Batwoman (2×09) Rule #1 Review

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

Synopsis: Batwoman confronts Gotham’s biggest foe, while new information forces those closest to Kate to make some difficult decisions. Ryan’s feelings for Angelique puts her partnership with Luke and Mary at risk, while Alice goes on a warped walk down memory lane. (TVGuide)

The Kate Kane saga is not yet over, folks. At this point, I can’t help but ask is Ruby Rose sure she doesn’t want to just pop back in? We got so close to the end of the Kate Kane storyline, but of course, upon its supposed conclusion, the series reminds us that they’re going to continue as relentlessly as they have been.

Rule #1 kicks off with Kate Kane’s “funeral” with Mary, Jacob, Luke, Sophie, and Julia saying their final farewell. Ryan is not present with the rest of them but is instead hanging back at the Batcave where she’s writing Kate a letter explaining her thoughts and feelings about the loss of Kate. She doesn’t really have any way to honor him, per se, so she dedicates the Desert Rose plant to Kate. It’s a big honor considering that plant has also been dedicated to her mother.

About a month after the funeral, we learn that Ryan has been Luke and Mary’s support through their grief. That doesn’t come as a shocker whatsoever because that’s been her role ever since she stepped into the Batsuit. I’m starting to feel bad for this girl as well as the actress who is so deserving of her own storyline sans Kate Kane but for some reason the writers haven’t given her that opportunity yet. Meanwhile, we meet the False-Face Gang who assassinate the police commissioner of Gotham City. DC Comics fans may be pleased to see someone interesting alongside the False-Face Gang. Roman Sionis, aka Black Mask!

As it turns out, there was a young woman who saw the commissioner’s murder go down, and it just so happens to be the same woman who was dismissed by him when she tried to question his intentions about the matters he was choosing to focus on. She ends up being important because naturally the footage of the commissioner’s murder is erased, and she ends up being the whole witness to the whole thing. Mary’s tech-savvy skills help her locate the woman through social media.

Because Batwoman loves to “up the ante” we learn that the woman in question is actually Sophie, yes our Sophie’s younger sister, Jordan (Keeya King). She’s not exactly a big fan of the C.R.O.W.S. but needs her sister’s help to keep away from the authorities. When asked about how everything went down, Jordan reveals that while everyone was wearing masks she did notice that the driver was wearing a bracelet. It doesn’t take long for Batwoman to put two and two together and realize that the bracelet belongs to Angelique. Of course, it would be Angelique! When Ryan finally confronts Angelique about it, she learns that it was what Angelique had to do in order to leave the False-Face Gang. She had no idea it involved actually killing the commissioner, so that counts for something?

Ryan is hoping to get through to Angelique but saying she knows Batwoman and can get her help, but Luke and Mary aren’t on board with this plan. They don’t exactly trust her, and it doesn’t help that Kate had a propensity to try and save those that cannot be saved as well. The hope here is that Batwoman will help Angelique see the right path to take, but before she can do much of anything, Black Mask kidnaps her proving that there aren’t many options for her to get out of this mess.

Angelique’s location is tracked down by Team Batwoman but the gang is overwhelmingly large, and they quickly chain Batwoman up before she can do much harm. While she’s chained up, the Black Mask reveals why he doing all of this to being with. The C.R.O.W.S. had arrested his daughter and apparently, the other Batwoman killed her. It’s not really a good reason to kill innocent people, but something tells me the Black Mask doesn’t give a crap about that.

Sophie shows up in the nick of time and saves Batwoman (again), and they track down Angelique who now promises she will share whatever she knows about how the commissioner’s murder went down. But there is a plot twist here when Ryan finds out that Angelique takes the blame for the commissioner’s murder because the Black Mask threatened to kill Ryan if she didn’t cooperate. Jordan is naturally fed up with how the system is rigged from the inside (and thinks Batwoman needs to go as well), and it looks like her dear sister Sophie is finally starting to understand the people she’s been working for. Things with Alice are a bit wonky during this week’s episode as she deals with the loss of Kate. She hallucinates through the entire episode, seemingly having a psychotic break. Her solution? Just pretend Kate never existed. Not sure how well that’s going to go.

Time and time again, everyone on this show doesn’t want to believe their loved one is actually dead, and this time around, it seems like that isn’t the most ridiculous thing ever since Kate has been kidnapped by the Black Mask.

Seriously, can we be done with Kate Kane, now?

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