Batwoman Review: Grinning From Ear to Ear (Season 1 Episode 14)

On Batwoman Season 1 Episode 14, “Grinning From Ear to Ear,” Sophie and Batwoman spend quite a bit of time together. The flirtation/make-out sessions are concerning, especially since Sophie doesn’t understand the full gravity of the situation, but Kate does.

Kate’s been hurt by Sophie before and giving in to those temptations cannot be good for her. But, surprisingly, this never comes up. The focus is on how this will affect Sophie.

Don’t get me wrong, Kate needs to hear about how she could be putting Sophie at risk, and Luke is the perfect person to do it. However, no one gives Kate the warning about what these moments between Batwoman and Sophie could do to her own heart.

Kate needs to take a step back and figure out if she is ready to try again with Sophie. She does bring up the fact that Sophie has her own issues to work through, and those issues were ones that caused their break up way back in the academy, so it shows that Kate is at least somewhat aware.

But it would be great to have a more introspective moment with Kate figuring out if she is up for this again. The only person who can really initiate this conversation is Mary, and Mary is still pretending that she doesn’t know the truth — more on that in a second.

Let’s go back to Sophie.

This is a huge episode for her, and it is emotional watching her be honest with her mother. I am proud of her for finally opening up, but, honestly, I can’t decide how I feel about the fact that it is prompted by her conversation with Batwoman.

Sophie does need a bit of a nudge, and Batwoman/Kate commenting about how she would tell Sophie her name right now, if Sophie wanted, is unexpected. However, there’s still this small part of me that wishes that the conversation with Batwoman never happened, and Sophie still decided to be honest with her mom. What are your thoughts?

One last comment about Sophie and Batwoman: Kate having someone out in the field with her is amazing.

She has backup out in the field with her, and it is cool watching them work together. Perhaps this is a glimpse of the future, once Kate starts letting more people in on her secret. Batwoman could use a crew.

Speaking of being in the know, Mary handles the revelation of Kate being Batwoman unexpectedly.

An all-out confrontation or confession would have been immediately satisfying, but instead, Mary opts for the more subtle approach, which gives us more emotional moments and will continue to do so in future episodes. You can tell how much Mary wants to help, but also how desperately Mary wants Kate to trust her with the secret.

And after “Grinning from Ear to Ear,” it’s impossible not to also want to see Kate extend the same level of trust to Mary. Of course, there’s also the danger aspect that Mary hasn’t fully considered, but still, Mary deserves to have that moment where Kate shows how much she trusts her.

Mary: I thought I made it clear how I felt about you when I left you to die.

How Alice has (or has not) handled the trauma she endured as a child is one aspect that Batwoman really hasn’t touched on, previously. And so, it is amazing that we are exploring that issue in this episode.

Alice seeing the value in therapy is unexpected and fantastic, and the scene with the therapist is a great reminder of how big of a deal it is for Alice that her abuser is back in Gotham.

August isn’t just some bad guy; he is the man who broke Beth, years ago, and, as Alice shares, he still haunts her to this very day. It’ll be interesting to see more of how she handles August’s return and being in his presence.

Stray Thoughts:

• Cruella gives off Joker vibes, which isn’t a great thing.
• The face mask thing is getting old and, somehow, even creepier.
• Fear toxin sounds ominous.
• It took Jake far too long to realize he messed up in letting Sophie go, but at least he recognizes he needs her now.
• Also, Jake on his own isn’t interesting.

What did you think of this episode of Batwoman? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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Batwoman airs Sunday at 8/7c on The CW.

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