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Welcome readers!  Things are heating up in Gotham this week when a new bad broke out of prison and comes after Sophie.  His name is Cluemaster and he is a glimpse into the past for Sophie who put him away five years prior.  While Sophie and Team Batwoman were faced with catching the villain-of-the-week, Jacob Kane is slipping more into his addiction to Snake Bite and Alice tries to escape from Black Mask.  Tempers run high this week, in episode #213 of the CW’s Batwoman, titled ‘I’ll Give You A Clue’.  If you want to know, keep reading, but what follows will contain some spoilers!  

A New Villain!

This week opens up on this week’s villain, Cluemaster aka Arthur Brown (Rick Miller) staging his breakout from prison, five years after Sophie, in her first case for the Crows, put him there.  In true Batwoman/Man fashion he is out for vengeance to kill the person responsible for his being sent to prison.  While he is not The Riddler, they do have some similarities, in the sense that he creates a series of puzzles and clues that detail the crimes he is about to commit.  Although different from The Riddler, there is a reference to him in this episode, which made for a nice Easter Egg.  

A Good Chase

Elsewhere in Gotham, Mary and Sophie are having a girls night when Ryan comes home from crime fighting.  She is less than happy to see a Crow in her living room, but upon Mary’s request, she sits down to have a drink with them.  What is all fun and games and girl talk, quickly turns to a night of chasing down Cluemaster after he sends the first step of the puzzle to Sophie.  Last week I mentioned how I hoped Batwoman would do more villain-of-the-week episodes. I was delighted watching this episode, because it was just that.  What ensues for Team Batwoman is a wild chase to solve all of Cluemaster’s clues and save a woman he says was poisoned.  

Stephanie (Morgan Kohan) is responsible for Cluemaster going to prison. In the search to find Cluemaster Sophie, Mary and Ryan end up in a deadly situation and must work together to escape a trap/distraction that was made for Ryan.  As they figure out how to escape, Luke and Stephanie work to find her father in what also appears to be the set up for a potential love interest for Luke.  She is a match to his genius and together they are a mighty force of knowledge.  

Tempers Hot, Trust Earned

I did mention in the title that there were many revelations. Sophie and Ryan work together, begrudgingly. Ryan still does not trust Sophie, which causes friction.  She has a good reason, but in the heat of the moment Sophie tells Ryan she knows that she is Batwoman and that she can trust her.  Trust is something to be earned, and that is the lesson that Ryan faces this week.  I will not reveal how it all turns out, but it was definitely an intriguing episode.  

Meanwhile, Back in Wonderland..

Although Cluemaster’s game is a major part of this episode, I cannot review an episode without mentioning my favorite character in the show, Alice.  Last week ended with her being kidnapped by Black Mask and a new faceless villain which we viewers know to be Kate Kane.  After some torture, Alice manages to break free from her restraints but is unsuccessful in her escape.  Black Mask is anxious to learn the identity of Batwoman and her whereabouts, but Alice does not give him that satisfaction. 

Alice instead manages to manipulate the situation to her benefit after learning the identity of the mystery woman.  She knows her to be Circe Sionis (Wallis Day), the daughter or Roman Sionis.  This is where Alice gets the reveal to who the person behind Black Mask is.  She manages to convince Roman to let her give his daughter a new face, being that it is her specialty.  Upon finishing the face however, she makes a big revelation about the real identity behind Circe, since she knows for a fact that Circe died in Arkham.

Just Some Concluding Thoughts 

This week we saw a lot of development in the relationships of Ryan and Sophie, and for the first time in the course of this show, I am actually beginning to like Sophie.  I have never been a massive fan, so that means I, like Ryan, have trouble trusting her.  She is making strides however.  This was my favorite episode in a while because it gave something new and fresh to the story, and allowed Ryan (Javicia Leslie) to shine. 

Up to this point it seemed as if Ryan has been struggling to prove herself. Given the situation it’s understandable, but I am glad that she is getting better material this week.  As understanding as I am of Ryan not trusting Sophie, I did not care for her being angry with Mary for talking to Sophie.  Sophie and Mary have history and both lost someone they cared about. So it is quite unfair of Ryan to get upset with Mary over this.  I’ll give this episode a 4.5 due to the change of pace and storyline this week, and because I actually quite enjoyed it for the first time in quite a while.  I hope Batwoman can keep up this momentum, it is quite necessary at this point.  

For more Batwoman follow my reviews every week, and catch the show on Sundays at 9 PM on CW or via the CWTV app and CWTV.com every Monday!