Batwoman
Season 3, Episode 3 - "Freeze"
Luke Fox/Batwing: Luke's still having issues with the suit, so the writers will suddenly have him recall an incident he--or rather, the showrunners--swept under the carpet as soon as the Very Special Episode ended.
SEE THE FREEZE ENTRY AND NOTES.
Alice/Mary: Alice--despite serving next to no purpose on the show--did lay out the truth about Mary's "relationship" to the others on the Bat-team (and her begging pursuit of Kate and Jacob). As predicted last week, I know this series will force the other main characters to validate Mary's "role" on a superhero team, or prove how much they care about her during the recuse attempt (SEE NOTES).
Mary tries to "pull rank" on Luke (

) for going into the field without addressing his alleged issues--in other words, accusing him of suffering from PTSD. Wilder admits she
needs Luke and would not be standing there (in the cave)
without his help. Somehow, Mary is so thick-skulled that the clear-as-day statement
"...would not be standing here" do not sink in.
Luke denies suffering from PTSD, and says he's ready for more missions (SEE NOTES), and is justifiably pissed that Mary openly discussed
his personal business with Wilder. He walks off, leaving Mary alone--supporting the very thing Alice observed about her relationship to the others.
Meanwhile, Alice--back at Arkham--is suffering from the effects of the nanobot-trackers, causing the appearance of insects crawling under her skin. Earlier, she tried to explain how the nanobots were affecting her, but her complaints were dismissed by the unobservant "doctor" named Mary....
Wilder/Jada Jet/Marquis Jet: The only notable thing about Wilder in this episode was that she was almost as much of a whiner as Mary, and that takes some doing. Jada threatening Wilder to back off was the most sensible character moment in this episode.
The Marquis sub-plot is convoluted, all to create more confusion with the mama-drama. Viewers are supposed to wonder:
"Will Marquis seek a real partnership with Wilder?"
"Is he a plant to destroy Wayne Enterprises and/or anyone standing in the way?"
"Will Marquis pretend to betray his mother, but end up trying to screw mama and THE illegitimate sister, too?"
Sigh. Soap opera shenanigans.
Sophie chastising BW about her loyalties while BW
is close to death is the worst kind of limp-assed "writing" No adult would whine at someone on death's doorstep, and no, I'm not buying Wilder thinking Sophie did that to keep BW awake. Anyone nearing death would not give a damn about the ranting of anyone, but typical of this series , the showrunners have to force a relationship between Wilder and Sophie, the latter being as useless to the Bat-gang as Mary.
Not-Really-Freeze: Fries' elderly sister Nora--alive after emerging from cryogenic sleep (thanks to Fries' tech) is supported by Dee (sister-in-law) are robbed by a pack of annoying, hardly threatening thieves, who want to use the cryogenic chamber, but BW tries--and fails--to stop the criminals, ending up locked in the chamber, and without the freeze canister, activating the chamber will just subject BW to a lethal level of hypothermia (SEE NOTES). Needless to say, the criminals activate the chamber. She calls Luke for help,asking him to suit up, but he has to keep her awake, lest she dies from hypothermia. but he decides to become Batwing in any case...
Nora--having lived the equivalent of two lives--has no desire to live anymore
, and after she's rescued, she tells Dee that she just wants to breathe the air until her natural lungs give out.
Batwing arrives, defeats the entire pack of annoying thieves, saves BW's life, and prevents the theft of the Fries canister.
Chasing the criminals in the Lowrentmobile, they are temporarily stopped by the criminals blowing a part of the bridge away--an obstacle overcome when Batwing--hovering over the bridge--uses the freeze formula to create a makeshift bridge, allowing BW catch up to, then to stop the criminals. Dee is released, as the criminals escape with Fries' notebook.
Nora--having lived the equivalent of two lives--has no desire to live anymore
, and after she's rescued, she tells Dee that she just wants to breathe the air until her natural lungs give out.
Sophie: Yep, she's still not said a word about the GCPDs corruption issues, and there's no on-screen evidence that it was cleaned up with new leadership. My, how plots just fade into thin when they're no longer tied to an offensive plot to make the series seem relevant.
NOTES: Mary--dimwitted and gullible as ever--bought Alice's psychoanalysis.
In the finale, she's pulled away by Poison Ivy's vine. Oh, if only that was the last anyone sees of her on this show...
BW has a utility belt full of lethal gadgets and she cannot break out of the chamber? Oh well....
Luke saying he's not suffering from PTSD, only to collapse from some psychological break down the road will never clean-up the ignorant, disrespectful Very Special Episode from last season, where this series' White Liberal showrunners and writers shit all over the plight of black men and their relation to the criminal justice system in America. Any revisiting of that issue will be handled with as much "We Know Best" While Liberal arrogance (a trait shared by some of this series' audience) as one sees in most Berlanti/DC series.
GRADE: C.