Batwoman season 3, episode 2 review: Pulling teeth

Batwoman season 3 introduces new dynamics and old enemies in “Loose Tooth”.

On Batwoman season 3, episode 2, the Bat Team is confronted by another of Batman’s long-forgotten foes: Killer Croc.

With Luke stepping up as Batwing and Alice being named a temporary member of the Bat Team, Batwoman season 3, episode 2 is the first chance to see these new changes fully explored, answering so many of the lingering questions. Questions like, for example, how will Ryan and Alice be able to work together given their history? Who’s stepping up to be the person behind-the-computer in the Bat Cave with Luke in the field? What does Alice have to offer in the hunt for these super-powered villains from Batman’s past?

With the answers to all of these, the future of Batwoman somehow looks brighter than ever. The new direction for the show, following Kate’s exit, is (so far) working quite well. This is, without a doubt, not the Batwoman we’ve known. This is Ryan Wilder’s very own story now, an exciting turn of fate with endless potential. If the season turns out as these first two episodes did, we’re in for a fun, wild, and thrilling ride.

Batwoman season 3, episode 2 recap: Loose Tooth

Following Renee Montoya‘s surprise that Alice will be tagging along with the Bat Team as they hunt the trophies from Batman’s villains that are wreaking havoc amongst the city, it’s time to put this new partnership to the test on “Loose Tooth.”

After the disappearance of a young girl, Ryan and Alice are more motivated than ever to stop this monster from continuing to rack up its body count. While searching, they’re led to the Gotham sewer, where they discover someone else trying to stop Killer Croc. Upon the revelation that this man is the father of the boy unfortunately affected by the original Croc’s tooth, he attacks Ryan, ending with his son killing him.

With Ryan down and reeling from this shocking attack (pun intended), Alice takes her chance to escape. As she roams the sewer, searching for the exit, she comes across the missing girl that is unable to escape due to a broken leg, giving Alice an interesting conundrum. Does she save the girl and lose her chance, or does she leave the girl? Of course, Alice puts herself first, while Ryan takes Killer Croc down and he’s locked away in Arkham Asylum.

After Luke decides to disable the fail-safe in his Batwing suit that has rendered him useless in the field with a faulty suit, despite Mary’s protests, he confronts Alice as her escape is almost complete. Sadly, for Alice, she’s injected with a serum that makes it so Ryan and company can track her wherever she is, whenever they please. Unfortunately for Luke, disabling the fail-safe causes him to lose the suit’s artificial intelligence.

Meanwhile, Ryan learns the truth that Jada Jett is her mother, and the two have a very tense confrontation over Sophie hacking into Jeturian Industries’ servers when she was searching for the truth about who Ryan’s birth mother was in the previous episode. Some time to reflect and consider what this twist means, and a special heart-to-heart conversation with Sophie, leads Ryan to Jeturian Industries, revealing to Jada that she is her long-lost daughter.

Batwoman season 3, episode 2 review: Pulling teeth

Boy, where to begin? Batwoman season 3, episode 2 is filled with intriguing new challenges and possibilities, easily becoming one of the series’ strongest episodes to date.

Given my endless love for Rachel Skarsten’s Alice, the dynamic shift between Ryan and Alice is such fun. Ditching their complicated villain/hero story for this reluctant partners twist is compelling, and is really breathing new life into the show. Obviously, given this is the first episode of the twist unfolding, there’s still work to be done and much more to explore. It wouldn’t have made sense, given Alice’s history, if she didn’t try to escape immediately, but it left viewers wondering what exactly this is going to look like when Alice’s heart is in the fight.

Plus, now that Ryan doesn’t have to worry about Alice escaping at every turn, how will she rely on her new partner to assist with stopping these incredibly dangerous foes? Can she trust Alice now, at least in the field? It seems to be where this is headed, and hopefully the ice will thaw a bit between them as they’re continually forced to work together. There’s the potential for a very unique kind of relationship unlike anything else on television to come from this partnership. Even though Ryan will never be able to forgive Alice, what’s left? The Batwoman writers have the opportunity to either make this soar, which is going to be difficult… or it’s going to crash and burn.

Given that Batwoman season 2 still very much felt like Kate Kane’s story with Ryan Wilder at the helm, the change to the show actually being about Ryan is refreshing. Ryan is such a powerful, interesting character, and the dive into her birth family is surprisingly gripping. Though we’ve just met Jada, it’s beyond obvious just what a complicated, dynamic woman she is. She’s mysterious, cunning, and yet still charming, even as she’s threatening you. (No doubt partially because Robin Givens is simply fantastic at what she does.)

Ryan confronting her birth mother and spilling the truth is exciting, as I’m eagerly awaiting the episode that details why exactly Jada gave Ryan up. There are no easy answers since Jada spent so much money and effort in keeping this secret buried. Though, it’s doubtful that Jada will immediately believe Ryan’s claims…

Back to the villain of it all, the dark turn Alice took in the sewer is rather disappointing, though. Earlier in “Loose Tooth,” she was adamant about saving this girl — a girl that reminded her of herself, kidnapped by August Cartwright and help captive. It made sense how Alice immediately became invested.

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And, in the end, Alice trying to “teach” the girl a lesson is understandable for who we know Alice to be. She’s like those people who claim to be fine after being spanked as a child and encourage new parents to do it. Like, the hard way to go about that is to stop the cycle, but it seems that Alice isn’t there yet. She’s still seeing herself as the biggest victim of all, and after her growth over Batwoman season 2 and dedication to saving Kate, it’s frustrating to start going backwards with this again.

It definitely seems like we’re on a path ending with Alice becoming Red Alice, the antihero from the Batwoman comics, and becoming part of the Bat Team is going to drastically change her. Perhaps, eventually, she will see the error of her ways and begin to try to atone for her sins.

Meanwhile, the story with the Batwing suit is intriguing. At first, it held no interest, but the turn that the suit is malfunctioning because of lingering mental/emotional pain after Luke’s shooting is unexpected and is now commanding attention. Even if it’s not the most interesting bit of these episodes, nobody can complain considering the excellent “Hamilfox” exchange we were blessed with in “Loose Tooth.”

This couple is the slowest of all slow burns, but it’s fun to see the little moments like this and get confirmation that it is something that’s coming. (And we all had the same reaction as Mary when Luke took off his shirt, right?)

All in all, Batwoman season 3, episode 2 is another exciting episode. This new season is off to an exceptional start, really honing in on the strongest aspects of the show. Not many shows can say that the third season is the best, but Batwoman may be one of them at this rate.

And now we must wait not-so-patiently for the next Batwoman season 3 episode, airing Wednesday, October 27 on The CW at 9:00 p.m.

What did you think of Batwoman season 3, episode 2? Let us know in the comments below!