Review: Batwoman 2×15 – “Armed and Dangerous”
[Editor’s note: This review may contain spoilers!]
Director: Holly Dale
Writers: Nancy Kiu, Maya Houston, Daphne Miles
Starring: Javicia Leslie, Rachel Skarsten, Meagan Tandy, Nicole Kang, Camrus Johnson, Dougray Scott
Reviewed By: Steven Brown
Summary
As Luke fights for his life in the hospital, Jacob struggles to retain control of the CROWS. Meanwhile Mary and Ryan attempt to search for a way to give Luke the desert rose–a means of saving his life.
Positives
Batwoman 2×15 shows Luke fighting for his life in the hospital. As Luke struggles to live, Ryan and Mary are trying to determine exactly what happened. Meanwhile the CROWS lead by Jacob Kane, are interrogating the officers involved in the shooting of Luke. Russel Tavaroff, the officer involved in the shooting, swears that Luke pulled out a gun, and that he shot Luke in self defense. While the other superior officers go with Russel’s testimony, Jacob isn’t buying it. Elsewhere, Batwoman is looking for answers on the streets of Gotham on her own. Finally finding the carjacker involved in the incident, she recognizes him. He’s Eli–the same man Ryan, Luke and Sophie were locked up with in jail. Things continue to get worse when a video of the shooting is revealed, and this video is altered. Showing Luke pointing a gun at Russel Tavaroff, the CROWS attempt at making Russel look like a law abiding officer was sickening.
Negatives
My only complaint is the storyline of Alice. Here, we find Alice and Ocean still arguing over the fate of Kate Kane, who is now revealed to be Circe–Roman Sionis’ daughter. Thanks to the mind games of Enigma, Kate thinks she Circe completely, and Alice is determined to save her. “Armed and Dangerous” was such a good episode this particular story felt like a speed bump on an otherwise great ride. Honestly I don’t know what to make of Alice anymore. Is she a hero or a notorious Gotham villain like in season 1? Her shift from wanting to murder Kate to being so determined to save her feels too sudden and forced in some ways.
Verdict
Overall Batwoman 2×15 was a great episode and it’s one we definitely need more of in the future. Jacob finally sees how corrupt the CROWS are when Russel Tavaroff and his men actually kidnap him. Attempting to overdose him on snakebite, Jacob Kane is saved by the sudden appearance of Batwoman. No longer able to deny the corruption of his own force, Jacob Kane abolishes the CROWS at the end of the episode. I think was an important step to rebuilding a man who has lost so much in the last two seasons. Luke while in a coma finds himself in a conversation with Bruce Wayne, while Lucius Fox waits for his son to join him on the “other” side. Luke hesitates in his answer, and before we can hear him give it he finds himself alive again. Thanks to the efforts of Mary to manufacture the desert rose for a cure, Luke lives. However, I believe that Luke wanted to die so he could reunite with the deceased Lucius Fox.
