Batwoman season 1 episode 14 review: All’s fair in love and revenge

This week’s episode of Batwoman shows Sophie struggling with her sexuality and newfound relationship with Batwoman, while Alice finds a way to get back at Dr. Campbell for all he’s done.

Last week’s episode of Batwoman finally gave fans the kiss they’ve been waiting for — well, almost. The tension between Kate and Sophie has been high since Kate arrived in Gotham again, and it’s clear there are plenty residual feelings between the two. That’s why Batwoman and Sophie finally kissing was so satisfying — even if Sophie has no idea who’s actually behind the mask.

And after last night’s episode, it looks like it might be a while before she finds out. While the relationship between the two of them was the central focus of “Grinning From Ear to Ear,” it ended with them deciding to press the brakes on things — at least until Sophie can work through her own problems.

Of course, Sophie wasn’t the only one struggling with the past this week. Since discovering that Dr. Campbell is actually August Cartwright, Alice has been plotting her next move. Her quest for vengeance obviously needs to include the man who put her on this path — but whether she’ll be able to overcome her childhood fear of him is another story altogether.

This week’s episode of Batwoman was short on the action, but it made up for it with the emotions, which were at an all-time high for just about everyone. “Grinning From Ear to Ear” also appears to be positioning each character to move forward in the story — and it does a solid job of it, at least where Sophie and Mary are concerned.

Wearing a Mask

The majority of “Grinning From Ear to Ear” focuses on Sophie struggling to come to terms with her sexuality, especially in lieu of all the major life changes she’s faced as of late. Not only has she separated from her husband, but she’s been suspended from the Crows — a group she’s no longer sure she sees eye to eye with.

The episode opens with a cute back and forth between Kate gushing about last week’s kiss to Luke and Sophie gushing about her new romance to Mary. Mary is generally supportive, especially knowing who Batwoman is, but Luke injects some much-needed seriousness into the scene. Telling Kate that this is why Bruce pushed people away, he insists she ends things with Sophie. Otherwise, Sophie will be used as leverage by those with a grudge against Kate’s superhero alterego, something that won’t end well for either of them.

To Kate’s credit, she does attempt to put a stop to things after her conversation with Luke, but Sophie pushes her to stay, arguing that she can take care of herself. Before the two can take their relationship further — or end it, as Kate intended — Sophie’s mom shows up on a whim. Batwoman disappears with only “the dog ate my breakup” as an excuse, and that seems to be that.

When Batwoman and Sophie meet again, however, Sophie mentions that she’ll never have to come out as queer because they’ll need to keep their relationship a secret. This is clearly the result of her mother’s distaste for the LGBTQ+ community, something she alludes to when she says her values aren’t the same as Batwoman’s. And Kate is understandably disappointed at having to hide her relationship with Sophie yet again.

This serves as the impetus for them ending things for real, as Sophie realizes that, as long as she’s dating someone with a mask, she’ll also be wearing one. Although this puts her fling with Batwoman on hold, the whole situation does spur a big moment of development for her: She finally tells her mother the real reason she’s no longer with her husband. And as disastrous as her mom’s reaction is, it’s a step in the right direction for Sophie — and a solid moment of acting for Meagan Tandy.

Where Sophie’s character will go from here remains to be seen, and her comments this episode suggest that she’s more interested in a career as a vigilante than she is in returning to the Crows. Jacob, however, does try to mend things by the end … whether she’ll return his calls is a question for next week. It’s the DC TV universe, so Sophie might opt for a mask and cape of her own instead.

Is Team Batwoman Hiring?

Mary Hamilton has quickly become one of the most compelling characters on Batwoman, and while her role during this week’s episode was a minimal one, it deserves a shoutout — if only to say that Nicole Kang’s acting has been spot on throughout the entirety of this season. Mary spends most of “Grinning From Ear to Ear” trying to get Kate to fess up to being Batwoman. Unfortunately, the two just aren’t there yet.

Toward the end of this week’s installment, however, Mary does make it quite obvious that she knows Kate is living a double life. She admits that, when Kate discovered her own second life — the one at her clinic — she always trusted her step-sister to keep her secret. Before leaving, she expresses the hope that Kate will one day trust her just as much. And we’d really love that day to come faster because Mary deserves to be a member of Team Batwoman already! Not only would it give her more screen time, but it would allow her intelligence and talent to shine even brighter. We’re here for that.

Vengeance Is Sweet

Relationships between characters might have dominated this week’s episode, but it wouldn’t be Batwoman — or any DC TV show, really — without some villainous activity. There’s a new killer on the loose this week: Duela, a girl who once cut a smile into her own face after constantly being berated about her frown. She’s seeking revenge against social-media moguls (and her own mother, of course), hunting them down and cutting up their faces as well.

Batwoman and Sophie manage to hunt this villain down and capture her, but she’s not really the point of this plotline. It’s revealed that Duela was forced by her mother to undergo plastic surgery to fix her face — and naturally, Dr. Campbell was the surgeon who did the job. Upon discovering this, Alice decides to use Duela’s reappearance to her advantage. While Duela awaits the Gotham City Police Department, Alice puts her face-stealing skills to work.

When Alice arrives at Dr. Campbell’s office disguised as Duela, he doesn’t seem surprised — at least, not until she rips her fake face off and shows him who’s beneath. The episode ends with Dr. Campbell being held in Alice’s lair, though it’s made clear throughout the episode that she’s still afraid of him. The preview for next week also suggests that he’ll find a way to turn the tables — something Alice clearly isn’t prepared for.

The confrontation between Alice, Kate and Jacob, and August is one that the entire first season of Batwoman has been building to, and it’s nice to finally be seeing the payoff. Hopefully, Alice’s captor will get his comeuppance — but where the rest of them go from there is a major question mark.

What did you think of this week’s episode of Batwoman? Where do you think Sophie’s character arc will go from here? Sound off in the comments below!