Previously in last week’s Batwoman recap, so much power walking, Luke decided he’d rather be in the afterlife with his dad instead of living in a world where he can get shot for no reason but Mary and Ryan saved his life anyway, and Bad Dad (finally) disbanded The Crows.

We open with a man running away from someone or something, only to be attacked by what appears to be a rogue sword. Batwoman immediately shows up to fight the sword-wielder and tries to radio the Batcave for backup, but no one answers.

Cut to Wayne Tower where there are ZERO safety precautions in place because Luke is yet again at his favorite Thinking Spot, the literal ledge of a building. Ryan joins him and attempts some light-hearted banter, but Luke isn’t ready to joke yet and tells her that he needs time by himself to think and process. As a queer woman, Ryan completely understands this, and just makes sure Luke knows that when he’s ready, she has his back.

“I wish you would step back from that ledge, my friend.”

Breaking News from Gotham Courthouse: Dana Dewitt reports that, shocking no one, Tavaroff is out on bond and still has a very punchable face. She also attributes his arrest to “hero” and former Crows boss Jacob Kane which like, let’s not pretend Jacob wasn’t ready to give Tavaroff a medal like 48 hours earlier. Sionis is watching this news brief WITH SAFIYAH, who’s in town to settle some business, hopefully with the help of Circe. Roman doesn’t want his daughter involved now that she has a shiny new face and backstory to go along with it. With a stay at a fancy Malibu retreat and of course, a regimen of his company’s Rebirth (LOL) burn cream, you too could wake up with Wallis Day’s face. Safiyah isn’t fooled by marketing though, and wants to know who’s manufacturing faces in this town since Pretty Little Liars has been off the air for years. When Sionis reveals that it was Alice, Safiyah calls him an idiot for unknowingly reuniting the Kane sisters.

Safiyah is back and ready to read these Gotham men for filth.

Meanwhile, CirceKate is in the middle of a Pop Punk Peloton ride (probably) when Jacob and Alice kidnap her faster than you can say “whoaaaaaa I never meant to braaaag, but I got him where I want him now.” The show is trying very hard to remind us that Jacob is on our side now, so they put him in a crew neck and leather jacket and said “Redemption Arc, bitches!”

“Wow, now I see why they say Peloton is a cult…”

Batwoman’s in some kind of government safe house while Mary walks her through the scene from the Batcave since Luke is still Processing. The two are trying to get a jump on the cleverly nicknamed Sword Lady currently slicing her way through Gotham. This most recent victim is a blind man with a sword still sticking out of his body. Sword Lady hasn’t left the scene though and reveals herself to be none other than a Not Dead Tatyana.

“No one stays dead on this network for very long, what did you expect?”

At Crows HQ, Jacob and Alice run CirceKate’s DNA and it’s a perfect match for Kate Kane. I guess shutting down the Crows doesn’t mean you no longer have access to city-wide fingerprint databases? If I leave my job for another one in remotely the same industry, they will shut my shit down SO FAST, but I guess Gotham plays it fast and loose with their security.

Anywho, since they don’t know Kate’s “wake word” because Ocean unalived Enigma, Alice has to resort to using personal items to jog Kate’s memory. Ocean shows up with said items and very awkwardly meets his girlfriend’s (?!?!?!) bad dad. Ocean’s face turn happened so fast that I was convinced I missed something between last episode and this one. I have to imagine that Alice demanding to have it all was enough for him to realize he was being a dick, but by the end of this episode, it’s clear why they needed us to be Team Ocean again. Alice explains to Jacob that Enigma fucked with her head and Jacob realizes Enigma tried to take Alice’s ability to love.

Meet the Parents.

Back in the Batcave, Mary and Ryan debrief about the safehouse victim and, thanks to Luke’s thingy that unseals sealed records, learn that he was blind because Circe Sionis gouged his eyes out with a spoon. They get some more background on Circe and then use Luke’s own tech to track his location. Mary and Ryan’s Friendship™ has always been very important to me, but watching them piece this together while their friend works through some very real trauma, brought me so much joy.

Look at them!!

Meanwhile, a street clothes-laden Luke Fox is making his way to a secret law enforcement-only poker club where nothing shady ever happens and everything is definitely on the up and up. Of course, Tavaroff is there and smugging his dumb face all over the joint. He and Luke have words, Luke steals Tavaroff’s shot, and before they can start their poker game, none other than John Diggle (!!!!) sidles up to Luke at the bar. Wow, I missed him.

Operation: Will the Real Kate Kane Please Stand Up continues with Jacob trying to jog her memory with a concert ticket and of being grounded for the summer. Kate can’t believe she received such a harsh punishment when it “wasn’t even coke”, but what can one expect when their father stopped looking for both of his daughters and they have a literal evil twin. Ouch.

Alice decides to try her hand at bringing Kate’s memory back with a mug and a heart-wrenching story about Kate’s crush on a sk8er girl. Kate was so excited because the girl liked her back, but she was afraid to come out; even to her twin, the most important person in the world to her. Beth wanted Kate to know that she knew and she loved her, all of her, so she made her a mug with “Mind Reader” painted on it in rainbow colors. The story jolts something in Kate’s memory and all of a sudden Tiny Kate in a Tie is in that basement where Beth was kept all those years ago. Kate, who now has a shocking amount of emotional range, is gutted that Beth found her, but she couldn’t return the favor. Alice softly replies that “there’s still time” and my heart somehow swelled and broke at the same time. The Kane sisters have had a Time, y’all. And every time they start to drift or one of them dies or gets kidnapped, they remember how much love they have for one another and they find their way back.

“Please, I know you’re in there. People are asking where you’ve been.”

“I’m right out here for you. Just let me in.”

Outside the poker club, Ryan confronts Luke and asks him to come home. He reveals to her that he can’t thank her for healing him because he didn’t want to wake up. Ryan slowly realizes the implications of what her friend is saying to her, and she’s speechless. Luke asks why he would want to live in a world where it’s not a matter of if he’ll get shot, but when. I talked about this a bit in last week’s recap, but I want to reiterate that even though I hate that Luke got shot, I do think it’s incredibly important that they’re also showing the very real mental toll that being Black in America can have on a person. Luke’s experience might be heightened what with it being TV and all, but it’s honestly not that far from the emotions so many people feel. Luke goes back to his game and leaves Ryan with a lot to ponder.

Mary’s on the phone with her dad who tells her that Kate’s alive, and Mary is understandably freaked out considering the number of times someone has claimed her sister is still alive. (PS — say “parietal bone” again, Mary.) We get a mini exposition dump about Kate thinking she’s Circe Sionis, and Mary warns Jake that she could be connected to Safiyah. On cue, some goons attack Jake and then Alice tells Kate to run before getting attacked by Tatyana.

Mary is still freaking out, but this time it’s to tell Ryan everything she just learned about CirceKate and to wonder AGAIN why Julia would lie about the damn parietal bone because one can’t just live without a SKULL, Ryan! My guess is that Jules was hypnotized by Enigma, but we’ll let Mary keep freaking out because it’s kind of adorable. They won’t have to wonder for much longer because CirceKate stops the Batmobile in its tracks, so Ryan offers her a ride, as you do.

“Wait, we have a Batmobile now?!”

Look, I don’t know much about poker, but these dudes seem to know what they’re doing and Luke confidently goes all in. Diggle, who still hasn’t introduced himself by the way, asks Luke what the deal with him and Tavaroff is. Finally, Haircut asks who the new guy is, and Diggle explains that he’s in town on a contract with A.R.G.U.S. Tavaroff thinks he’s got the game won, but Luke gives a dope speech about the House cheating and somehow still losing. Luke wins with a straight; something rarely seen on this show.

And then at Sionis’ office, a group of corrupt white men threaten other corrupt white men and Snakebite Jake is arrested.

Back in the alley outside the poker club, Tavaroff and his sad white boi ego fight Luke. Diggle breaks up the fight and gives Tavaroff a lesson on what “respect” actually means.

It’s reunion time at Wayne tower! Mary runs to her sister and wraps her up in the biggest hug, but Kate doesn’t recognize her. Mary hides her disappointment with the understanding that of course Kate’s memory wouldn’t come back to her all at once.

While Kate gets a drink, Ryan fills Mary in on the fact that Alice and Jacob are working together and Mary responds much the way I’ve responded to everything in the last year: “Literally, what is happening?”

And then, because the wardrobe department loves me I guess, Sophie saunters in wearing a cuffed blazer and the face of someone who thought they’d never see the love of their life again. Before Ryan can even fully warn Sophie that Kate might not be the Kate that Sophie remembers, Kate walks right into Sophie’s arms with love and recognition. Remember a few episodes ago when Alice needed to get the one thing Kate couldn’t deny in order to shake her memory? Remember when we were all like LOL I BET SOPHIE IS HER ONE THING? WELP!

“Is it just me or does she look MORE like Alice’s twin now?”

“Shit, now what am I gonna do about this Ryan crush…”

I assume Kate is overwhelmed by Sophie’s beauty, because her head starts to hurt and in her brain, Tiny Kate in a Tie is fighting with Circe Sionis in a White Jacket for control. In the real world, Kate tries to attack Mary but of course Mary keeps a syringe full of benzos in her boot, and uses it to subdue her sister.

Sophie wants to save Alice in order to help Kate and Ryan realizes that the only thing that could possibly get Safiyah to agree would be to trade the Desert Rose for Alice. Mary knows how much that plant means to Ryan and tries to change her mind, but Ryan hopes this will show Luke how badly they need him.

“You’re gonna do WHAT?”

And speaking of Luke, he’s getting one of those patented John Diggle pep talks in the alley. The two bond over losing their fathers suddenly and how the unanswered questions weigh heavily on them. This episode had way more dudes than usual, but I do appreciate giving Luke the opportunity to process what happened with another Black man. Luke is angry and refuses to ignore that feeling, so Diggle tells him that he should do the opposite; use that anger to win the fight he’s been running from his whole life. We find out Diggle is also in town for a neuro appointment at Gotham General, and then the Batsignal starts to flicker in Morse code: “Need Fox help.”

Back to Dana who’s outside GCPD reporting on Jacob’s arrest. Bad Dad uses this opportunity to prove that maybe he’s not such a bad dad after all, and tells everyone watching that Alice isn’t a monster; that she’s a victim and a person with humanity; that she’s his daughter Beth. And look, I still hate Jacob Kane, but if he gets to make sure Alice hears exactly what she’s always needed to hear, while also being locked up?? I’ll take it.

“He looks like my dad… but he sounds like someone who gives a fuck.”

Down in the Batcave, the crew is back together again!! Mary’s fixing up Luke’s cuts while he insists Tavaroff looks a lot worse than he does. Ryan and Mary explain that they need Luke’s help to save Alice which is pretty much the opposite of anything they’ve ever done, so Luke is skeptical. And for the 27th time this episode, someone says “Kate’s still alive.”

Meanwhile, Safiyah and her ever-present glass of wine tell Alice that there’s nothing left of Coryana thanks to Alice’s fiery tantrum. Before they can kiss (hmm? what? who said that?), Batwoman shows up with the Desert Rose front and center as a peace offering. And Safiyah is floored by the idea that someone could commit such a selfless act to save the person who is the very reason Ryan clings to the plant as a memory of Mama Cora. I can’t help but remember the first few episodes of the season when Ryan was convinced she was unworthy of taking up the mantle. How could someone like her live up to the legacy that Kate Kane created? Honestly, I’d argue that Ryan not only lived up to it, but she surpassed it in a way Kate just couldn’t. And that’s not Kate’s fault. Ryan has lived a life that Kate Kane just hasn’t, and she brings all of that lived experience to the cowl. She knows what it’s like to be the person who society looks down on, and that allows her to empathize with the very people she helps. Kate Kane created Batwoman and the symbol that goes along with the mantle; but right here, Ryan proves exactly why she IS Batwoman.

Ryan. is. Batwoman.

Safiyah lets Alice go, but not before reminding her that she doesn’t actually get to have it all. Alice realizes that Tatyana isn’t there and that she’s probably doing something terrible to Ocean.

Back at the loft, Sophie is watching Kate sleep like some kind of Clarke, when Kate jolts awake and then is so quietly remorseful about attacking Mary. She looks in the mirror and has no idea whose face is looking back at her. As Kate and Circe battle it out in her mind, Kate tells Sophie to get her the vodka she keeps in her office.

“Who is that girl I see, staring straight back at me?”

Alice is preoccupied with Ocean not answering and Ryan could not care less about something because she absolutely didn’t give up her plant for a stupid boy. And for some reason that I still can’t figure out, Alice chooses Ocean over Kate.

The only explanation I can grasp onto is that Kate isn’t the only one engaged in a mental battle right now. Alice has spent most of her life convinced that she’s the problem and the disappointment who doesn’t deserve love. And then for a split second, she thought she had it all. She danced away from Safiyah thinking she’d won, and then Safiyah brought her crashing back down to reality. So the old Alice snuck her way back into New Content Alice’s brain and convinced her that she is the disappointment everyone believes her to be. So she heads to the tunnels, runs into Tatyana and kills her, and then crumbles as she finds Ocean’s dead body. Homeboy has hurt Alice enough times for me to not lose sleep over his death, but I’m sad that Alice is sad.

“He’s just a stupid boy!”

Meanwhile, Snakebite Jake is on the phone with Mary and tells her that he got transferred to Man Pain Metropolis. He finally realizes what his twin daughters went through and also realizes what we’ve all known this whole time: Mary is going to save us all.

Luke and Ryan head back to The Hold Up, but before they go see Kate upstairs, Ryan stops and apologizes to Luke for what happened to him, but not for making sure he lived. “You’re not leaving me,” she says, and I definitely didn’t cry. Nope. Luke gives her the sweetest smirk and wraps her up in a hug. When the two make it upstairs, they’re greeted by a frantic Sophie looking for Kate who is nowhere to be found.

Found family feelings.

And that’s because dear dear CirceKate is back at the Sionis mansion asking who she is and why she has Kate Kane’s memories. Roman attempts to gaslight her by saying she’s having an episode, but she stabs him through the hand before Safiyah steps in and threatens to tell CirceKate exactly what happened.

“Why is my reflection someone I don’t know?”

The preview for next week appears to show Ryan relinquishing the cowl to Kate, and I’ll admit, I was a little worried. But in case I didn’t make it clear enough above, Ryan Wilder IS Batwoman, and I’m choosing to believe that the show is going to stand by that decision.

See y’all next week!

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