After facing her first villain of the week, Batwoman is back to figuring out Alice’s situation. What a weird situation it is, too. This episode opens on the pleasant image of a bunch of bodies in a morgue. That would be an unsettling opening on its own, even without Alice cutting a square of skin from one’s leg. She’s been collecting skin from a bunch of morgues lately. That’s enough for Kate to stop waiting around for Alice to act. She goes after her directly, which means we get a fight scene right away. This is easily the strongest start to an episode we’ve had all season.
The fight scene is fun, with Batwoman attacking all of Alice’s henchmen from the shadows. It’s a good Bat-gimmick, and this series is using it at every opportunity. I only wish the scene wasn’t so dark. I know shadows are kind of the Bat family’s thing, but these scenes would be a lot more exciting if we could better see what’s going on. In any case, Batwoman captures her sister and gets some answers out of her. That’s right, it’s Alice backstory time.
Elizabeth Anweis as Catherine Hamilton-Kane and Nicole Kang as Mary Hamilton — Photo: Jean Whiteside/The CW
Before this, the flashbacks were awkwardly placed. They were overlong explanations of backstory that killed the pacing of the episode. Here, they work. We’re hearing the story directly from Alice. It’s not just that it’s information we’ve been wondering about all season. It’s because we’re learning it at the same time as Kate. We want to know just as much as she does. We end up looking forward to the flashbacks instead of rolling our eyes as they come up. As Kate and Alice drive she tells the story of what happened after the accident. Back when she was Beth, she woke up in a man’s home. He seemed kind enough and Beth got along with his son. Then, she sees on TV that the police are still looking for her. The man lied about contacting them. Caught in a lie, he dragged her to the basement, where she finds a face in a sink. Lots of skin stuff in this episode.
The son, it turns out, is Mouse, the person we learned Alice was looking for at the end of last episode. Mouse had an accident that disfigured his face. His dad was collecting skin to try and fix it. Yeah, I suppose that kind of trauma will definitely mess a person up. Still not clear where the Alice in Wonderland connection comes in. Kate has to wait a bit, though. Alice figures out that Kate is leading her dad to them and drugs her. She and Mouse are planning something for Gotham, and Alice doesn’t want Batwoman in the way. Fortunately for us, she still wants to finish her story. Only this time with Kate being the prisoner.
Ruby Rose as Kate Kane and Rachel Skarsten as Alice — Photo: Robert Falconer/The CW
The episode gets really sad here. Beth was able to sneak out of the basement and call her dad. The man caught her and threatened to kill anyone who comes looking for her. Jacob and Kate made it to the house, but the man convinces Jacob it was all a prank. Kate actually makes it into the basement, but Beth, fearing for her own and Kate’s life, doesn’t say anything. That’s rough. This episode is a clear high point for the series. It’s the most successful emotional reaction this show has drawn from me yet. As young Kate went to the basement, my heart was pounding. I hoped desperately that they would find her, even though I know that wouldn’t happen. Some seriously great directing in this scene.
It doesn’t even stop with that scene. Jacob and Sophie lose Kate’s tracking signal, but Jacob remembers the area and knows where they must be. He rushes to the house where he failed to find his daughter. This time, they come face-to-face. It’s a charged and incredibly sad scene. Jacob asks about Kate and Alice yells at him for always putting one daughter over the other. Alice may be the season’s big villain, but you really feel for her here. So much that it’s genuinely cathartic when Jacob yells at her and calls her Beth. It’s a genuine sigh of relief. Which is the perfect way to make us let our guard down. When Alice stabs her father, it’s a genuine shock. Yes, we should have all seen the moment coming, but Batwoman managed to surprise us with it nonetheless.
Dougray Scott as Jacob Kane and Meagan Tandy as Sophie Moore — Photo: Robert Falconer/The CW
Meanwhile in the basement, Sophie runs into an adult Mouse. He can still do the same voice changing trick he did as a kid. The fight scene is short, and we can’t see much, but with Mouse, that makes it even more tense and scary. By this point, the episode had packed so many surprises, I honestly didn’t know how it was going to turn out. Kate manages to pull out a minor victory though, saving her ex-girlfriend and capturing Mouse. With him as a hostage, Kate and Sophie are able to save Jacob’s life. If there is a bright side to this whole ordeal, at least Kate and her father are on the same page about Alice again. Kate may not have learned the full story, but we got an extra piece right at the end. It turns out Mouse is the one who convinced Beth to stay. He befriended her and gave her a book. Her only means of escape: Alice in Wonderland. Well, that certainly explains a lot.
This is the highest I’ve been on Batwoman all season. It gave us a tight, focused story where every scene felt important. It’s the first time the show’s had me sitting bolt upright on the couch, eagerly anticipating the next scene. We may not have seen a ton of superhero exploits tonight, but the show gave us a fantastic story. Even the scenes of Luke and Mary were fun, even if they didn’t contribute directly to the story. Mary learned that her mother faked evidence of Beth’s death, and shows up at Wayne Tower drunk and apologetic. She and Luke share a pizza and complain about Alice. They were fun comic relief scenes that gave us a much needed break from the tension of the main plot. I can only hope an episode this good represents the show finding its footing. That it can keep this momentum going next week and beyond.
Batwoman airs Sundays at 8 p.m. on The CW
Previously on Batwoman:
- Batwoman Season 1 Episode 4 Recap
- Batwoman Season 1 Episode 3 Recap
- Batwoman Season 1 Episode 3 Recap
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