At the clinic, we see that Nora successfully made it out of ACE and is in the care of Dr. Hamilton while Alice putzes around in the background. The putzing doesn’t last though, but Alice appears next to Nora and threatens to slit her throat if Mary doesn’t take the nanobites out of her. Nora throws a wrench into Alice’s plan and doesn’t care if she kills her because the last thing she wants is to be trapped again.
Once Alice leaves, Mary apologizes for her, but Nora sees Alice and understands better than anyone that Alice has been trapped for her entire life and just wants her freedom. We’ve seen Alice physically held hostage by her captor and by the GCPD, and now we’re seeing her held prisoner by her mind. All she wants is to exist on her own terms for the first time since she was 13 years old, and I really hope that happens for her. Try as you might, show, I refuse to see Alice as the villain!
Back in the Batcave, Sophie is on comms!! She’s checking on Ryan and begs her to stay awake. Her tactic? Queer processing, obviously. Y’all, the way I leaped off my couch when Sophie said, “Where do we stand? You and me.” Like oh, we’re doing doing this right now as Ryan freezes to death. Cool cool cool. Sophie’s hurt because when Ryan needed tactical help finding her mother, Sophie was right there for her doing the dirty work, but when it came to the emotional part, Ryan went right to the Batteam instead. Sophie has layers, y’all, and she wants Ryan to peel back each and every one to learn exactly who she is. Meanwhile, Ryan is literally dying of hypothermia but is upset to learn that she hurt Sophie’s feelings. This is the gayest shit, I swear…
Ryan starts to ask what Sophie wants her to know, but starts to drift off. Batwing shows up just in time to save Ryan while Sophie screams at literally anyone to give her an update. This woman is going THROUGH it, but she physically relaxes as soon as she learns Ryan is okay.
You can tell Sophie is more relaxed because as Batwoman and Batwing chase the goons in the Batmobile, she’s chillin’ in the Batcave without her jacket on. Guns out. Just…looking like that. Ryan calls Sophie clever for the tactics she used to keep her awake and talking, and Luke ASKS RYAN OUT LOUD IF SHE’S FLIRTING WITH SOPHIE. Ryan tries to deny it and Sophie reminds them that the comms are still on, but she looks genuinely SO HAPPY about the conversation happening in that car.
And then the bad guys blow up a section of the bridge, and I assume Ryan is going to have to Spice Bus this situation, but instead Luke freezes the open area and Ryan drives right through. She tries to get Sophie to admit that was a badass move, but all Sophie gives back is, “it was interesting.” Ryan smirks and delivers one of the sexiest lines I’ve ever heard on this show: “Woman, you are hard to please.” And what goes unsaid is that despite that, Ryan is going to keep trying to please her. THE SMIRK ON SOPHIE’S FACE, Y’ALL.
I know I say this a lot, but I’ve been watching TV for a very long time. It wasn’t until very recently that I started seeing myself represented in that TV. And I don’t just mean shows inserting queerness and Blackness as it suits them. I’m talking about those small moments that capture what it means to be Black and to be queer. There’s a scene in the movie Girls Trip that I think back on a lot, where the four friends are in their hotel room getting ready for bed, and during the process they’re all wrapping up their hair. But it’s not a conversation; it just happens. Supergirl did something similar, in an episode directed by Azie Tesfai, where Kelly spent several minutes quietly just existing as a Black woman in her space.
And now, we get Ryan and Sophie overtly flirting with each other and it almost seems silly to give this much time and space in a recap to what amounted to maybe 60 seconds of on-screen interaction. But I remember a time when we’d look for every crumb of evidence to prove that Brittany and Santana were into each other. And even when queerness on network TV became more overt, it rarely involved Blackness in a way that wasn’t tragic or painful. Ryan didn’t hesitate before flirting with Sophie even after Luke called her out. It was smooth and deliberate and like I said, sexy as all hell. This might be hella corny, but I’m just glad we get to have a show that celebrates and showcases multiple parts of Blackness and queerness; it matters.
Also the team saves Dee and the bad guys get away.
For some reason, Alice is seemingly back in Arkham or at least hallucinating being back in Arkham? She sees the nanobites crawling under her skin and wonders what the heck is going on with her.
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Back in the Batcave, Ryan’s shelving the freeze canister when Mary comes in and tells her the truth about why Luke seems to have figured out the Batwing suit. She admits she shouldn’t have cleared him because he’s showing signs of PTSD from being shot. Ryan confronts Luke, but he insists he’s okay before walking out, clearly pissed at Mary.
At The Hold Up, Sophie is in a Black hoodie with the sleeves rolled up and I am super duper gay. She goes over to where Ryan is sitting, and Ryan tells her about Marquis’ plan to work together. Again, Sophie asks Ryan what it is that she wants. And because Ryan paid attention to what Sophie said earlier, she opens up. She admits that she wants all of the little things that come with having a mom. Sophie reminds her that it’s Jada’s loss. Ryan knows that having Jada as an enemy will put everyone she cares about at risk, and she has to put the team first.
Meanwhile, Dee and Nora are in the park and Mary gives Nora meds to get her through the next few days. Despite Dee’s feelings, Nora is perfectly content experiencing her life in the moment, no matter how much time she has left.
As Mary walks away though, a curious set of vines snake toward her, wrap around her ankles and pull her into the hedges! Me thinks Poison Ivy is afoot, y’all!!!!!
Next week, Sophie maybe comes to terms with her feelings for Ryan?!?! WILDMOORE HIVE, WE RIDE AT 9PM NEXT WEDNESDAY!