Batwoman (1×17) A Narrow Escape Review

For our review of the last episode of Batwoman, click here.

Synopsis: Batwoman encounters a new challenge when an old villain resurfaces; Alice’s limits are tested. (TVGuide)

Batwoman is finally back after a month, and it did not disappoint. It was worth the month wait and gave us one of the season’s strongest episodes. It’s not so much what goes on throughout the episode as much it is about the reveal that happens towards the end of it. Well, it’s not necessarily a reveal rather than a very satisfying tease and Easter egg.

Directed by Vampire Diaries’ Paul Wesley, this week’s episode is all about picking up from Kate’s unexpected dark turn towards murder. You may recall that Kate murdered August Cartwright, who is basically responsible for all the horrible things that happened to her and her family. But this marks the first time Kate/Batwoman has actually taken someone’s life, and it’s taking a toll on her. So much so that she hangs up her Batwoman mantle and takes a hiatus from saving Gotham City. Kate doesn’t like this dark side of her, and feels she’s let herself but more importantly, Bruce down.

With Batwoman laying low, Gotham City has to contend with this week’s villain, aka The Detonator. And yes, it’s exactly like it sounds. The victims wake up to find they’re strapped to bombs with moments to live. However, they have the option of saving themselves and detonating a bomb elsewhere in the city, or being blown up themselves. Instead of putting on her Batwoman ensemble, Kate decides she’s going to be herself and try to tackle the Detonator. It doesn’t work out all that great, and sooner rather than later, Batwoman returns to help the city. Unfortunately, she’s not operating at full capacity, and the panic attacks seemingly take over her ability to do the job.

Of course, it would take someone from her own life for Kate to really snap out of it so after Jacob becomes one of the Detonator’s victims, she attempts to get it together. Along the way, she and Luke discover that the Detonator is none other than C.R.O.W.S. agent, Robles. But the plot thickens, folks! It turns out Robles was the man that killed Lucius Fox, on the orders of Tommy Elliot (played brilliantly by Gabriel Mann in this episode). This is naturally enough to send Luke off the deep end and consider committing murder to finally avenge his father’s death. Luckily for him, Kate is there to walk him back from the ledge as she finally confesses that she killed Cartwright.

In the end, Jacob is saved, Robles is captured, and Luke realizes that even Batwoman isn’t immune from life’s unexpected, low moments. But it’s not him that needs that reminder. Kate is riddled with guilt for killing Cartwright, and just can’t get over how Bruce would have never done the same. Um, actually, he has, according to Luke. Ready for the episode’s biggest twist? Luke tells Kate that she isn’t alone in succumbing to the dark side, even Bruce has done some, ahem, things. Apparently, there’s a reason why they haven’t seen the Joker in as long as they have, and no, he’s not in Arkham Asylum. Um, did Batwoman just 1) confirm the Joker’s existence in the Arrowverse, and 2) imply that Batman has killed Joker in this universe? If that’s not one way to give us a huge shocker of a twist, I don’t know what is. We’ve been waiting to hear them even utter the Joker’s name in the Arrowverse–and now we have! So. exciting.

In other news, Team Batwoman seems to be growing as Mary is officially a part of the chaos now. She finally confronts Kate in this episode and tells her she knows she is Batwoman. Thank goodness they handled that sooner rather than later. We see Alice in the confines of Arkham Asylum this week, being put through some questionable procedures. it will be interesting to see where her story is going to take us now, and what this will mean for her relationship with Kate especially after the whole Cartwright situation.

Last but not least, we got to see more of Julia Pennyworth this week, who is swimmingly cozying up to Sophie. This won’t bode well for their romantic connection with Kate, but bring on the drama, especially since Julia is now joining the C.R.O.W.S. What will Kate think of this newfound friendship between her exes? And what is Alice up to? Hopefully, we’ll have answers to all our questions with the remaining episodes of the season (which has been cut short due to production being halted).

Until next week!

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