Batwoman‘s “And Justice for All” brings zombies, Alice facing harsh truths, and social justice commentary that feels timely in one episode that manages to pull it off. And while I can talk about the zombie and Alice facing harsh truths, I feel like me being a white Latina makes it so it isn’t my place to discuss how real the racism was or how hard it hit our main cast.
What I can say about the social commentary is that Batwoman doesn’t hold back. It has a charted path that they’ve paid attention to for a while and this feels like the culmination of it all. The scenes between Ryan, Luke, and Sophie felt like conversations that needed to be had. And we hope that Luke’s character is more than ok.
As for the rest of “And Justice for All,” who wrote down zombies as one of the things they wanted to get done this season? Because honestly, I didn’t have that on my season 2 bingo card when it comes to Batwoman and I don’t know anyone who thought this was possible either. But somehow they pulled it off.
It was kind of fucked up, and all sorts of messy, that the ones that were infected were killed without giving them a proper chance to be cured. At the end of the day, they were all people who were trying to reconnect with memories that are overshadowed by bucket fulls of pain. And they weren’t even given a chance because The Crows were trigger happy.
Which brings us to Sophie. Personally, I have no idea what they’re going to do with her. Will she join Ryan under another superhero name and increase the Batfamily? Personally, I want it. Give it to me and give it to me now. Plus imagine how much this would make the haters mad at seeing two Black women wearing suits in Gotham and fighting crime together.
If Sophie doesn’t take up a superhero mantle, she’s still going to work on making change in Gotham. This is her home and this is where the people she cares about live. And yes, those people include Ryan, Mary, and Luke. Slowly but surely, they’re becoming her found family and you know how strong those bonds are and how much I personally love them.
And then there’s Alice. Well, Alice and Ocean. And I can’t believe I’m saying this because Alice is my fav, but Ocean is right. From his perspective, Kate is toxic. She’s Alice’s obsession that brings the woman he loves, to her knees. He can’t have that and that’s why he killed Enigma.
Alice crying at the end and not lashing out at Ocean is her realizing that he’s right. Why would she fight tooth and nail for Kate if all her sister is going to do is send her back to Arkham? Why would she bring back the one person who can stop her? Or why give his father another chance with the other daughter he lost?
I don’t know the answer and neither does Alice. What we do know is that Ocean cares for her and is there to give her perspective. What she does with that is up to her. But I think she’ll walk a fine line for episodes to come where she’ll play with the idea of bringing Kate back and running away, finally getting the freedom she’s craved for years on end.
Batwoman airs Sundays at 9/8c on The CW.
