Batwoman S1E9 is here – and with it, part two of the Arrowverse’s “Crisis on Infinite Earths” crossover. In part one on last night’s Supergirl, the Monitor brought together the Arrow (rest in peace), Supergirl and her cousin, the Flash, the Atom, the White Canary and, of course, our girl Kate. She may be new to the team, but she’s just as angsty as ever. Let’s see if that remains true as Ray Palmer tries to upgrade the old batsuit.

Laura Belsey directed the episode written by Don Whitehead and Holly Henderson.

This is a full recap of Batwoman S1E9: AKA beware of spoilers.

If you’re not caught up already, make sure to read through our backlog of recaps and get caught up!

We open on Earth-1 in Central City. The crew literally pours one out for Oliver, who died fighting in last night’s episode. Supergirl (Melissa Benoist) and White Canary (Caity Lotz) drink, calling him a hero. Kate (Ruby Rose), who has no idea who Oliver was, tries to steer the conversation back towards the impending doom. Kara listens, holding out hope that there may be a way to bring Earth-38 back into existence.

The Monitor (LaMonica Garrett) and Ray (Brandon Routh) arrive, announcing that they need the Wave Rider, so Harbinger heads to Earth-74 and finds its multiverse’s Wave Rider. Enter Heat Wave/Mick (Dominic Purcell) and the voice of my beloved, Captain Cold, Leonard Snart. Apparently, Mick is trying to be a writer, but he’ll have to put that on hold to help save the planet. The Harbinger recruits with the promise of a few cold adult beverages.

batwoman s1e9

The Monitor  addresses the rest of the team, trying to inspire a bit of optimism. He tells them, over Jonathen Kent’s cries, that there are seven heroes of purest will who can help stop the incoming wave of anti-matter; the paragons. (Also Mick is good with babies?) They track down a book with the ability to rewrite time, but it’s conveniently only able to help them track down other paragons.

The Monitor tells the crew he knows of a few (Kara is the paragon of hope, Sara Lance, the paragon of destiny) but two have yet to be tracked down, including the paragon of truth and of courage. The  former is a version of Superman and the latter is known as the Bat of the Future (Keven Conroy hype). It’s then, finally, that things seem to recenter on Kate, who poses the question “who wants to meet Batman?” With that, Iris (Candice Patton), Clark (Tyler Hoechlin) and Lois (Elizabeth Tulloch) look for Superman and Kate and Kara go after Batman.

Before that, Lex Luthor (Jon Cryer) makes his inevitable appearance. The Monitor tries to calm Kara down, but she won’t have it. So instead, Kate arrives, issuing Lex a threat before going to Kara’s side. She opens up about her own past and what she hopes to learn from meeting weird, future Bruce Wayne, then invites Kara to come along for the ride.

Meanwhile, Harbinger finds Luthor doing, well, something expectedly evil as he uses this mysterious book to kill every Superman. The Harbinger is shocked but Monitor – not so much. Turns out it’s all according to plan. Elsewhere on the ship, Flash and Iris deal with Oliver’s death. Barry confesses that he wants to use the Lazarus pits to resurrect him. Iris tries to talk him out of it, but is unsuccessful. Concurrently, Sara and Mia discuss the aforementioned not-so-great-plan to bring Oliver back. Needless to say, it doesn’t go well.

In another reality, Kate and Kara find themselves at Wayne Manor, greeted by Edgy Luke (Camrus Johnson). He answers to door and turns them away. Thankfully, Kara is, you know, Supergirl. She busts the door down, Luke points a gun at her. Then, the inimitable Batman voice calls down the stairs as Bruce (Kevin Conroy) and Kate meet. Luke takes Kara to the library and the two cousins catch up. Apparently this universe’s Kate died five years ago. Bruce is quick to realize that something’s up, but not sure exactly what.

batwoman s1e9

A quick jump to Team Superman reveals that Lex is, indeed, out on his Superman murder-spree. Then, Constantine! Flash, Mia and Sarah are all still trying to bring Oliver back, so they head to the Hellblazer himself. He’s more of a Debbie downer than anything else, but is able to point them in the direction of an Earth with a functioning Lazarus pit. Sarah makes Constantine promise he’ll bring back Ollie’s soul, but he’s uncertain in his abilities.

On Earth-167, it’s time for the meeting of the Clarks. Our Superman meets lumberjack Superman, who you may better know as Smallville’s Tom Welling. Our crew tries to explain to him that Luthor is coming to murder him, but are too late. They’re zapped away and Lex is left in their place.

Smallville Clark won’t buy it, though. “You’re not Lex,” he retorts. Lex, holding that book like a weird culty Bible, calls Supes his greatest enemy before telling him he’s here to kill him. Lex tries to pull the old Kryptonite trick. Evidently, though it’s a no go. Smallville admits when he had his first kid, he gave up his powers. Lex is frustrated at his mediocrity, but leaves satisfied.

Back in Gotham, Kate’s told Bruce he’s the paragon of courage, though Bruce says he’s changed. He’s a killer now (!). His Kate tried to pull together the pieces he left behind and ended up kicking the bucket. He tries to wallow, but Kate won’t let him.

Meanwhile, Mick is still a really great dad and also is a self-published steamy romance writer? I really need to catch up on Legends. Ray is trying to do a science.

Now headed to Earth-96, Lois and co. move to the Daily Planet. They find a – familiar looking Clark fans of Superman Returns or DC’s Legends of Tomorrow may recognize. The crew mentions how much he looks like Ray before pulling him aside to fill him in.

Kara, now hanging out with open-shirt Luke, checks out the Batman museum and the trophies of his victories. There, she finds a cracked pair of glasses that Luke tells her, yes, did belong to Superman – before Bruce killed him. Dark Knight Returns vibes, much?

batwoman s1e9

Team Metropolis tells the resident Clark to be on the lookout for Luthor, when we get a few extra details on this world. This Clark lost Lois, Jimmy and even Perry White in an attack he failed to prevent – but he still holds out hope. The crew surmises that he could be the paragon right when Lex arrives yet again. Using the book, he forces the two Supes to fight each other. Earth96-Clark tosses our Clark against the wall and it is on. They take to the skies in a super dope action sequence, then, Lois steals the show, defeating Luthor with a shoe to the head. She talks Earth96-Clark down, calling to his devotion to the truth. He hears her and comes to his senses.

Team Lazarus, now in North Dakota of Earth-18, have found what they’re looking for. Sarah asks Mia if she’s sure and gets a particularly Queen answer. Flash and Constantine come back with Ollie’s corpse, dunk him in and –  nothing. Just kidding! Oliver jumps out of the pit and starts attacking everybody, evidence that they still need to track down his soul.

In Gotham, Bruce takes Kate down to the Batcave. Kara tells her this Bruce murdered Clark and the two realize that maybe the Monitor is a bad judge of character. Bruce throws a punch at Supergirl and reveals he’s packing the green rock. Bruce tries to tell Kate nothing’s worth saving and Kate answers, telling him to kill her instead. Bruce is sent flying into a machine and electrocuted. With his dying breath, he tells Kate there’s no hope.

On the Wave Rider, Lex is lauded by the Monitor for his help (?) in finding the paragon. Kara and Kate return, thinking they’re SOL since Bruce is dead, then it’s time for Ray to make his big science reveal. It seems like the tracker’s malfunctioning, but the Monitor says it’s working fine. In facing her cousin, Kate Kane herself walked the path and became the paragon of courage.

In Dakota, Constantine makes his guttural chants, trying to bring Oliver’s soul back to no avail. The abundance of anti-matter, he says, trashes his magic mojo.

Back on the ship, Kara and Kate share some brews. Kate’s having a hard time dealing with the recent news. Kara assures her she more than lives up to the title. The angst continues, though, as Kate fears she’ll become just like her alternate universe cousin. Kara gives Kate a gift. A photo of Kate and Alice – as adults. Kara confesses she’s back to being the paragon of hope and still has her mind set on bringing Earth-38 back. Kate recalls the Monitor’s warning about how dangerous that might be. Kara walks off and Kate pulls out another souvenir from Bruce’s mansion: kryptonite.

Meanwhile, the Harbinger is having a bit of a rough time. She’s transported away and met, by who else, but the Anti-Monitor.

End.

S1E9 of Batwoman is a wrap and part two of “Crisis on Infinite Earths” along with it. If the rest of this event is as delightfully fan servicey as this episode was, we’re in for a treat. Tune in next time, when Kate heads back to Gotham deals with the fall out of multiversal fallout. And, if you’re along for the rest of this Crisis ride, make sure to keep an eye out for all our Arrowverse recaps and reviews.

1 COMMENT

  1. I suspect that–SPOILER WARNING–bringing in the Spectre might (among other things) tie in to restoring Oliver’s soul to his body.

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