S03.E06: How Does Your Garden Grow?

[scarynikki12]

Quote

An unnerving discovery in a garden shed sends Renee Montoya rushing to Ryan to ensure the city is on high alert.

 

[Diapason Untuned]

Sometimes I wonder why this show goes to so much trouble to keep Alice around.

Then we get episodes like this one.

Alice was on fire today, every move she made was just capturing my attention, she was chewing that scenery like it was chocolate.

She wasn't the only one either. Poison Mary was everything I hoped she would be and more. Just an electric presence the moment she appeared on screen. And so competent too! She caught a Black Glove operative in a day, played Montoya and handily outmaneuvered Ryan and Luke along with dragging them like a sack of potatoes!

I'm really liking this new development with them and I'm looking forward to see where it's going.

[Trini]

1 hour ago, Diapason Untuned said:

I'm really liking this new development with them and I'm looking forward to see where it's going.

I'll give them their props: I think the show has really stepped up their game this season. I have a few quibbles, but in general I think the storylines for everyone are really compelling; especially now that things are starting to come together.

First off, Mary! Smartest super-team member of the DC-verse for handcuffing herself when it looked like she was the bad guy. Also maybe the best friend-to-enemy turn I've seen in a while; Nicole was killing it as Poison Mary. And taking care of Black Glove guy all by herself was icing on the cake.

So are we really not going to see the real Poison Ivy until next year?

They really need to work on how they write and pace their romance arcs, though. They just did 'fake dating trope' with Ryan and Sophie last episode then now they're fighting, and now suddenly Sophie's making out with Renee?? Well, there's that triangle I was looking for.

I still don't like her being on the Bat-team, but Alice was pretty funny this episode. Speaking of - they should be able to find her and Mary pretty easily with those nanobots, right?

[speedroc]

Great job show.

 

This season and series is firing on all cylinders right now with EVERYONE getting their chance to shine. My girl Mary now becoming the latest and we still have the Jada, Marquis and Montoya storylines to delve into.

Alice continues to be the best character (imo) on the show and now she's teamed up with Mary?

 

Yes. 

[Trini]

Actual laugh-out-loud moment:

Same, Luke, same.

[CletusMusashi]

It's a good thing the bad guy died shortly after hearing Sophie loudly refer to in-costume Batwoman as "Ryan."

Otherwise things might have gotten a tad awkward.

[thuganomics85]

I know I shouldn't be rooting for the antagonists, but Poison Mary and Alice teaming up?  Yeah, I can dig that!

Great episode for Mary and Nicole Kang in particular.  I liked that being infected didn't just make her emulate Pamela/OG Poison Ivy's way of doing things, but instead amplified her own emotions and wants.  And while it clearly made her go to some dark and morally wrong places, I can't really argue with some of what she said: especially Luke refusing to address his issues and Ryan letting her family problems effect the team.  I obviously doubt Mary will be infected long term, but I'm going to enjoy Poison Mary for as long as I can!

This was also the best use of Alice so far (despite the ridiculousness of Alice working with the Bat Team), thanks to finding more moments for Rachel Skarsten to devour the scenery like the good old days!

So, thanks to Ryan being all cagey about Jada, Sophie gets pissed and... drunkenly hooks up with Renee?  Classic CW drama right there!

Hoping the Black Glove guy name-dropping the Elliot name means we might get an eventual return for Tommy/Hush.

[tennisgurl]

Alice is always at her best with Mary, so I am super psyched for the dream team of Alice and Mary Ivy going on a crime spree. I am increasingly optimistic about this season, I am enjoying a lot of what they are doing. This week they even sold me more on keeping Alice around, her camping it up and pointing out the unfortunate but not untrue was a lot of fun, plus, like I said, she and Mary have great chemistry. I know she wont stay infected for super long, but I love Poison Mary.

I am thrilled they are giving Mary a good story, she has been on the backburner for awhile now, which is also now a major part of her motivation. The infection might be making Mary go off the rails, but she did raise a lot of good points about how Ryan and Luke have taken her for granted. She isn't wrong that Ryan has put her family drama over the team or that Luke has been blowing off her medical advice, and even they acknowledged that they screwed up. I also like that Poison Mary isn't just doing Poison Ivy's thing, she is doing things based around twisting parts of her own self, presumably similarly to what happened to the original Poison Ivy.

Of course Sophie and Ryan get into a fight because Ryan doesn't want to tell Sophie about what is actually happening and Sophie hooks up with Renee, CW gonna CW. I do at least like Sophie with Renee more then Ryan, who I just do not like as a couple. I don't see much romantic chemistry and I really dislike them just slotting Sophie into the "love interest of Batwoman, any Batwoman" role. 

Of course Gotham, has a whole group of rich people who meet to try and deal with their psychotic bad seed children, that sounds totally right.

Edited November 19, 2021 by tennisgurl

[Sweet Tooth]

I do like it when a show follows  through with certain points that are made.

I thought they were going to trivialize everyone ignoring Mary waking up in a park without knowing why. 

This point has been brought up a few times, and at first it seemed insignificant, so I really like that it kept ramping up until it became a real problem.

They have been taking Mary for granted a lot, and I'm glad it's not only coming back to bite them in the a$$, but also that Luke and Ryan finally got it. It's also good that they acknowledged it wasn't just that she was Poison Ivy. They realize that her own feelings have been amplified.

I'm also glad that they haven't forgotten all of the harm Alice has already done. I know the show is trying to strike a balance between rehabilitating her and maintaining her essential personality and reminding us that she's not Team Angelic. ILike they even mentioned Sophie shares a wall with a serial killer. 

I think they made a huge mistake with Earth 2 Lauren on Arrow by completely forgetting what she did in the past and making her into some kind of saint, so it's nice to see that corrected here.

I know in the real world, there's no way she'd be set loose, I feel they've made it at least semi-plausible. And I also like it much better than the trope of the good guys visiting the bad guy in jail to get essential information, while the bad guy snarls and threatens them. 

[BeautifulFlower]

On 11/17/2021 at 11:26 PM, Trini said:

 

I still don't like her being on the Bat-team, but Alice was pretty funny this episode. Speaking of - they should be able to find her and Mary pretty easily with those nanobots, right?

Not if Poison Mary took the nanobots out of her.

[Lantern7]

Well. Poison Mary. Well played, Batwoman. Turn one of Batwoman's best allies against her AND have an excuse to dress Nicole Kang as a super-villain. It'll hard to top this episode's ensemble with shorts and boots, though.

Mary's turn (forced as it was upon her) came at a good time . . . we're heading into a midseason hiatus, most of the characters are keeping secrets from each other, and now Alice has a new bestie/enabler. No one is really in a healthy place, and the Ryan/Rene hookup is the tip of that iceberg

Edited November 22, 2021 by Lantern7