Empowered by her new role, Ryan is determined to ensure others like her don’t go unnoticed when a random encounter forces her to revisit her painful past. Meanwhile, those closest to Kate are given a good reason to believe she is still alive, forcing unexpected alliances and betrayals.
Tropes:
- Arc Welding: At the beginning of the episode, Ryan is going after the False Face Society for their continued distribution of Snake Bite, until she is notified of Kevin's disappearance by his brother. At the end of the episode, it turns out that the Candy Lady is actually a recruiter for the False Face Society.
- Big Damn Heroes: Batwoman shows up just in time to save Jacob from the False Face Society forcing Kevin to execute him as an initiation.
- Breaking Speech: The Candy Lady gives one to Ryan (and every other abducted child offscreen), making it clear that nobody is coming for her.
- Chairman of the Brawl: At one point during the fight with the False Face mooks, Jacob smashes one over the head with the chair he'd been previously tied to.
- Chekhov's Gunman: The squatter in the lab that Sophie and Alice were investigating is actually Ryan's childhood friend and ex Angelique.
- Continuity Nod:
- Ryan's wound from being shot with the kryptonite bullet in the season premiere has not only not healed, but actually seems to be getting worse.
- Alice messes with various items in Sophie's apartment, including licking and replacing food, which she did in "Down, Down, Down" after breaking into the Kanes' penthouse.
- Jacob sends one of his men to look into Jack Napier's painting, convinced its discovery may lead to clues in regards to Kate's whereabouts.
- Contrived Coincidence:
- Ryan just so happens to capture the False Face mook within walking distance of the jewelry store when its alarm goes off, allowing the kid who triggered it in the hopes of getting Batwoman's attention to easily find her.
- A search party looking for Beth Kane came across the Candy Lady's house while Ryan was held captive there.
- Dark and Troubled Past: In addition to what's already been mentioned, Ryan was kidnapped as a child and held hostage for weeks before managing to escape.
- Disposable Vagrant: The Candy Lady targets orphans, as they're the lowest-profile targets and the easiest to break. They're assumed to be runaways when they go missing and the lack of a search helps her case that no one cares about them.
- Double Meaning: At first glance, this title likely refers to Alice and how she’s described in the comics, but also to the plot dealing with Missing White Woman Syndrome and how it overtrumps Disposable Vagrant, as kids of color are being kidnapped in this episode and the brother of one victim turns to Batwoman for help when the police make no headway.
- Enemy Mine: Sophie and Alice team up to fulfill the latter's task for Safiyah. Predictably, they don't work well together; Sophie doesn't trust Alice as far as she can throw her, Alice goes out of her way to be obnoxious, and they both hide information from each other to the point that they accomplish exactly nothing until Luke turns up. Alice later breaks it up and makes it clear that she plans on finding Kate first to kill her.
- Faux Affably Evil: The Candy Lady keeps up the sweet and motherly act while holding children hostage and trying to break their wills. She shows a nastier side when defied, and laughs in Ryan's face when confronted over her latest victim.
- Flashback: To Ryan being abducted by the Candy Lady.
- Foil: Both Ryan and Beth Kane were held captive as children by people who sought to break their spirits. While Beth, a white girl from a wealthy family, got a lot of media attention and search parties, Ryan, a black foster kid, was written off as a runaway and nobody but her best friend bothered to look for her. However, all efforts to find Beth failed and she grew up to become Alice, while Ryan managed to escape and has grown up to become the new Batwoman.
- Hate Sink: There is something deeply despicable about the Candy Lady and the way she acts towards terrified children.
- Honor Before Reason: Wanting the woman who kidnapped and tortured her as a child to see her face, Ryan confronts her without the batsuit by herself. The woman does not recognize her but instantly overpowers and kidnaps her.
- Idiot Ball:
- Ryan opts to go to confront the Candy Lady without her Batwoman suit or any equipment. She gets tasered, maced, and tied up for her trouble.
- Jacob goes into False Face Society territory alone to follow a supposed tip about Kate.
- Ryan, despite knowing and now living with a doctor, keeps her still unhealed and worsening kryptonite wound a secret.
- Karma Houdini Warranty: After several decades of snatching children, the Candy Lady finally gets beaten to a pulp by Ryan and arrested afterwards.
- Missing White Woman Syndrome: The episode's plot revolves around this. We learn that many black kids have been kidnapped, but this isn't investigated much due to racism. Ryan was a victim of the same kidnapper as a child, thinking a student group who investigated were looking for her. However, it was actually a white girl (revealed to be Beth Kane) they were after, with the description that provides the episode's name. She discusses this trope with Mary, lamenting that it still exists and determines not to let those kids stay captives. Only her friend cared enough in the past to assist Ryan, rescuing her by getting deliberately kidnapped so she could find her.
- Mugging the Monster: Candy Lady is smart enough to have her goons tase Ryan and tie her up, then stupid enough to send them off. Ryan is able to escape and then easily kicks her ass.
- Mythology Gag: Green Lantern comics are seen at the stand where Ryan is picked off by the Candy Lady.
- No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: Ryan goes to town on Candy Lady's face as she's trying to beat information out of her. Candy Lady talks, if only to mock Ryan for arriving too late.
- No Sense of Personal Space: Alice towards Sophie, making her feel very uncomfortable. Turns out, she was pickpocketing her gun.
- The Only One Allowed to Defeat You: Alice makes it clear that she's only trying to get Kate back from Safiyah so that she can kill her.
- Porn Stash: Judging from Ryan's reaction to the contents of one of Mary's boxes, she accidentally learns a bit more about Mary's love life (or lack thereof) than she might have liked.
- A Real Man Is a Killer: The False Face goons try to initiate Kevin by having him kill Jacob while he's tied up and helpless. Batwoman intervenes before he can go through with it.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Alice gives a short one to Sophie when breaking into her place, deducing from her orderly apartment and fridge that she is too cowardly to take risks.
- Snark-to-Snark Combat: Alice and Sophie exchange snide remarks throughout the episode.
- Taking the Bullet: In the flashback, Ryan jumps in front of the Candy Lady's sleep spray to protect Angelique, allowing Angelique to knock the Candy Lady out with a thrown metal teapot.
- Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: Alice and Sophie's partnership (such as it is) isn't fun for either of them; they spend the entire episode bickering and don't manage to accomplish anything until Luke shows up. Also, Alice later breaks it up and makes it clear that she plans on finding Kate first to kill her.
- Villain Has a Point: Sophie is forced to concede the point when Alice states that the million-dollar reward Jacob is offering for information about Kate isn't likely to get anything useful, especially given Safiyah's power and influence.
- Villainous Rescue: Alice saves Sophie from Angelique.
- Wham Shot:
- Alice suddenly getting a flashback to meeting her target Ocean on Coryana, which takes her by surprise.
- The woman who had broken into the lab Sophie and Alice were staking out shows up at Ryan's place... and the two share the same finger shake that Ryan and Angelique did as kids.
- Wound That Will Not Heal: Ryan's kryptonite wound only seems to be getting worse, temporarily incapacitating her at the start of the episode.
- Writers Cannot Do Math:
- Ryan is noted to have been born in 1995 and was 12 in the flashback when she was kidnapped. Now when the search party comes up looking for Beth, it creates a problem as by 2007, Beth was declared legally dead since Mary's mother faked her death only fourteen months after she was kidnapped on January 26, 2003. So by logical conclusion, Ryan should have been 8 years old when she kidnapped by the Candy Lady after the Kane family's car crash which led to Beth's kidnapping.
- Also stated by Kate's logs about the search parties for Beth, which contradicts her voiceover statement in "The Rabbit Hole" that everyone eventually stopped helping the surviving Kane family look for Beth after several months so there's no way that search party from Ryan's memory was still helping them in October of 2003.
- You Are Better Than You Think You Are: Ryan successfully talks down Kevin from pulling the trigger on Jacob by telling him that people do care and he can be so much better than some mook in a gang.
- You Are Too Late: Played straight, then subverted. Candy Lady mocks Ryan for showing up too late to save Kevin, who she's already sold off to the False Face Society, but by telling her as much she gives Ryan the opportunity to save Kevin before he can be initiated.
