Batwoman 2x4 : Fair Skin, Blue Eyes review

 

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

Batwoman returns with new episodes after a week break. The episode begins with the drug ''Snakebite'' being produced. It has all manner of ingredients one most importantly is Fear Toxin. According to news and radio reports the drug is taking heavy control of Gotham's streets. And it is here where the episode really begins as we see a guy taking the drug. Batwoman soon swoops in demanding that this guy tell her who his supplier is. He refuses of course stating that the drug is the ultimate escape form. Batwoman soon enough has another problem on her hand as yet another man this time masked is soon running for his life from the bat-mobile (bad move dude) he soon gets trapped by the cars gadgets leaving Batwoman to question him. He refuses again but Batwoman tells the guy that sooner or later she will find the head of the snake and cut it off. Will Snakebite play a bit part going forward? surely it's got to. At the end of the last episode Alice was told that Kate Kane is infact alive but where is she and can she be saved?? with that info present and Commander Kane finding out he places a giant reward on his daughters safe return. This leads to a Alice / Sophie and even Luke partnership of sorts as Alice says that to find Kate she and Sophie must find and kill a man named Ocean in return for Kate's freedom. Luke soon joins the two as tech support in a dynamic that is equal parts violent and tense. 

As Batwoman had earlier taking down the drug users she was distracted by an alarm at a nearby building. Turns out it was just a way to get her to the location as a young boy soon appears stating that his brother has been missing for the past two months. He went missing after school one day and hasn't returned home yet. Batwoman takes on this mission of search and rescue and takes it to Mary who really begins to bond with Ryan in this episode. Not only do the two end up becoming roommates together above the Hold Up bar but they work together on finding the missing boy named Kevin Johnson. The search begins as they take Ryan's van and look outside of a comic book store named Galaxy Comics. This triggers a whole lot of past trauma for Ryan and as a whole what is the best part of the episode. We flash back to a young Ryan who after her mom's passing was placed in many foster homes. In the latest foster home she meets a young girl named Angelique Martin. Angelique especially seems to take both a liking and caring to Ryan and promises to always have her back. While out one day Ryan stumbles upon the comic book store. It has free comics in a stand available for any to take which Ryan does. She takes her favorite comic but is soon interrupted by a woman in a car brandishing candy in a jar. This should've immediately signaled red alarms for Ryan but she agrees to go into the womans car which just so happens to have even more comics inside as a form of bait. Ryan gets into the car which immediately gets shut behind her. She is taken to the womens house where she is held captive for days on end. The woman who later becomes known as the ''Candy Lady'' uses a jar of jelly beans to determine her victims fates. She places 60 jelly beans into the jar and each day she takes one. If the jar runs out the victim becomes something else, if someone comes to claim them then they can leave. Days and days pass on but as Ryan is determined to break her captive her resolve is broken a bit when a search party comes a knocking but it turns out to be one for Beth Kane of all people. Ryan's fate isn't sealed however as a certain friend has got her back. Angelique lets herself get caught in an attempt to help Ryan which she does by using the jar of jelly beans against the woman. Ryan and Angelique escape but Ryan's resolve and trauma is still present.

The episode draws to a close as Ryan's past comes back to haunt her as the past and present intertwine. She learns that Kevin Johnson has been nabbed by the very same woman who took her. She rings up Angelique after being pushed to it by Mary but she gets a reply saying different number. This is of course because Ryan and Angelique had a massive falling out and don't speak. Ryan takes it upon herself to go and see the woman herself and upon arrival she brandishes a photo of Kevin saying that she is her to claim him. The woman doesn't even recognize Ryan and plays it off as someone friendly at first. She soon shows her true colors and has Ryan knocked out once more placing her in the room she was in many, many years ago. Ryan's past comes into mind again here as she remembers what Angelique said to her when she came to save her all those years ago. She soon wakes and demands answers from the woman. But it's no use at least for Kevin's sake as his fate has already been sorted or has it? he has been taken into a society who wear masks and is now taking part in a trial of initiation of sorts. This just so happens to coincide with Commander Kane's search for info on his daughter. Jacob Kane ends up getting the wrong end of the info stick as he has in a run in with the gang who has Kevin Johnson. He's soon tied up with a young Kevin pointing a gun at him. Batwoman soon arrives and saves the day and Jacob Kane in the process. Could there be an alliance brewing between The Crows and Batwoman?? unlikely but it's a start. The episode ends with two things. Firstly there is Alice and Sophie's quest to find this person named ''Ocean'' when they arrive at a location they find someone inside who attacks them. Turns out this person was just casing the joint and leaves as soon as Alice shows up. With everyone soon having left Alice notices a photo of a man on the wall. She gets memory flashbacks to meeting this man on Safiyah's island. Could this be Ocean?? and why is Alice suddenly getting memory flashbacks?? the thing to end the episode however is that after dealing with the Candy Lady and putting a stop to her child trafficking schemes Ryan gets a visit from someone at the Hold Up bar. It's none other than Angelique who just so happens to be the woman who was casing the apartment that Sophie and Alice showed up to. Both Ryan and Angelique agree to be civil and have each others backs again. The episode ends with them holding pinkies in a promise that they shared when they were young. And that was that. Episode 4 of Batwoman's second season was very impressive and the best episode so far this season. It felt real and was full of character development especially for Ryan whose past was brought to the forefront. This season has been steadily getting better and better. It's such a big step up from season 1 which at it's beginning was totally unwatchable at points with some truly forced scenes and narratives. All I can say now is bring on next week!

★★★★