“A Secret Kept from All the Rest” is episode nineteen of season one of Batwoman.
Tommy Elliot, with his head wrapped in bandages after his face was removed in the previous episode, “If You Believe in Me, I’ll Believe in You”, is on a library with two silenced guns. He shoots anyone who gets in his way and finds a man working at a computer.
Kate knocks on a door, then kicks it in. It’s Reagan’s place, and she says it was double-locked and asks how Kate even found her. In the previous episode, Reagan had stolen the journal. She says she realises why Kate would hate her but she doesn’t know where it is. She gave it to her sister. Better known as Magpie. It bought Magpie’s freedom from Arkham. She doesn’t know more; she doesn’t ask for details. And Reagan has already told all this to Kate’s friend. The blonde chick with the British accent.
At Arkham, Mouse, as Butler, enters a room. The man from the library is being electroshocked by Alice and Tommy. He’s a professor of languages. They have the journal, but it’s in code. Mouse wonders why Alice doesn’t just get Tommy to shoot Kate; he’d probably offer the friends and family rate. Tommy is telling the man, Professor Carr, that his new face is being held hostage until the journal is translated. Carr says that this isn’t really his speciality. Alice fries him. She wants to bring Luke in instead. Mouse doesn’t want Batwoman to turn up. The journal holds the key to killing Batwoman and Alice wants her dead. However, Carr is their first strike. They have two left.
At the Crows, Kate confronts Julia about her looking for the journal. Julia says she wanted it for Kate. Kate is suspicious of people who have lied to her in the past. Which includes Julia. Sophie joins them; Kane has called a briefing. Kane briefs the Crows that a client of theirs has been kidnapped, an undercover NSA agent. They also found Carr dead in a dumpster nearby. Video surveillance shows it was the same man as from the library, who is being called ‘Hush’ after the only word he said.
At Wayne Tower, Luke and Kate are arguing over Julia. Mary decides it’s time to start day drinking. She probably wishes she’d done it in a different room. Luke ends up leaving. Kate says they have to find the book. Mary points out that it would be easier with Luke. Because of computers and stuff. Then she receives a Gotham safety alert about the NSA kidnapping. That gives Mary an idea. A crypto specialist and an expert in languages; she believes Hush kidnapped them because he has the journal.
The agent is already dead. Tommy tells Alice that they need more than 90 minutes and to stop killing them. They disappointed Alice. Mouse and Tommy start squabbling until Alice interrupts. There’s one codebreaker no-one knows about. And Tommy kidnaps Parker Torres from “How Queer Everything Is Today!”.
Mark and Kate are trying to work things out. Mary had said Carr had heart surgery; did he have a pacemaker? He did. Those are traceable. They’ll know where Carr died. Mary tells Kate to trace it then. That’s a Luke thing, unfortunately. Then a phone rings. Inside a box on the desk. Mary is astonished that Kate has a landline. Kate answers it and the girl on the other end asks if Kate Kane is there. The caller is Parker’s girlfriend and was facetiming with her when she was taken. She said to call Kate Kane before the line went dead.
Parker is in the back of Tommy’s van. She’s been kidnapped by worse. And if Tommy hasn’t killed her yet, he can’t kill her. Mary is using the Batcave computer to direct Kate. And accidentally turns it off and loses contact. Kate finds Tommy and rescues Parker, though Tommy gets away. He returns to Arkham and he and Mouse squabble again until Alice asks if they are finally ready to do things her way.
At the Crows, Sophie tells Julia about a possible Hush siting. Luke is also there; he wants a word. Kate has taken Parker back to the Batcave. No; it’s not a metaphor. The Batcave is a cave. With bats in it. Mary is not happy to find someone else who knew Kate was Batwoman first. Meanwhile, Luke is talking to Julia. He found out she’s no longer with the SRR. She was freelancing for another party. Luke doesn’t think that would get her blacklisted by the biggest intelligence agency in the EU. Julia doesn’t want to say more. Then Luke gets a call from Kate from an unlisted number. Naturally, it isn’t Kate. As they discover when Kate calls herself. Just as Hush has arrived.
Kane is really not happy with Batwoman and wants her out of his city. That’s going to cause problems. Alice wants Luke to decipher his father’s journal, or Julia will be fried. Neither knew what was in the journal. Julia does end up revealing who she was working for and why. Things may be about to get very messy.