Batwoman is finally back, and this week, the bat team races to save Luke’s life and his reputation. Meanwhile, Luke has his own decision to make and uses a familiar face to help him along the way. Read on to find out what happened in “Armed and Dangerous.”
The episode opens with a replay of what happened in the previous episode. Ambulances arrive on the scene and get ready to bring Luke to the hospital.
At Crows, Commander Kane, accompanied by two others, asks Tavaroff about what happened. Tavaroff lies through his teeth. Kane seems a bit skeptical that Luke would steal a car or pull a gun, requesting to see the body cam footage. Tavaroff agrees (and he seems a little too mellow about the request) and goes to get another agent for Kane.
Luke is rushed through the hospital. In his mind, however, he’s at a too bright version of Wayne Enterprises. He spots a figure near the window, who Luke realizes is his father.
Mary and Ryan head to the bat cave, where Mary fills in Ryan about Luke, revealing he’s in a coma. She tells Ryan everything she knows about what happened, and Ryan wonders why Luke didn’t call for backup. Mary shares that the person who was actually trying to steal the car was Eli. Ryan thinks he may be the direct cause. Mary says she’ll let Batwoman handle that while she tries to find a way to save Luke. Ryan asks why she isn’t at the hospital, then, and Mary leads her to the Desert Rose that Ryan planted in the bat cave.
Alice rifles through Dr. Rhyme’s files, finding three marked for “R. Sionis”: Jacob, Kate, and Mary. Ocean, who was ditching evidence, returns for Dr. Rhyme’s body. Alice is still angry with him and tries to show him the files. He doesn’t care, still convinced that Kate isn’t worth it. Alice leaves, deciding to pursue her new leads alone.
In the batmobile, Batwoman chases down Eli, who’s driving a stolen car. When she catches him, she pins him against the car, telling him she thinks it was him, demanding to know what happened. He tells her and also mentions it was Tavaroff who shot Luke. When Eli tries to place the blame on Luke, Batwoman reminds him that Tavaroff also could have, ya know, not shot Luke. She knocks him out before leaving.
Luke tries to get his father’s attention but is unsuccessful. Bruce shows up next, and Luke is confused. Bruce says that Luke called him there. He tells Luke what happened and says he has a choice to make.
Mary watches a newscast of Gotham citizens protesting on Luke’s behalf as she works on making a Desert Rose serum. Ryan storms in and heads to the computer. She searches Tavaroff, pulling up several different news articles of cases he was involved in. Mary is ready to jump into action, but Ryan tells her to focus on Luke, and she’ll handle the Crows.
Alice shows up at Wayne. She knocks over a chair to trigger the intruder alert to get Mary to meet her. Alice asks if Mary has had any run-ins with Circe. Mary hasn’t, and Alice drops it. She begins to leave, but Mary knows there’s more to her visit. Alice tells her that Black Mask hates the Kane family even more than she does. Mary should keep Batwoman close. (Alice being WORRIED about Mary?!) As Alice steps on the elevator, Mary says that she knows Alice is in love, and if she had acknowledged that earlier, her life could have been better. Mary ends by saying that even Alice deserves love.
Batwoman finds Tavaroff and attacks him. He pulls his gun and tries to shoot at her (get a new move, dude), but thankfully, the bullets don’t hurt her. They fight, and Batwoman eventually holds him, saying she’ll release him if he tells the truth about what happened. Instead, he claims it’s not her fight.
“You shot an innocent, unarmed Black man. The fight is in my DNA.”
Batwoman
Tavaroff doesn’t think Luke is innocent and frees himself as a Crows SUV approaches them. He pushes Batwoman in front of the SUV, getting in once she’s hit and down.
Alice finds Ocean in the abandoned train as he packs to leave. He’s still upset with Alice, and she wants to know why, despite everything, he stayed. He says it’s because he can’t help who he loves, and them being able to bring back their memories means something. He also wants her to make a choice: him or Kate. She can’t because she wants both, and if he loves her, he’d understand. He responds by kissing her.
Sophie arrives at the bat cave, and Ryan shares that Tavaroff was behind the shooting. Sophie is surprised Ryan isn’t with Luke, but Ryan knows he’ll be fine because Mary is on her way with the Desert Rose serum. Meanwhile at the hospital, Mary finds two Crows guarding Luke’s room who won’t let her in. She tries to pull the “Jacob Kane is my father” card, but they tell her that he’s the one who posted them there.
Ryan and Sophie watch the news that eventually shows the bodycam footage … footage that shows Luke drawing what is very obviously a gun, and a gun that was linked to an armed robbery. Sophie says Luke will be charged when he wakes up, but Ryan says “if,” sharing a text she received from Mary letting her know that she couldn’t get into Luke’s room. Sophie thinks Tavaroff’s cronies were responsible for the doctored footage, telling Ryan about how the metadata will be stored in the Crows database until 3 a.m. If they can get to it, they can prove the footage was altered. Ryan is suspicious of how quickly Sophie came up with that response, angry that Sophie didn’t do more before quitting. Sophie reminds Ryan that she’s on her side. Ryan begins to blame herself for what happened, thinking it’s her fault that Luke might die. As she breaks down, Sophie pulls Ryan into her arms.
Luke asks Bruce where they’re at, and Bruce nudges Luke into realizing they’re in his subconscious. Bruce tells Luke what’s going on in the real world; the doctors are at a loss, and Luke needs to decide whether he wants to stay or go. Luke wants to talk to his father, but Bruce stops him. If Luke does that, it means he’s made the decision to stay, and there’s no turning back.
Sophie goes to talk with Jacob. She tries to tell him that Tavaroff isn’t who Jacob thinks he is, but Jacob is still disappointed that Sophie left the Crows, frustrated that she’s there trying to tell him what to do. She brings up a prior case where evidence suddenly appeared and helped get a criminal locked away. If it happened before, it could happen now with Tavaroff. Jacob pushes back, and Sophie begs him to see what she sees. As she leaves Crows, she plugs a flash drive into one of the computers.
Batwoman drops onto the roof of Crows Security, Sophie watching her and additional security feeds from the bat cave. Batwoman asks about Luke, and Sophie tells her it’s being handled. At the hospital, Wolf Spider returns. Mary brings coffee to the guards and distracts them while Wolf Spider enters the room through the window and administers the serum to Luke.
Luke tries once again to talk to his father, and again, Bruce stops him. Luke tries to push away Bruce’s arm, but his hand goes right through. Bruce tells him that he’s on his way back to life. Luke needs to make a decision before it’s made for him. Luke seems conflicted, but he also desperately wants to talk to his dad again.
Jacob brings Tavaroff into his office, bringing up how Luke’s record was as clean as a whistle until it wasn’t, wanting to know why. Tavaroff offers no helpful answer. Jacob continues by talking about what happened at the church with the Snake Bite users, and Tavaroff becomes facetious. Jacob gets heated, saying that something needs to change. He tells Tavaroff to hand over his badge and gun. Tavaroff complies … until he uses his gun to pistol-whip Jacob into unconsciousness.
Mary is still talking with the two guards until something catches her eye down the hall. Evan Blake joins her, and they take the coffees and head out.
Batwoman makes it to the Crows’ servers as Sophie leads her to the right area to find the body cam footage. The two also learn that Luke got the Desert Rose. Batwoman makes it into the system, but Tavaroff’s footage isn’t in chronological order, and she can’t find Luke’s. Time is running out, and Sophie spots Tavaroff and his gang carting Jacob somewhere. Sophie tells Batwoman to go find him instead, but she doesn’t want to. When Sophie says Jacob will die, Batwoman caves.
Tavaroff ties up Jacob, planning to inject him with three doses of Snake Bite, which another Crow thinks is too far. Tavaroff shuts him down. Just as he’s about to inject the first dose, Batwoman breaks through the window. She easily takes down the other Crows. As she fights Tavaroff, Jacob begins to stir. She knocks out Tavaroff and goes to untie Jacob, letting him know she gave up clearing Luke’s name for him. Jacob says he didn’t realize how bad things were, and Batwoman says he should have.
“I gave you the match and the gas can, Commander. It’s up to you to do the rest. Burn it down, or you’re just as bad as them.”
Later, Ryan and Mary are in Luke’s room. Luke should be awake by now, and they don’t understand why he’s not. Ryan falls back into guilt, thinking she should have been there.
Jacob holds a press conference where he shares what really happened with Luke. He says the bodycam footage was destroyed, but he will testify on Luke’s behalf. In the meantime, Tavaroff and his crew are being held for assault with intent to kill. When Jacob is asked about what this means for him and the Crows, he admits his misgivings.
Ryan and Mary watch from the hospital room’s TV. Jacob ends by issuing an apology to the Fox family and stating that he’s disbanding the Crows. Ryan and Mary turn to Luke and tell him to wake up. They need him.
Luke doesn’t think what’s happened and what’s happening is fair, and Bruce knows. He lists all the good Luke has done, stating that none of it matters because some people still think he deserves what happened, simply for being Black. A hopeless Luke wants to know what the point is, but Bruce reminds him once more that only Luke can make the decision. Luke shares that he always wondered why Bruce left, but he knows now that it’s because everything going on is depressing. Despite all the good they do in the world, things like what happened to Luke will still happen. So, Luke makes his choice. He doesn’t want to live in that world; he wants to be with his dad. Bruce disappears, and Luke is about to get his father’s attention. But just before he can, he wakes up, much to Mary and Ryan’s relief.
Jacob packs up his office. He smiles at a text Mary sends him that says, “Proud of you.” As he leaves, he finds Sophie waiting for him. She’s glad he made the decision, and he seems happy about it too.
When he reaches his car, he finds Alice waiting for him. He asks what she wants, and she tells him she wants his help. She goes off on a brief tangent, which annoys Jacob. She gets to the point and tells him that Kate is alive. He doesn’t believe her, but she continues and gives him the SparkNotes version of what happened. She says that no matter what, they’re going to find Kate.
Batwoman airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET/8 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.
