BATWOMAN 2.13

 

RECAP - BATWOMAN  2.13:  "I'll Give You A Clue"  

The Scarlet Knight sure has a hard time keeping a secret.  And try as she might...she wasn't able to do so against the one person she can't stand, but has had no choice but to work with from time to time:  Sophie Moore.  Ryan Wilder has made no secret to her dislike of the member of the Crows....who has, on more than one occasion, judged Ryan the wrong way.  But this week forced the two to work together again---and this time...there was no avoiding what had been building up the last few weeks.  Meanwhile, Alice goes through the Black Mask torture test, and makes a surprising discovery.  And Jacob Kane continues to fall down the Snake Bite well...and there doesn't seem to be any way to get him back. 

This episode focused primarily on Sophie, as we opened this installment with her from a few years back as a rookie Crow talking to a prisoner named Arthur Brown, who went by the name the Cluemaster.  Turns out, he had been pissed off that a game show had dumbed down the questions for the contestants, so he decided to blow up the contestants and the game show itself.  However, Sophie managed to put the intricate clues that Cluemaster had left, solved his puzzle, and thus had been captured by Sophie. He wanted to now just HOW she solved his puzzle, and she reminded him he had the rest of his life to figure it out.  We jump ahead a few years, and Sophie is celebrating the anniversary of her promotion to field agent of the Crows with Mary.  Batwoman, on the other hand, is still hunting down Black Mask, and taking down False Face punks when she runs into Agent Tavarov.  She lectures them about doing their job, all the while ensuring that she uses her baton to shoot out a zipline and escape.

Speaking of escaping, while all this was going on, Cluemaster had made HIS escape from prison and is now on the loose.  Back with Sophie and Mary, Ryan stumbles into them when she gets home.  As she and Mary are getting drunk in celebration, Ryan's a bit taken aback, but soon joins in on a little game of "Never have I ever", while consuming the contents of the celebratory bottle given to Sophie as a gift.  Unfortunately, they soon discover that the liquor was poisoned, and they have to figure out how.  Sophie receives a clue with it labelled "hotshot".  With some thinking, they take the bottle and manage to find the symbol of two guns on it.  They soon come to the conclusion that this is Cluemaster exacting his revenge on Sophie for all those years ago.  This was just part one of his trap for her.  They now had to follow the clues to discover his plan.  

In tracking down the next clue, Sophie admits to Ryan and Mary that she never actually solved the case---she got an anonymous tip about Cluemaster's activities, and she took the credit to save the person who provided the clues to capturing him.  She felt ashamed being out in the field as an agent because of it, but she did it to protect the person who solved the puzzle.  She admits to Ryan that she CAN keep a secret.  It's Sophie's little subtle way of testing the waters as to whether or not she can tell Ryan she knows she's Batwoman.  They get to a clearing where they find boxes with different animals on them.  They must put the clues in the right order to complete their next task:  freeing Cluemaster's daughter, Stephanie Brown.  The trio managed to do the trick, but must now shoot the targets in the correct order so that they can unlock the clear box Stephanie is trapped in.  Despite being inebriated, Sophie's marksmanship pays off, as they free Stephanie from her box.  It turns out that Stephanie had been the one to tip Sophie off about her father's crimes, and Sophie protected her from her father finding out.  Stephanie knows that he's not done trying to get revenge on Sophie.

Back at Ryan's, Luke arrives, and he and Stephanie---after some nerd flirting---start trying to crack the next puzzle her father left.  They discover his next puzzle is at the old studio where the gameshow he watched and plotted to destroy used to be filmed.  It is here that Ryan and Mary step on a pressure plate loaded with C-4, and will blow unless they answer the quiz.  With all three women having passed his test, he then gives Sophie the ultimate puzzle: she has to die.  With Ryan and Mary stuck on the plate, Sophie has 45 minutes to diffuse the bomb.  It's at this desperate moment that Sophie tells Ryan she knows she's Batwoman, and that she needs her help in assisting in their escape.  Ryan hesitates, but she then tells Sophie to go to Wayne Enterprises, and get into the Batcave, and grab her baton.  Sophie is off in a hurry.  Ryan is upset that Sophie knows, but Mary tells her that she was the one to risk Batwoman's ID for Angelique, and that Sophie isn't like the Crows.  Ryan wishes Mary would talk to her about things, and that's when Mary fesses up that her dad is on Snake Bite, and she found out because of Sophie. At this time, Sophie grabs the baton, and races back, as Ryan uses it to fire a zipline to help her and Mary off the plate, as it explodes.  All three women survive.  

Back at Ryan's, Luke and Stephanie have figured out Cluemaster's next move, but before they can go further, Stephanie knocks Luke out, and prevents him from going after Cluemaster.  Stephanie meets her father alone, and tells him that she was the one who solved his puzzle, and told Sophie.  She didn't want to grow up like him.  He then takes her out with knockout gas, and then plans to kill them both in a locked car..  Luke arrives in time to rescue her before she dies.  With the threat of her father over, as he's taken away in the ambulance, Luke tells her how he figured out where she was going.  She decides to take off for now, but knows Luke will call her eventually---he'll figure out her phone number.  Back at the bar, Ryan and Sophie finally have that heart-to-heart.  Sophie tells her how she found out she was Batwoman, and that she had erased the DNA sample from the system before they got a hit and discovered Ryan's criminal file.  It looks like both women have come to a truce on the matter.  

Alice had a different experience this week, as Black Mask was going to put her through the wringer in order to get Batwoman's identity, so that he can kill her for killing his daughter.  Alice put up her usual fight...sarcasm and her usual brand of insanity.  She did manage to break free of the torture device they set her up in, and tried calling her father, but Jacob is so doped up on Snake Bite, that he's in his imaginary world where he's seeing both his girls on a swing set, and brushes Alice off.  She's knocked out by "Sersi", and before Black Mask decides to put an end to her, she rattles off that she knows he's Roman Sionis.  And that the woman must be Sersi.  But she remember's Sersi being trampled in the Arkham breakout.  But she also takes this moment to play her ace:  she can fix "Sersi's" face, since she's done skin grafts.  This intrigues Roman, so he let's her get to work.  What Alice tells "Sersi", however, is that there is no way she survived---she herself trampled on Sersi when the Arkham breakout occurred.  But she carries on nonetheless.  But there's one problem:  Sersi had dark eyes, and this woman has blue...in fact, Alice immediately recognizes those eyes as belonging to her father---she's found Kate!  

This episode shed a little more light into Sophie's past, but it also gave us backstory for the villain of the week in Cluemaster....who's just a poor man's Riddler.  However, that aside, it FINALLY brings Stephanie Brown into the Arrowverse.  Those familiar with the comics know Stephanie as a heroine called The Spoiler, before she eventually took over the role as Robin.  Make no mistake, she WILL be back, as do I suspect the Cluemaster down the road.  The little flirtation between Steph and Luke was cute, and gives him someone to look forward to down the road.  

This episode also looked like it was beginning to thaw the ice between Sophie and Ryan.  With Sophie now knowing she's Batwoman, it's going to be an adjustment for Ryan...and there's still some road to hoe before these two are simpatico...but I think tonight served as a good start for these two to start trusting each other.  Ryan was disappointed that Mary didn't come to her with her problem about her dad, but Mary did finally realize that her father is in trouble and an addict.  She feels guilty for pushing him away, but he's also done that himself over the last few weeks with his actions.  But with Sophie in the fold---and trust us---she is, it's going to strengthen the team.  The only wrinkle will be getting around Agent Tavarov, who's just looking for the big bust to promote him to the top spot where Sophie is. But having an ally on the inside is a benefit for Batwoman...and I know Sophie won't betray that trust.

Looks like Alice managed to out Roman Sionis as Black Mask---she's a clever girl.  But I can appreciate the moment that...when she was in deep trouble...she reached out to her father.  I find that interesting...especially knowing Mary...but since Batwoman left her to her own fate, that would be the LAST person she calls....so Dear Old Daddy is it.  But Jacob is so far gone now, that he'd rather live in his fantasy, than to face reality.  Her huge discovery about "Sersi" will lead to quite  an interesting story---how does she save Kate?  Or DOES she save Kate?  Or CAN she save Kate?  Kate is brainwashed as being Sersi now, we're not sure that Kate Kane can be salvaged.  And will Alice manage to tell anyone about what she knows?  Will she tell Mary, Luke, Ryan, and Sophie?  This bombshell will probably be kept under wraps for now, but I'm hoping for the big reveal before the end of the season.

Well, kids---what did YOU think of this week's installment? We're you stoked to see the first appearance of Stephanie Brown to the Arrowverse mythos?  How are you all feeling now that Sophie has told Ryan she knows she's Batwoman?  And what about Alice discovering that not only is Roman Sionis Black Mask, but that his "daughter" Sersi is really her sister Kate?  Gimme  your input by subscribing and dropping a comment below.  

Until next time...the Signal is OFF!