[SPOILERS AHEAD! WATCH THE EPISODE BEFORE YOU READ THIS!]
[SPOILERS AHEAD! WATCH THE EPISODE BEFORE YOU READ THIS!]
“General”:
My highlights from this episode (without particular order):
1 – Alice teasing Sophie! I really love the scenes with these two together. The way Alice constantly teasing Sophie, playing with her, knowing exactly how to manipulate her. Alice makes some really funny remarks that set a nice contrast to an otherwise rather dark episode. Alice licking on the bell pepper and then putting it back into the fridge and her comments about Sophie's diet "Do you have ANYTHING with actual calories in here?" and Sophie's reply "There is rat poison under the sink!" were the highlights. Some greatly written dialogues here.
2 – More insights into Ryan's past! I liked how her past was connected to the new mission/storyline. As Ryan is still the new one here it's good that we get to know more about her and her past. And it becomes very clear that she had a really troubled past overall. Also, I liked the connection to the missing Beth that they included.
3 – The new guy: Ocean - Along with Tatiana, his character has been announced before the season as a recurring character. As it seems his character is connected to Beth/Alice and Safiyah. What was his role? Guess he was a soldier of Safiyah, most likely one of the higher ranks under her command. Safiyah is now very determined to let him be killed, so it seems like he left Coryana for some reason. It also seems like Beth/Alice may have been into him back then.
4 – Ryan moving in with Mary - Quite a surprise to see that! Still, it's not really clear if Mary is actually straight or not. For a while, I thought she was into Luke, but right now she seems kind of attracted to Ryan. The highlight here was how Ryan (seemingly) found Mary's sex toy box ;-). "Uh, I think I am not supposed to see this!" - I wonder how this will be developed over the next episodes.
5 – Batwoman's first "real" action scenes! I mean in the last episode Batwoman got her new costume that fits Ryan. In the last episodes, she wasn't into her new role until her confrontation with Zsasz. Of course, she couldn't handle the new gadgets without any experience. In this episode, she was confident in her role, wasn't goofing around anymore. She was successful and showed that she can now handle her new "job".
--------------
Aspects I didn't like in this episode:
>>> The evil candy lady seems to have a youth serum. I mean she looked exactly the same in the present that was supposed to be 20 years later than the scenes with Ryan. With some grey hairs and "age makeup" that would have been looked convincing. But ok, a rather small issue. Also, it was kind of odd how they captured Ryan. Ryan shows up, goons were already on standby to grab her. Maybe I missed something but they were oddly well prepared to snatch someone who shows up randomly at the house. But perhaps I missed something...will rewatch the episode today.
>>> Maybe the gang guy who ran away from Batwoman was on drugs or something, but it's not the smartest thing to run on the street if you are chased by a car ;-) . Not a real complaint as people do silly stuff. It leads to a nice action scene as Batwoman used her car to catch him though.
-----------
--- What happened to Julia by the way? She wasn't in this or the episode before. Or is she on a long vacation and I missed that? :lol: . I hope she will be in the next episode as I really like her role. And after all, she is now a regular cast member, so she should be back soon.
--- It would be interesting what the Jelly Bean guys think about this episode! ;-) . I mean every sort of advertising is better than none...but in this episode, Jelly Beans are associated with the very evil candy lady who kidnaps kids. Perhaps not the image you want as a company. ;-)
--- I am enjoying the whole Black Mask storyline, even we haven't really seen him or even know who will play him. But I think he will be an excellent foe for our Batwoman. A real tough one.
--- Jacob offering 1 million dollars for information on Kate was a surprising move, at least in that amount. It shows now how much he cares for Kate and how bitter he is that he treated Batwoman that badly. But I think that reward won't lead to anything as I am sure they will come on Safiyah's trail on their own.
--- As Batwoman saved Jacob from being killed by the gang and their evil introduction ritual for Kevin...he realized that Batwoman doesn't have to be his enemy. Of course, the revelation that Kate was/is the original Batwoman changed his attitude towards her already, but in this scene, she saved his life. He won't go after her, at least for quite a while.
--- The Kryptonite poisoning was addressed again in 2 scenes. I wonder why Ryan doesn't wanna talk about it with Mary, who could help her. But well, perhaps she is one of those folks who don't wanna share such health issues with others. The Kryptonite poisoning will be addressed again in the upcoming episodes and I'm rather sure the Desert Rose might play a central role then ;-)
--- Will be interesting to see how things develop with Ryan's old/new girlfriend who seems to be willing to bond again after all these years. As that girlfriend is seemingly somehow involved in illegal activities....that should provide also an interesting plot point as Ryan is Batwoman now. I think Batwoman will run into her....and it gets...complicated ;-)
--- It was pretty satisfying to see Ryan beat up the evil candy lady like that! Damn, she really deserved it.
My rating:
4 out of 5 – Batwoman has grown into her role in a rather dark, thrilling episode!
Some great funny moments included.