‘Batwoman’ Season 1 Episode 7 Recap: A Warm-Up Team-Up
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The season’s big crossover is a few weeks away, so Batwoman is going to warm up with a surprising in-show team-up. Necessitating this double act is a sniper named The Rifle, who is in the middle of an assassination attempt at an Italian restaurant. Batwoman thwarts the attempt by stringing him upside down just as he fires the bullet. Best Bat-move? Probably. The shooter gets away when the Crows show up, and Kate has to deal with the fact that Sophie knows she’s Batwoman. Her dad wants the crows to bring her in, and Sophie’s threatening to reveal her identity. If that happens, there’s no more Batwoman. Kate needs to convince her to keep quiet.
More pressing though, is the presence of an assassin in Gotham. Luke Fox figures out he’s targeting scientists who work for Catherine’s company. Now that Batwoman knows who the next target is, she can figure out where The Rifle’s going to be. She does too, but the guy still gets away thanks to the presence of another vigilante. It’s Julia Pennyworth! Not only does Alfred’s daughter dabble in superheroism, she’s Kate’s ex. She’s never had a relationship that wasn’t super complicated, has she? At first, Kate reacts like pretty much all of us would if our ex just showed up at our job out of nowhere. She tells Julia she doesn’t need her and tries to handle both issues by herself.
Ruby Rose as Kate Kane/Batwoman and Meagan Tandy as Sophie Moore. (Photo Credit: Katie Yu / The CW)
It’s only after a date with her other ex goes incredibly wrong that she accepts some help. These scenes are what the episode really does well. The action is about standard for this series. One fun, well-choreographed fight scene toward the end, but nothing too spectacular. The episode shines when it comes to the emotional stuff. Ruby Rose is so good in this role. I genuinely hurt for her when she confronts Sophie. She initially invites Sophie to a restaurant to convince her not to say anything. Then a restaurant manager tries to kick the one gay couple out by selectively enforcing the dress code. Kate is all ready to call out what’s really going on, while Sophie doesn’t want her to make a scene. That brings back some painful memories.
Once again, the show has figured out how to use flashbacks effectively. Not only do they communicate new information, they enhance the emotional tone of the modern day scenes. Sophie telling Kate that she broke things off with her years ago because she “got a second opinion” is so much sadder when we see that it was Jacob Kane who gave her that opinion. In both the past and the present, we’re watching an argument play out between two people who still love each other but are either too angry or afraid to admit it. Both women leave the dinner unhappy and Sophie tells Jacob who Batwoman is.
Garfield Wilson as The Rifle. (Photo: Katie Yu / The CW)
When that doesn’t work out, Kate thinks up a new tactic. Julia and Lucius Fox are currently free to help too, as the Rifle’s target was stabbed (by Alice no less) and the assassin’s trail has gone cold. The show tries to build on some tension between what we know and what the characters know. We know that Alice is the one having The Rifle kill these scientists. We know the Rifle is doing it in exchange for a weapon these scientists built that can pierce Batwoman’s armor. The Rifle now has this weapon and Batwoman is in danger, but she doesn’t know it. For most of the episode though, Alice and Rifle’s plans are unclear. We don’t know what they’re doing or why. I got the sense that the show wanted us to be worried that Batwoman would be ambushed, but it never told us when or why.
The actual superhero story leaves a lot to be desired, but surprisingly, the character drama is good enough to make up for it. Kate has Julia dress up as Batwoman and arranges for Sophie to see them in the same room. It’s a clever plan, and it works. Sophie is clearly shocked to see Batwoman and Kate standing next to each other. Then, Julia takes a blast to the stomach from that high-powered weapon. I really wish there had been some kind of dread leading up to that moment, but it was still a shock. For a second, I legit thought Julia had died. She’s still alive though, for some reason. The Crows capture the woman they think is Batwoman and are about to bring her to Jacob. Kate chases the van and shoots the lock off the back door. After incapacitating a bunch of crow guards in the episode’s coolest, most exciting fight scene, she rescue’s Julia. Just like us, Kate wonders how her friend is still alive.
Dougray Scott as Jacob Kane and Elizabeth Anweis as Catherine Hamilton-Kane. (Photo Credit: Michael Courtney / The CW)
The episode ends with a cool twist to answer that question, though. Before giving the gun to Rifle, Alice sabotaged it. Not only didn’t it work, it’s broken, and the only people who could fix it are now dead. Alice was protecting her sister… for whatever she’s got planned coming up. Alice is still a villain here. She just doesn’t want other villains (who haven’t even been seen on the show yet) killing Batwoman before her tea party. It won’t be long before we find out what that is.
The next episode, airing in two weeks, is titled “The Mad Tea-Party.” Whatever it is, it involved ensuring Catherine started to reconcile with Jacob. Early in the episode, we’re told that Jacob is somewhere upstate. When he’s back, we don’t really question it. At the end of the episode, it’s revealed that he’s been upstate this whole time. Mouse has been impersonating Jacob in Gotham. Meaning that the real Jacob never learned who Batwoman was.
It is a little disappointing though, that we seem to be done with the secret identity threat already. As clever as Kate’s plan was, there was still a ton of drama to be mined from her knowing Batwoman’s identity, and even more from Jacob suspecting it. Now, we’re back to normal and nothing really came of it. It’s a waste of a good premise.
Photo Credit: The CW
At least the Kate-Sophie relationship got some desperately-needed fleshing out, though. By the end of the episode, they’ve sworn off each other and Sophie’s assured her husband she only loves him. I don’t think that’s entirely true, though. When Kate tells Sophie they should steer clear of each other, there’s so much hurt in both actors’ voices. They do such a fantastic job in that scene that it made me tear up a little. Especially when Kate opens the present Sophie left for her: Her old sharpshooting medal their military academy tried to scrub from their records. Sophie has been holding onto it this whole time. Yeah, they still love each other.
Even though it is a little frustrating to see the show bend over backwards to restore everything to the way it was before the episode started. I like the Arrowverse shows because they do move the world forward in meaningful ways sometimes. This should have been one of those. But if the characters continue to get this kind of development in the future, I can’t complain too much.
Batwoman airs Sundays at 8 p.m. on The CW.
Previously on Batwoman: