REVIEW: Batwoman, Season 2 Episode Fifteen 'Armed And Dangerous'

 REVIEW: Batwoman, Season 2 Episode Fifteen 'Armed And Dangerous'

The previous episode of Batwoman ended with a shocker. Luke Fox (Camrus Johnson) had been shot by Crows agent Russel Tavaroff (Jesse Hutch), placing his life at risk. This was an unexpected turn of events considering he is set to appear in the rest of the season, and so acted as an effective way of wrong-footing the audience.

This episode picks up straight after these tragic events, with Jacob Kane (Dougray Scott) wanting to know exactly what went on. Russel Tavaroff is even more of a jerk here than in the previous episode. He straight up lies with his claim that Luke brandished a gun, and the screenplay really makes you despise this character. He's one of those people in a television drama who has no redeeming qualities whatsoever, and some may find that a little two dimensional, but it works for me here. 

Russel really will go to no lengths to make Luke seem like he was dangerous though. Here he even goes to the extent of doctoring the footage so it looks like Luke was holding a gun. Russel clearly possesses some very serious racist attitudes, and the show handles this well, with showing just how wrong and out of touch Russel is with his views. He's portrayed as this figure who stands for the worst side of the Crows, the kind of people who made Sophie (Meagan Tandy) eventually decide to quit, and it's a sign of just how corrupt they have come within this series. They're hardly to be trusted in regards to upholding the law. 

Especially as the Crows go to the extent of taking out their own commander. Yep, there's full on mutiny here. It's really no wonder Ryan (Javicia Leslie) holds such disdain for them when they act in this manner. The fact that it leads to her having to save Jacob Kane is a neat twist, given that these two have been far from best buddies. Jacob doesn't even like this new Batwoman as he understandably sees her as trying to replace his daughter, but even he's forced to give a begrudging thanks here.

This really is a great episode for Jacob Kane, as his character develops significantly across the episode. Starting off rather firm in his stance as commander of the Crows and ending by disbanding them after realising the level of corruption at the heart of the organisation, Jacob changes more than any other character, and it will be interesting to see just who Jacob Kane is without the Crows. The security firm has been such an important aspect of his character that it's impossible to imagine him not commanding a team of Crows.

The character's new direction does seem to involve him teaming up with Alice (Rachel Skarsten) to bring Kate (Wallis Day) back, which seems a promising avenue to take the character in. Alice is, after all, so different from the Beth Jacob knew, so it could lead to some solid exploration with both characters, as perhaps Alice develops slightly more into the woman she used to be. There's certainly a good chance to delve further into Jacob's regrets at not managing to save Beth when she was kidnapped, which is something both seasons have been very good at showing in regards to Dougray Scott's character.

One of the coolest aspects of this episode is that we get to see more of a 'proper' take on the Arrowverse's Bruce Wayne (Warren Christie). I put proper in quotation marks because even though it's Warren Christie playing Bruce as Luke remembers, it's still only going on inside Luke's head, so it's technically not actually Bruce Wayne appearing. It's brilliant to see a version of Batman conversing with Luke though, and hopefully at some point in Batwoman we'll get to see the real Bruce Wayne actually appear in the 'real' world of Batwoman. There's a really nice heart-to-heart between Luke and Bruce here, as Bruce urges Luke to go on, and you really feel for Luke when he wakes up before he gets to see his Dad again.

Overall, 'Armed And Dangerous' is an amazing episode of Batwoman. It does an incredible job dealing with the Black Lives Matter aspect of the narrative, leading to the disbanding of the Crows, whilst also giving some truly exceptional character moments for Jacob Kane. I just hope we can see Bruce Wayne appear outside of Luke's mind, as a meeting between Batman and at least one Batwoman is surely long overdue. 

What are your thoughts on the fifteenth episode of Batwoman's second season? Let me know in the comments.