Batwoman season 3, episode 4 review: Ivy grows

Did Batwoman season 3 continue its success with its fourth episode?

Things keep getting darker on Batwoman season 3.

Batwoman season 3, episode 4 is another exceptional episode, which finally gives Sophie her time in the spotlight because her sister is the victim of the villain-of-the-week. It’s emotional, intriguing, and gives some much-needed development to several of the relationships between our main players.

From the events of this episode, it’s clear there is a very big plan for the third season of Batwoman with two major villains wreaking havoc on Gotham: Poison Ivy and the Black Glove Society. What remains to be seen is who will be the bigger threat.

Batwoman season 3, episode 4 recap: Antifreeze

Picking up the morning after Mary was dragged away by one of Poison Ivy’s vines, Mary wakes on a bench in the middle of the park after vines unravel from around her, with no recollection of what happened to her and a thorn in her arm. When she tries to tell Ryan and Luke about what happened, Luke is still anger with her for revealing his struggle with PTSD, so he leaves immediately. Ryan, however, is too wrapped up in her own stuff, ignoring Mary’s concern.

It’s time for the 30 under 30 in Gotham to be announced, and Marquis has arranged for Ryan to be honored as Acting CEO of Wayne Enterprises. Joining her is Sophie’s sister, Jordan, who plans to expose an underground criminal organization… but, unfortunately for her, she’s frozen by a new device based upon Mr. Freeze’s serum, which has no way to unfreeze the person affected.

Back in Arkham, Alice continues to have delusions. This time, her imagination has created an Arkham worker that is delivering the faux-postcards from her father.  Alice calls Renee Montoya, pretending to have a clue for the Bat Team, so she can escape Arkham for the day and spend time with Mary.

But, when Sophie brings Jordan to Mary for help, Sophie and Alice head to Jordan’s apartment to get a clue about who is after her. The apartment isn’t much of a distraction for Alice though, who hallucinates her worker in the middle of Jordan’s living room, which leaves her vulnerable and unaware when the Black Glove Society members break in. Sophie notices Alice talking to herself, leading her to bring the information to Ryan and Mary, where the group decides Alice needs to leave Arkham and stop taking the medication that is likely causing her madness… and that Alice will be rooming with Sophie for the time being.

The team manages to save Jordan, but they lose the men they were chasing and are forced to hand over Jordan’s information on the Black Glove Society, setting up a new villain for the Bat Team to handle this season. (As if they didn’t already have enough on their plates.)

Upon learning that Ryan and Marquis are still interacting behind her back, Jada uses some insider information from Wayne Enterprises to expose the missing money that has gone toward Bat Team missions from Bruce, Kate, and Ryan’s time in the Bat Cave. Because she’s the current CEO, Ryan is set to take the fall, and the company’s stock plummets. Meanwhile, Jada meets with the goon from the Black Glove Society that had been testing the new freeze device, confirming that she is the customer he was working for. And, as if that weren’t bad enough, Jada reveals her plan to put Marquis on ice.

Batwoman season 3, episode 4 review: Ivy grows

It’s so sad to watch how Jada is treating Ryan, especially with her actions on Batwoman season 3, episode 4. Ryan has already endured so much, finding her birth mother should’ve been a more heartwarming, pleasant event, even if there was some secret and dark reason that they could never have a real relationship. At this point, it just seems like Jada is pure evil, which surely isn’t the case.

Before too much time passes, the writers need give begin diving into Jada’s backstory. It’s already going to be hard to sympathize with her because of what she has done to Ryan and plans to do to Marquis. There has to be a reason that she’s taking such drastic measures to keep Ryan away from her family, but her actions won’t be as excusable the longer they go on without any sort of real explanation. We’re just stewing in all of Jada’s evil deeds right now. Considering how viewers are on Ryan’s side, it’s going to be hard to want her to have a relationship with this woman in the future, assuming everything is cleared up.

More from Arrowverse

• The 9 best (and 8 worst) Arrowverse characters
• 27 best fighters in the Arrowverse, ranked
• All 8 Black Canary actresses ranked from worst to best
• 11 things nobody wants to admit about the Arrowverse
• The 7 best (and 6 worst) Arrowverse villains

Plus, Jada is now threatening more than just Ryan. She’s put everything in jeopardy for the Bat Team by leaving Wayne Enterprises on the edge of collapse. Without that, there is no Batwoman, taking away the sense of purpose that all of these characters on the Bat Team have found by helping others.

The emphasis and highlight of Batwoman season 3, episode 4 are the relationships and how they grow. Alice’s presence within the lives of the Bat Team is clearly going to be growing even more, which should lead to plenty of opportunities for some less antagonistic banter and a deeper understanding of each other from both sides.

It’s incredibly interesting to see how Alice’s story is shifting. She’s connecting to Mary on a deeper level now, and is the only person actually listening to Mary and calling the others out for how they’re treating her. (Now, I know it’s not for selfless reasons, but still.) They’re slowly becoming some kind of sisters, which is something that has the potential to be quite beautiful and lead to so much conflict. And, the writers know how fun the relationship between Alice and Sophie has been to watch, so the twist that they are becoming roommates is going to be phenomenal.

It’s lovely to see how much Sophie has grown as a character, and how dedicated she is to those she loves. Her bond with Jordan, though we’ve seen very little of it, is clearly so strong and special. Jordan is a character we need on the show more, as watching older sister Sophie brings out another side to her that is quite sweet and heartwarming. (And we need more of Jordan teasing Sophie over her attraction for Ryan.)

From here, Sophie is clearly going to become determined to stop the Black Glove Society, and will likely use her knowledge as a former Crows agent to help her get inside of the organization. It’ll be captivating to see her lead this story, if she’s given the chance, while it seems that Mary is going to be leading the Poison Ivy story. (Please don’t let this mean Sophie and Mary won’t be interacting this season much, though.)

Altogether, Batwoman season 3, episode 4 is a very enjoyable episode. Probably the least interesting of the four so far, but still very entertaining and strong. There’s so much potential for where the show can go from here, and it’s clear how much has improved since letting the Kate Kane of it all go, once and for all. Ryan’s story is more riveting in so many ways.

Batwoman season 3 continues Wednesdays at 9:00 p.m. ET on The CW.

What did you think of Batwoman season 3, episode 4? Let us know in the comments below!