Batwoman 2x3 : Bat Girl Magic review

 

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

The third episode of Bat-woman's second season begins with an introduction to one of Gotham's most vicious serial killers..Victor Zsasz. Starting off in a hotel room we see him break in and murder 2 people in cold blood. This leads to him removing his shirt revealing an abundance of scars all over his body. Each scar on his body represents a life that he has taken. Removing his shirt he adds two new marks to his tally, one on his body and one on his head as the rest of his body has been pretty much been covered suggesting he has been in work in Gotham for a very long time. We skip to Ryan who is still trying to manage the new big responsibility in her life. Not only has she now become Batwoman but thanks to her parole officer she now needs to get a job and get a house. First off is a job and she gets one at the Hold Up bar. Now in Mary's possession she tells Ryan's parole officer that she has given her the position of Manager in the bar. Ryan's off the hook for now at least as she soon begins her new job.

At the end of last weeks episode we saw both Sophie and Alice be drugged and seemingly kidnapped by a follower of Safiyah. Well this week they both wake up together much to their own dismay. Turns out they're on Safiyah's very own island. Both Sophie and Alice both wonder what each is actually doing here which leads to plenty of revelations some very important indeed. We find out that not only was Alice a student of Safiyah but that they were also super close. Sophie on the other hand is left behind as Alice meets Safiyah in person. Their conversation is pretty good as ultimately we learn that it wasn't Safiyah who took down Kate Kane's jet. So if not her then who? well that's something that too puzzles her and it's something that her and Alice will have to figure out. Speaking of Kate we finally learn that she is actually alive and is being held by Safiyah somewhere. It's never stated where she is or how she's even alive but she apparently is. Spurred on by this info Alice and Sophie are both thrust back in Gotham leaving Sophie with a renewed sense of hope and Alice with some evil intentions perhaps?

The episode draws to a close as Zsasz continues his torment on Gotham as he fulfills out a hit-list provided by none other than you guessed it Safiyah. It's all connected as the team later finds out. But before they do Ryan actually does some detective work by going to meet Zsasz. Ryan knows the murdered through some people and the two meet which leads to Ryan cloning Zsasz's phone sending all the data back to Luke back at the bat-cave. This is where they learn who Zsasz is working for but they don't have a lot of time to worry about that as Zsasz has another target in mind. Mary who after mixing a special drug named Desert Rose with the blood last week to cure victims of the bat attacks is left reeling after finding out that the drug cures all kinds of ailments including cancer of all things. Zsasz shows up at her clinic killing one of her nurses. Mary manages to let Ryan and Luke know which leads to Ryan deciding that it's time to update the bat-woman suit and cowl complete with new wig. Batwoman arrives just in the nick of time and her and Zsasz duke it out. Bat-woman complete with new wig beats Zsasz in a pretty lucky fashion which makes sense given she's still only beginning. A bit cheap but fine nevertheless. Back at the Hold Up and it looks like Luke is finally beginning to take to Ryan at last even if it is baby steps. The episode draws to a close back at the Crows HQ where before Sophie goes into Commander Kane's office we hear two Crow members discuss something called the False Face Society and a guy wearing a Black Mask!! this of course is a big mention of Black Mask and his gang of other masked villains who are confirmed to be villains this season. The episode ends as Sophie lets Jacob Kane know that Kate is infact alive leading to his face completely being turned to something of shock and awe. And that was that. Honestly this episode was fine. Zsasz was the stand out by far with such a comic accurate portrayal which I really did like. The Safiyah story was too interesting if a bit slow but it's only episode 3 there's still plenty of ways for this to go. The transformation of Ryan Wilder as both bat-woman and a proper human being is very satisfying to watch and once again Javicia Leslie who has been a breath of fresh air this season continues to shine in the role. Not the greatest of episodes but entertaining nevertheless. 

★★★