Weekly TV Reviews: Batwoman s2 ep10

 

Breaking news... and breaking bones.

Ryan continues her search through Gotham for Black Mask by taking out his crew and even giving a message to him via a news reporter. Jacob is knocked out by a man in a mask and has a trippy vision of the moment where he almost found Beth played out differently with him finding her only to wake up with needles in his arm. 

Ryan takes a moment to visit Angelique in prison and she shares about how she's helping get a community center running. In a Superman-Lois moment, Angelique appears to be jealous of Ryan being friends with Batwoman... unaware that they're one woman. The community center hits a snag with a reporter showing up to confront them about their lack of security which we sense will play a huge part going forward in the episode. As soon as we thought it, the center was attacked and quickly trashed with a man using a "lightning gun." 

1.) Make a Difference

The community center is targeted which puts a huge hitch in their plans to help and leads Ryan after the reporter as her number one suspect. Only he claims to be innocent and sets her on a different path where he reveals that he had evidence that got his editors to agree to a second look. This was right before a man with the lightning gun appears and attacks. One of the strengths of "Batwoman" has always been the desire to make a community difference and raise a voice to those that aren't being heard. Season two has built upon this thread to add more voices through Ryan's desire to make a difference that goes beyond just putting on the Batsuit. She's filling the void that Batwoman left in the city, but she's also putting her own hands to work to make it better more than just on the surface. 

She discovers that the attacker is a prisoner that has a solid alibi locked behind bars though she knows for a fact he's the guy. Ryan's search leads her back to Angelique for another attempt at convincing her to come clean and promises to protect her before going to Sophie with another attempt at getting her to help. Someone from the prison is letting out a prisoner to destroy community outreach programs in exchange for early release. 

2.) Partners in Unlikely Places

Enemies can make strange partners when Alice turns to Julia Pennyworth for help tracking down a woman with help erasing some of her memories. Any partnership with Alice isn't boring as she's unpredictable, impulsive, and psychotic with the performance being an embodiment of madness and brilliance. Alice shares a little more about her plans to erase Kate from her memories while this sparks Julia to discovering the person they're looking for is the doctor working for the Crows. Alice goes to the doctor's office where she finds a recorder of Jacob's session where he talked about failing to save her as a little girl. She's currently still determined to forget everything but nothing is ever easy in Gotham and this will either be inconvenient for her later or she will change her mind. Elsewhere, Julia has suddenly decided to take a job in Berlin. 

3.) A Guy that Doesn't Have a PhD

After Jacob's attack, he contacts a doctor that's an expert in the drug Snakebite and asks her for her knowledge on the drug so he knows what to expect. He finds some solace in sharing with the doctor about his failure to save Alice, losing Kate, and repairing the relationship he has with Mary. Since the pilot, he's struggled with a relationship with his daughters from discovering that Beth was Alice to his fights with Kate to eventually pushing Mary away. His guilt and obsession with finding one daughter have caused him to push away another in a repeated pattern of behavior that seems to be catching up to his conscience. Jacob receives a "visit" from a friend who delivers to him Snakebite that he "took" from an employee with the hopes that he would get rid of it. Failure to make it right with Mary sends Jacob right back to taking Snakebite where he relives the moment he wished he had saving Beth. 

The episode ends with Angelique on her way to protective custody and then getting kidnapped by Black Mask's masked men. 

Quotes:

"It's the age-old question really. If a lunatic throws a tantrum in the forest will anyone hear?" - Julia