Batwoman, season 3, episode 11: "Broken Toys"

[SPOILERS ahead, I recommend that you watch the episode before you continue!]

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“General”:

My highlights from this episode (without particular order):

1 – Ryan and Sophie….on top….of each other! Finally, Ryan made up her mind and so we see Sophie and Ryan undressing each other (partially) and presenting their push-up bras ;-). Well, it was about time! Especially since it took Ryan long enough to admit her feelings towards Sophie.

2 – Camrus, the director! It’s become a little CW tradition lately that some actors would direct an episode of “their” TV show like Caity Lotz and Melissa Benoist did in the past on their shows (LoT/Supergirl). Camrus Johnson did a fine job here, and I wouldn’t mind having him back in that double role as actor/director.

3 – Repent your sins! This was the BIG topic of the episode as many characters showed remorse about decisions they made in the past. Jada, Alice, Mary, and Kiki were all troubled by things they did in the past. Ok, Kiki was only acting like she would be troubled by it… Will be especially interesting how Alice will develop from now as she really is a sociopath and wants to do something about it. As the trailer for the next episode suggests, it looks like she will use the Joybuzzer on herself! But perhaps that thing doesn’t work any more than after it may have been used beforehand? But it seems like she wants to become Beth again…if that is possible. I think Mary will have a really hard time living with the fact that she killed that hunter and exposed Batwoman’s and Batwing’s secret identities.

4 – Victor Zsasz is back! I really enjoyed his first appearance early on in season 2 and he was on my wishlist of characters who should have another appearance in the show. Alex Morf does a great job in playing that character who really seems to enjoy drama/soap operas 😆 . He is a very sinister killer, but very funny here and there (“…thinking about growing my hair out…”)

5 – Mother-daughter talk! In this episode we get some more background info on Jada and why she abandoned her child after birth. Well, the doctor who stole these 2 million dollars from her that was supposed to provide a good education for Ryan…..he might get into some problems now ;-). Jada realized that Ryan made something out of her life without any support from her while Marquis, who had everything, turned into a crazy villain. Yeah, some logic is there…even Ryan still isn’t exactly happy that Jada gave her away after birth. As Jada saw how Ryan was fighting against Victor she automatically resumed that Ryan would be Batwoman. Yeah, not really far-fetched, but there are people with martial art skills besides Batwoman…but ok, Ryan seemed tired of hiding her secret identity in front of her mother so she didn’t deny it. Once again someone learned Batwoman’s secret identity…of course without an unmasking, but at least no one told Jada…. (as it normally happens).

6 – Marquis tries to turn the public against Batwoman! It was a very suspenseful press conference as Marquis presented Batwoman as a crazy person and threat to Gotham. Especially funny/bizarre when a crazy guy like him says that. For a second it seemed as he may expose Batwoman’s secret identity to the public, but luckily he didn’t as he has his own plans. And besides….saying that someone is Batwoman isn’t proving anything, but ok, some might then take a closer look at Ryan and that could be potentially dangerous. Also, quite a nice move to donate so much money to the Arkham Asylum as he is looking for new employees. Will be interesting to see which other villains he will get a “work-release” in order to get more goons.

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Aspects I didn’t like in this episode:

>>> More of an overall issue of the show than of this episode, but as redemption is such a big topic in this episode I wanna address it here. In the last episode, Renee and Pamela were allowed to travel to Coryana in some sort of deal. So, it’s ok to be a crazy killer or the person who helped that killer to escape? Does no one get imprisoned for that? What about Alice? She killed dozens of people and I have the strong feeling that she will be turned into a good person as she now has started to repent her sins. Also, I do think that she won’t be locked up again as it is seemingly basically “ok” here to be a crazy murderer if you repent your sins afterward. For me that isn’t working at all….people like Alice and Pamela must be locked away for good! But I bet that Alice won’t be locked away again at all….

>>> Also an overall issue: The season has only 2 more episodes, and we still don’t know if there will be a 4th season or not. Not knowing if the show gets another season is a little buzzkill for me. I do really enjoy the episodes nonetheless, but it leaves a bitter taste as I am anxious that it will all be over after 2 more episodes, and that is a problem for me. I hope there will be good news soon! Perhaps in the Olympic break now, as there will be 2 Wednesdays without a new Batwoman episode.

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More interesting aspects for me:

— The scene with Batwoman and Mary in the clinic was an emotional one. Mary did really bad things with killing that hunter and exposing Batwoman’s and Batwing’s secret identities to Marquis, but she wasn’t herself as she was controlled/influenced by Poison Ivy. But still, she won’t forgive herself easily… The creepy clown puppet with the Marquis recording was really cool, a nice horror touch.

— I’m a big fan of the TV show “Scrubs”, so seeing Judy Reyes here as Kiki was a welcome surprise! She played her part well and I loved how you could see how the craziness in her slowly took over as she was repairing the Joybuzzer. As the trailer for the next episode suggests, her part could be over in the next episode already…but we will see. We got another easter egg as she mentioned that her psycho-doc was actually Dr. Quinzel (alias Harley Quin). Surely not the best doctor to help someone 😆

— Batwing and Sophie were an interesting team inside Wayne Tower. It was funny how he teased Sophie with her feelings towards Ryan. And it was a good fight scene as the two fought against Marquis and his henchmen. Now Batwing seems fully ready for action as he got his AI back!

— The other team-up with Batwoman, Alice, and Mary provided also a good, but short fight scene. It has been a while since Batwoman could beat up some henchmen.

— Somehow it’s a classic trope by now that heroes always feel safe to unmask themselves on rooftops. Kate did that in season 1 as well. Here Batwoman unmasks herself in front of Jada. Yeah, it was night, and they are high up…but still, there are other high buildings around them, but there was light there and everyone with a binocular could easily see Batwoman taking her mask off. Seemingly that possibility doesn’t exist in a TV show or movie 😉

— It was a good scene as Luke was talking to his father, even it was only the AI with his voice. Luke is now fully ready for his role as Batwing and will be a great help in the future whenever Batwoman could use some help.

— Alice realizing that she is a sociopath is certainly a big step for her! It will be very interesting to see where her journey goes, even I have some problems with the most-likely redemption arc of her character (as mentioned above). Also, if she uses that one charge of the Joybuzzer, how will the Batteam solve the Marquis problem?

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>>> Rating “General:” <<<

4 out of 5 – A good episode with solid action, nice twists, and a good storyline.

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“Mask”:

Batwoman screen time: 06:00 (long cut) – with mask: under 03:00

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“Mask action” (blue colored if yes): – attempted unmasking – forced unmaskings (incl. a witness) – self unmaskings (without witness) – self unmaskings (with a witness) – unmaskings – mask damage – “mask talk” (incl. “secret identity talk”) – additional masked women – close calls with opportunities to unmask Batwoman

Who knows her secret identity by now (Batwoman 2.0)?:

For sure: 11 – Alive and not in prison: 8 – Enemies and a possible thread right now: 2

Mary (ally)

Luke (ally)

Sophie (ally)

Susan (parole officer, fan)

Alice

Marquis

Jada

Poison Ivy (now in Coryana)

Renee Montoya (now in Coryana)

~~Circe~~ Kate (not in Gotham)