Batwoman Recap: Who Learned Kate's Secret? Plus, Joker's Identity Revealed

Matt Webb Mitovich

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This week on Batwoman, someone close to Kate discovered the true identity of Gotham’s new caped crusader, while we also got a new Easter egg about the Arrowverse’s Clown Prince of Crime.

Gotham this week had to deal with The Executioner, a costumed grunt who was targeting very specific people using distinct forms of capital punishment: electrocution, firing squad, and hydrogen cyanide gas. His first kill took out Angus Stanton, a prosecutor who among other things helped put away the Joker — who in this world uses the Tim Burton films’ “Jack Napier” identity — as well as the robber who shot dead Luke Fox’s father, Lucius (on the night of the lad’s high school graduation). As such, when it is realized that the Executioner is targeting corrupt people from the judicial process, Luke worries that if Stanton is proven to be dirty, his dad’s killer could be set free on a technicality.

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While each chasing a lead on the second target, Batwoman and Sophie walk into a trap, in which remote-controlled automatic weapons gun down a dirty cop. After getting winged despite Batwoman’s best efforts, Sophie looks right at her savior and says, “Thanks… Kate” before passing out. As such, Kate whisks her ex away to Mary’s clinic, to be mended as well as kept off the grid/from blabbing. Sophie later comes to and escapes from being cuffed to her bed. After having Mary call her out on her betraying ways (with regards to jilting Kate and possibly snitching on Batwoman’s identity), Sophie skulks away while nursing her bandaged wound.

Batwoman seeks out and aims to protect the Executioner’s third target, a judge, but instead runs into the hooded baddie when the judge tries to give her the slip. Batwoman slugs it out with the Executioner — whom we learned is a former executioner from Blackgate prison — but just as he gains the upper hand, Jacob shows up and guns him down. Alas, the Executioner was rigged to a biometric dead man’s switch, meaning that upon dying, the judge’s courtroom went into lockdown mode, as cyanide gas started pumping in through the vents.

Luke explains that if Kate lets enough gas saturate the air, she can then ignite it/burn off the poison. That, however, means convincing Jacob to do what a Bat says. During the adversaries’ back-and-forth, an emotional Jacob details how he blames the bat symbol for what happened to his daughter Beth, because otherwise he must blame himself. Eventually, Batwoman is able to ignite and burn away the gas before she and Jacob suffocate.

In the aftermath, Luke appears upset that the case of Lucius Fox’s killer (among others) may be overturned, while Batwoman thanks Mary for handling another casualty for her. Mary warns the vigilante that Sophie knows her identity and might expose it. But when Kate — after writing to Bruce that she blames herself for Beth, given that she was right on the other side of the Cartwright cabin door that fateful day — shows up at Crows HQ to forgive her dad, Sophie walks by without saying a word.

Elsewhere in the episode: We got a taste of what Alice has planned for Mouse — in that she is using the stolen skin slices to fashion masks for her “brother,” who then adds in his talent for mimicry to, in this first instance, pass himself off as the Hamilton Industries tech whiz who created a “coil accelerator” gun that is no match for the Batsuit. After stealing said gun, Mouse has some harsh words for Alice about why she isn’t simply killing Batwoman — even if she is her sister, Kate. Alice explains that she is saving her twin a seat at their “tea party,” and if she winds up not wanting to “play,” “it’s a good thing we have the gun!” Mouse suggests that three is a crowd, but he accepts the situation for now… after using the coil accelerator to vaporize the scientist he just impersonated.

What did you think of the episode “I’ll Be Judge, I’ll Be Jury”?

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