Batwoman Review: I’ll Give You a Clue (Season 2 Episode 13)

When the first criminal she arrested returns for revenge, Sophie has to team up with Ryan and Mary on Batwoman Season 2 Episode 13, “I’ll Give You a Clue.”

Batwoman takes a big leap into Bat lore with Cluemaster, a.k.a. Arthur Brown, as the rogue of the week. His daughter Stephanie Brown, who eventually becomes Batgirl, is also introduced.

The show works hard to establish its identity away from the famous world it inhabits. This episode is great at taking a Bat story and making it a Batwoman original.

Cluemaster and Stephanie are both introduced through their connection to Sophie. As they work together to solve the clues, Luke and Stephanie definitely share a spark, so we can count on seeing Morgan Kohan return.

Thanks to plenty of Batman Easter eggs, the storylines are familiar and new at the same time.

Sophie stopped Cluemaster on her first day, now five years later he’s back for revenge. This time she works with Mary and Ryan, who is forced to finally admit the truth about being Batwoman.

The night starts with tequila, then quickly transitions into crime-fighting. It’s the most action-packed and fun girls’ night we’ve been invited to in a while. These characters have a cool chemistry that we’d like to see explored in less explosive settings.

Balance is the key to good comic book stories. With that in mind, it would be nice to see these three have regular girls’ nights where they just hang out, drink, and gossip about one another’s lives.

We’ll be the first to admit we haven’t been overly invested in Sophie. In Batwoman Season 1 she had no character separate from Kate and Jacob. However, Season 2 has seen her finally come into her own.

She’s no longer brushing aside concerns about the Crows’ illegal actions, she broke up with Julia, and she even helped hide Batwoman’s identity.

Without this character evolution, we might not have cared about a Sophie-centric episode focused on a case from her rookie days.

There’s a lot we don’t like about Roman kidnapping and brainwashing Kate, but our major question is, what does he get out of it? He knows she’s not really his daughter, so she’ll never truly be able to replace the real Circe.

We finally find out Circe was trampled in the Arkham escape that took place back in the “Elseworlds” crossover. That doesn’t really lead to Batwoman killing his daughter, but Roman isn’t the most rational thinker.

Is it just the cruelty? Does he know Kate was Batwoman, and this is all some twisted torture? Whatever his reasons, we’re going to need something extremely impactful to make up for how uncomfortable this is to watch.

Remember when we were excited to see where Alice’s journey of self-discovery would take her? Apparently, the answer is Roman’s basement. Luckily for her, her plastic surgery skills are valuable.

Of course, just when she’s about to change Circe’s face, she recognizes her father’s eyes and knows this woman is really her twin sister.

Now we’re excited to see what Alice’s reaction will be. Will she want revenge for what Roman has done, or will she come up with her own plans for her evil twin?

It’s time to see the version of Alice who’s fascinated us since day one return. We need to see Alice involved in the action and not wrapped up in protecting Ocean.

We’re not saying we want to see her trying to kill everyone, but her character has definitely become less interesting the more she’s become involved with Ocean.

Also, Alice calling Jacob for help, and him not knowing reality from fantasy because he’s high is the most interesting thing that’s happened to him all season.

This episode felt like a vintage Arrowverse rogue of the week hour, but with extra Batwoman confidence mixed in. It’s a recipe for a fantastic story.

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Batwoman airs Sundays at 9/8c on The CW.

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