Batwoman 1x15 : Off with Her Head review

Be warned there will be *SPOILERS* involved in this review. With that being said let's get into it. 

At the end of last week's episode of Batwoman we saw that Mouse was being held against his will with Fear Toxin being pumped inside of him by a nearby canister. Well this week's episode of Batwoman makes that ending look like a walk in the park as murder, trauma and visions of the past all get put to the forefront throughout in what really was one of the best episodes yet. The episode begins with the telling of how young Kate & Beth got their birth stones. They got them from their mom who says that color of them red is really symbolic of things like love, passion war and many other things. She says that they will both have to fight these emotions throughout their life and boy was she right. Back in present day Gotham and things kick off in a big way right away as Batwoman helps protect a young woman from a thug who has been following her. The guy pulls a gun on Batwoman and even shoots her multiple times but there's no affect. Batwoman soon gets the upper hand and is then called to the rooftops thanks to the bat-signal where an out cold August Cartwright is waiting for her. He has something inside of his mouth and upon examining it further it reads '''Ask Mommy dearest'' cut to Alice who finally finds Mouse who is still ingesting the Fear Toxin. After taking off the mask around Mouse's face Alice is stunned when he mentions that this exact location is the home of the Queen. Who is the Queen?? well that's a question that is answered pretty quickly..

The Queen Of Hearts. An essential player in the tale of Alice's adventures in Wonderland. That however is not the case for young Alice and we get even more flashbacks to her past. The Queen Of Hearts turns out to be August Cartwright's mother Mabel Cartwright. She comes to visit her son and immediately takes a disliking to Alice who when asked about how she got her birth stone she responds with that she doesn't remember how. By this point onward young Beth seems to have fully embraced the inner dark side of Alice but when it comes to Mabel Cartwright her influence on what Beth becomes is paramount. While talking to Mouse Alice is convinced now that he will help her once again but it turns out that his greatest fear is actually Alice herself as she ripped his family apart and caused nothing but harm for him and his dad. This leads to him placing Alice under the influence of the Fear Toxin which almost right away leads to Mabel Cartwright entering the room thus becoming Alice's greatest fear. What follows is a hard to watch at times montage of abuse both physical and mental on Alice by Mabel. She scolds her with hot tea, threatens her when there's no cream and causes a sense of overall dread as months becomes years in the Cartwright residence for Beth. 

The episode draws to a close as Kate rings up her dad and brings him to her but first asks that he doesn't overreact. He agrees and inside he is met by August Cartwright who is still out cold. He soon awakens hoping to see Alice but instead he is met by someone not as nice in Jacob. Kate questions him on the ''Ask Mommy dearest'' note that was inside of his mouth. He doesn't really budge on the question and instead mentions how Alice is currently under Fear Toxin and that if left to it's designs she could completely unravel and become something unrecognizable. And that is slowly coming to fruition as Alice's fear only grows stronger. She wonders off to a place where she is forbidden in the Cartwright estate and finds a fridge that has a lock on it. August walks in on her at first but later Beth finally snaps and loses total control. First off she opens the fridge and finds a head inside..the head of her deceased mother. What is it's purpose?? well it turns out that August promised it to his mom who thanks to a disease she has is slowly dying. That leads into the second thing Beth or should I say Alice does and it's totally out of left field. She opens the valve on Mabel Cartwright's oxygen tank and exposes it to a naked flame using it as a flamethrower engulfing Mabel in fire killing her in the process. Oh but the killing doesn't end there as when Kate learns that August was keeping her mom's head for his own evil purpose she losses it and begins to choke him. At first it seems innocent but it soon turns into something sinister as Kate strangles the man to death. Unknown even to herself she stands up just as Jacob arrives in the room with Alice in tow whom he had helped escape her Fear Toxin prison. Alice stands over August quoting something from Alice In Wonderland as she closes his eyes before stating to Jacob that both of his daughters are murderers now..wow that entire sequence was as intense as it gets. We hear Kate talking over the scene about how she's broken her code and how she is now no better than those she hunts and brings to justice. This has the potential to totally flip the Kate Kane character on it's head going forward. Maybe she'll lose her way / ambition?? the episode ends with Kate and Alice sharing a moment outside of Kate's building stating that their night is only beginning. A body takes a long time to bury and that's where it ends. What an episode in all senses of the word. There was even more going on throughout also like Luke and Mary's search for the car that was used when Beth was killed a few weeks back and even more of Mary trying to out Luke and Kate's big secret. I know I've said this a number of times now but Batwoman is slowly becoming my favorite DC / CW show at the moment. It's not perfection but the storytelling especially that of Alice and Kate is incredible and well acted. It's atmospheric and tense and just a good time to be had. Next week can't come soon enough!

★★★★