“Freeze” is episode three of season three of Batwoman.
A man misses a bus and is complaining. A kid on the bus wants to show another something he found. The man is on the phone when suddenly the bus slams to a halt as it’s covered in ice.
The news is announcing that liquid nitrogen linked to Victor Fries caused the incident. Jada Jet is watching as Ryan is shown in. In the previous episode, “Loose Tooth”, Ryan told Jada she was her daughter. Jada apologises that they didn’t have time to finish the conversation. Ryan says she isn’t judging Jada. Jada is not interested in having a relationship and if Ryan continues trying to have anything to do with Jada or her family, she will personally make Ryan and Wayne Enterprises regret that decision. Both are agreeing that they don’t want to have anything to do with the other when a young man comes in. Marquis. Who was supposed to be out. Executive vice president and Jada’s son. Therefore, Ryan’s brother.
Back at Wayne and Sophie tells Ryan that Ryan only wanted the absolute minimum. What does she want to do? No, not about the freeze stuff; about her mother? In the Batcave, Ryan tells Luke and Mary. Mary asks how Ryan even knew her mother was alive. Alice coughs. Luke explains that the freeze stuff looks less dangerous than it is and Alice is complaining about the nanobots. Luke agrees Alice can take a sick day. He knows where the canister is and is pretty sure Ryan won’t want Gotham’s most wanted with her when she breaks into GCPD. However, the canister is not there. Ryan says she knows why Batman kept his own evidence locker.
The canister is with an elderly woman who is telling another, Nora – and therefore probably Nora Fries – that they can finish Victor’s work. When thugs kick in the door and the leader asks Nora how she stayed frozen for 20 years and lived to talk about it.
Luke has identified the thief as a Dee Smithy. Ryan asks if he’s sure an elderly lady stole it. He is. Ryan asks why Dee would risk anything for Mr Freeze’s freeze stuff. Luke gets distracted about how many doctorates Victor Fries had yet he went by mister. Then again, Captain Cold wasn’t a captain. Luke shows a photo of Nora Fries as she looked when she was admitted to Arkham 3 years ago. She looks decades younger. Luke explains that Nora had McGregor’s Disease. No cure, so Victor froze her until one could be found. He died, the cryochamber ran out and it turned out there was a cure, which was administered. However, Nora was so disoriented she was sent to Arkham. She broke out 3 years ago and has been missing ever since. And she’s Dee’s sister.
Ryan is going to head there when the intruder alarm for the office goes off. Marquis is there. She heads to see him first. It turns out he knows she’s his sister. From what he says, it sounds like Jada had an affair. Marquis wants to work with Ryan, so that they can both prove themselves to their mother.
Ryan tells Luke that she said she’d think about it. She arrives at Dee’s house, which is a little bit trashed as well as empty, and thinks that Nora is living there and still sick. She assumes that Dee wants to freeze her sister again. Ryan asks Luke if he knows of any cryochambers. He asks what she knows about Ace Chemicals. Only that nothing good ever happened there. Luke gives her the address. At Ace, Dee is told by the leader of those who took her and her sister to make the chamber work or Nora dies.
Mary is checking over Alice and has found nothing wrong with her. Physically. Mary asks if Alice has had any other delusions like seeing postcards from their father. She hasn’t. Mary is an official doctor now, and if Alice needs help, Mary has to give it. Does she need help? Alice says Mary is just trying to cope with not being able to help Batboy. She broke into Mary’s files on Luke. Alice says Mary can either tell Batwoman about Luke’s PTSD or keep Luke’s PTSD a secret. Because she loves him.
Victor’s freeze stuff is on the loose, Ryan has to decide how to handle Marquis, especially given Jada’s threat, Mary has to decide whether to bring up Luke’s issues and Alice is having her own issues. And there’s effectively a cliff-hanger leading into “Antifreeze”.