A new drug, Snakebite, is running rampant through the streets of Gotham in the hands of the No Face Gang, keeping the new Batwoman busy. But when she’s confronted with a task that’s closer to home, she must face her own demons to overcome it.

Another week, another bunch of the Batwoman cast still running around on various missions looking for the show’s previous lead. And there’s Javicia Leslie, kicking ass and taking names as best she can, saddled with a script that – when it isn’t half-ignoring her in favour of her predecessor – is going from the usual sort of comic book-coincidences to a whole new level.

I won’t say too much on the details for fear of spoilers, but suffice it to say that if Ryan Wilder’s connection to Alice felt a little forced (and it did), what we get this week really does start to stretch credibility even by the standards of the genre. Worse, it serves to slightly undermine the central plot point, which itself almost feels like a meta commentary on the state of the show itself. ‘I’m not invisible’, states Wilder, almost as if Leslie herself is shouting at the writers that she’s right here, and more than capable of doing the job if only they’d let her.

That aside, there is plenty to like about the episode. Sophie finds herself with the unlikeliest of partners for her continued search for Kate – who everyone now believes is alive but just missing. Jacob Kane faces the press to announce that he believes Kate is alive and there’s some nice opportunities taken to parallel this newfound determination with his apparent giving up on the fate of his first daughter to disappear. Unfortunately Jacob then has to have a dose of plot-convenient stupidity so he can also be inserted into the ever-increasingly convoluted set of coincidences which end up – and I wish I was exaggerating here – linking literally everything from Snakebite to the No Face Gang to Ryan’s own past to her ex and so on and so on.

Still, it is again nice to see the show using the opportunity of a new woman of colour lead to address the inequalities faced by people of colour in the world today. The use of Alice/Beth’s own past and the way in which the city responded to her disappearance to contrast against what happens to non-white kids in the same position is well done, but again feels undermined slightly by all the coincidences.

On a more fun part of the show, Mary continues to be the closest thing to a friend that Ryan currently has. The two get even closer this time out and it’s clear that what Mary really wants is a sister figure (understandable given she’s now lost her actual sister and her mother and isn’t all that close to her father). Ryan for her part seems ok with this – her past as an orphan making her value the idea of found family. Honestly if they just decided to let everyone else do their own thing in the background and reduced Team Bat to Mary and Ryan, I think the show would be a lot more enjoyable, especially given Mary is the only one happy to fully accept Ryan as the new Batwoman.

For her part, as I said, Leslie is knocking it out of the park with what she is given. She absolutely inhabits the new Batsuit, and has the exact right mix of toughness and vulnerability for the role. I just really hope – and apologies for being a broken record on this – that the show gets out of its own way soon and lets her just lead the damned thing.

Verdict: Too many coincidences overshadow some interesting ideas and some fantastic performances. Starting to frustrate now – just let her lead! 6/10

Greg D. Smith