Batwoman Recap With Spoilers: Alice Unveils Her Master Plan in “A Mad Tea-Party”

We’re officially a week away from “Crisis on Infinite Earths”, the crossover that is set to completely change The CW‘s Arrowverse as we know it. Before the epic five-episode event kicks off, each of the network’s solo DC shows are wrapping up their individual plotlines. These storylines are ranging from monumental to heartbreaking to somewhere in between, and Batwoman‘s latest episode is no exception. Here’s what you need to know about this week’s mid-season finale, “A Mad Tea-Party”.

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Batwoman beats up one of Alice’s underlings, stealing his jacket. She gives it to Luke, who is able to track the phone in its pocket. He finds a potential location for where Alice is, and Kate goes to visit Alice at it. She confronts Alice about hiring The Rifle to kill her, and Alice reveals that she specifically helped Kate not die.

Jacob gets kidnapped by a group of Alice’s goons, and wakes up chained to the ceiling in Alice’s lair. Alice confronts him about believing Catherine’s lies about the skull fragments, and he admits that he made the wrong call. Alice then tells him about her mad tea party — which someone will be killed at.

Mary invites Kate to a benefit gala, which is set to honor Catherine. Kate refuses to go, and Mary points out the hypocrisy of her giving Alice a second chance, but not her and Catherine. She then reveals that Jacob has already agreed to go to the event, which Kate confronts him — or really, Mouse-as-Jacob — about it. Mouse-as-Jacob claims that everything is okay between him and Catherine, which upsets Kate. Kate comes to the consensus that Jacob isn’t who he says he is and calls him, during which she baits Mouse-as-Jacob with an untrue story about his and Catherine’s wedding. Kate confronts Alice once again, and argues that there’s still good in her. Alice reveals Jacob’s location, but it ends up being a bust.

Mary, Catherine, and Mouse-as-Jacob drive to the benefit gala. Luke spies on them, and is able to correctly determine that Mouse is impersonating Jacob, and that the other Crows on duty are also Alice’s goons. Catherine accepts her award, but the teleprompter soon changes to words from Alice, who Catherine soon notices in the crowd. Catherine is forced to read Alice’s speech, which exposes her and Jacob as frauds. Catherine passes out. Mary rushes to Catherine’s aid, and Alice and the fake Crows lock everyone inside. Batwoman fights the fake Crows.

Meanwhile, Alice confronts Mary and Catherine, and confirms that she drugged Catherine using poison Hamilton Dynamics engineered, of which there is no antidote. Alice offers to give Catherine a natural antidote — a desert rose from Coryana — if she can give her a real apology. Catherine genuinely apologizes, and Alice gives her the tea — just as Mary begins to show the same symptoms. Catherine gets Mary to drink the tea, just as Alice escapes. Kate confronts Alice, who tells her about poisoning Catherine. Kate nearly chokes Alice, but Mouse-as-Jacob comes and knocks her down.

Mary and Catherine have a heart-to-heart before Catherine passes out and dies. Kate calls the real Jacob and figures out that it’s really him, just as he gets arrested by the Crows and the GCPD.

News becomes public that Catherine is dead. Kate visits Mary about it, and she argues that her mother isn’t the evil person that Kate and Alice think she is. She asks if Alice was worth losing Catherine over, and Kate says no. Later, Kate destroys a framed photo of herself and Alice in the Batcave. She then visits Jacob in prison, and admits that she won’t stand in his way when he fights Alice.

Other tidbits from the episode include:

• Sophie tries to plan a road trip with Tyler, but he seems ambivalent about the idea. Mouse-as-Jacob comes in and tells them the plan for the night, just as Sophie gets a text from Kate that Mouse is impersonating him. He then shoots them both with tranq darts. They wake up tied to their chairs, and Sophie determines that this is all part of Alice’s plan. Tyler suggests that Alice is keeping Sophie alive because she knows Kate and Sophie still have feelings for her. They use Sophie’s engagement ring to escape, and Tyler confronts Sophie about her true feelings for Kate.
• Later, Tyler tells Sophie that he can’t see his perfect life with her. She admits that she doesn’t know if she’s in love with him, and he decides that they should break up while Sophie figures things out. Sophie breaks down crying.
• In a sort of post-credits scene, The Flash‘s Nash Wells talks with The Monitor in his underground tomb. The Monitor grants him with “the knowledge”, sucking him into the tomb (and seemingly turning him into Pariah).

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Batwoman airs Sundays at 8/7c on The CW.