Batwoman S1E14 “Grinning From Ear to Ear,” picks up with a big check to cash! Mary knows who Batwoman is, Sophie and Kate kissed on a rooftop and, also, there’s a villain targeting social media mavens on the run. This episode is directed by Michael Blundell and written by Denise Harkavy. Let’s see how it goes for the Bat-gang!
This is a full recap of Batwoman S1E14: AKA beware of spoilers.
If haven’t already, make sure to read through our backlog of recaps and get caught up!
In the opening scene, a woman we haven’t seen is looking pretty stressed out – probably because her mirror is making her see a distorted version of herself while she tries to put her makeup on. Dissatisfied, she smashes the mirror and slashes her face with a shard.
After the title card, we see a happy Sophie (Meagan Tandy), which is weird but nice! Then, in Wayne Tower, Kate (Ruby Rose) is also in a suspiciously good mood. Luke (Camrus Johnson) and Mary (Nicole Kang) put it together that there’s some obvious romance involved, so both ladies spill and Luke gives one of his classic lectures. As Mary tries to dig for more, Sophie gets a text from Batwoman, asking to meet up later, and heads out.
In the de facto Wonderland Gang HQ, Alice (Rachel Skarsten) is reading up on her own obituary, which isn’t as grand as she would hope. One of her cronies brings good news, though, confirming that Mouse’s dad (AKA Ausgust Cartwright, AKA Dr. Campbell) is back.
Jacob (Dougray Scott), meanwhile, is being briefed on Gotham’s new judge. A lawyer is requesting his case be moved up – that client being the guy who saved Jacob back in prison and explicitly said he’d owe him one. The lawyer puts on the pressure with a sly threat to blow open the Crow’s secrets, and he heads out, leaving Jacob listless.
In her apartment, Sophie tries to decide what to wear when Batwoman arrives on her balcony. They’re both in their feelings and it’s really cute – but Kate is here to end things. She makes the case that people will try to hurt Sophie to get to Kate and they share a kiss, but are interrupted by a surprise visit from Sophie’s mom.
Elsewhere, another young woman is on a set talking about her brand when the power goes out. The woman from the opening scene, now wearing a surgical mask, pulls a knife and makes her kill while we’re on commercial break.
Vesper Fairchild (Rachel Maddow) can’t help but pun up the murder as we pan over to Wayne Tower and Kate fills Luke in on the non-break up. Luke tries to dive in, but Kate wants to talk about the Slasher. They note that the victims are only cut on their faces, so Kate realizes it must be about reputation. She goes to see her fav Insta star, Mary. She’s fairly unfazed by the situation given her collapse, but she’s well-versed in the rumor mill. In the social media world, there’s a certain facial surgeon (Dr. Campbell) who’s popular. She invents an excuse for Kate to be interested, trying to help out, but is stonewalled as Kate walks out.
Over at Sophie’s, her mom finds out about the divorce. Sophie explains she fell out of love with Tyler, but she’s not buying it. Apparently, the only reason she’s here is because Jacob gave her a call, letting her know about the suspension (what is this, high school?). Mom pressures her to make amends, but Sophie doesn’t want to work for the Crows anymore. They don’t share her values. That’s when the conversation turns to Batwoman – and Batman. In a nutshell, Mom approves of the more hetero of the two.
Batwoman and Sophie meet in an alley, where she vents a bit about her mom. Batwoman explains what her leads are and has Sophie follow up with Dr. Campbell. She heads to his office and realizes the killer is actually trying to inflict her own injuries upon her victims. Dr. Campbell recognizes the story and gives Sophie a name to follow up on.
Batwoman makes her way there and, bingo! Finds a hit list. She has Luke run a few names through the database and he introduces her to the new Cowl Cam! With it, Luke runs the image Kate sees in the yearbook. It doesn’t work perfectly, but it doesn’t matter. Kate investigates a noise downstairs, which leads to a tied up victim and, behind her, the Slasher herself. She slices her victim’s throat and dips while Kate tries to save her.
Alice is getting herself hyped up about murdering her old captor, but having a hard time. She’s got a kidnapped psychologist of some sort explaining her internal conflict here, but she’s not budging. He goes deeper, nonetheless, telling her she’s still afraid of him. That time, she listens and takes his advice of bringing along a third party to put distance between herself and her abuser. Alice has her cronies take her away, then dives into this episode’s killer with an eerie interest.
Then, it’s back to Mouse’s house. He’s trapped in the basement, thanks to August (John Emmet Tracy) and is told that Alice is dead. August tries to make the case that everything he does is to protect Mouse (Sam Littlefield), but, is unsuccessful, so he resorts to gas.
Jacob is dealing with the blackmail situation and he’s put together that there’s a series of convictions that might have been done under the table. He tries to explain to a fellow Crow what’s going on, but no one wants to let Lucius Fox’s killer go free.
Then, Batwoman heads to Mary’s clinic totally casually, asking if she recognizes the yearbook photo. Of course, Mary does and points her in the direction of a cosmetic truck. Luke runs the scans via satellite and finds it, crashed. Veronica, the woman in question is missing. Sophie arrives just ahead of the Crows, so the two ladies hop on the Bat Bike toward a nearby chemical factory.
Mary heads to her clinic, but is surprised by Alice, who’s running amok. Mary tells her to scram, but Alice takes the opportunity to come clean about saving her a few episodes back. As she leaves, Mary asks, desperately, if she knows who Batwoman is. Alice takes a jab at her step-sister, and leaves.
In the factory, the Slasher holds her victim over a vat, monologuing about the pressure models create for every other woman. Luckily, Batwoman and Sophie are on the job. The former saves the victim while the latter delivers a swift face-punch to the villain.
After clean up, Sophie shoots her shot, but Batwoman swerves, explaining they can never be anything more than what they were tonight. The conversation is summed up pretty well in Sophie’s line “as long as I’m with a woman wearing a mask, I’ll always be wearing one myself.” With that, Batwoman bikes off, leaving Sophie alone.
While they’re chatting, Alice is investing in the future. She sneaks in, finds the tied up killer and makes an offer.
Jacob is still working his lead, now with some more concrete evidence, pointing to Crows being bought out to destroy evidence.
Back at the chemical factory, we find The Slasher – sans her face. Alice has made a new mask and uses it to get to Dr. Campbell’s office. Having caught him off guard, she socks him over the head.
So, Jacob leaves a voicemail for Sophie, saying he needs her integrity to clean up the Crows. In the meantime, Sophie comes clean to her mom, admitting she feels like a liar. She was never in love with Tyler. The first time she was in love was back at Point Rock – with a her. She’s honest and raw and, tragically, her mom isn’t happy. In a cutting finish, she tells her she’s straight up disappointed and storms out.
At the bar, Kate is looking rough, but Mary is there to listen. She lies about what’s really wrong, so Mary takes a different approach. With a determined look, she tells Kate she can only hope she’ll be able to trust her, and walks out.
Alice is reckoning with her past, too. Campbell is in her grasp, literally, as she unmasks him. She confesses this face is one she’s never stopped seeing, in her dreams and in her nightmares. He thinks she’s going to kill him, but all Alice wants is her brother back. She just needs to know where. Smashcut to Mouse, hooked up to fear gas.
End.
Batwoman S1E14 “Grinning from Ear to Ear,” finishes there, with some solid progressions along several plotlines, and an especially dramatic one for Sophie. Tandy does some of her best work thus far this episode and we somehow still have hope for her and Kate to get back together. See how it pans out next time, on Batwoman.
