‘Batwoman 3×12: We’re All Mad Here’ Review
Stars: Javicia Leslie, Rachel Skarsten, Meagan Tandy, Nicole Kang, Camrus Johnson, Dougray Scott | Created by Caroline Dries
This week’s episode is the setup for next week’s season finale, yes, it’s already season finale time! The first half of the season was extremely strong while the second half has struggled recently to remain focus, especially since they shipped Renee and Poison Ivy off to an island, as they have not gone “all in” with Marquis as the main villain. Last episode helped that situation, but can this episode fix the problem with the new Joker?
What Happened This Week?
Alice is Normal Again… Right?
Alice, after using the Joker’s joy buzzer, declares herself “normal” again and the psychiatric hearing for Alice/Beth agrees, so just like that, she is a free woman. So those prior crimes are forgiven? I am not sure the justice system works like that but that’s Gotham for you. I mean, at least put an ankle bracelet on her to make sure she won’t do anything criminal for the next few months.
Ryan confronts Alice after the psychiatric hearing and Alice offers to give the joy buzzer back to her but Ryan declines as she feels betrayed that Alice stole the joy buzzer when Ryan needed it to help Marquis. The joy buzzer may not have worked though as Alice is now seeing a dead Mouse and Ocean as figments of her imagination, who proceed to tell her that she will never be normal and doesn’t deserve to be happy. In true television trope, it is all a dream and Alice wakes up and is all alone in her train car. Wait, so she never used the joy buzzer and was never pardoned for her crimes? I hate dream sequences.
Later, Mary catches Alice attempting to rob the clinic of medicine and anti-psychotic drugs as she needs to feel like herself again in order to steal the joy buzzer. Yep, everything I typed in the last two paragraphs was a dream. Sigh. Anyway, Mary is upset as she gave Alice money to leave town and start new but instead Alice decided to stay in Gotham and steal the joy buzzer. Alice pleads with Mary to help her “sister to sister” but Mary sees through the façade and yells at Alice for killing her mother, turning her into Poison Ivy, and ruining her life. Needless to say, Mary refuses to help her and tells Alice that she is not her family.
Alice attempts to take the joy buzzer back herself and sets off for Marquis’ hideout but does not get far when Kiki, the inventor of the joy buzzer, catches Alice. She really isn’t a good thief, is she? It does not matter though as Marquis shows up and kills Kiki, I guess for failing him somehow, and knocks Alice out. He stops short of killing Alice as he wants her to join his team and rule Gotham with madness, but Alice is undecided as she is torn between good and evil…again.
A Family Affair
Sophie and Ryan’s new love is interrupted by Ryan’s mother, Jada, stopping by their apartment to discuss Marquis in the hopes of “fixing” him. Sophie, despite being in a new relationship with Ryan, is already tired of the family drama with Marquis and Jada but does agree to help, just for the fact that she likes Ryan that much. A little e-mail hacking reveals not only Marquis’ schedule but e-mails he sent to Commissioner Gordon’s ex-wife, Barbara Keane, and other members of the Black Glove Society. Remember them? Jada leaves the apartment to but unfortunately gets into the wrong luxury car, resulting in her kidnapping.
After Luke does some investigating into the car that picked up Jada, linking it back to Marquis, Batwoman and Sophie take off to find Marquis and save Jada. What they find is the prominent members of the Black Glove Society, including Barbara and Jada, tied up in a dark and dungeon-like room with Marquis threatening them. It seems all members of the Black Glove Society have sins against their children, including Barbara using chemicals on her own son to stop him from killing innocent animals and eventually becoming a serial killer and Marquis wants to punish them. Here’s hoping Batwoman brings in Gordon’s son as a villain next season!
Marquis announces to the Society members that he is planning to kill each one of them the same way they all tortured their own children. Barbara gets an overdose of the chemicals while Marquis is busy killing other members of the Society. Before he can murder his own mother by using the joy buzzer and freezing her, Alice stops him. Marquis is impressed and again offers a spot on his team to Alice, but not before revealing that the bus the Joker hijacked when Marquis was a kid is the same bus that ran Kate, Alice and their mother off the road. It’s all connected and while it may be a stretch, I do not hate this reveal.
Eventually Batwoman arrives and frees the surviving members of the Society while confronting Marquis. The siblings face off with each other, literally, as Batwoman removes her mask to show Marquis she isn’t afraid of him. Marquis, ever the villain, pulls out a gun and shoots Batwoman in the chest, which is protected by a bullet-proof vest. Before he can finish the job, Jada shows up, shooting at Marquis and causing him to flee the scene.
During the scuffle, Alice makes off with the joy buzzer but before she can use it, Batwing shows up and knocks it away from her, causing Alice to flee into the arms of a waiting Sophie, who subsequently arrests her. Back to Arkham for you!
The Big Secret
The new relationship between Sophie and Ryan turns into a big secret around Team Batwoman as Ryan is reluctant to announce their relationship to Luke and Mary. This results in arguments between Sophie and Ryan throughout the episode with Sophie admitting she has never had a relationship with a woman that is “out” for the world to see. Ryan understands and states she has her own baggage with relationships but knows Sophie and her can work, resulting in Ryan kissing Sophie, as Mary and Luke walk into the room. Team Batwoman is thrilled with the relationship and for one week, Team Batwoman has a happy ending.
Quick Notes
- Mary visits the family of the hunter she murdered when she was Poison Ivy and before she can tell the victim’s wife and son what really happened, the wife tells Mary that Alice confessed to the killing.
- In order to spare her life, Alice reveals to Marquis the secret passageway to the Batcave. Now this new Joker has something the old Joker never had…access to all of Batman’s toys!
Episode Grade: C (Average)
Batwoman’s season finale is next episode and while the fewer episodes this season has helped keep the plot more focused, the changing back and forth between Poison Ivy and the Joker have caused it to lose its momentum. Overall, this episode tried to correct that issue by reasserting Marquis/Joker as the main villain and the biggest threat to Batwoman but it wasn’t enough. This season, while strong, comes down to the season finale and if the writers can “stick the landing” next week, then all is forgiven but a lot of things have to go right for that to happen.
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