Batwoman Review: It’s Best You Stop Digging (Season 2 Episode 7)

With her radiation poisoning worsening, Ryan wants to finally get vengeance against Alice on Batwoman Season 2 Episode 7, “It’s Best You Stop Digging.”

This is a fantastic, emotional tale of two origins. Through flashbacks and hallucinations, we see the crucial moments that bring Alice and Ryan to a showdown. The flawless performances of Javicia Leslie and Rachel Skarsten effortlessly carry the weight of an amazing hour.

Ryan is dying and there’s only one item on her bucket list. Kill Alice.

Ryan lives in a system that doesn’t care about her or the people she loves. She’s only ever seen the corrupt side of criminal justice, so the idea of trusting the police or the Crows is ridiculous.

She’s watched Alice escape over and over, plus now that she knows Alice is Beth Kane, Ryan has even less faith in justice ever being done.

As she searches for Alice, Ryan has hallucinations and memories of her mother that drive her to get vengeance for all those Alice has hurt. As she points out, who are they if they let a serial killer walk around free?

In the best scene of the episode, Ryan confronts Mary about Catherine. In questioning Mary about missing her mother, and what she would do to see her again, Ryan reveals the grief and sadness she lives with.

Leslie is heartbreaking as we see the weight Ryan carries with her in what she believes to be her final days. Getting justice for Alice’s victims is literally all she has to live for.

When she gets the chance to kill Alice, her mother once again saves Ryan by convincing her she’s not a killer. Ryan lets Alice go, but places a tracker on her so the Bat-team can follow her to Coryana.

Meanwhile in her origin story, Alice traps Tatiana to find answers about her and Ocean’s relationship on Coryana. It’s true being held prisoner in that basement broke her, but Coryana is where she really transforms from Beth to Alice.

What makes Alice so fascinating is that we know she’s not as crazy as she lets the world think. We’ve seen glimpses of the tiny shred of Beth that’s buried deep within. Her plans are usually brilliant, and just when the team thinks they’ve beaten her, the real plan is revealed.

Of course, we also love when she’s straight-up bananapants crazy.

In one episode, Skarsten portrays three versions of Alice, each one captivating us in different ways.

She’s the angry broken Beth who can’t believe her family stopped looking for her. Then she slowly becomes a stronger, reformed woman hoping for a future. And this all happens while giving us the Alice we know and love in present day scenes.

The best villains are the sympathetic ones who we identify with as people. The Alice we meet on Coryana isn’t lost yet. She seems like she genuinely wants to find a way back into the world.

It’s such a fascinating gut-punch to find out it was actually a spurned Safiyah who hypnotised Alice into becoming the crazed killer devoted to terrorizing Gotham.

Despite all her girl power, strong women unite propaganda, Safiyah is no better than someone who punishes a woman for not choosing them. She wields her power to destroy the woman who didn’t love her.

This revelation sheds a whole new light on Alice, and has us wondering if it will change her or make her even worse?

We’ve had questions about where the Coryana storyline was going, and if it would lead to anything of actual consequence. Well we got our answer with one of the best episodes of the season, which perfectly set up the inevitable confrontation on Coryana.

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

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

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