The Past
A young girl dives beneath the ice and swims in the waters below. She finds a key and removes the manacles from her ankle, and sees someone shove a covering over the hole in the ice. As she fights to break the ice, the young girl remembers being in a car crash with her mother and her sister Beth. The girl, Kate Kane, remembers Batman abandoning her and her friend, and the car going off the edge of a bridge. Kate breaks the ice and climbs out, gasping for breath.
When Kate returns to the hut, her mentor says that she's too slow. Kate complains that covered the hole, and the mentor says that she found out the only way and the next day she'll find a way faster.
Now
In Gotham, Batman disappeared three years ago. The people were divided over whether he would return or was gone for good. Kate figures that he left because he doesn't care.
At City Hall, Crows Security arrives as people protest the shutdown of the Bat Signal. Catherine Hamilton-Kane emerges from the Crows security van, and her teenage daughter Mary takes photos of her. Her mother says that Mary is embarrassing her, and Mary puts away her camera. As they go inside, Jacob Kane searches Catherine and says that it's his only chance to kiss his wife.
Sophie Moore and her men check the perimeter and lock it up, and Jacob calls up on the radio to congratulate Sophie. Catherine announces that Batman gave up on them and isn't coming back. She calls Mayor Akins up to turn off the signal. He invites everyone to gaze on the Bat Signal one last time.
Crows surveillance goes out, and Jacob alerts his men to stand by. On the roof, someone kills the GCPD officers preparing to shut off the Bat Signal. The villainous Alice removes her knives from the two men, gets on the camera, and tells the guests that the Crows can't protect them. She says that one of them won't be going home that night, and Batman couldn't save them and neither will the Crows.
Jacob orders his agents to get the guests out, and he ushers Catherine out. Mary is separated from her mother in the crowd.
Sophie spots a Wonderland-masked thug and goes after him. She finally grabs him and he attacks her, shooting him in the chest. Another thug grabs her and she droops her radio as Jacob calls to her. The second thug throws Sophie off the roof, and more of the masked thugs are waiting to catch her in a tarp. They knock her unconscious and carry her away.
A grown Kate puts a necklace around her neck. Her mentor says that there's a call for her from a girl who talks too much. He gives Kate the radio and leaves, and Mary reminds Kate that she's her stepsister. She tells Kate that Sophie's missing and they think someone is talking her, and she thought Kate should know.
Kate remembers her and Sophie together, kissing.
Kate arrives in Gotham and goes to the Agent base. Jacob is telling his agents that thugs like the Wonderland Gang want a return to the old days when gangs ran wild in the streets. He tells his people to find Sophie and bring her home. Once they leave, Kate comes in and greets her father. They hug and he says that they're going to find Sophie. Kate insists that she's ready to come work for him. One of the agents, Dodgson, arrives and says that Akins plans to cancel the movie in the park. Jacob goes to take the call, and tells Kate that maniacs took Sophie. He insists that Kate isn't ready and takes after her cousin Bruce Wayne, but she has a chance at making something of herself. Kate points out that Bruce was there for her after her mother and Beth died, and asks for the chance to help find Sophie. Jacob refuses and goes to take the call.
At the military academy, Kate suggests that she take Sophie to the Greek Isles on a yacht. Kate and Sophie carve their initials into the wall and they kiss again. A commander sees them together, and later reminds her in front of the others that they have a code of conduct.
Kate rides her motorcycle to the abandoned Wayne Enterprises Tower in the heart of Gotham. She climbs up the wall and makes her way to a window and goes inside, and remembers when she and Beth ran around the place. Luke Fox comes in and orders Kate to move away, and says that he's with Wayne Security. Kate tells him that she's Bruce's cousin and she grew up there. Luke takes her to a high-security door and points out that no one has heard from Bruce in three years. He takes her into a surveillance room and calls the police. Kate uses a paper clip she picked up to pick the handcuffs Luke put on her, and then handcuffs him to a computer.
Kate4 goes to the computer and accesses the systems, and downloads the security footage from the surveillance cameras. Kate then drops the handcuff key on the floor near Luke and leaves.
Later, Kate goes to the tower where Jacob lives. Mary and her friends have prepared a surprise party to welcome Kate home. They have candy cotton shots and Mary talks about the ceremony later. She thought that Kate would want to be there. Catherine comes over and greets Kate, and says that the movie in the park is Gotham's first public even in three years. Pulling it off successfully would show that the Crows can maintain Gotham's security. Kate sees a photo of Jacob and Sophie on the wall.
At the academy, Kate prepares to leave. She tells Sophie that she denied the allegation of homosexual conduct, and suggests that they go on their trip. Sophie says that she's staying, and Kate realized that she signed the denial. Kate tells Sophie that they don't want her there, and Sophie says that she doesn't have the luxury of being offended. She suggests that Kate keep her distance, and Kate asks if she's wrong that Sophie loves her. Sophie tells her that she's wrong and walks away.
Kate goes over to Jacob and shows him the surveillance footage showing the Wonderland thugs abducting Sophie. She spots one of the thugs holding paddle with the motto of Burnside Orphanage on it. Jacob tells Dodgson and his men to get satellite surveillance on the orphanage, and Kate slips away.
When she arrives at the orphanage, Kate goes in. A gang member attacks her and Kate soon takes him down. Another gang member arrives in the elevator and Kate takes him out as well. When the elevator reaches the top, more thugs attack Kate. She knocks them out and one of them slashes at her with a knife. Kate slams his head with a refrigerator door, and another gang member knocks her out from behind.
When Kate wakes up, she finds herself tied up in front of Alice. Alice says that she thought Kate was out of town, and Alice's men pull Kate to her feet. Kate wonders how Alice knows her and where Sophie is, and Alice says that Sophie is gone. She wants Kate to send Jacob a message that he's not a bully. Alice wants the world to know that Jacob doesn't scare her, and she plans to take away his power. Kate says that Alice should take her and let Sophie go, and Alice tells her that Jacob doesn't want Kate and shipped her away. She informs Kate that Sophie is the daughter that Jacob always wanted. Kate wonders who she is, and Alice says that she's Alice and knocks Kate unconscious with paddle.
Later, Jacob and his men arrive at the orphanage. Dodgson tells him that they just missed him and they found Kate's motorcycle, but there's no sign of her.
Kate wakes up at a clinic. Mary is there and stitches up Kate's injuries. She says that someone dumped Kate at her door and her guys brought him in. Kate says that Mary is deeper than she thought, and asks Kate to keep her ear to the street and let her know if she hears anything about Sophie.
Back at Crows Security, Kate tells Jacob that Sophie was at the orphanage and is now probably not far away. She says that Alice has a vendetta against Jacob, and Jacob insists that Kate isn't like everyone else. His daughter figures that Jacob doesn't want her no matter what she does to prove herself. Jacob says that he doesn't care about her sexuality and loves her, and Kate tells him that he said it before he got rid of her. She figures that when he looks at him, he sees Beth and her mother, and tells Jacob that she's gone.
Later at the tower, Kate finds Luke and tells him to contact Bruce because she figures he knows where Bruce is. Luke says that Bruce doesn't want to be found, and Kate notices that a display pedestal with her Aunt Martha's necklace has been moved. She finds a hidden catch where the pedestal rested, twists it, and opens a secret door. Kate goes through the door and finds an elevator, and takes it down over Luke's objections.
The elevator arrives in an underground cave. Kate turns on the lights, revealing a long-abandoned cave filled with bats. The bats swarm around Kate, and she sees a Batman suit. Luke arrives and Kate realizes that Bruce is Batman. There's a board with a clipping about the Kane family tragedy.
Young Kate and Beth are in their car, and their mother takes her eyes off the road.
Luke says that Bruce tried to figure out what happened that day. He thought that he secured the car and left, but the car fell off the bridge after Kate got out, but before Beth and her mother could escape. Kate realizes that the trunk gave away, and she was wrong to think Batman abandoned them. Luke assures her that Batman cared, and he saved 34 children in a bus that Joker hijacked. He explains that the deaths haunted Bruce. Kate looks at the Batsuit and realizes that Bruce became Batman to make people afraid. She figures that an army won't scare the criminals but the Batsuit will, and tells Luke to fix the suit so it fits a woman. Mary calls and says that they found one of Alice's men, and she knows where Sophie is.
That night at the park, Crows Security watches over the area and searches everyone who arrives. Jacob notices a nearby building under construction and confirms that Dodgson is covering it.
Dodgson enters the building and finds Alice and her men holding Sophie. Alice kisses Dodgson and he tells her to have fun, and he leaves.
As the movie plays, Jacob continues studying the building. Akins tells Jacob that Gotham is looking like the good ole days. Alice calls Jacob and says that they're all mad. She explains that she wants to be memorable, and she filled a Crows truck with "forget-me-nots". Jacob runs over to the nearby truck and finds it filled with explosives. Alice tells him that if he tries anything, she'll set off the explosives. She has Jacob look up at where Sophie is suspended by a cable, and tells him to choose between Sophie and Gotham. Alice sets off the timer on the explosives, and signs off when Jacob asks why she's doing it.
Someone pulls two of the thugs up using a cable gun. Alice wonders who is there, and the costumed Kate--Batwoman--drops down. Alice throws a knife into the water-filled barrel at the other end of the cable holding Sophie up. As the water pours out, Batwoman attacks Alice. The two of them fight, and Alice chokes Batwoman with a cable. Batwoman breaks free and knocks away the detonator. The cable holding Sophie up gives as the water leaves the barrel, and Sophie plummets downward. Batwoman jumps after her, catches her, and manages to break her fall as they slam into a construction site office below. Sophie stares at Batwoman in shock and says that she's not Batman.
Batwoman leaves the office and goes back up to the floor where Alice was. As Jacob arrives, Batwoman finds a knife that Alice left behind. She looks out on Gotham, and in the park a girl sees her and yells that it's Batman.
The next day, the newspaper headlines declare that Batman is back.
A boy describes seeing Batman to Mary, who says that she told him Batman would be back.
Kate watches as Jacob tells his people that "Batman" is a wannabe that will die like all of the others. Sophie realizes that her rescuer was a woman, but keeps her suspicions to herself. As the agents leave, Sophie looks up and sees Kate. She approaches her at a coffee machine, and says that she heard Kate came back for her. A Crows agent, Tyler, arrives and Sophie introduces him to Kate as her husband. Kate is surprised to learn that Sophie is married, and offers her congratulations before leaving.
Jacob finds Kate waiting for him in his office, and she asks if he's ever going to make her a Crow. He says that he never wanted her to be a Crow, and he hoped she'd get a desk job with the military. Kate says that it wasn't her dream and she wanted to be in the action, and Jacob admits that he's selfish and overly protective. He says that he's terrified of losing her because she's all that he has left. Jacob tells Kate that she's in if she wants to be part of the team. Kate sees a newspaper article on the desk about Batman being back.
Later, Kate goes to the Batcave and figures that she's found the place where she fits in. She writes a letter to Bruce, saying that her story has just begun. Luke comes in and tells Kate that it felt like Bruce was home, and says that Bruce never stopped looking for Beth's body. Kate wonders why Bruce didn't find her when he had the best tech on the planet. Once Luke leaves, Kate looks at the knife that Alice left behind and realizes that it has a gem on it like the on the necklaces she and Beth wore. Kate realizes that Beth is Alice.
Alice looks at a photo of her and Kate as girls, and figures that together the two of them will rule over Gotham together.
Written by Gadfly on Oct 7, 2019