“Loose Tooth” is episode two of season three of Batwoman.
A young couple sneak into a swimming pool at night. The woman pushes the man in first, then jumps after. She surfaces; he doesn’t. Then he does, screaming. Then gets dragged back under and blood fills the pool. The woman tries to get away. She doesn’t make it.
In the previous episode, “Mad as Hatter”, Renee Montoya told Ryan that she would be working with Alice until Batman’s trophies were recovered. Alice is being released from Arkham and a tracker put on her. Ryan asks Montoya what makes her think this will stick. Because Ryan is going to be responsible for everything Alice does. Their fates are… handcuffed together until every trophy is recovered. And it looks like another has surfaced.
In the Batcave, Ryan, Mary and Luke are watching the news about the two in the pool. They’re missing and only blood remains. It’s similar to Killer Croc. Luke fills them in on how the original Killer Croc suffered from an unknown infection. He grew scales, then more. Bruce didn’t kill him; he took pity and WayneTech was working on a cure. But the GCPD chucked thermite in the sewers and the tooth was all that was left. Mary explains how the infection could have been spread from the tooth. Alice has a question; why is there a tree in the Batcave? Ryan wants to talk to the other two in private.
In the office, Ryan wants the other two to work on the problems with the Batwing suit. Sophie arrives with forensics from the crime scene. Ryan suggests she may as well consult the crazy lady; Mary says they don’t use that word any more. Then a helicopter flies past the window. The CEO of Jeturian Industries, Jada Jet, is landing and won’t leave until she sees the CEO. They don’t know where he is, but Ryan is acting CEO. After Luke and Mary leave, Sophie tells Ryan something. She may not want to know who her mother is, but she needs to know. It’s Jada Jet.
Mary has clothes for Ryan and Ryan asks Sophie if Jada knows. Sophie thinks the visit is rather a coincidence if she doesn’t. She briefs Ryan on Jada and reassures her. Jada is there, she says, because there was a breach of security and it led back to a Wayne Enterprises IP. She’s there to deliver a warning. Stay out of her business.
Luke and Mary are working on the suit; Luke explains the AI speaks in his father’s voice. The suit shutdown because it tracks medical data and the fail-safe was activated. Mary looks at what the suit was tracking; she says the suit thought Luke was injured. Yes; it went into safe mode in the middle of a fight. Luke says there are glitches; Mary wants to check Luke for glitches first. If the suit thinks he’s injured, they need to make sure he isn’t.
Alice is in the Batcave. She tries running a web search to disable the ankle tracker. That search is unauthorised. Ryan enters and Alice asks how it went with mommy. Yes, she knew Ryan’s mother’s name. Ryan says she has to work with her, not listen. Alice asks if Ryan doesn’t want to know where Killer Croc will strike next. Okay, maybe she does have to listen.
Alice explains that her first kill was a geriatric harpy with an oxygen tank. Does Ryan know why? Yes, because Alice is a killer. No. Well, yes, but that’s not the takeaway. Alice chose her because she was easy pickings. The fledgling predator picks easy and solitary prey. It doesn’t go after two first. The pool was not its first attack. The blood in the water was the only reason it wasn’t just a missing persons report, and Alice has found many missing persons on the East River shore, two miles away. And in that park, a young girl is dragged away.
Sophie said the original Killer Croc paralysed victims, so the girl may still be alive. Which means that Ryan and Alice need to see if she can be saved, and Alice isn’t being cooperative. Then there’s Jada Jet. Does she know Ryan is her daughter?? And why did she give her up and bribe a doctor to hide the fact?