Alice is a rare kind of villain! She kills without a second thought, her largest goal is still in the dark and her vendetta against the Kane family, particularly Jacob, only continues to heat up! Yet, we know Alice was once Beth. What in the world could take a sweet young Beth and turn her into the most dangerous woman in Gotham City? Tonight in "Mine is a Long and a Sad Tale", we finally got to explore what happened to Beth and how she was reborn into the menacing Alice! Of course, there were many milestones that stood out in Alice's development. Here's what stood out to us:
- The Skin Pirate: Someone is stealing skin from the morgue and it seems that it's Alice. Something so sick leads Kate to finally want to pull the plug on what Alice is doing. She breaks into the Wonderland gang's headquarters and kidnaps Alice after beating up all of the Wonderland Gang. Batwoman uses a night vision aspect of the suit to bring them all down. After Alice is captured, Kate calls her dad and lets him know she is with Alice. Alice knows Jacob will trace the call which encourages Alice to talk fast.
- Down the Rabbit Hole: Beth awakens on a couch where a man and his son rescued Beth from a river. The man says that he has called the police and they are on their way. He wants to make her some food but of course Beth is worried about her mom and asks to see her dad. The man seems to ignore the request and continues to the kitchen. All the while, the son sits alone playing with his truck, hair in his face. Beth and Johnny are playing in an upstairs playroom. Johnny is known as Mouse today but goes by Johnny back then. When Beth sees on the news that the police are expanding their search for Beth she realizes that she is in danger. The father captures Beth and throws her in a basement where a face bubbles to the surface of a sink.
- Back in Gotham: Mary is told by her mom that she did fake the death of Beth to give Jacob closure and now Mary can't handle what her mom did. After a few drinks, Mary heads to Wayne Tower to tell Kate she doesn't support her mom's actions. Luke is there to calm her down. In the meantime, Jacob and Sophie are headed closer to Kate and Beth. Jacob tells Sophie that he knows what Catherine did and that she was responsible for the bombing on Alice's transport. He's now willing let science tell him the truth.
- Battle at the Diner: Alice tells Kate about how she was held against her will and was forced to be a friend to Mouse / aka Johnny. He has a disfigurement that the dad is trying to repair with cutting up faces for transplants. Just then Kate starts to pass out from a drug Alice slipped into her drink. The Wonderland Gang then appears and attacks Jacob and Sophie. Jacob and Sophie are victorious but Kate and Alice are gone.
- Mouse and Alice: After weeks of being held captive, Beth is finally able to get out of the basement and head upstairs. She gets to a phone and calls Jacob. He answers but just then the creepy dad pulls the phone out of the wall. He says that he would kill anyone that came looking for Beth. Jacob and Kate rush to the house where Beth was being held. We then discover that Johnny has the ability to mimic any voice he hears. Jacob sees Johnny do the mimic and accepts this answer. Kate, on the other hand, heads down to the basement where Beth is. Beth doesn't call out because she is afraid that if she does the creepy dad will kill her sister and Jacob.
- Johnathan Cartwright: The Mouse gets out! Someone who also has a creepy skin stealing fetish just escaped from Arkham. The Arkham officials cover it up but this Johnathan Cartwright is the Johnny aka Mouse Alice is looking for. Meanwhile, Jacob, Sophie, Kate and Alice all confront at the house that Alice was held at. Jacob calls Alice Beth in their confrontation. Something that Alice has been longing for. When Jacob gets close enough to hug Alice, she stabs him in the gut. Sophie heads to find Kate and is then attacked by Mouse. She only gets the upper hand when Mouse's face falls off. Kate is holding Mouse hostage with Sophie holding Alice at gun point. They all agree to walk out not killing anyone. Finally, Jacob admits to Kate and himself who Alice really is. He says "It's really Beth".
Final wrap up moments. Luke finally gets Mary out of Wayne Tower. Kate and Jacob share a moment on a bridge where both seem to acknowledge their sweet Beth is the insane person Alice. Beth and Johnny aka Alice and Mouse reconnect back at a new hideout. We are then shown a flashback where Johnny gives young Beth a copy of Alice in Wonderland. Back in current time, Alice gifts Mouse, who she calls a dear brother, a fresh batch of skin that she collected earlier.
Let us know what you thought of the episode in the comments below and in the forum! Also, are you following us on Twitter?
Comments
"I will note, we did get to see Kate as Batwoman in the beginning in what I thought was one of the coolest fight scenes on the show."
****
D'oh! Yup, you're correct. My bad! I'm gettin' forgetful as I slouch toward geezerhood.
But, as it pertains to the rest of the episode, it was entirely a Kate and Beth (Alice) story.
Are you sure you tuned into right at the beginning?
I tought it was a good, intense, tragic and sad episode. More in the forum...
I will note, we did get to see Kate as Batwoman in the beginning in what I thought was one of the coolest fight scenes on the show.
The pacing was good, the tone was appropriate and the overall feel worked. Rachel is simply nailing it as Alice and is an increasingly morbid joy to watch!