Last week on Batwoman, everyone finally arrived to Coryana, and Kate was revealed to still be alive — only no one knows just yet. This week, Kate’s friends and family mourned her, Roman Sionis/Black Mask made his introduction, and a little more about what happened to Kate in the plane crash was revealed. Read on to find out what happened in “Rule #1.”
The episode opens with Jacob, Mary, Sophie, Luke, and Julia holding a funeral for Kate. While they do, Ryan writes another letter to Kate, which also provides voiceover. She thanks Kate for being Batwoman and the path it paved for Ryan. Because she isn’t able to attend the funeral, Ryan re-homes her Desert Rose plant from its pot into a small spot in the bat cave, for Kate. Meanwhile, Black Mask goes to Kate. He tells her that her family laid her to rest, but he still has other plans.
One month later, Police Commissioner Forbes is questioned about GCPD working with Batwoman. Shortly after, a young woman stops him again to talk with him about the budget meeting he’s heading into and the prevalence of Snakebite. He attempts to brush her off, but she isn’t so easily ignored, then bringing up the shootings of four unarmed Black men by the GCPD, but Forbes instead patronizes her and goes to his meeting.
Mary and Ryan chow down on sweet potato pancakes at their place until Angelique interrupts, and Mary gives them space. Angelique is there to apologize to Ryan about offering help, claiming she wants to get out of the Snakebite game and have another chance with Ryan. Ryan, however, isn’t so certain it’s a good idea.
That night, a group of people wearing masks shoot Commissioner Forbes, ultimately killing him. While that goes down, the woman from earlier watches, just barely avoiding bullets herself. The next day, a reporter talks to Roman Sionis about what happened. He claims that he is a voice the people and wants to protect him from killings like this happening again.
In alternating scenes, the bat team and Sophie with the Crows’ help try to work the crime scene. Both groups watch the footage of the Commissioner being shot, soon noticing that there’s missing footage when his body disappears. Ryan notices a spray paint tag in the corner of the screen and figures there was someone else who witnessed everything, and the shooter could be looking for them. Mary tracks down the person’s social media account and hands the info to Luke, who finds out it’s a woman named Jordan Moore, Sophie’s sister.
As Sophie heads out, Jordan surprises (well, more like scares) her in her car. She fills Sophie in on what happened with the Commissioner, also worried she might have been followed. Sophie suggests bringing Jordan in to give a witness statement, but Jordan vehemently opposes. Before Sophie has time to argue, the masked people reappear and begin attacking the car trying to reach Sophie and Jordan. Just in time, Batwoman shows up and takes them down. Afterwards, she explains that it’s the False Face Society. Batwoman asks Jordan what she saw, eventually revealing that the getaway driver was a woman wearing a gold key bracelet, one that Angelique owns.
We also see how Alice is handling Kate’s loss, which isn’t great, though she doesn’t recognize it at first. She returns to the Cartwright house where we she was held as a child. She hears someone outside the door and opens it to find a young Kate there for a tea party. Kate tells Alice she’s there to get her out of trouble, and in this case, trouble means Alice’s pain.
Ryan pays a visit to Angelique, angry that she didn’t get out like she said she would. Ryan pleads with Angelique to expose False Face, but she’s scared, thinking Black Mask “will leave [her] for dead in a sewer.” (Huh, now why does that sound familiar.) Desperate, Ryan admits that she knows Batwoman and can help Angelique. When Ryan returns to the bat cave, she tells Luke and Mary about Angelique. Luke is upset, not believing Angelique will do anything, with Ryan trying to explain that they can use her. Mary is also on the fence, ultimately agreeing with Luke. She agrees to give Angelique one hour to explain herself before turning her in.
Ryan works her next shift at The Hold Up, and Sophie and Jordan enter. They begin to chat, and Jordan shares her mistrust for Batwoman, because to her, Batwoman is no different than the cops or the law: they all shoot first. Ryan counters by asking how Jordan would solve Gotham’s crime problem, and she immediately dives into several different projects she has in the works. Sophie and Jordan get their drinks and go talk alone, Jordan hinting at the potential for Sophie and Ryan to be together (okay, Jordan, I’m listening). Sophie eventually wiggles out of the conversation by calling Luke. She asks Luke if Batwoman can offer any help on the Forbes case, mentioning the woman with the bracelet, but Luke doesn’t give Angelique away. When they hang up, Mary wonders why he didn’t say anything, and Luke reminds her they need to trust Ryan.
Ryan then receives a call from Angelique, who’s scared and crying. She admits she really does want to get out this time. Ryan asks her who killed Forbes, prompting Angelique to ask if Ryan really knows Batwoman. Later, Batwoman goes to Angelique’s place, which has been destroyed. Angelique has been kidnapped by Black Mask, waking up to find herself tied to a chair with a dead body hanging upside down in front of her. Black Mask appears, bringing up Angelique wanting to leave False Face, but if she does, she’ll be the next body.
Batwoman tracks down Angelique but is greeted by the rest of False Face, who manages to capture her. Black Mask has her tied to a table, with another False Face member on an adjacent table. Black Mask kills the man and moves on to Batwoman. He shares his hatred for vigilantes and how he plans to make the city atone. Just as he’s about to kill her too, Sophie shows up and releases Batwoman, who goes to Angelique. Sophie soon joins them, and Batwoman tells her that Angelique will bring down False Face and they’re going to protect her.
Sophie brings Angelique to Crows HQ, where Angelique confesses to killing the Commissioner and that she acted alone. Later, Sophie brings the bracelet to Ryan. She explains that Angelique turned herself in because Black Mask threatened to harm Ryan otherwise. Angelique couldn’t risk Ryan’s life, too.
In another area of Crows Security, Julia makes a call to gather more information about Kate’s plane crash. She’s hoping to find incontrovertible proof that the crash was a series of technical difficulites so that Jacob can move on and grieve. However, the person on the other end of the phone seems a little too excited to talk with her, as he thinks she called him before. But she hasn’t, which means someone is setting her up for something.
Luke and Mary meet Ryan in the bat cave. She explains that she wants to begin learning more about who she is out of the suit. She also begins to build up their sense of being a team, laying out three rules she has in mind for them: Rule #3, support each other; Rule #2, hold each other accountable; and Rule #1, create a legacy that reminds Gotham they created something good in place of the bad they removed. Ryan wants to start by helping Jordan with a community center she’s creating.
Alice and young Kate go visit the grave of Alice’s pet cat, where Kate prompts her to dig it up. Alice does, finding a living kitten in the box. Kate helps her realize that she’s having a psychotic break, and once it’s over, Alice will be hit with intense grief. Kate also tells her that her mind is powerful, which Alice takes to mean that if she wants, she can create a world where Kate never existed, thus avoiding her pain and grief (I don’t think this will end well).
The episode ends with Black Mask and a woman standing over the real Kate in her tiny cell. The woman asks about what happened with her face, and Black Mask says Kate fought his men as they pulled her from the plane wreckage (hmmm). The woman says it’s better that way and sends Black Mask away. She bends down and introduces herself to the unconscious Kate as Enigma, who was Safiyah’s hypnotist. Enigma takes Kate’s necklace from her, saying it’s time to say goodbye to Kate Kane.
Batwoman returns on Sunday, April 11 at 8 p.m. ET/7 p.m. CT on The CW, available the next day on The CW app and cwtv.com. Find our previous recaps and the rest of our coverage here.
