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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
