BATWOMAN 2.5

 

RECAP:  BATWOMAN 2.5:  "Gore On Canvas"

We're getting some little plot twists and turns on this show, and I'm liking it.  This season of Batwoman has hit the ground running, rather than having to take the time to find its footing.  It KNOWS where its footing is at, it just needed to walk before it could run.  But the cast has settled in, and I'm very intrigued by the story being told, and how all the players on the board are moving about.  

This week, we had a focus on two major plot points:  Alice's search for Ocean, and her connection to him....and the hunt for the Jack Napier painting.  The Napier painting has drawn attention, because not only is it the only painting from Jack Napier AKA The Joker, but it also contains a secret map to Coryana underneath the blood spattered masterpiece The Clown Prince of Crime left us.  So, Jacob is on the hunt for it, even going so far as to talk to his stoolies on the street about its whereabouts, only to be confronted by a man who's also looking for it....who kills Jacob's stoolie.  Batwoman intervenes, and---much to Jacob's dismay---takes off with the assailant to pump HIM for information about the whereabouts of the painting herself.  She also makes sure to take a dig at Jacob and the Crows, reminding him of the graffiti on the wall:  "ALL CROWS ARE BASTARDS".   PR work is apparently needed for The Crows.  Ryan and Luke disagree and just how to pump the assailant for info on the whereabouts of the paining, as well as getting info on how to find Kate.  

Meanwhile, Ryan herself is mending bridges with Angelica...her former girlfriend (soon to be again?), about how Angelica was back in the day.  Angelica IS concerned about Ryan's shoulder wound, and urges her to get it looked at, but Ryan insists that she can't afford time off for an injury.  Meanwhile, we got Sophie and Jacob trying to question Kate's old art friend Evan about what he might know about the Napier painting, and he gives them the brush as well.  Sophie thinks they should ask Batwoman for help.  Sophie and Batwoman meet, but it isn't pleasant at all.  Batwoman agrees that it's a one-time deal, and only because of Kate, and that Sophie admits that Kate is the love of her life.  All the while, we got SOMEONE spying on THAT conversation.  Ryan is still not thrilled with working with them, but Luke and Mary feel it's one of the ways that could possibly help them get the painting and get Kate back.  Ryan recalls her story about how she got busted with Angelica's drugs, who had left her high and dry.  And how the Crows treated her.  This also allows Luke to open up about how they were responsible for the death of his father Lucius.  It seems that for the first time, we see Ryan and Luke finally start tearing the walls down between them a bit. 

While Team Batwoman plans out a way to get to the painting from this underground art show, having gotten the info that the painting and Coryana are connected, Alice has been in pursuit of Ocean, and manages to track HIM down at a bar.  After some light conversation, she again as a memory of he and her, and it was something familiar about him.  He leaves the bar, and she follows, only to be knocked out by him.  He ties her up, and they talk about why she's after him.  She tells him that Safiyah wants him dead, and HE reveals that she is his sister.  He did try to kill Alice, but when he touched her, he got hit with a memory of her as well.  Turns out, Ocean was being followed, and his sister's assassins come after him, so Alice and he escape, and hit the road before they are followed.  

Ryan arrives at the art show, bringing a Batarang as a way in, but gets held up by Evan at the door.  Out of nowhere, Angelica arrives to vouch for her, and she's in.  Angelica has plans of her own, though, much to Ryan's dismay.  But Ryan sticks to the job, and she gets to the painting.  She manages to smudge her fingers on it enough to get a sample of it to have Luke verify it.  All of the sudden, the event is under an attack from the masked guy we saw underneath the roof listening in on Batwoman and Sophie---a man named Wolf-Spider.  There's chaos in the building, and soon Batwoman comes face to face with the thief.  They fight it out a little bit, but Batwoman's injury causes her to lose focus a bit.  The Spider flees, and Batwoman takes a beat to recover, and then is hot on his tail, but she informs Sophie that he booked.  A Crow vehicle is on him, and then runs him down, nearly killing him.  They grab the case that the painting is in, and take off....leaving the Spider for dead.  Batwoman arrives, and tends to him...only to unmask him and find out that it's Evan.  

Batwoman is pissed, and tells Sophie in no unreleated terms that THEIR partnership is DONE.  Even though the two Crows members were fired, it's not enough for Batwoman.  Mary tends to Evan, who will recover, and advises him on finding better ways to help Kate....since THAT is why he suited up to begin with...to get the painting to get HER back.  It turns out, however, the painting was a forgery, because the blood on it was pig's blood---and NO WAY The Joker would use pig's blood.  

And WHERE is this painting, by chance?  Well...it just so happens that the two fugitives on the run from Safiyah's assassins have it, as Ocean reveals a case to Alice that has the painting in it.  She then has another memory of him....but this one shows that they were romantically involved.  

I really liked this episode.  It had good pacing, some more background on both Ryan, Angelica, and even Evan.  It also shows that despite ALL of Jacob's desire to do good in Gotham...the Crows have a SERIOUS PR nightmare...and it DIDN'T get better this week with the two agents who left Evan for dead after running him over.  Ryan's distrust because they busted her without probable cause continues, and she isn't fond of Sophie, because Sophie herself has run Ryan in on several occasions without a real reason.  Even Evan stonewalls Sophie and Jacob because of how they handle things.  For supposedly being the GOOD GUYS....they totally SUCK at it---and Sophie is going to have to make a choice at some point---stay the course and TRY to change it from the inside?  Or walk away?  

Ryan and Angelica mending fences is good to see...but will Angelica be able to STAY on the straight and narrow?  Her own past is black-marked, and will Ryan be enough to save her from going over the cliff?  For now, we at least see Angelica TRYING to make an effort to reconnect with Ryan.  And with tonight's revelations between the two...has the ice melted a little more between Luke and Ryan?  Luke is still holding out hope for Kate, but Ryan is TRYING to make Batwoman work for HER.  She is trying to feel comfortable in someone else's skin...and it's not easy for her.  While she has had Mary's support, Luke is the harder sell, because he just sees her as a fill-in.  And as for her injury....that little Kryptonite wound is getting WORSE by the day, and it's becoming a liability.  How much longer can she think she can get away with hiding it from Mary and Luke before it costs her in the field?  Pride only goes so far....

And apparently, Alice and Ocean's relationship goes much deeper that we could ever realize, and what IS it with this connection they have, where all they have to do is TOUCH each other, and they get these flashbacks?  And what does Ocean having the Napier painting do for him?  Is this his leverage against his sister , which is a big reveal in itself, and what does he hope to gain from it?  And how long will Alice ride with him until she makes her OWN move?  Curious to see where THIS relationship goes.  

Again, we're getting more questions, but were also getting some fairly solid storytelling that isn't dragging the show down.  IT's all steady, and entertaining.  I'm invested, and not bored.  

What did  YOU all think of this week's edition?  Subscribe and leave a comment below.

Until next time....the signal is OFF.