BATWOMAN 3.1

 

RECAP - BATWOMAN  3.1:  "Mad As A Hatter"

Gotham City is about to have a new batch of crazies come to town, as some of the artifacts from Batman's gallery of villains were stolen by Black Mask, and unfortunately were NOT recovered after Batwoman's battle with him.  So, certain things are now out there for a new bunch of zanies to grab hold of, and start committing dastardly acts upon the dark city.  Can Team Batwoman recollect these weapons of destruction before Gotham is once again under siege?  Let's see what happens this week...

With various weapons used by Batman's former villains now out on the streets for anyone  to grab and use since the fall of Black Mask, it's been up to the Bat Team to track them down, and secure them before they cause trouble.  Howver, one they HAVEN'T gotten as yet is the hat of the Mad Hatter, which someone sees washed up on the shores of the Gotham River.  They take it, clean it up, and then sell it online.  It then gets sold, and they pack it and send it to a young man named Liam Crandle, who has an unhealthy obsession with Alice.  He knows what he has, and thus decides to embark on a new career as the new Mad Hatter, in order to impress his idol.  And while HE is about ready to launch himself upon the world, Batwoman and Luke are busy searching what appears to be an illegal mairjuana plant in search of Poison Ivy's mutated vine.  Some of it had already washed ashore and grew on the banks of the River but someone got possession of it, and now the Scarlet Crusader and her sidekick have tracked it down.  They do take down the baddies who have it, but not before Luke's suit frizzes out, and Batwoman has to save him.  With the canister in hand, they return to the Cave to put it safely away.  But they know more is out there.

Alice is still tucked away in Arkham, where she has been getting postcards from her dad, saying they he'll get her out, and they'll take off from Gotham forever. It helps fuel her hope that she'll get out of Arkham, though that's impossible to see at this juncture.  But, Mary goes to make the regular congical visit to Alice for their dad's sake, and Alice tells her that their dad has sent her postcards, which offsets Mary a bit.  Here she is, graduating Valedictorian from medical school, and it's Alice that's getting postcards from their father, while he hasn't really talk to her at all.  Alice also takes this time to prod Mary about Ryan's biological mother.  

While Mary is ready for graduation, and wanting to ensure that both Luke and Ryan will be there, she does bring up the whole bio-mom situation with Ryan, who says that Alice is just trying to pull their strings, and not to trust anything she says.  This DOES, in fact, rile Ryan up JUST enough, that she pulls Sophie aside, and talks to her about it, and asks her to do some digging...if only to prove that Alice is just lying.  Ryan doesn't want to tell Luke and Mary about it, because she isn't sure she wants to know herself.  When Sophie DOES do some digging, she does find something VERY intersting.

This new Mad Hatter is in the sewers blogging about the injustices done to Alice and those that are "different", when he's approached by two bullies with bad intent.  However, he manages to use the hat's tech in order to get control of both men, and has one kill his buddy.  He films the whole thing then takes off.  This eventually gets wind of not only the Bat Team, but of Renee Montoya, a former GCPD detective (played by Victoria Cartagena, who had originally played the role on Gotham), as she now heads up a special Task Force dealing with these special types of crimes with super-criminals.  The Mad Hatter incident makes her realize that this new threat might be the result of many more to come, and goes to the Mayor to get funding and assistance in tacklling not only this crime, but many more to come, if reports are true that some of Batman's villians' weapons are out on the streets somewhere.  

While Luke gives Ryan and Mary info on the original hatter, Jervis Tetch, and how his hat worked, Ryan tells him to see if he can find a way to jam the signal.  Meanwhile, she goes to see Alice, to find out what this new Hatter's next move is---and to see what her game is in regards to her mother.  And while Ryan says she saw her mother's death certificate, Alice continues to goad her and says that her mother lied and abandoned her.  Ryan wants her to focus, and Alice says that, from what it looks like...this new Hatter is planning his very own tea party.  Later on, after having been annoyed with Alice, and having Sophie do some digging, Sophie says that Alice is on the level.  The attending doctor was paid handsomely by her mother to keep the birth quiet.  The doctor that had signed the death certificate, also signed Ryan's birth certificate.  He was also stripped of his license , and there were 25 other patients the night Ryan was born.  The $2 million funnled to him was to keep a cyst operation quiet. Sophie hands her an envelope with the identity of her birth mother, and says if she wants to open it, it's up to her.

As for the Hatter and his tea party, it just happens to be Mary's graduation, and he ends up getting control of not only HER, but of the rest of the graduating class itself.  In much the same way Alice mainpulated Catherine Hamilton's speech back in Season 1 when she was getting an award, the Hatter pulled the same trick with Mary.  And then, to up the ante', dragged out the Dean, and had her operate on him, removing his organs one by one, until he dies, as a way to show that the medical industry isn't has honorable as it proclaims to be.  Ryan, Sophie, and Luke are in the crowd as this happens, and manage to put in earpieces that block out the mind control waves.  The only way Mary can break the mind control, is when she kills the dean.  So, Batwoman appears, and Sophis goes to help Mary, as the Hatter beats a hasty retreat.  Luke suits up, and places a dampener on the tower of the building, to help break the mind control, but his suit fails again, and the signal jammer shorts out.  The only way the Hatter stops his game, is for Alice to be set free.  So, Batwoman heads to Arkham to break Alice out.  Alice runs and hides in her cell, telling Batwoman to go away.  But Batwoman breaks in, and shows Alice that all the so-called "postcards" she had gotten were just figments of her imagination.  As much as she kept saying in therapy her father was coming to take her away, it isn't true.  It's just pieces of magazines Alice posted on the wall.  Her father can't come get her...he's in prison.  Batwoman needs Alice's help in stopping the Hatter.  

Mary is almost done removing all the organs, with the only think left being the vitals.  So, Sophie says that if she kills him, then she breaks the control, and she can shock him back to life and try and save him.  The Hatter then tells all the students to take their stethascopes and kill themselves with it.  As he tries to take off, he meets up with Alice herself.  He talks about how he's been a big fan, and how he's been honoring her, and that she isn't really crazy.  She tells him to stop killing the students, or they will give him reason to be called crazy.  So, he does.  This allows Mary to shock the Dean back, and save his life.  It also stops the rest of the students from killing themselves.  But for his "reward", Alice stabs him in the back, telling him that he should never meet his heroes.  He finally realizes Alice IS as crazy as they make her out to be. Alice thinks she gets to go free, as Batwoman had promised in order to get her to help her.  But Batwoman tells her that she really didn't think she was going to let her go.  

Mary finally gets to deliver her actual speech to Luke, Ryan, and Sophie.  Then Luke leaves to go work on the suit, and that's when Ryan comes up with his new name:  Batwing.  Sophie pulls Ryan aside, and Ryan gives her back the envelope, saying she already has a family, and she doesn't need to know the answers.  Sophie takes the envelope, and says okay.  Mary, meanwhile, gets a gift....her first doctor's coat with "Dr. Hamilton" inscribed on it....a gift from her sister Kate. 

Luke is frustrated with not being able to find out what's wrong with the suit, and swats away the helmet in frustration.  Howver, it activates, and there's the voice of his father in it, that he can communicate with.  

We see a helicopter land on a building, and it's businesswoman Jada Jet, who is accompanied by her son Marquis.  One of her assistants tells her that someone hacked into their systems to gather very personal info about ther.  And they traced it to Wayne Enterprises.  A little later, when the team is in Kate's old office, they're told that Jada wans a meeting with the acting CEO....who happens to be Ryan.  

Montoya is atop the GCPD with the signal on to call out to Batwoman.  When Batwoman arrives, she has the list of all the gadgets from Batman's villains that need to be recaptured before the city turns into a war zone.  Batwoman wonders how she got it, and it was from Alice, who cut a deal with Montoya in order to get her freedom.  Montoya wants them to work together to find these items, and Batwoman takes a hard pass.  But Montoya says that Batwoman has a choice....work with Alice, or hang up the cowl, as Montoya can expose her as Ryan Wilder.  So, Batwoman is forced into an unholy alliance with the person she hates the most. 

This season starts off pretty damn well, with a new Mad Hatter hitting the scene...and he's pretty diabolical.  He would've made Jervis Tetch proud.  The actor was just quirky enough, and really embraced the legacy of the character.  However, was small-time, so he wasn't going to last more than the episode as the threat.  But, he's just one of many, as now the villains' weapons are the McGuffins of the season, as the team must now get them back before more damage is done.  As it is, Mary's graduating class, her, and the dean, suffered for it....the dean more than anything.  I was pretty  amazed they allowed that kind of graphic scene to go on network television...but I was okay with it.  I thought it was cool that Kate is still a part of the show, even though she isn't there physically....as she gives Mary her first doctor's coat.  As for Alice---we see that she's still....well....Alice.  But we're also seeing the fact that she's somewhat moving past the hate on her dad, as she had these visions of him sending her postcards, saying that he'll break her out, and they'll take off.  But ALSO leave it to Alice to use all the leverage she has on Ryan and the team to get what she wants....even if it means working WITH Batwoman to secure her freedom.  Montoya wants these weapons off the streets, and she's willing to do whatever it takes---even if it means putting Ryan on the shelf as Batwoman to do it.  It's also great to have Renee Montoya a part of the Arrowverse, and we shall see where HER story goes this season. 

Luke's still learning his suit, and on the job about being a superhero, but now with a little A.I. help from his father, we'll see him grow into his role as the season develops.  And we get to briefly meet Jada Jet---a very powerful businesswoman who apprently had some personal info hacked.  It turns out that THIS could be Ryan's biological mother, and we'll see what answers we get in this next episode on.  

Either way, a VERY good start to this 3rd season, and I'm liking the direction so far.  How about all of YOU?  What did YOU think of the season premiere?  Drop me a line, and share your thoughts!

Until next time....the Signal is OFF.