WARNING: The following contains major spoilers for "It's Best You Stop Digging," the latest episode of Batwoman, which aired Sunday on The CW.
Ryan Wilder is dying, but she won't go out without a fight. In "It's Best You Stop Digging," the latest episode of Batwoman, Gotham's new Scarlet Knight made an attempt to settle an old score before her Kryptonite poisoning kills her. In the process, she revealed her identity to Alice, so that Alice would know exactly who killed her and why.
When "It's Best You Stop Digging" picked up, Ryan was suffering from an intense attack by the Kryptonite bullet wound in her shoulder. Mary worriedly told Luke that it had reached her brain, while Ryan suffered flashback-like hallucinations about her foster mother and Alice. As they argued about how to help her, Ryan found the strength to slip away with a renewed fervor for exacting revenge on Alice for killing her mom.
Pushing the Batmobile to 90 miles per hour, Ryan rushed over to her ex-girlfriend Angelique's apartment. Angelique was stunned to see Batwoman on her balcony, but Ryan was even more shocked to see Angelique with another woman. In a haze of pain, Ryan demanded to know the location of Ocean, Angelique's supplier. Angelique refused -- at first. When Ryan threatened to call the cops on her, Angelique finally acquiesced, but made her unhappiness known by kicking Ryan right over the railing. Ryan crashed into a car below and was knocked unconscious by the force of it.
Fortunately, Luke and Mary found Ryan before the Gotham City Police Department could apprehend her. They brought her back to the Batcave, where Mary put together a drug cocktail that steadied Ryan's mental state. When Mary asked why Ryan had done this, Ryan explained, "If I find Ocean, I find Alice, so I can hear her last gasps."
"I am not going down without getting justice for both of our moms," Ryan continued when Mary protested. "How can we stand behind this symbol and claim we fight for justice and we stand up for victims and we protect our streets with a legitimate serial killing psychopath out there -- living, breathing, looking for a way to find your sister and kill her too?"
Mary insisted they would stop Alice, but Ryan interjected, "When? When two Crows bring me some miracle flower from an island we can't get to?" This forced Mary to reveal Safiyah had found the map before them and burned it, leaving this option off the table for them. After all, without the Coryana rose, Ryan's wound was incurable.
On a much more somber note, Ryan added, "Alice took our moms from us, Mary. Do you ever, for a second, think about what your life would be like if she were still here? If she could be proud of you for one more day? If you could ask her for advice, or tell her about a crush, or hear her tell you she loves you? I am as good as dead, Mary, and I am not leaving here without getting justice. So you can step out of my way and let me do my thing, or I can go through you."
With that, Mary softly revealed the location of the Batmobile's keys, which she and Luke had hidden to prevent another escape attempt. Ryan grabbed them and sped over to Ocean's grow house, where she found Alice, alone and devastated by his recent departure. Alice was in no mood for the encounter and confronted Ryan with mild annoyance.
When Ryan asked if Alice knew who she was, Alice made a crack about so many people taking up the mantle that it was hard to keep track. In response, Ryan whipped her mask off. "You killed my mom, and now I'm here to kill you," Ryan spat.
Alice was unimpressed. "You're kidding," she drawled. "That's what this is about?"
"My mom was Cora Lewis," Ryan continued, undeterred. "Your gang beat her to death on December 13, 2015."
"I get it," Alice shot back with an eyeroll. "Mommy died, and now you're a woman on fire, which means I'm responsible for spawning not one Batwoman, but two!"
Ryan did not take Alice's attitude lightly. "My mom meant everything to me!" she howled in anguish.
"I have no memory of your mommy," Alice replied, causing Ryan to call her a liar and take a swing at her face. Ryan's fist connected to Alice's jaw, but the movement caused a new spike of pain that made her double over. Sensing Ryan's weakness, Alice attacked. After a brief scuffle, Ryan's rage gave her the boost she needed to get Alice in a chokehold.
However, as she prepared to Alice once and for all, Ryan received a ghostly visit from her late mother. "Ryan, this isn't the girl I raised," the specter of Cora told Ryan. Upon seeing her mother's devastated look, Ryan released her grip, letting Alice crawl away and catch her breath. "I don't know what made you this way, but you're not worth it," Ryan said. "You'll never be worth it!"
"It wasn't my fault," Alice gasped, leaning against the doorway, only for Ryan to retort, "Everything is your fault." And with that, Alice fled.
The fight took a lot out of Ryan, to the point where she lost consciousness again. Luke and Mary recovered her and brought her back to the Batcave, where Luke demanded to know where Alice was "I realized killing her would only make me more like her," Ryan muttered. When Luke asked why Ryan didn't apprehend her, she explained her plan: "We need Alice to go to Coryana... I put a tracker in her boot. We follow her, we find Coryana, we save Kate."
By ending on that note, "It's Best You Stop Digging" provided some hope and a major speed bump for Ryan's Batwoman journey. On one hand, Ryan and the rest of the team seem one step closer to curing Ryan's incurable ailment, as they will soon have the means to travel to Coryana. On the other, Alice now knows Ryan's face.
Although she didn't recognize Ryan, Alice now knows her mother's name, so it may not be long until Alice pieces together Ryan's identity -- and there's no telling what the villain might do with that information, particularly if Team Batwoman thwarts her revenge on Kate. Further, Ryan may make a new enemy in Safiyah by showing up to the island unannounced and uninvited.
Batwoman stars Javicia Leslie as Ryan Wilder, Rachel Skarsten as Alice, Meagan Tandy as Sophie Moore, Camrus Johnson as Luke Fox, Dougray Scott as Jacob Kane and Nicole Kang as Mary Hamilton-Kane. New episodes air Sundays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on The CW.