A spooky new villain is operating in Gotham, forcing Kate to get creative in trying to catch them. This might be a good distraction from her grief for Beth and the persistent pain that is Alice. Sophie worries about her closeness to Batwoman costing her her job now that Jacob is back.

I mentioned last week that there’s some occasional looseness creeping into the writing of Batwoman in order to service some of its narrative, but I have to admit that as closely as I watched last week’s episode (and went back over it) I can’t quite fathom the bit where Jacob Kane’s name was cleared. Nevertheless, apparently it has been because he’s back at work and determined to restore the good name of The Crows and discredit the Batwoman, who he sees as a dangerous vigilante beneath his contempt.

Of course that causes some issues for Sophie, who has been known to lend Batwoman the odd helping hand. Thank goodness for a little plot contrivance this time out that sees her having to do so again, while making it clear it’s the last time because her job is on the line.

That contrivance relates to the Villain of the Week, a ‘vampire’ who’s going around draining the blood of her victims and leaving them to die. The setup for this one is, I’m afraid, a little more interesting than the eventual payoff for a number of reasons – let’s just say that it’s rather nakedly obvious that her main purpose in this episode is to act as a literal plot device, driving not only Sophie’s part in proceedings but also important developments for Alice and Mary, as well as Kate herself.

On the subject of Alice, whereas it’s starting to get a little wearing how Kate seems to go back and forth on her wayward sister (and how Alice takes things like Kate preferring Beth over Alice so personally, given she’s never really tried to play nice), Rachel Skarsten once again gets to be the shining light of the show. Alice is descending further into a weird sort of madness, even by her standards. Bereft of Mouse (missing) and feeling hurt at Kate’s betrayal, there is a sense for the first time that maybe there is something left in there worth saving.

The slightly disappointing nature of the villain coupled with the rather perfunctory way the plot moves along with most of its business make this not the strongest outing for our caped crusader. However, by the end it has set in motion all sorts of interesting possibilities moving forward, and that combined with the basic likeability of the core cast of characters saves it. For now.

Verdict: By the standards the show has set itself, not a great instalment on basic technical levels, but the cast in general and Skarsten in particular save it from being awful. 7/10

Greg D. Smith