Batwoman struggles as Black Mask continues to raise the stakes with Circe as his henchwoman. Alice and Safiyah cross paths once again
Tropes:
- Antagonist in Mourning: Saifyah comes to pay her respects for Ocean. Though it mostly seems to get Alice back to join her.
- Batman Gambit: Amusingly enough, the plot of this episode is basically Circe and Roman pulling one on Batwoman and her team.
- The Bus Came Back: Ryan's parole officer returns in this episode.
- Cruel Mercy: Alice stabs Safiyah with the Desert Rose knife so she can revive Safiyah after tearing down everything Safiyah cares for.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: Circe wipes the floor with Ryan.
- Deadly Hug: Alice accepts a hug from Safiyah, but only to stab her in the side with her Desert Rose knife.
- Didn't Think This Through: Safiyah thinks it's a good idea to remind Alice that she's the only person Alice has left to turn to. But considering this is only because Safiyah killed or otherwise removed everyone else in Alice's life, being reminded of it only pisses Alice enough to make her lash out at Safiyah.
- Downer Ending: Circe is fully in control of Kate's body. She's stolen the Batsuit, all of Batwoman's equipment, as well as the weapons of Batman's rogues gallery that Black Mask intends to use as part of his plans. Large parts of the GCPD are under Black Mask's control, and former Crows agents (including Tavaroff) have joined the False Face Society. Ryan is technically a fugitive right now, and without the suit and her weapons she is no match for Black Mask and Circe. And Luke, Mary and Sophie have to deal with the fact that they were taken in by Circe pretending to be Kate.
- Due to the Dead: Alice pours Ocean's ashes into the water.
- Faux Affably Evil: Circe, once she drops the act, still acts playful, but shows a great degree of sadism.
- Frame-Up: Ryan gets arrested by corrupt officers, who plant Snakebite injecters as evidence.
- Green Thumb: Safiyah wants Poison Ivy's flower so she can use it to mass-produce the Desert Rose and recover her island.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: Circe shoots some crossbow bolts into the cage with Luke, Mary, and Sophie, which they then use to escape when she's distracted by her fight with Ryan.
- Hyde Plays Jekyll: Circe pretends to be a restored Kate.
- Idiot Ball:
- Factoring in emotions clouding judgement, pretty much everyone got to hold it in this episode when they assume Kate has taken control with no proof. Luke even hands her Kate's diary, which is an instruction manual to the Batcave. Luke admits how royally they screwed up to Ryan, who warned them to be cautious.
- Sophie has Circe dead to rights with a bow, but simply lets Circe walk out with the Batsuit and everything else because she can't bring herself to even shoot Circe in the leg, much less kill her.
- "I Know You're in There Somewhere" Fight: Mary tries to appeal to Circe this way. While the latter does acknowledge that there is still a bit of Kate inside her, it's not the part that operates her trigger finger.
- Internal Reveal:
- Ryan tells her parole officer that she's Batwoman, backed up by the cops trying to kill her and Ryan wiping the floor with them.
- Black Mask also learns that Ryan is Batwoman (and also that Kate was the first Batwoman, if he didn't already know).
- Laser-Guided Karma: Safiyah is stabbed by Alice with the same Desert Rose-laced knife she used on Tatiana and Ocean.
- Make It Look Like an Accident: After getting Ryan arrested, Black Mask plans to have her killed in custody so the GCPD can make up whatever story they want about her death.
- Mythology Gag: Inside the chamber holding the weapons of Batman's Rogues Gallery, we see the Mad Hatter's Hat, Bane's Venom Gauntlet, and one of Poison Ivy's flowers, among many, many others.
- New Era Speech: Black Mask holds one to the Ex-Crows, including Tavaroff.
- "Not So Different" Remark: Roman says he and Ryan both wear masks in the pursuit of justice. She finds the comparison unconvincing.
- Overshadowed by Awesome: What Ryan feels like, after Kate's supposed return.
- Pet the Dog: Mary tells Alice that no one should go through what she is going through with the death of Ocean. She also tells her that Kate is OK, sparing her from having more to deal with.
- Psychological Projection: Based on Sayifah's final confrontation with Alice, it turns out that everything the former said about the latter in previous episodes (hopes that by killing her sibling, the love for that person will go to her instead; wants more than she deserves) was really about her.
- She Knows Too Much: Once Ryan's parole officer tells the guards that she suspects her client has been set up, they immediately try to shoot her.
- Split-Personality Takeover: After a brief struggle, Circe's personality has completely taken over.
- A Storm Is Coming: Safiyah tells Alice that one is coming to Gotham.
- Sympathy for the Devil:
- Mary, despite all the things Alice did to her, feels sorry for her losing Ocean.
- Ryan also feels sorry for what happened to Circe during her dialogue with Sionis.
- Title Drop: "Kane, Kate" shows up on the palm scanner in the Batcave when Circe uses it.
- Villain Ball:
- Black Mask and Circe have full control of the GCPD, knowledge of the Batcave and how to get around its security, knowledge that Ryan is Batwoman (and likely that Wayne was Batman) and the only people that can oppose them directly either arrested (Ryan) or knocked out (Luke, Mary, Sophie). Yet instead of instantly killing the heroes and using the Batcave as their new headquarters, Black Mask simply has Ryan go through the normal procedures and even allows her the One Phone Call and her parole officer to talk to her, while Circe just dumps the other heroes in the elevator and locks the door.
- Safiyah decides it would be a good idea to invite Alice back to Coryana, knowing how vengeful Alice can be and how angry she is over Ocean's death and her previous brainwashing. Her reasoning is that she is the only one left who will love and protect Alice, though it is smarter to kill Alice. This thinking results in Alice using the Desert Rose knife on her.
- Wham Line: Kate appears to be slowly getting back to herself from party behavior to driving her motorcycle, heading into a warehouse...where Roman is waiting for her to smirk "Hi, Dad," revealing she's still Circe.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Ryan's parole officer fries her alive for getting caught with Snakebite so close to the end of her parole. It's then subverted when Ryan manages to convince her that Black Mask is setting her up because she's Batwoman, and the dirty cops on his payroll try to kill them both when she tries to buy some time for Ryan.
- The Worf Effect:
- Circe takes down all of Team Batwoman with little effort.
- Safiyah finally shows how badass she is when she easily disarms Alice of her knife. Too bad she didn't account for the one Alice took from Tatiana.
- You Wouldn't Shoot Me:
- Safiyah towards Alice, as she is the only family she has left. She is only half-right, as Alice does stab her, but with the Desert Rose knife so she can bring her back to torment her.
- Circe towards Sophie. She is correct.
