Batwoman Teases The Riddler in "Down Down Down"

Kate Kane may be taking strides to becoming her own hero on The CW's Batwoman, but stepping up to become Gotham's hero also means stepping into more than just Batman's suit. Kate's cousin had some real enemies in Gotham that may make their way out of the shadows now that there's caped crusader appearing in the night sky. Tonight, Batwoman introduced Tommy Elliot into the mix but that wasn't the only Batman foe to get a nod in tonight's episode. The series teased The Riddler as well.

Spoilers for tonight's episode of Batwoman, "Down Down Down", below.

In tonight's episode, Kate comes into Bruce's office and discovers someone sitting behind the desk. It's not her long-missing cousin but is, instead, his childhood friend Tommy Elliot. Tommy has come to town having purchased a nearby building that is taller than Wayne Tower appears to want to lord his perceived "beating" of Bruce over him. He leaves an invitation to a party with Kate, insistent that Bruce must be back despite her protestations to the contrary.

Soon after, Kate and Luke discover that a weapon was stolen from Bruce's advanced weaponry vaults, a weapon specifically created to be able to piece Batman's armor. Kate quickly deduces that Tommy must be behind the theft -- which means that he's figured out that Bruce is Batman. The reports of Batman sightings in Gotham likely drew Tommy back, which explains why he was so insistent that Bruce was back as well. Kate decides to confront Tommy at his party and take the weapon back herself.

At Tommy's Kate confronts him and that's when Tommy reveals how he knows Bruce was Batman. He says that he paid a man to "riddle him" Bruce's identity. For DC Comics fans, that "riddle" comment very clearly signals none other than Edward Nygma/The Riddler but also refers to a specific part of Tommy Elliot's comic book history involving the villain as well. In comics, the Riddler figures out Batman's secret identity as Bruce Wayne and reveals it to Tommy. Armed with this information, Tommy (as Hush) and the Riddler team up to take Batman down.

In tonight's episode, Tommy revealing that he paid someone to "riddle him" Bruce's identity as Batman makes for a satisfying bit of continuity in the character's history, but it also could be a hint at characters yet to come on Batwoman. Showrunner Caroline Dries has previously said that with Gotham thinking Batman has returned, all of his villains will also come back to try to take him down.

"Tommy Elliot is the perfect villain for Episode Three, because if you saw on the pilot, Kate puts on the bat suit," Dries said. "She's going to put it on to scare the sh** out of Alice. Once Gotham is like 'Batman's back,' there are consequences to that. And one of the consequences to having Batman back in Gotham is that all of the Batman villains are going to come back and try to kill him, and Tommy Elliot has a chip on his shoulder, as we'll learn, for Bruce Wayne and Batman, so he comes back with a very heightened agenda."

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