice assumed to be her dead cat, but who is alive and well. You see, this is an experience Alice has had before. When her emotions get too big and too hard to handle, Alice creates a world in her head that makes things easier to digest. She’s never actually had to deal with grief because her body and her mind protected her from that pain. But this pain is more than any she’s ever felt before and Alice isn’t ready to feel the rush of grief for her sister. So she decides to forget Kate ever existed. I don’t know why I’m surprised anymore, but the care with which these writers have approached grief this season is so beautiful. Grief looks different on everyone and every character connected to Kate has experienced their grief in a unique way. It makes sense that Alice, Kate’s twin, would feel this pain so deeply that she would completely dissociate. My heart breaks for her and I’m terrified to see how forgetting about Kate will affect Alice.
Sister, sister.
Also attempting to erase the memory of Kate from the world? Black Mask and a very attractive Enigma. Yes, that Enigma who wiped Alice and Ocean’s memories. She’s going to help New Face Kate say goodbye to the old Kate Kane.
That was a big, fun, and intense episode and have I mentioned how much I love Black women?! We’re off next week, but as always, drop a comment below with your thoughts!
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Seems like the writers are wasting no time with moving onto the new big bad. And whatever they have in store for Kate. And introducing Sophie’s never-before-mentioned little sister. Ah, the refreshing pace of a young series that still has room to grow.
—-
Commissioner Forbes: “It’s an elected position, sweetie. You don’t like me, run.”
_10 hours later_
Commissioner: (dead)
I guess there will be a special election in Gotham soon. Who could possibly fill the vacancy?
Sophie. It’s gonna be Sophie.
Just imagine – Commissioner Moore working with Batwoman, Sophie “working” with Ryan, c’mon, the fan-fics practically write themselves.
—-
Does anybody in the Crows lock their car and/or check the back seat before getting in? Seriously.
OH MY GOD COMISSIONER MOORE! Sweet lesbian goddess! I hope you are right and that’s where they’re going with this. 😍
I enjoyed so much of this episode, especially Sophie and Jordan’s sister dynamic.
And then I was so disappointed at the end of the episode when they introduced yet another disabled villain (because us disabled folks are always evil of course, especially if we have some kind of medical equipment or a mobility aid that can make an ominous “thwack” when we walk in to alert you to our evilness). Ugh, so tired of this.
Anyways, thank you for the great recap. “As a Batwoman… supporter…” LOL
Ryan and the Moore sisters sharing the screen was so damn good, Nic! I really hope that even as we stop being so shocked by multiple complex Black women with different thoughts and feelings in one non-Black Lightning place, that it will still feel this electric. I already love Jordan, and I’m thrilled to see how she helps push Sophie (and Ryan, to a lesser extent) even further onto the right track of questioning her affiliation to the crows and whether she can change them.
I cannot wait to see if it’s Crowphie’s growing distance from her job, or her growing trust with Batwoman and the team, or if it’s just Jordan’s persistence and Ryan’s cuteness that finally gives us Wildmoore but I believe that it will happen (and probs immediately get weird when Kate and he new face are revealed)!
Mary Hamilton remains the absolute best, as does her friendship with Ryan. And if I choose to interpret that friendship as a little starry-eyed and crush-esque on Mary’s end, well that’s my business.
Angelique may have gone to jail to protect Ryan this time, but I’m petty and so she’s still my last choice to be with Ryan. Her claiming that she’s never lied to Ryan when I’ve literally only seen her tell the truth first like twice wasn’t it. Plus she did Batwoman serious bodily harm???? Straight pushed her off a fire escape??? Ryan, baby girl, love yourself.
Alice…oof. I’m worried about how well she’s going to convince herself not to mourn or even remember Kate. I’m doubly worried for how much worse it’s going to break her when new-face, no-memory Kate emerges and she gets her sister back only to see the parts of her that are gone.
I’m choosing to trust that this show knows how vitally important it is that Ryan is our Batwoman. I’ve really enjoyed the way they toe the line between characters grieving and trying to honor her and still, usually, choosing to try to put one foot in front of the other. Whatever they do with Kate, and even with a whole mental reel of ways her return could undercut Ryan’s time, I believe that Ryan’s charm and her humor and her heart will still be top-billed.
* “Ryan wants her to snitch on the real killers and promises to protect her because she… knows Batwoman. Y’all, the breath I held when I thought she was about to reveal her identity.”
Silly, this is only Season Two. Your superhero identity gets ratted out to your girlfriend, by her brother, at the end of Season Four. }-X
* “Apparently Black Mask’s daughter was killed by Kate”
Anyone remember this, or is this…what? Mistaken identity? Some remote Batwoman-did-a-thing-which-did-a-thing-which-did-a-thing accident? Because I thought the only person BatKate killed, was Cartwright (who SO deserved it, even though Kate felt guilty after).
* “Yes, that Enigma who wiped Alice and Ocean’s memories.” And, pretty obviously, Julia’s too. [FTR, the second Julia said “why don’t I remember this?” on the phone, I screamed “Enigma!” (before we saw her at the end of the ep)]
* Also, FTR: I had a hunch that the show was going to ship Sophie & Ryan BEFORE S2 even debuted (that shot of MT&JL watching election returns was enough). Doesn’t mean I’m not going to see what I see, when I see Mary giving Ryan heart-eyes. Just (seein’ &) sayin’.
* I don’t suppose Sophie filled Jordan in on the “just lost the love of my life” thing? I feel a memory-hole moment coming on (and that Kate won’t show herself to Sophie, in any form, until Sophie has moved on, or nearly so. Ryan is her New Moon Rising).
* That goon murder (by Sionis/Black Mask) was WAY OTT. Really didn’t need to see that (Yes, the OSHA line was still funny).
* While I liked to see healthy Ryan taking out a bunch of goons, still didn’t like her turning her back (on the one who would KO her), anymore that we are STILL stuck w/ the Worst of All Action Cliches’: getting into a car w/o checking the backseat!
* LOL, Young (Imaginary) Kate looked to be days-hours-minutes away from crew-cutting her own hair (as we butches are wont to do! ;-) ). Man, Alice can’t catch circumstantial break, only a mental one.
* I apologize for impugning Julia: it doesn’t look like she’s covering up anything—only that her mind was covered up from itself.
* Yes, we all know that, in real life, crime- (or rather, criminality-)preventing is the REAL heroism. But this is “Batwoman”. There is long-term danger (I know the show has already been renewed for S3) if they forget that. I really want to see this show (esp w/ JL as BW) succeed…
I’m so nervous about Kate coming back but MY GOODNESS if this show keeps surprising me in all the best ways! It was wonderful to see Ryan do the “I thought you had my back” thing again but this time recognize that her team was trying to hold her accountable; it’s a relief to see that dynamic shift from “you wish I was Kate” to “you trust me but that doesn’t mean you have to agree with me always.”
LOVE to meet little Moore!!!! Of course she’s an abolitionist!!!!!!!! I also appreciate having the opportunity to roll my eyes at Crowphie but also love & respect her / be excited for her plot arcs. Last season they really put her in a position to be wildly hated by fans and I did not appreciate it. Meagan Tandy deserved better and I’m so glad she’s getting it – especially taking up the screentime Dad Kane does not need.
If this show has done all of this incredible writing and commitment to their Black Batwoman only to unseat Ryan, I will maybe give up on television entirely.
OMG when Jordan told Ryan exactly what I’ve been saying here in the comments about batwoman being ultimately another suit!!! (I mean batwoman had been especially self righteous with her “you’re off the hook, you’re lucky”… What did Jordan do to deserve that comment? Is batwoman referring to the graffitis? I’m not surprised Crowphie would chide jordan for those, but ryan, really? ) And then jordan explains how she adresses problems at the root, and ultimately ryan decides to help! Love it!!!
And honestly the writing team is really setting a precedent here. They’re showing that you can take the difficulty of the lead actor leaving a show to re-center the show on a more marginalized character, without having to kill of the other character and while maintaining the continuity. There was a risk that season 2 and beyond would feel like a completely different show when watched in a row, but they did a good job of give ryan backstory with the previous supporting characters (the wonderland gang killing her mom, which gives her common grounds with Mary, and a personnal vendetta with alice, and then her past trials with the crows and Sophie) and I think not killing kate also helps, which ultimately makes Ryan more solid as the new lead- they’re not making it seem like whoever wears the cowl is disposable. I’m imagining Kate will be a very different person and in no position to take the cowl, she might even be a villain (let’s look at what happened to alice after her encounter with enigma). I dont really know but it’s exciting and the bat-team is so lovable.
What a great series of character moments for Sophie. Truly amazing. Loved Jordan so much too!
1) How has Sophie not figured out Ryan is Batwoman yet. How?! She knows Ryan’s history with Angelique, she saw Batwoman’s reaction to the description of Angelique’s bracelet, AND she gave that bracelet back to Ryan herself!!!!! Come on girl!! Put it together!!!!
2) Sophie commanding the room was H.O.T!!!!
3) Her face when Jordan said she accepted her really tugged at my heart. Oof.
4) Since Sophie knows the enemies-to-lovers trope, are we meant to believe she reads fanfic!!?!?!? What kinds of fanfic do we think Sophie would read?!?
I genuinely love Javicia Leslie as Ryan Wilder/Batwoman and I really like how the show highlights institutional racism and police brutality. Loved Jordan Moore and I am super-interested where they will be going with her character and the community center.
What they are doing with Kate Kane – not loving it at all. I appreciate them not doing the “Bury Your Gays”-trope, but setting Kate up as a potential next villain or, alternatively, a victimized person too traumatized to be Batwoman is just terrible. Of course it is too early to tell what exactly they will be doing with/to her character, but already the face thing… ugh. If they had to recast, they should have just went with it, and not commented on the different looks, just like so many other shows. But the continued cutting off faces and sewing it on other people’s heads is absolutely overdone and ridiculous in this show (how many plot lines did they have with it? How many times was this already employed?), and I find it disempowering that this is the route they have chosen for Kate.
I am all for it that Javicia Leslie/Ryan Wilder remains Batwoman. It is truly awesome to have a Black Batwoman!
Having said that, I really miss butch representation. It was so very rare to see a character like Kate Kane, always wearing jackets and shirts over her chest, having short hair, and not only formfitting, tight clothes, as opposed to how most actresses are shown in movies and on TV. It was also super-nice that Ruby Rose as a non-binary person played that role. This was the only time I saw myself (somewhat) represented on TV (minus the thinness and the tight pants).
I want to be very clear that there is nothing wrong with Javicia Leslie/Ryan Wilder wearing belly tops, necklines and short dresses. It is just that I hardly ever see a lesbian character on TV who does not have long hair and is presented feminine. Kate Kane was the only character on TV I am aware of who did not fit this current representation of a feminine long-hair lesbian. Even in the L Word Generation Q with lesbians/queers having short hair, they are still “feminine enough.”
Now every lesbian character on Batwoman has long hair and is feminine. Again, there is nothing wrong with being a feminine lesbian with long hair. This used to be me. But it is a pity that there is such a narrow representation of lesbians/queers, and how they can look like.
So basically, I wish Ryan Wilder was more butch, and I would love to see Black and Women of Color butch representation, someone like Lola Flash or Meg Allen.
Batwoman ratings:
Season 1:
Episode 1: 1.86m – Pilot
Episode 2: 1.45m
Episode 3: 1.22m
Episode 4: 1.29m
Episode 5: 1.16m
Episode 6: 1.09m
Episode 7: 1.01m
Episode 8: 1.01m
Episode 9: 1.71m (Crisis tie-in followed by a month-and-a-half break)
Episode 10: 790k
Episode 11: 670k
Episode 12: 850k
Episode 13: 820k
Episode 14: 750k
Episode 15: 750k
Episode 16: 770k
Episode 17: 630k
Episode 18: 640k
Episode 19: 700k
Episode 20: 740k
Season 2:
Episode 1: 660k – Premiere
Episode 2: 620k
Episode 3: 708k
Episode 4: 509k
Episode 5: 493k
Episode 6: 460k
Episode 7: 550k
Episode 8: 540k
Episode 9: 440k (preliminary)
Bombgirls! I knew I recognized him from somewhere!
Anyway, I loved everything about this episode!! Jordan working her acceptance into the conversation made me teary. My sister, my favorite person in the world, and I only this summer really processed my coming out to her years and years ago. She’s been accepting for so long, but it wasn’t easy for her initially, and we finally had the “so, remember when it was hard for you? is there anything that still makes you uncomfortable?” conversation and it was so healing for both of us.
I agree that Angelique needed to do something to show us as viewers that she can stick up for Ryan. I’m team Sophie all the way (they have so much more chemistry, and I’m a sucker for enemies to lovers) but I like that with Angelique we have a connection to Ryan’s past and the tension that comes from that.
Also “as a batwoman… supporter” made me CACKLE. Nic, your caption game is unbeatable.