‘Batwoman 2×15: Armed & Dangerous’ Review
Stars: Javicia Leslie, Rachel Skarsten, Meagan Tandy, Nicole Kang, Camrus Johnson, Dougray Scott | Created by Caroline Dries
Batwoman is back again after a few weeks off (again!) and Gotham is reeling from the fallout of Luke Fox, an unarmed African-American, being shot by the Crows. What ramifications does this have for Team Batwoman? Let’s take a look.
What Happened This Week?
Frame Job
As Luke is fighting for his life at the hospital, Crow agent Tavaroff is interviewed by Jacob about how the incident occurred and what led to Luke being shot. Tavaroff lies and states he saw a suspicious person (Luke) loitering near a vehicle and when they began to talk to him, he pulled a gun, resulting in Tavaroff having no choice but to shoot him. Jacob is skeptical as Luke doesn’t have a record and works for Wayne Enterprises but Tavaroff insists, with the help of a fellow Crow, that Luke had a gun and promises the body cam will back him up.
In order to get to the bottom of the lie, Batwoman chases down the real carjacker, Eli, and after a little intimidation, he admits the Crows shot Luke without justification. After confirming the facts of loss with Eli, Batwoman tracks down Tavaroff but before she can beat a confession out of him, a few of Tavaroff’s co-workers run Batwoman down with a van, allowing Tavaroff to escape.
In order to calm the protests around Gotham, the Crows release the body cam footage from Tavaroff but it’s not the real footage. The Crows altered the footage and replaced Luke grabbing for his cell phone with Luke grabbing for a gun. The lies continue as the Crows leak a false report to the media stating Luke is linked to a prior robbery. Anger and sadness overtake Team Batwoman but the newest team member, Sophie, has a plan: recover the original, unaltered footage from the computer servers at the Crows’ headquarters but they only have an hour to do it before it’s deleted forever. Why it’s going to be deleted in an hour is never explained but….reasons?
Jacob continues to suspect Tavaroff isn’t telling the truth but upon Tavaroff’s interrogation, Jacob’s own shady past comes back to haunt him. Tavaroff justifies all of the Crows’ tactics because Jacob, the leader of the organization, never put a stop to it and they followed his lead. Tensions get more hostile as Tavaroff refuses to give up his badge and knocks Jacob out. Looks like there is more to Tavaroff than a dirty cop as he attempts to murder Jacob and make it look like a drug overdose but luckily Batwoman shows up just in time to save Jacob.
After recovering from his assault, Jacob announces to the media that Luke was set up and Jacob will swear under oath to the truth. In a surprise move, Jacob takes full responsibility for years of Crows’ questionable tactics and promises to disband the security force. Since Jacob is the majority shareholder in the Crows, he has the power to change Gotham and chooses to do so.
Alice’s Wayward Journey
Alice and Ocean’s “up and down” relationship takes another turn as Alice finds out, while disposing of Enigma’s body, that Black Mask is targeting Kate’s family. Ocean just doesn’t care anymore, and that Alice needs to move on from Kate, for both their sakes. Overall, Alice doesn’t have much to do in this episode except reveal to Jacob and Mary, at separate times, that Kate is alive. Great, another reason for Jacob to spiral downward more.
Alice’s journey this season, much like her relationship to Ocean, has been a mixed bag. At times, the character of Alice has evolved past her own obsession with seeking vengeance and has become a better character and then at other times, we are back in the same vicious cycle of Alice being obsessed with Kate, as she was in the previous season. It seems every time the writers attempt to make Alice a reluctant hero, they get nervous and revert back to her tried and true character traits, thus eliminating any growth she has made this season.
Luke’s Future
While Team Batwoman is out in the real world attempting to save Luke, our favorite IT geek is in a coma, fighting for his life. While in the coma, Luke dreams he is in Wayne Tower with his father, Lucius, and his former boss, Bruce Wayne. Luke attempts to talk to his father but Bruce warns him that if walks towards Lucius, he will no longer be alive. It’s a dilemma for Luke as he obviously wants to be reunited with his father but in doing so, he is leaving his life behind, both figuratively and literally.
It’s a good thing Luke is friends with a doctor as Mary realizes the only way to save Luke is to make a serum with the Desert Rose. Good thing Angelique gave Ryan an extra plant for these instances! Mary attempts to deliver the Desert Rose serum to Luke, but she cannot get past the Crows standing guard at Luke’s hospital room. Mary has another idea though as she recruits Wolf Spider (remember him?) to break into Luke’s room, via window, and deliver the serum to him. Wolf Spider is successful, and it seems Luke may be saved after all.
While deciding what choice to make, Luke confesses to Bruce that by attempting to make the world a better place, he realizes it’s too difficult and depressing. Luke then decides that he rather stay with his father than choose to go back. Wait, what? And then in a matter of seconds, it doesn’t matter what Luke chose as Team Batwoman already made the decision for him as Luke wakes up in the hospital. We spent the whole episode waiting on Luke’s decision on his fate to realize it doesn’t matter as Team Batwoman were going to save him regardless of his choice? Needless to say, Luke may not be too happy to see his friends.
Easter Egg of the Week:
- While Alice and Ocean are disposing of Enigma’s body, and her cane, it’s revealed that Enigma is the daughter of Batman’s famous villain, the Riddler! It makes sense, Enigma=Mystery=Riddler, but it’s nice to see it confirmed finally. Now, how about actually showing some more famous villains from Batman’s rogue gallery?
Quote of the Week:
- Batwoman (to Tavaroff): “You shot an innocent, unarmed black man. The fight is in my DNA.”
Episode Grade: C (Average)
The return episode of Batwoman hints at what potentially may occur the rest of the season but as a standalone episode, it was just average. The suspected death of Luke didn’t occur but now we have Luke mad and not content with just sitting in the Batcave, Batwoman saved Jacob and was given a seal of approval by one of Gotham’s prominent officials, and the Crows are no longer a peace-keeping security firm.
It’s a lot to set up for the next few episodes but it also allows the series to evolve even more. The series, with all of it’s good and bad faults, is not afraid to make a change to the status quo and by dissolving the Crows, it allows Sophie and Jacob to expand their characters as they are no longer handcuffed by a shady organization. Overall, the next few weeks should provide another new direction for the series leading into Season 3.
