After episode 17 gave us all the calm thrills a superhero loving fan could want, episode 18 tosses us straight into the storm and it’s easy to fall right into the cozy embrace of what should be one of your new favorite shows.

This episode kicks off with Batwoman stopping some black market organ dealers, selling alive and unwilling donors, on a shady street in Gotham. With her conscience semiclear after coming clean about the murder and her PTSD she’s back in full fighting form. Sophie and Julia are out going through Tommy’s things for Lucious Fox’s journal and some proof that he was behind the senior Fox’s murder.

Mary is trying to insert herself into Kate’s Batwoman team so she can retain the closeness that they have. Mouse is still rocking the Dr. Butler suit at Arkham, and he threatens to give up Tommy by telling The Crows he’s sane enough to stand trial in exchange for the journal. Tommy decides to up the stakes leading Mouse and Alice to offer him escape and a new face but, Kate and Luke have been eavesdropping on his panic call and decide to break into the mob owned club where it’s being held and steal it themselves. Unfortunately, even though Mary uses her passion for passion to help Kate, she doesn’t get to go on the mission, which crushes her, that honor goes to Julia. And, while Julia is talking all about her newfound friendship with Sophie, Kate bumps into the one that got away, from earlier in the season, and it’s impossible not to want the two of them to give it another go.

The Big Bad: This episode doesn’t have one mega villain, instead it focuses on a heist. That doesn’t mean that bad guys aren’t front and center since the heist is in a mob-run night club IN GOTHAM which means it’s pretty much bad guy center and a trap. Julia and Kate both get captured, separately, in a place where everyone wants a piece of the bat.

Scene Stealer: This episodes MVP is Mary, she plays the role of the kid sister who wants to hang out with her big sister and her cool friends to prove she’s a grown-up but, also wants to spend more time with her because she loves her, in the cutest and most heartfelt way possible. The scenes that Mary showed up in, in this episode, were all made memorable by her, she didn’t make her character seem needy or whiny, she made her seem vulnerable and human in a way that was relatable. Kate wants to protect her but, Mary wants to protect her and prove herself. But, in a pinch, Mary is the one who saves the day because Batwoman got caught in her world and she wants it.

That Twist Tho: Alice being distrustful of everyone, even herself, had a backup plan for getting the book for herself. Her and Mouse (as Dr. Butler) let Magpie out to do what she does best, steal. While no one saw Tommy’s mob bestie double-crossing him, Alice did and whatever Alice wants, Alice gets and right now Alice wants that damn book and I pity anyone who gets in her way.

If that’s not enough of a shocker for you, Julia is out for the journal AND Magpie has a sister (the bartender).

Best Moment: The visit between Beth/Alice and her dad. The heartbreak, loneliness and loss in both of their voices and eyes as he explains to her why she’s in there will break your heart too.

Final Thoughts: Batwoman as a show has a lot of moving parts, subplots, side stories, and while normally that would make a show like this a hot mess, it works. Most of the major characters are interesting enough to carry their story arcs solo, whether or not there’s any action involved. The world that the writers built for these characters to live in feels so real that it’s damn near impossible to not catch the feels for them and get a little emotional with every twist and turn. As a show, Batwoman started out a really cool looking piece of coal and has turned into a whole diamond. Batwoman isn’t the hero that Gotham needs but, she is the anti-hero hero that Gotham desires and should want and as a whole, it’s the show that we should all be rooting for.

Overall: 9.2