'Batwoman' episode 7: Kate Kane struggles to keep her cover as the caped crusader, questions herself as she draws comparisons with Batman
Spoilers ahead for 'Batwoman' episode 7
Batwoman episode 7 titled 'Tell me the Truth' begins with Kate Kane aka Batwoman (Ruby Rose) wondering how her cousin managed to stay in the shadows night after night while he went about keeping Gotham safe and kept it all a secret from people close to him. You see, Batwoman has failed miserably. And a number of people, including Kate's twin sister Beth, who has transformed into a feared villain in Gotham, Alice (Rachel Skarsten); and her psychopath ally Mouse (Sam Littlefield) knows the identity of the person behind the mask.
"Did it ever get to you, Bruce? The loneliness. Did you ever trust anyone? How did that work out for you?" Kate wonders at the beginning of the episode. By the end of it, she has come to the conclusion that it is important to let at least a part of you get close to friends and family. Even if it means risking her cover being blown, Kate makes the choice to let people in, a little bit at a time because she doesn't see herself being comfortable with disappearing. This could partly be because of how her sister's Beth (aka Alice's) disappearance left her traumatized.
Sophie Moore's (Meagan Tandy) suspicions about Batwoman being Kate and the consequences of letting her in on something as big as Kate following in the footsteps of her cousin to safeguard the city sinks in early on in the episode. When Luke Fox (Camrus Johnson) heard about how Sophie had intended to tell the truth to Jacob Kane about Batwoman's identity, he had just one piece of advice. To keep it real with Sophie and convince her to keep the entire thing a secret.
When Kate meets Sophie for a dinner at this Italian place, just as she is getting ready to make the confession, the proprietor of the restaurant sees her holding Sophie's hands, and wants the two of them to leave the restaurant. When Sophie refuses to take a stand against this man's homophobic attack, or stand up for herself, Kate is reminded of their time at the army academy. She remembers how Sophie promised to stand with her, tell the truth at the hearing about her relationship with Kate. She also remembers how Sophie changed her mind after realizing that the decision could affect her career.
All Kate can think at that point is that trusting Sophie in the past had not been the right choice, so trusting her now may just put her entire operation at risk. It is at this point that she realizes the gravity of trusting someone. She comes up with a crazy plan.
Julia Pennyworth (Christina Wolfe), someone that Kate had met after being kicked out of the academy, is back in Gotham on an assignment. When Julia and Kate had met in the past, Kate was unaware of Julia's connection to Bruce Wayne and Alfred and she was under the impression that Julia was just one of the many mentors who would train her and this time around she was learning Krav Maga. Things between the two of them became complicated as the two developed feelings for each other. Yet again, when faced with the truth about Julia's identity, Kate can only see betrayal. This helps her make the decision in the present and ironic enough, Kate uses Julia to ward off any suspicions about her being Batwoman.
Kate gets Julia to dress up as Batwoman and confronts Sophie. This confrontation helps clear any questions that Sophie had about Batwoman's identity and Kate is left to her own devices to be the caped crusader. Kate also chose to cut ties with Sophie despite not being able to get over her after she realizes that it would be hard to keep Sophie away from the truth for too long if the two got any closer. Just when get thinking that she is taking a cue from her cousin and cutting herself off from everyone, she finds one person to let in. Her step-sister Mary Hamilton (Nicole Kang). It may take a long time for Kate to grow out of Batman's shadow, but she is consciously making an effort to not go the same way that he did. Disappear.
The next episode of 'Batwoman' will air on Sunday at 8 pm ET on The CW.